What Rods are staples for you Kayak

[lunkerboss923]

Just curious what rods you usually take with you on the Kayak. There are just so many possibilities. Let's hear it! 

[Choporoz]

Depends...time of year, water body type (slow river? grass lake?  rock lake?  fast river with riffles? tidal?...)...docks?  Etc.

  Of all the variables, kayak (vs boat) is low on my list of considerations ....except that limiting myself to 8 rods may mean slight compromises to double duty - maybe instead of a spinnerbait rod, and my chatterbait rod, I'll take one MHF that does both well, if not as well as my favorites. 

[new2BC4bass]

Never fished from a kayak, but have from a 14' Gheenoe.  All rods were 7' long except for the last time I fished with my B-I-L.  Used a 7'4" HF for frogs, but didn't get a hit on the rod.  Nice thing about fishing with another person is they can help land a fish for you.  I can see where a shorter rod would be useful if you didn't carry a landing net.  Would hate to break a rod high-sticking it trying to land a fish without one.

 

I never noticed a problem with handle length, but then I never used a rod having an extra long handle.

 

Always carried a rod capable of handling treble lures (Hurricane Redbone ML), a MF and the rest MHF.  Now that I've retired to Florida should I get to fish on a boat, one of the MHF would be substituted with a HF and another with a MH-Mod-Fast.  So five rods total if there is room.

 

Should I be able to carry more than 5 rods, I would add another MHF or MHR for its versatility.  Have never finessed fished in Florida, and when I do get around to try finesse here, I will be fishing alone from shore.

[MN Fisher]

No kayak, but the last year I had the canoe my prime rigs were

Diawa Fuego CT-XS - 7’ Diawa Aird-X H/F - Frogs, pitching

Diawa Fuego CT-H –7’ Dobyns Fury 705CB - Cranks, WPs, Spooks

Pflueger Patriarch 7.9 – 7’ Dobyns Fury 704C - Jigs, T-Rigs

Pflueger Supreme 7.1 – 7’ Diawa Aird-X MH/F - Spinnerbaits, Chatterbaits

Pflueger President 7.3 XT – 7’ Dobyns Fury 703C - Jerkbaits, Poppers

Pflueger President XT LE-30 - 7’ Dobyns Fury 703SF - Shakeyhead, Jig Worm

Pflueger President 25 - 7’ Dobyns Fury 702SF - Weightless Senko/Flukes, Wacky

Mitchell Avocet RZT-1000 - 7’ Diawa Procyon L/F - Ned, Neko

[MIbassyaker]

The typical 5 I bring on a kayak are:

MHF casting -- t-rgs, jigs

MHMF or MHF casting -- moving baits --spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, buzzbaits

MF or MXF casting -- topwater, jerkbaits

MXF or MF spinning -- senkos, flukes, tubes, other weightless or lightly-weigted plastics

MLXF or MLF spinning -- jigworms, ned, other lighter-end finesse stuff,

 

I'll swap out something situationally in order to bring a frog rod, a crankbait rod, another MHF caster, or another spinning rod, depending on what I want to do more of vs. less of.

[LootyDjibouti]

I almost always bring:
- M/F spinning rod (this is the rod I probably fish the single most)
- M/M topwater/jerkbait rod
- MH/MF rod w/ braid (swim jigs, buzzbaits, larger spooks)
- MH/MF rod w/ fluoro (chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, 3.8"+ keitechs, speed worm)
- MH/F (texas rigs and 3/8oz jigs)
- H/"XF" (Frogs, 1/2oz+ jigs, 6" magdrafts)

I have a M/M crankbait, a ML spinning, and a glide/swimbait rod each that I only bring occasionally. 

[bulldog1935]

Salt kayak - my bread-and-butter ML is BFS-mod Zillion on Omen Green 7'1" ML - 1/8-oz bread-and-butter 3" Z-man.   Backed-up one of these rods on close-out this year.  

 

My baitfinesse, doubles up ML, is Silver Wolf on Abu Kurodai baitfinesse 7'3" - I fish 2.5-g microplugs in tide passes and picky loitering redfish herds sipping glass minnows and tiny shrimp.  

From spring through fall, depending on the day's plan, 3rd rod is 1/4-oz and up, happy with Super Duty on 7' Crowder IM6 for jerkbait

 

Giant fall tides going into mud marshes, one of the longer rods gets replaced with shorter S-glass for skip-casting under mangroves to visible redfish backs.  

 

 Winter mornings begin with big topwaters for big 5-6" mullet, and 7/8-oz Corkys suspend jerkbaits, will bring out an MH for the 3rd rod.  

________________________

 

River kayak is easy, 6' MH graphite frogger

5' MM composite skip-caster

5-1/2' ML S-glass baitfinesse

 

[Bigbox99]

71MH Valkyrie.  I can do all moving bait work from 1/3 oz Frittsides to 1/2 oz chatterbait plus 5 inch plastic.  

[Dye99]

Im always switching things up since I fish lakes with only smallmouth, and others that are only largemouth. I only fish out of a kayak and usually take 5-8 rods out with me so it differs when it comes to weather.

But the every trip constant is,

 

NRX+ 852 for wacky senko

NRX+ 872 tubes or Shakey head

NRX+ 821NRR for neds

IMX pro 862c for Swimbaits

Megabass destroyer Landsat for drop shot.

 

[Brian11719]

Usually these 4:

VTS610MLXF - drop shot
VTC72HM - chatter / lipless

VTC73MHF - jig / spinner

TP1B74H - mini a-rig / 6" magdraft

 

...but I just got a KD610-4CB that I'll probably rotate in for jerkbaits and smaller crankbaits.

[casts_by_fly]

Depends on the lake and time of year for me. I typically carry 5 rods.  I have a horizontal rack that holds 4 plus one in my hand. Early season I’ll have two lighter casting rods for treble hooked baits. By may there is so much grass they are useless for that and I have the frog rod and big pitching rod swapped in. In the meantime, my head turner, swim jig, and heavy cover jig rods are pretty permanent. 

[Wprich]

22 hours ago, Dye99 said:

Im always switching things up since I fish lakes with only smallmouth, and others that are only largemouth. I only fish out of a kayak and usually take 5-8 rods out with me so it differs when it comes to weather.

But the every trip constant is,

 

NRX+ 852 for wacky senko

NRX+ 872 tubes or Shakey head

NRX+ 821NRR for neds

IMX pro 862c for Swimbaits

Megabass destroyer Landsat for drop shot.

 

Similar here:

NRX+ 852 MXF (normally carry 2 of these) for Wacky/Shaky Head/Flukes

NRX+ 842S MF Dropshot/small cranks/finesse swimbaits

NRX+ 821S MLF for Neko/NED

NRX+843C/Conquest 843C MHF Finesse Jigs/TX Rigs/Chatterbaits/Spinnerbaits/swimbaits

[Boomstick]

The three rods I definitely use the most:

 

Daiwa Tatula Elite 7'1" M/F Brent Ehrler dropshot rod - great for weightless senkos, shaky heads, drop shots and tubes.

 

Daiwa Tatula Elite 7' M-MH/XF Brent Ehrler "finesse" rod - my favorite soft plastic rod.

 

Daiwa Steez AGS Bottom Contact for usually jigs but also heavier T-Rigs and C-Rigs.

 

Beyond that, there's my 6'8' Mojo Bass M/XF "Topwater" rod which I use for poppers and jerkbaits, my 6'10" Tatula MH/F for spinnerbaits, chatterbaits or heavier T-Rigs and my 7'2" MH/MF Tatula glass which is my preferred rod for deep divers, but will throw most  moving baits.

[Jweller]

21 hours ago, Bigbox99 said:

71MH Valkyrie.  I can do all moving bait work from 1/3 oz Frittsides to 1/2 oz chatterbait plus 5 inch plastic.  

is this the travel rod?  What line do you like to use?

[Bigbox99]

1 hour ago, Jweller said:

is this the travel rod?  What line do you like to use?

It's a one peice rod.  It's considered the standout of the Valkyrie line by many.  They're glass and graphite composite material rods with some models being a blend or ranging from 100% graphite like the monster flipping stick to 71MH which I believe is all glass or at least mostly glass.  I use 14# sniper no line conditioner as an everything moving bait rod.  It so buttery smooth when fighting a fish and I have had so many fish landed that I know would have gotten off on another rod and the ability to throw seemingly anything make it hard to keep out of the kayak.  The handle length is also adjustable.  I keep it short most of the time but will extend it to fish DD22s or other deep cranks.  

https://www.tackletour.com/reviewmegabassvalkyriepg2.html

[jamesfishing]

I always use 2-3 rods for kayak fishing. A light spinning rod for panfish and topwater frogs is a must. Also, a medium heavy rod for flipping heavy cover or casting swimbaits. And if I have the room, I'll bring along a bait caster for really chunking cranks or frogs way out there.

[Huckfinn38]

I typically take 6 rods with me.  It varies based on the time of year.

Late winter/early spring I take two jerkbait casting rods (1 for 110 and 1 for 110 jr), I take a deep cranking rod, a lighter cranking rod for flat sides, I take a jig rod, and I take a spinnerbait set up typically a MH fast rod with a 28 ipt reel (typically 7.1:1.

Spring I take a jerkbait rod, a medium crankbait rod, jig rod, topwater rod for buzzbaits and walking baits, Spinner for wacky and shaky heads, and lastly a spinnerbait/chatterbait set up.

Summer I take a jig rod, medium cranking rod, heavier cranking rod, spinner for wacky and shakyheads, an ultra lite for crappie/white perch, and a rod i can fish as top water or throw a chatterbait/spinnerbait

Fall/early Winter I take a jerkbait rod, a medium crankbait rod, jig rod, topwater rod for buzzbaits and walking baits, Spinner for wacky and shaky heads, and lastly a spinnerbait/chatterbait set up.

 

[THE_Vue's]

12 rods,  3 fish finder, at least 2 trolling motor,  2 big Walmart 29dc batteries,  4 rod holders, 2 nets, coolers and biggest crate I can bring.  Oh and back pack for clothing and extra stuff.  Lol.  Jk.

 

2 rods typically and a tackle box.  Frog rod and a MH rod.  River fishing 1 rod, 7 medium.   Very minimalist. 

[TNBankFishing]

On 6/12/2024 at 11:42 AM, lunkerboss923 said:

Just curious what rods you usually take with you on the Kayak. There are just so many possibilities. Let's hear it! 

7’M Legend Elite

7’1MHXF Legend Xtreme

NRX+ 873

7’4” Steez AGS Heavy Cover Special

NRX+ 852s
 

 

Only swap is 852 for a Legend Elite MLF spin if I’m going to drop shot vs shakyhead. 

[new2BC4bass]

I made partial lists of the different power rods.  Still waffled.  Upon further consideration:

 

Spinning: Smallmouth 6'9" M-EF or Regista 6'10" MLF

HF casting: Expert Amistad

MHF casting: custom Lamiglas

MF casting: Helios or Smallmouth 6'10" MF

Crankbait casting: decided to forego and let MF rod handle that duty so I could use the Expert Headturner.

A 6th rod: Toadface.  Maybe replace the spinning rod with this one considering how I fish.

 

[king fisher]

7’6” Diawa Tatula heavy fast. With Diawa Coastal 150 reel.

 

7’6” Diawa Ardito medium heavy fast. With Diawa tatula 150 reel.

 

7’ Diawa Ardito medium heavy fast with Diawa Zillion reel.

 

7’ Diawa Ardito medium fast with Diawa Tatula CT reel.

 

Some days I substitute a medium spinning combo for one of the bait casters. I do not like to have more than four rods in my kayak.

 

 

[lunkerboss923]

Here's my list: 

Champion 734c 30lb braided Buzzbaits, Small Kaera Frog, 1/2oz Swim Jig, Spooks 

 

Champion 704c Chatterbaits, Spinnerbait, Texas Rig Worms 3/16 or 1/4 oz, Finesse Jigs, 6th Sense Finesse Swim Jigs

 

KLX703LMH Texas Rigged Senkos, Flukes, Speed Worm, 1.5 Squarebill, anything 3/8oz 

 

NRX+ 852S Tubes, Shakeyhead 

 

Sometimes I'll break out the Expride B XH for heavy cover froggin, 745C Extreme for dragging Jigs, X Bites for strictly Finesse jigs, I'll breakout the 795SB checkout the Glide Bait scene (It's hard to cast in a kayak, I wish i still had my Tequila Baccarac). 

[waymont]

Loomis

842

843

844

852

 

dobyns

Champion

705c

735c

 

Spinning

Expride 7’ light +

[Ryanralston07]

• Basspro Platinum Signature 7'1" MHF, Lew's Tournament MP, 15# fluoro - t-rigs, jigs
• Daiwa Tatula Elite 7'4" MHM, Daiwa Tatula CT, 15# fluoro - chatterbaits/spinnerbaits/deep cranks
• Basspro Carbonlite 7' MM, Carbonlite Reel, 12# Yozuri hybrid - topwater, shallow cranking
• Daiwa Tatula XT 7' MF, Daiwa Fuego LT 2500, 15# braid - wacky, flukes, weightless 
• Daiwa Tatula XT 7'3" HF, Lew's Tournament MP, 50# braid - frogs, heavy t-rigs/jigs

[flyfisher]

Sage 7wt XP

Sage Bass II LM

TFO mangrove coast 8wt

TFO Magnum 7wt

 

Those are my normal but sometimes I will throw in a 3wt or 4 wt and chase large sunnies cause that is a blast.

Oh, I flyfish primarily so.....