What Rods are staples for you Kayak

[FishTank]

I tend to rotate them based on what bait or technique is hot at the moment but I always take these two....

 

Megabass P5 Six Eleven 

G. Loomis NRX+ 803S

[Smirak]

I usually have most of mine with me, maybe 6 or 7? They range from 6’-10” spinning to a 7’-10” heavy swimbait rod.

[Alex from GA]

Usually a 5 1/2' spinning rod with 6 lb mono.  Sometimes a mh 6'6" bait caster with 12 lb mono.  I only fish rivers in my kayak and always go downstream.

[new2BC4bass]

8 hours ago, Alex from GA said:

Usually a 5 1/2' spinning rod with 6 lb mono.  Sometimes a mh 6'6" bait caster with 12 lb mono.  I only fish rivers in my kayak and always go downstream.

Given a choice I'd much rather drift downstream than paddle upstream.  Hard to cast with a paddle in your hands. 

 

I like your line choices, but I prefer longer rods.

[flyfisher]

5 hours ago, new2BC4bass said:

Given a choice I'd much rather drift downstream than paddle upstream.  Hard to cast with a paddle in your hands. 

 

I like your line choices, but I prefer longer rods.

best thing I ever did for my kayak was get  motor for it a few years back.  I also primarily river fish and it is really nice to be able to motor upstream and cover way more water than when I was paddling upstream.  I can do 5-6 miles easily then float back without needing a shuttle.

[FryDog62]

My Blackpack Pro holds 8 rods so that’s how many I take on any given trip, some rotation of the following baitcasting rods depending on where I’m headed:

 

*7M+ Tatula Elite Ehrler for Caffeine Shads, Tatula SVTW for skipping. 
*Cashion ICON 7 ft Light BFS and Daiwa Air TW for topwater/small cranks.

*7-2 Expride ML + Aldebaran BFS for Strolling, Hover Rigs. 

*7-1 Phenix Feather ML + Curado BFS w/Ned
*7-1 Phenix Feather MH for Free Rigging. 
*7-1 Phenix Classic BFS Light + Ark Gravity BFS for 1/16th oz hair jigs
*NRX 852 and Steez SVTW for wacky/Neko.

*ALX Toadface for Toadz, buzzbaits.

*ALX Dream for poop baits

*ALX Enox Decoy for T-Rig worms

*ALX Dragger for Carolina Rigs

*Dobyns 734 for swim jigs

*Dobyns 685 for jerkbaits, squarebills.

*Megabass Perfect Pitch for football jigs

*Alpha Angler Chatterbound for Chatterbaits, Spinnerbaits and mid depth cranks.

 

As I have switched (at least temporarily from bass boat to kayak) many of the single hook combos were 100% fluorocarbon but are now switching to braid + leader to get better hooksets on long casts. Harder to get leverage when you’re primarily sitting, or standing/balancing in one spot. 

 

[Koz]

If I’m fishing in a tournament I’ll bring 7-9 rods but that’s mostly to save time having to tie on different baits.

 

When I’m fishing for fun I take 4-6 rods and those choices are based upon what techniques and baits I plan to fish.

 

This year I have purposely packed light to force myself to fish baits and techniques that I don’t normally prefer to fish with the goal of being a more well rounded angler. 

[Junk Fisherman]

I don't bring my best gear in my kayak for fear of flipping and not wanting to haul them in the cab of my truck. So my Steez and GLXs stay home.  Anyways, my staples are:

 

Dobyns 741 HP- Neds 

Dobyns 742 HP- finesse swimbaits, Neko, wacky Senko, dropshot

Dobyns 703 XP- Casting- plastics, all-around

St Croix Tournament Bass Sweeper 7' MH- bladed jigs, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits

 

 

[bulldog1935]

@Junk Fisherman - if you're feeling creative, I have a good rod leash design for you.  

It uses a rod-end and separate leash quick-connected by a 1/2-inch paracord buckle. Whatever rod isn't in use is clipped to a leash in a rod holder. 

Somewhere on East Flats last fall, my buddy Lou paddled off his favorite Twin Power spinning combo - he had a commercial rod leash with him that was too cumbersome to use.  I made him a gang of these, and I've been using them more than a dozen years, including two turtles.  

You can get by with short bungee leashes with swivel hooks that glide on your anchor trolley line (or longer bungee and clip into deck eye).  The leash is easy to knot using bungee-size toggles, and has the male paracord buckle.  

The rod end wraps both the rod and reel foot, and keeps the reel from falling off the rod.  (Loop on rod, insert the reel foot facing backwards, and when you turn the reel forward, loop wraps the foot...)

 

Just have to make a rod-end for each rod - the rod end uses coreless paracord, small cordlock toggle, and the female paracord buckle.  (round turn and half-hitch seized w/ sailmaking needle and twine)  Need longer loop on rod end for baitcast foot than for spinning reel.  You can get everything to make these on Amazon.  

 

[Junk Fisherman]

That is very creative @bulldog1935

 

I'm going to have to spend some time with that setup.  Thanks for the tip.  

[thunderblack]

7'-6" ML spinner

7'-0" M F spinner

[Bankc]

It depends on the lake and time of year.  But I'm limited to six rods.  So I usually like to have one of each in ML, M, MH, and H, all fast action and all 7' or there abouts (one is 6'10").  The other two spots are kind of open, but usually another M or MH with a moderate action or a second ML or MH with fast action so I don't have to swap lures as often.

 

The only real constraint with a kayak when it comes to rods, in my opinion, is limiting yourself to six.  So I need rods that can can cover multiple presentations. That's not usually an issue.  I'm usually fishing with a rod that is less than ideal, but still good enough to get the job done without too much hassle.  You get used to it. 

[PBBrandon]

I always take 3, been meaning to add a bucket behind the seat with rod holders for more. I guess I’m kind of worried about capsizing and losing 5 or 6 rods instead of 3 lol. 
 

On Texoma I usually take a combo of:

 

7’3” MH Poison Adrena/7’3” HXF LTB/DRX755 (all round/bottom contact depending on the cover/area I’m fishing)

 

Always my 7’2” MHM LTB for cranks and such

 

Always my 6’10” MLXF LTB for finesse stuff and small swimbaits

 

Sometimes I’ll swap a rod out for my 6’6” LF Premier if I wanna chuck a white rooster tail and have fun catching loads of little white bass and striper.

 

Really need to modify my yak to hold a couple more so I don’t have to compromise