The fishing rod is one of the most important pieces of kit when fishing without it you are not normally going to get the bait to the fish or land it if you do hook it. Mind you I have caught some large fish blue fish a type for Tuna and snape (looked like a barracuda) with a hand line from the side if a ship in the southern Atlantic.

When I was a lad sea fishing rods where made from built bamboo or the new fangled solid fibre glass, the bamboo rods I came across where little more than sticks and the solid fibre glass where stronger but very heavy. You can still get solid glass fibre rods for big game fishing and you can still get built bamboo blanks.

Today’s rods are mainly made from man made fibres hollow glass fibre, carbon and graphite, they are very light and strong.

There is no one rod for are types of sea fishing, a 13 foot beach rod for east coast Cod that can though a 8 oz lead is going to be over the top for targeting summer Sole. A 50 lb boat rod will make a poor spinning rod.

When choosing a rod is a matter of taste and fit, a rod suited to an advanced tournament caster may not suite a 5 ½ foot angler of slight build. So choose a rod that you feel comfortable with and above all get advice.

If you are fishing all year round and targeting a wide range of fish the likelihood is that you will need more than one rod, I personal use two rods when beach fishing so that I can use different rigs and get plenty of bait out there.

 

When choosing a beach rod or a rod for casting you should remember that the reel you use should be regarded, a rod that is set up for a multiplier will be of limited use with a fixed spool reel although a multiplier can cope with a rod setup for a fixed spool.