Pick a pole: Balance power and strength with length to catch fish

One of the great things about fishing is that it is not very complicated in its simplest form. With a little bit of line, a hook and a cane pole (bamboo) or tree limb, anyone can catch a fish. Many people caught their first fish this way, and many still do. As our angling skills and knowledge grow, so does our appetite for equipment that will make us more successful. You can see this in almost every type of angling equipment.

Rods are no exception in the wide range of equipment that anglers utilize. As I began to focus more attention to bass fishing, I realized that the variations in rods were extremely important. The two most important characteristics a rod can have are length and action (bend). In this article, I want to focus just on rod length. Rod length is determined from the butt of the rod to the tip. Keep in mind that two rods the same length can feel slightly different depending on how much is dedicated to the handle.