Which fishing rod to buy? Beginner’s guide to fishing

First of all, the rod should be adapted to the type of fishing the beginner intends to do. Another one is recommended for long sittings when fishing for carp, and a completely different equipment will be useful for roaches. With predatory fish we also need to get a special type of rod. Do you have to have them all at once? Not necessarily. We suggest where to start.

What types of rods can we distinguish?

Which rod to buy? The answer depends on what kind of fish we intend to catch and how often we want to do it. Occasional fishing is hardly a reason for expensive purchases and excessive focus on technical details. In any case, it is worth exploring the choice we have among the rods offered to customers on the market

Basic types of fishing rods

At first, you can skip the ice and sea rods, because this is a very specific type of equipment that is rarely useful for beginners in this sport. Instead, it is worth distinguishing

• float rods – very often chosen by novice anglers. They are used for catching various types of fish on a float – these are mainly the ones that take plant food or small animals (insects). Such a rod is 200 to 700 cm long and is adapted for mounting a reel. There are distance rods (about 4 m long, designed for fishing at longer distances) and asp rods (4 to 9 m long; designed for fishing at greater depths, e.g. for carp);
• ground rods – stiffer and more durable than float rods; they can be telescopic or folded, most often they are up to 3.8 m long. In their case one fishes with the use of a weight which lies on the bottom together with the lure; the bite is indicated not by the float but by a signaler suspended on the line
• spinning rods – equipment for amateurs of predator fishing; thanks to such a rod we cast and reel the line with artificial lure (rubber, wobbler, spinner). Taking a pike, perch or zander is signalled by vibrations felt on the rod. There are different types of such rods – from ultralight ones with the casting weight of 15 g to heavy ones (over 50 g);
• fly rods – for fishing trout and grayling on an artificial fly; they require specialized reels and line;
• whips – very long telescopic rods for fishing without a reel; they are up to 10 m long and are used to catch small fish
• poles – complicated rods designed for fishing in competitions; sometimes they are up to 13 m long; they allow precise fishing in the place where fish are baited.

What should I pay attention to when choosing a rod?

Usually the first choice is a float, ground or spinning rod. The first proposal is very universal, the second one is especially good for catching fish that like to feed at the bottom (bream, tench, crucian carp, sometimes carp), and the last one is used for catching predators. So the goal we choose is important. We should clearly define the fishery we are going to visit most often and the fish we usually want to ambush with the rod

Important parameters

It is good to know what kind of specimens we can find in our preferred fishery. Then it will be easier for us to choose the right rod. Important parameters are its flexibility, strength and weight. Length is also important – operating a long rod in a small river with overgrown banks will be uncomfortable. The same is true if the rod is too heavy. Finally, you should buy a rod with guides, reel holder and handle made of solid materials

Is expensive equipment always the only solution?

In a fishing store the seller may offer us ”top-shelf equipment,” but it is not worth succumbing to such proposals. The basic question we need to answer is: how many times a month will we be able to go fishing? If it’s going to be sporadic, it’s better to buy mid-priced or even lower-priced equipment than the best and most expensive, which will get dusty in the corner.

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