Fishing Gear, Explained: Rods, Reels, Lures and Nets

Start here: what are you actually fishing for?

Pick the fish and the water first. A rod that suits panfish off a dock is the wrong tool for pike in weeds, and a saltwater pier setup is different again. Three questions settle most of it: how big is the fish, how heavy is the lure or bait you will cast, and are you fishing fresh or salt water?

Lure weight is the one people skip, and it matters most. A rod is built to load and spring back within a range of lure weights, printed just above the handle. Cast something much lighter and the rod never bends, so the cast is short. Cast something much heavier and you risk the blank. The reel and the line then follow the rod, not the other way around.

Salt water changes the shopping list rather than the sizing. Reels for salt need sealed or shielded bearings and corrosion resistant internals, hardware wants stainless or anodised aluminium, and everything gets a freshwater rinse at the end of the day. Freshwater gear used in salt corrodes quickly unless it is rinsed and maintained.

Fishing poles and rods: length, power and action in plain terms

A fishing rod is described by three things, and they are usually printed on the blank near the handle. Length is the overall measurement, and it controls casting distance and leverage. All else being equal, longer rods generally help casting distance and pick up more line on a hookset. Shorter rods are more accurate, easier under overhanging trees, and easier to control in a kayak.

Power is how much force it takes to bend the rod: ultralight, light, medium light, medium, medium heavy, heavy. Power is chosen from the size of the fish and the weight of the lure, not from how strong you feel. Ultralight suits panfish and small trout with tiny lures. Medium is the general freshwater middle ground. Medium heavy is where a lot of bass fishing lives, because it moves a hook through a thick jaw.

Action is where along the blank the rod bends. A fast action rod bends near the tip only, which gives a quick, direct hookset and suits single hook lures such as jigs and worms. A moderate or slow action bends deeper into the blank, which loads more forgivingly and keeps treble hooks pinned on a thrashing fish, so it suits crankbaits and other treble hook lures.

The last label is the material. Graphite blanks are light and sensitive, so you feel a soft bite. Fibreglass is heavier and less talkative but far more forgiving of abuse, which is why it turns up in kids' rods and trolling rods. Composite blanks split the difference. Also check the piece count: a two piece or four piece rod packs into a car or a plane, a one piece has no ferrule to work loose. If you store rods on a boat or in a truck, a rod sock or a padded rod box stops guides bending and blanks chipping.

Reels: spinning, baitcasting, spincast and fly

There are four types of fishing reel in common use, and they are not interchangeable, because the rod handle and guides are built for one or the other. A spinning reel hangs under the rod, has a fixed spool and a wire bail that lays the line on. It handles light lures well, rarely tangles badly, and is the default first reel for almost everyone. A spinning rod has a handle with a sliding or fixed reel seat underneath and large guides close to the reel that funnel the line down.

A baitcasting reel sits on top of the rod with a revolving spool. It gives better control of heavier lures and more cranking power, and it is what most bass anglers use for jigs, heavy plastics and big crankbaits. The trade off is the backlash, a spool that keeps spinning after the lure has stopped. Modern brakes handle most of it, but it takes practice, so it is a second reel rather than a first.

A spincast reel is the closed face one with a push button nose cone. It sits on top of the rod, tangles are far less likely and usually hidden inside the nose cone, and it is the standard fitting on kids' combos. It holds less line and has a coarser drag than a spinning reel, which is a fair trade for a rod that gets dropped.

A fly reel mostly stores line and applies drag. It is not used to cast, and on small fish it barely gets used at all. Reel size numbers do not mean the same thing across those four types. On a spinning reel the number, such as 1000 through 5000, tracks spool and body size. On a fly reel the number tracks the line weight it is built to hold. Both are manufacturer conventions rather than an industry standard, so read the line capacity printed on the spool, which states a line rating and how many yards of it the spool takes.

Line and leader: matching line to the rod and reel

Line is sold by pound test, a nominal rating rather than a guaranteed breaking load, and actual breaking strength varies, especially with braid. Two numbers constrain your choice: the line rating printed on the rod, and the line capacity printed on the reel spool. Stay inside both and you will not be disappointed.

Monofilament is a single nylon strand. It stretches, which forgives a hard hookset and a head shake at the boat, it floats, and it is the cheapest. It also takes a memory set on the spool and breaks down in sunlight, so it wants replacing regularly. Fluorocarbon is denser, sinks, and is harder for fish to see in clear water. It has less stretch than mono and better abrasion resistance, which is why it is the common leader material.

Braid is woven fibre. It has almost no stretch, so bites telegraph straight to your hand, and it is very thin for its rating, so a spool holds far more of it. The store stocks the Sufix Revolve Braid in a 10 lb test, 200 yard spool. Braid is highly visible in clear water, so most people tie a length of fluorocarbon leader to the end of it.

Which knot you tie depends on which of those three you are joining, and that is a subject of its own. The store has a separate guide to fishing knots that covers hook knots, loop knots and line to leader joins, and which knot survives in braid.

Lures and baits, including what bass anglers reach for

A lure does one of three jobs: it looks like food, it moves like something fleeing, or it makes enough noise and flash to provoke a strike. You do not need many. Five or six styles that cover different depths will out-fish a tackle box of forty that all swim at two feet.

Soft plastics are the backbone of bass fishing. A worm, a creature bait or a craw on a weighted hook can be fished slowly, dropped into cover and worked almost anywhere. Rigged weedless on a Texas rig, they come through brush that would snag anything else. The store's drop shot rig guide covers one of the most productive ways to fish a small soft plastic, including the hook, weight and leader choices.

Jigs are a weighted hook with a skirt or a soft body. They fish the bottom, they hunt big fish, and they are why so many bass rods are medium heavy with a fast tip. Crankbaits are hard bodied lures with a plastic lip; the lip size sets the running depth, so you buy them by the depth you want to cover. Spinnerbaits and inline spinners use a blade for flash and vibration, and they work in stained water where a subtle lure goes unseen. Topwater lures stay on the surface, and are at their best at dawn, dusk and over shallow weed.

Match the hook style to the rod you bought. Single hook lures, jigs and plastics want a fast action rod that can drive a point home. Treble hook lures, crankbaits and topwaters want a softer, moderate action that does not rip the small hooks free. Live and cut bait need no rod trickery at all, just a hook, a weight and patience. At night, an underwater fishing light hung off the boat or the dock pulls baitfish into a lit column and the gamefish follow, which is a different way of solving the same problem.

Fly fishing gear: weight is the number that matters

Fly fishing works backwards from everything above. You cast the weight of the fly line, not the lure, so the line is chosen first and everything else is matched to it. The matching number is the line weight, usually written as a number from roughly 1 up to 12 or higher. Rod, line and reel all carry a weight rating, and they should agree. A 5 weight rod takes a 5 weight line on a 5 weight reel.

Lower numbers are for small flies and small fish in small water. Middle numbers cover general trout fishing. Higher numbers cast big, wind resistant flies and handle powerful fish in salt water. If you are buying one outfit for trout, the middle of the range is the safe place to land.

A fly rod is also sold by length and by piece count. Longer rods mend line better on a big river and keep a backcast clear behind you. Shorter rods suit tight, brushy streams. Four piece rods are now normal, because they travel.

The rest of the fly kit is short. A tapered leader, which steps down in diameter from the line to the fly, plus spools of tippet to rebuild the thin end as you change flies. Backing, which fills the reel spool under the fly line and gives you reserve if a fish runs. Floatant if you fish dry flies, split shot or weighted flies if you fish subsurface. Nippers, forceps and a fly box. Waders and boots if you are getting in the water. That is a complete outfit.

Nets, landing gear and the small items that finish a kit

A landing net is not optional once the fish is bigger than your hand. It ends the fight at the boat, where most fish are lost, and it lets you unhook a fish you plan to release without dropping it on a hot deck. Size the hoop to the fish you expect, and the handle to how far above the water you are standing. A kayak needs a short handle, a high sided boat or a steep bank needs a long one, and telescoping handles cover both.

Net mesh is the choice most people get wrong. Knotless rubber or rubber coated mesh does far less damage to slime coat, fins and eyes, and hooks do not bury in it the way they do in knotted nylon, so unhooking takes seconds rather than minutes. If you release fish, buy rubber. A cast net is a different tool altogether, a weighted circular net thrown to collect live bait, not to land a hooked fish.

After the net, the small items are what turn a pile of gear into a kit. Pliers or forceps for unhooking. Line cutters. A tackle organiser or a caddy that keeps pliers, grippers and lures in one place instead of loose in a hatch. A measuring board if you fish anywhere with a size limit or you like a record of the day. Rod holders, so a rod is never balanced on a gunwale.

On a boat, rod holders are worth doing properly. Flush mount holders sit in the gunwale and store rods vertically. Clamp and track mounted holders can be moved or removed, and adjustable ones let you set a trolling angle. Anything through-bolted into a deck or gunwale wants a backing plate behind it, because a rod holder under load is a long lever on a thin laminate.

Three kits compared: bass, fly and a kid's first rod

A bass kit is built around versatility in cover. Most people start with a medium heavy, fast action spinning rod of around seven feet, a spinning reel in the middle sizes, braid with a fluorocarbon leader, and a box holding soft plastic worms, a couple of jigs, a spinnerbait, two crankbaits at different depths and one topwater. A baitcasting outfit is the usual second rod, for heavier lures and thicker cover.

A fly kit is built around one matched weight. Rod, line and reel all at the same number, backing under the line, a tapered leader, a couple of spools of tippet, a small box of flies suited to the water you fish, and a rubber net with a short handle. Add waders if you are wading. The casting is the skill, not the shopping.

A kid's rod is built around nothing going wrong. Short, so it is controllable indoors and out, usually under five feet. A closed face spincast reel with a push button, because it cannot backlash and the bail cannot be left open. A fibreglass blank, which survives being trodden on. Line already spooled. Fish for panfish with bait and a float, and keep the session short. A small hook rather than an oversized one is a worthwhile upgrade.

For all three, storage decides how long the gear lasts. Rods break in car doors, in truck beds and against boat hatches far more often than they break on fish. A sock over each rod, or a rod box, removes most of that risk.

Common questions

What is the difference between a fishing pole and a fishing rod?

In everyday use they mean the same thing, and most sellers list combos under both words. Strictly, a pole is a simple length of material with line tied to the tip and no reel or guides, while a rod has guides along the blank and a reel seat. If you are buying a rod and reel together, either word will find it.

What size spinning reel do I need?

Match the reel to the rod and the line, not to the fish alone. Smaller numbered reels suit light rods and light line for panfish and trout, mid sizes cover general freshwater and bass, larger sizes handle heavier line and salt water. Reel size numbers are manufacturer conventions, so read the line capacity printed on the spool and make sure it holds enough of the line rating on your rod.

Should a beginner buy a spinning reel or a baitcaster?

Start with a spinning reel. It casts light lures well, it is far less prone to an expensive tangle, and it is quicker to learn. A baitcaster gives more control with heavy lures and more cranking power, which is why it becomes a second outfit for bass anglers, but it needs practice with the brakes before it stops backlashing.

What fly rod weight should I buy first?

Buy one weight for the fishing you will actually do, and match rod, line and reel to the same number. The middle of the range suits general trout fishing and casts a wide range of fly sizes. Go lower for small flies on small streams, higher for big wind resistant flies, strong fish and salt water.

Which lures should be in a first bass box?

Five styles cover most days: soft plastic worms or creature baits on a weighted or weedless hook, a jig, a spinnerbait, two crankbaits that run at different depths, and one topwater lure. Fish plastics and jigs slowly near cover, use the spinnerbait in stained water, and save topwater for dawn, dusk and shallow weed.

Do I need a rubber landing net?

If you release fish, yes. Knotless rubber or rubber coated mesh does less damage to a fish's slime coat, fins and eyes than knotted nylon, and hooks do not bury in it, so unhooking is quicker for both of you. Size the hoop to the fish you expect and the handle to how far above the water you stand.

Sources

• GearPort catalog listing: Sufix Revolve Braid Fishing Line 691-510CC 10 lb Coastal Camo 200 Yds
• General tackle industry practice; there is no published cross-brand standard for rod power or action designations.
• American Fly Fishing Trade Association fly line weight designation convention