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Gearing Up and Rigging Up / Re: Rod Power Recommendations
« on: May 22, 2024, 07:35:37 AM »
There is a lot of personal preference involved in rod selection.
Length: Different people have different arm reach. Get a rod that is short enough to let you easily land a fish without high sticking the rod, but long enough to get around the front of the kayak if a fish goes from one side to the other.
Grip: split grip, full grip, trigger grip, cork, foam, graphite/carbon. What do you like? What fits in the rod holder you want to use or like? Personally I prefer full grip (split grips sit funny in rod holders) non trigger (again funny in rod holder) with a non cork grip (personal preference I don’t like cork).
Power: freshwater power and saltwater power are very different. Something in a medium for salt would suit well for what you are talking about. Med/light for fresh.
Action: rods have different actions. Slow-fast. Slow bends all the way to the butt, extra fast bends at the tip. For trolling usually you want a slower action. For jigging a little faster.
Material: fiberglass, graphite, carbon, blended. Generally speaking fiberglass is used more in slow action rods and trolling rods. Higher modulus (numerically speaking) graphite generally means a lighter rod which translates into more sensitivity.
All of that being said if I had to choose 1 rod for salt out of my arsenal to do a lot of stuff it would be a 7’ Daiwa harrier X in medium power. For what you are describing in fresh I would grab an okuma sst either 7 or 76 light.
For a reel skip the round okuma and get the low profile okuma linecounter. The low profiles are more reliable. Spool it up with some 30lb braid and then whatever topshot you want.
Length: Different people have different arm reach. Get a rod that is short enough to let you easily land a fish without high sticking the rod, but long enough to get around the front of the kayak if a fish goes from one side to the other.
Grip: split grip, full grip, trigger grip, cork, foam, graphite/carbon. What do you like? What fits in the rod holder you want to use or like? Personally I prefer full grip (split grips sit funny in rod holders) non trigger (again funny in rod holder) with a non cork grip (personal preference I don’t like cork).
Power: freshwater power and saltwater power are very different. Something in a medium for salt would suit well for what you are talking about. Med/light for fresh.
Action: rods have different actions. Slow-fast. Slow bends all the way to the butt, extra fast bends at the tip. For trolling usually you want a slower action. For jigging a little faster.
Material: fiberglass, graphite, carbon, blended. Generally speaking fiberglass is used more in slow action rods and trolling rods. Higher modulus (numerically speaking) graphite generally means a lighter rod which translates into more sensitivity.
All of that being said if I had to choose 1 rod for salt out of my arsenal to do a lot of stuff it would be a 7’ Daiwa harrier X in medium power. For what you are describing in fresh I would grab an okuma sst either 7 or 76 light.
For a reel skip the round okuma and get the low profile okuma linecounter. The low profiles are more reliable. Spool it up with some 30lb braid and then whatever topshot you want.