Rods

In its simplest form, a fishing pole, or rod, is a stick used to throw out a line with a hook on the end for the purpose of catching fish.

Sport fishing rods vary in width, length and flexibility (action), depending on where you're fishing and what you're trying to catch. Basically, you want a rod that is stiff enough so it doesn't break when a fish is on your line. But flexible enough to absorb the tension of a fighting fish, so you don't break your line.

Study up. Match the right rod with the right reel, the right line and the right bait to catch the fish you're after.

Spinning Rods

Spinning rods are made from graphite or fiberglass with a cork or PVC foam handle, and tend to be between 5 and 8.5 feet (1.5 - 2.6 m) in length. Typically, spinning rods have anywhere from 5-8 large-diameter guides arranged along the underside of the rod to help control the line. The eyes decrease in size from the handle to the tip, with the one nearest the handle usually much larger than the rest to allow less friction as the coiled line comes off the reel. Unlike bait casting and spin casting reels, the spinning reel hangs beneath the rod rather than sitting on top, and is held in place with a sliding or locking reel seat. Spinning rods and reels are widely used in fishing for popular North American sport fish including bass, trout, pike and walleye. Popular targets for spinning in the UK and European continent are pike, perch, eel and zander. Longer spinning rods with elongated grip handles for two-handing casting are frequently employed for saltwater or steelhead and salmon fishing. Spinning rods are also widely used for trolling and still fishing with live bait.

Surf Rods

Surf-casting rods resemble oversized spinning or bait-casting rods with long grip handles for two-handed casting. Surf rods need to be long, 10 to 14 feet (3 to 4 m) in length, so you can cast beyond the breaking surf where the fish are. And they need to be sturdy so you can use heavy weighted lures or bait that can stay on the bottom of rough waters.

Some surfcasters use powerful rods to cast half-pound bait and lure rigs more than two hundred feet into the ocean. Can you say Popeye arms?

Bait-Casting and Closed-Spin Casting Rods

Bait-casting and closed-spin casting rods are designed to hold reels that are mounted above the handle. So the line-guide eyes are on the top and the casting trigger is on the bottom.

They're made from graphite or fiberglass with a cork or PVC foam handle and tend to be between 5 and 8.5 feet (1.5 to 2.6 m) in length. They have anywhere from five to eight guide eyes to help control the line. The eyes decrease in size from the handle to the tip, with the one nearest the handle usually much larger than the rest to allow less friction as the coiled line comes off the reel.

Longer rods, with elongated grip handles for two-handed casting, are frequently used for saltwater or steelhead and salmon fishing. Spinning rods are also widely used for trolling and still fishing with live bait.

Bigger rods are used for bigger bait and bigger fish.

Fly Rods

Fly rods come in a variety of sizes to catch anything from small freshwater pan fish to large saltwater game fish. Fly rods tend to have a single, large-diameter line guide (called a stripping guide), with a number of smaller looped guides (called snake guides) spaced along the rod to help control the movement of the relatively thick fly line.

Fly rods are almost always built out of carbon graphite and the rod tapers from one end to the other. The degree of taper determines the amount of flex in the rod. The flex and length of your fly rod depends on where you're fishing and what you're after.

Fly fishermen love to make their own flies. They also like to make their own rods. Custom rod building is a popular hobby with fly fishermen.

Sea Rods

If you're trying to catch big fish, you need big equipment. Sea rods are long (around 10 feet on average), extremely thick and feature huge and heavy tips, eyes, and handles. There are different rods designed for surf casting and for fishing from a boat on the ocean.

Ice Fishing Rods

Really short spin casting rods, varying between 24 and 36 inches in length, are used for ice fishing. But that doesn't mean you can't catch a large Walleye or Northern Pike through a hole in the ice.

Telescopic Rods

Telescopic fishing rods are designed to collapse down to a short distance and open to a long rod. Twenty- or even 30-foot rods can close to as little as a foot and a half. This makes the rods very easy to transport.

Telescopic fishing rods are made from the same materials as conventional one- or two-piece rods. Graphite and fiberglass or composites of these materials are designed to slip into each other so that they open and close. The eyes are generally, but not always, a special design to help make the end of each section stronger. Various grade eyes available on conventional rods are also available on telescopic fishing rods.

Care for telescopic fishing rods is much the same as other rods. The only difference being you should not open the telescopic rod into the open position rapidly. Whipping or flinging open a telescopic fishing rod will likely make it difficult to close. Often the rods come with tip covers to protect the tip and guides.

Surf rods are very popular rods as telescopic models. Carrying around a 12- or 14-foot fishing rod, even in two pieces, is cumbersome. The shorter the sections, the shorter they close, the more eyes they have, and the better the power curve is in them. More eyes mean better weight and stress distribution throughout the parabolic arc. This translates to further casting, stronger fish fighting abilities and less breakage.

Carbon-Fiber Pole

Carbon-fiber poles are commonly used by professionals. They're made with a variety of different qualities of carbon fiber that result in precise casting.

Ultra-light Rods

If you want to catch smaller fish, or get more fight out of a larger fish, then try an ultra-light fishing pole. They're shorter (4 - 5.5 feet is common), lighter and have more flex than normal rods. Tip actions vary from slow to fast, depending on your intended use. Some ultra-light rods are capable of casting lures and flies as light as 1/64th of an ounce.

Ultra-light rods are widely used for crappie, trout, bass, bluegill and other types of panfish.