How many rods/reels is enough?

[mjk86]

Since when most people are fishing they are only holding 1 rod and 1 reel, the short answer is 1 setup.  That is enough.  The rest is simply based on how often you fish, what you fish for,  how much you can afford, and how much you want to spend on your gear.  You all got me beat though thats for sure!  For table rock....if you had a 7ft med power fast action spinning rod spooled with 6# mono and a size 35 reel, youd be in a position to catch as many fish as anyone else on table rock.  That setup will work great for small jigs, ned rigs, crawlers, small spoons,  and even topwaters and jerkbaits in a pinch.  Folks feel that they NEED 20 different rods on their boat with 2 people...but that just means that they have no idea what fish are biting on, or what to use.  Table rock bass eat shad and crawdads, all bass eat worms.  Thats 3 rods if you wanna have something rigged up with everything. 

[rps]

I will happily admit I have addictive tendencies, but, so far, I have avoided the pile of rods syndrome.

I have three walleye rods. Two are for trolling and pulling rigs. The third is set up for lead core. I typically have two out of three in the boat.

I have a medium heavy rod for jigs, spinner baits, carolina rigs, and heavy vertical spoon jigging; a crankbait rod for warts and jerk baits; a Ned rod; a 6' Top Dollar rod; and a medium power rod for quarter ounce grub swimming and light spoon jigging.

In my garage, I also keep a spinning rod in case I go trout fishing.

[wily]

this topic reminds me of a classic post by ColdWaterFshr -- he said he only needed 3 too

Posted 11 Jan 2011

Only 3 rods? Thats tough. I'll give it a try.

Spinnerbait/buzzbait rod : a 7'3 Funeral Blakemore boron infinite-dynamic action pitching stick in negative sheen matte black (it actually absorbs light waves and certain radio frequencies), trigger grip sawed off and retrofitted with a Hearst dyna-glide shifter mated to a Diagon Centripedex 9.0:1 titanimum tricked out with depleted uranium bearings to keep the heat down. Freshest born-on-date Spiderwire in 17 lb test of course.

Crankbaitin rod: a 8'9 Montgomery Ward fiberglass/porcelain hybrid, med-heavy action foam grip paired with a Zebco Diamond Anniversary 404 encrusted w/ 42 carat cubit zirconia and diamelles throughout. Drag customized with Mickey Thompson high friction rubber, and Shizweki paddles. Maxima 12 lb green in Chameleon Blue (factory prototype not available to the general public)

Wormin rod (heavy cover): a 17 weight warped pool cue borrowed from the Twilight Inn (Springfield, MO - 1989), custom carved into a 5'4 foot medium-light action w/ pistol grip in high grade cork and top of the line ceramic guides. Tiger-flamed the entire length for extra badass aesthetics and mojo, and air-brushed in black-light glow paint with lots of lewd and semi-topless women in various states of undress. Mermaids with long hair covering their unmentionables and stuff. But tastefully done. Mated to that would be a custom Les Paul Ambassadeur reel, the first and best one they ever made and tricked out with a drag dial that goes all the way to ELEVEN.

[abkeenan]

4 hours ago, gitnby said:

May need to check my storage locker in the boat? might be another 1 or 2 hiding in there? Oh, and I keep a small spinning outfit on the pontoon boat for emergencies.

Never know when kiddie tubing action may turn into a random white bass topwater frenzy action. 

[gitnby]

6 hours ago, MOPanfisher said:

LOL, at least I am not that bad.  I have spent the last several years upgrading to beer rods and reels, the old or cheap ones I put in our church garage sale or give away.  Don't think I have more than 20 left.  

I don't have one of those beer rods? But, I definitely think I need to get one?

How many ounces do they hold?

[MOPanfisher]

Haha, it's not how many ounces your rod can hold, more about how well you cast it.  Darn phone and its sensitive buttons.  I text like fat people jog, slow and bouncy.

[mixermarkb]

It all depends on how tuned into certain presentations you like your gear to be. I have a big collection, listed on another thread, but I've built it over years. I like having finely tuned setups for what I use them for.

A great mechanic could do a lot with a Gerber multi tool and an adjustable wrench, but if you look at someone who has been working on cars for years, they are gonna have a lot more in their tool chest than that.

Just because you have them, doesn't mean you are gonna use them each time out. I'm headed to Bull Shoals tonight. I just have tomorrow to fish, so out of 30 or so rigs, I'm taking 5. One spinning rod for a Ned rig, a Jerkbait rod, two crankbait rods for warts and rockcrawlers/DT-14 if they want something a little deeper than a wart, and a big rod for A-rigs. With limited time, those are the patterns I'm going to be looking for, and if I can't get a few to bite on those, then I'm just SOL. I don't want all the other choices to think about. That's plenty of options to get bites with if I can find some biting fish, but if it was June and I was fishing LOZ, I'd have a different set of options picked out.

 

[Deadstream]

Bass poles, salmon poles, steelhead poles, fly rods, panfish, crappie, offshore salmon poles, muskie rods, backback poles, canoe poles,catfish rigs, trout poles,jig poles...

Oh, and tip ups and ice fishing rods.  Thats not including the garage sale junk I buy and repair that I give to the local kids,etc.  I need help.

 

 

 

[Champ188]

21 hours ago, Blll said:

As you get older they just start to grow. I have the first rod my dad ever gave me in the 50's on a display rack., and at 65 years have less than one a year since then. Still adds up to about 45 set-ups. If I just fished bass there would be far fewer. Coming from the North, I have Musky rods and Canada rods. Here I had to buy Striper set-ups. It adds up. Usually about 12 in the boat depending on the days quarry. About this time of year I eyeball which one has seen its day and select it for the BP exchange. Going to try the new Quantum Throttle for drop shotting and a Browning 6'10" ML. I quit smoking this year so I can justify a reward with the saved $$$. 

Congrats on quitting smoking. I quit 5 years ago when I went thru an ordeal with kidney cancer. Happier every day about it. I can breathe better, I hardly ever cough now, etc. However, these holier-than-thou reformed smokers who like to say "Ewwwww, those things stink" are full of crap. Only time I ever think about a smoke these days is when I get around someone who has one lit. Still smells very good to me but not to the point of calling it a craving. 

[grizwilson]

Only 17 on deck at present