If you are a fisherman like me you have seen all the fancy things out there that sell for thousands of dollars. It’s like the fishing companies are only concerned with taking all your money and not really helping you go fishing.
Let’s keep it simple. You need a good bass fishing rod that will help day in and day out. It may be the best one available to provide this, but we all know that others will not only be appropriate and cost you less money. Personally, I go to one place when I just need a reliable rod that won’t break the bank. Whether it is good for you is subjective.
How Do I Choose A Bass Rod?
Choosing a bass rod does not have to be hard. You simply need something to get the bass out of whatever cover or none at all safely. You want to be able to feel the fish when it bites or possibly just tastes the lure. This really depends on the environment and your ability as an angler.
You can always improve yourself, but starting with a baseline great bass rod will allow you to stop worrying about your fishing gear and focus on the true solution that you need. Practice makes perfect and no matter what the manufacturers want you to think a fishing rod is in fact just a fishing rod.
Below you will see two ways to determine a bass fishing pole. One is by how much it bends (light, medium, heavy). We want light rods for when bass are finicky, medium rods for bass in most situations and heavy rods for getting fish out of thick lily pads, grass or trees.
The other determines where the rod bends (Slow Action, Medium Action and Fast Action). Slow action is for big jigging poles that bend near the handle of the rod and are generally Heavy rods. Medium Action bends near the middle of the rod and provides good power and sensitivity at the same time. Fast Action bends near the tip and allows you to sense even the slightest of bites. You can ever find some Extra Fast Action fishing rods, but that is for finesse fishing or panfish.
Light Fishing Rod
Medium Fishing Rod
Heavy Fishing Rod
Slow Action Fishing Pole
Medium Action Fishing Pole
Fast Action Fishing Pole
What Is The Best Bass Fishing Rod In 2020?
Everybody is welcome to there opinion about everything and I have my own about bass fishing rods. When it comes to that I look no further than Ugly Stik. Right now the Ugly Stik Carbon is the new hotness.
Many people scoff at it because it doesn’t sound prestigious like G. Loomis, but do you think you have to pay $500+ to catch a bass? The answer is NO! If you have the money you will definitely feel a difference, but is it worth it to you… that’s for you to decide. For most people pretty good is the best and that is why it sells the most and catches the most fish.
I am here to help people go fishing more often, not to help them go to the poor house. If you want to buy all the fancy things in life and have the money that’s awesome, but in general you just can’t beat this bass fishing pole.
Best Bass Fishing Rod For The Money
This may be a contested statement, but I believe the St. Croix Mojo Bass Casting Rod is the best you can get for your money. There was one G. Loomis that got really close, but it couldn’t sway me. This is one of the better manufacturers that I spoke of that you may spend a bit more money than you would expect, but you get the value for it.
They have a full suites of actions, weights and heights so you can hone in on exactly what you need for your type of fishing. I won’t go into the different styles, but from flipping thick weeds to working a spinnerbait you will need different rods to work effectively.
What Is The Best Baitcasting Rod For Bass?
My choice for the best baitcasting rod is a G. Loomis IMX-Pro. It is super cool must-have rod that everybody would love to have in their boat at the end of the day. Many tournament pros use and succeed with G. Loomis and no one is going to contest that.
They do have different types depending on the types of fishing that you will be doing. So in regards to height, weight and action they have that covered. You can find the following options and choose what works best for you or… get them all.
What Type Of Rod Should I Use With A Baitcaster?
I believe that you should a medium action, heavy rod that is 6.5 to 7 feet long. This specific style of rod will cover you in just about any situation that you are fishing for bass. If you look around you will see that most people will go with a medium or heavy rod because they need to work moving lures, but still need some sensitivity. They also need to work within a lot of cover and be able to drag them out of there without snapping the rod.
Best Bass Fishing Rod For Beginners
The Ugly Stik GX2 spinning rod is the best for beginners because I teach beginners to learn the spinning reel first. I don’t like starting with the closed face reels because… I don’t like them… there I said.
Ugly Stik was very forgiving of me in my youth when I used to hookset like I was bringing in a whale. It held up with I accidentally back over it with my Chevrolet Blazer. Can you ask a fishing rod to do any more than that… I don’t think so.
How To Choose A Fishing Rod For Beginners
You should be focusing on what that particular person needs to just catch fish. I am under the impression that the fishing pole is for lures so I will 100% go with the Ugly Stik GX2 that I just suggested with an Abu Garcia reel for the quality you need without the high cost. That will last you a very long time!
However, if you know this person will be fishing in the thick grass of the everglades or the clear waters for smallmouth choose a rod that fits that metric. It is better to focus, but when beginning an all-around fishing rod can and will do everything for you. Then that beginner can start earning some money and get the rod that makes them feel like it will make them a better fisherman.
What's The Best Rod and Reel For Bass Fishing?
The G. Loomix IMX-Pro fishing rod and the Abu Garcia Revo MGXtreme spinning reel are the best in my eyes for bass fishing. I spook about the IMX-Pro and all its different types. I don’t even need to talk about the company because they are one of the best and their brand name speaks for itself.
However, I have an affection for Abu Garcia reels. They have served me so well over the decades and I just don’t want to stop using them. I even have a conventional reel that I bought for striped bass fishing and it is still in the box and still in perfect condition after 10 years. I need to do more saltwater fishing…
Best Beginner Fishing Rod
The Ugly Stik GX2 is the best beginner fishing pole around as I stated above. It does everything you need and doesn’t mess around when it comes to quality of function or strength. These rods have worked great for me over decades! I believe they will do great for you. There is an added bonus that they won’t having you looking at your budget at the end of the month.
Best Rod For Bass and Walleye
You can fish for bass and walleye in similar ways but there are some things that are different when you are a serious angler. Using planar boards with lures is one of them. You will need a shorter stiffer rod than what I have suggested that is best for bass fishing. So if you would like to meet a happy medium because your wife won’t let you have any more rods in the rods this will help you out.
St. Croix Legend Tournament Walleye Fishing Rod
Go try out a St. Croix Legend Tournament Walleye Fishing Rod!
The St. Croix Legend Tournament Walleye fishing rod is exactly what you need. Not only is it the best in the business for walleye tournament fishermen, but you can also use it very effectively for bass too. On top of that, you get a 15-year warranty because these things are supposed to be strong so rest assured in your investment.
What Type Of Rod Is Best For Bass?
An all-around rod like the Ugly Stik GX2 is the best for bass because you are able to get it in a medium action heavy size with about 7ft of length. This is the perfect size to get just about everything done optimally. Now if you are fishing for a walleye you will want to go to something shorter around 6.5ft.
How Long Should A Walleye Rod Be?
Walleye rods are decently close to the size rod you want to use for bass. You will however find that finesse does not go over well with the toothy and strong walleye. You are also dealing with a lot of trolling fishermen so strength of a heavy rod works better. With that in mind, a 6 to 6.5ft rod serves you the best.
Best Budget Walleye Rod
The St. Croix Eyecon fishing rod is definitely a shocker when it comes to price. For $100 you have a super hiqh quality rod from a reputable company that focuses on fishing and nothing else. Isn’t it a little worrying when hugh conglomerates come in and take over a great brand? It seems like everything is being bought and sold these days and you don’t even know if they are doing things they way they used to do them anymore.
Best All-Around Walleye Rod
I will give two more hands to the St. Croix Eyecon fishing pole because it gets the job done and the price is so good! It can do all the types of walleye fishing that you can imagine and come back the next year or decade ready for more. Finding a great rod can be relaxing because you know you will be worry free unless you close the trunk on the fishing rod...
Best Walleye Jigging Rod 2020
The St. Croix Legend X are a rod that you will definitely want to try out in 2020 for walleye. When you are fishing with jigs and need to feel those subtle bites, but also need to lay a big hookset into them from the deep you need power. The legend serious is not just for the tournament pros, but also for the everyday angler.
Best All-Around Bass Spinning Rod
The G. Loomis IMX-Pro covers this spot with no problem. It also assumes you have money. If you don’t have money trackback to the St. Croix BASS X that is custom made to catching bass. These two options are great whether you can afford it or not.
You should strive to upgrade your fishing gear on a regular basis so that you don’t have to replace stuff every Christmas. Once your family realizes you are asking for the same things every holiday they will wonder what quality you are asking for and what would be a better gift for you. Point them in the right direction!
What Is The Best Length Rod For Bass Fishing?
The best length is 7ft. With this much length you can pull stuff out of the grass, lily pads, weeds, stumps, logs and submerged trees with no problem. Depending on the action you will be able to feel those small bites that really annoy you when you think nothing is around.
The finesse side of bass fishing cannot be ignored and you should definitely take the length into thought. Also you get leverage for the length for your hookset, which makes that easier to accomplish.