Matching Your Fishing Rod To The Fishing Situation

Many anglers neglect to take into account the importance of their fishing rod for varying fishing situations. As a matter of fact, some anglers have one or two rods, and that's it. If they're going trout fishing they use the same rod as they do if they are trying to catch carp. This is a mistake. You need to have different fishing rods for different fishing situations. The biggest reason for this is that it will help you catch more fish. If the wrong fishing rod is being used, bites will be much more difficult to detect, and therefore less fish will be caught.
A great example is with river fishing. Most of my time is spent river fishing for trout. I prefer to use ultra light gear, including my rods and reels. My normal ultralight fishing rod is five feet long and it works great for me in the summer and fall. But in the spring, when the water is high, it's very difficult to fish with. So I switch to my six foot six inch ultra light rod when the water's high in the spring. The longer rod makes it easier to "feel" my bait and keep it at or near the bottom. With the shorter rod, this is almost impossible. My longer ultra light rod also gives me added casting distance, so in situations where making long casts is necessary, I use my longer rod.

Many boat anglers do this. They have different rods for different types of fishing. One rod for trolling, one for casting, one for jigging, Etc. Anglers who fish in rivers should do the same thing. Do you need to have 20 different rods and reels? No of course not, but three or four is a wonderful idea. As a matter of fact if money is the issue, simply have a couple of different rods on hand and switch the reel. That's exactly what I do with my ultra light rods. I use the same reel and simply put the same reel on whichever rod I decide to use. Simple and easy, and by the way there is no reason to spend more than $40 on a fishing rod. I use Quantum Xtralite rods for my ultralight fishing and I believe they are under $30 in most cases.

The bottom line is that matching your fishing rod to the fishing situation is very important. It will make your fishing that much easier and more successful if you're using the proper fishing rod. In the earlier example, if I use my five foot ultra light rod when the water is high, I won't even get a bite (or if I do, I can't feel it), but with the longer rod, I catch fish. Matching your fishing rod to your fishing situation will result in more hook ups for you as well.