Good Morning,
I posted this on another site and thought it wouldn't hurt to post it here. maybe I wasn't exactly clear on what I wanted to know. basically what does the line weight numbers mean on a rod? And how do I determine what reel is best for a specific type of fishing matched to a specific type of rod?



Member

Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: RI
Posts: 52 could someone explain... rods reels

Happy Thanksgiving to all and especially to all of our troops for protecting our freedoms that we all enjoy.

I have a few questions pertaining to rods and reels. I have only a few rods, some freshwater and a few different styles of salt. Now to me I can determine what rod I need to use when I go surfcasting. Researched what I should use for the area and what I plan to throw. I came up with an outfit that best suited my needs. When I start to think about rod and reel setups for the boat I get overwhelmed by all the choices. If I am going to Target stripers let's say, and I want to be able to troll how do I go about choosing a proper rod with an appropriate reel? Let's say I'm going to drag a tube and I want to switch it up to either an umbrella rig or even a parachute jig, how can I use the information on the rod to help in my decision making. eg: 6'rod 3-4oz lure wt. 25 - 30 lb. So in this example am I correct in thinking that this six foot rod is rated for no heavier than four oz of lure wt and not good for a chance encounter with a fish that would be over 40 lbs?

On my surfrod I run 20# pp 80# swivel and 30# floro, this works fine for me Retie often and have landed 30+# fish ,so I get the lower line weight thing, that's where the 40# number came from.

That's just one part of it next is the reel. I can go to any baitshop and pick out an outfit that I could troll leadcore with or spool up with braid and try to fish for bottom fish, and there are many choices to pick from the only limit is how much to spend. All manufacturers have setups all ready but I would like to understand how I could go about determining what would work best for each Type of fish I plan to Target and which particular way I want to fish for them. I see pics on here with boats with at least a dozen rod's and I know they are all for targeting different species. I'm not looking to Target that many different species but need to come up with something that can cover a couple different types of fishing , I just cant do the three rods for trolling, three for jigging, three for the bottom and a few to drift or cast eels or lures.

long winded..... sorry
Thanks
Chris

with most people using braid nowadays line rating doesnt help much though a few manufacturers a finially catching on. basically the lure rating on the rod is what you can cast with it. as an example my cod bait rod is rated 1-8 oz and i routinely use a 16 oz sinker on it while bait fishing and in a pinch can jig w/ it up to 12 oz. for stripers all you need are a couple of basic setups to get you going. get a rod rated up to 4 or 6 oz and you can use it to troll, liveline, jig and chunk with. i've got a penn rod rated 1-4 oz matched up w/ a penn320gt2 that is a basic all around setup i use for guests and a back up rod. for casting buy a nice lite rod rated for the size lures you like to throw. hope it helps. OR buy a specific setup for every way you want to target every species - which is way more fun :uhuh:

thank you so much I appreciate your input.

last question on this thread... what's the difference between a boat rod and a stand up boat rod?

thanks
Chris

Think of a boat rod as an all around rod that you will use for bottom fishing, trolling chunking fish like bass blues cod.

A stand up rod is for big game fishing, tuna, sharks, marlin etc. Tends to be a short stout rod that can be put in a harness gimble to really put pressure on a fish by your body motion when you are "standing up"

Thank you very much!
Chris