What rods (and reels) do I still need to be well-rounded on a kayak (or even bank)?

[FishAndPlanes]

Hi, I currently have a casting rod (used for moving baits) and a spinning rod (used for finesse techniques). The casting is Dobyns Fury 734C and spinning is Fury 703SF. What rods would you guys suggest I add to the arsenal to be covered on most bases for a fishing trip (either on a kayak or bank fishing). I was thinking a Fury 733C casting for treble hooks since it has more give, and Fury 705CB for crankbait and jerkbait? Please let me know what you think, thanks!

[IYAOYAS]

a flipping stick is essential gear to me. If I'm bass fishing a jig is always on hand.

[islandbass]

First, I would recommend figuring the cover and conditions you will be facing most often and share it here. 
 

Without this information, you might as well spin the bottle and hope for the best, lol. 
 

For example, a flipping stick as @IYAOYAS recommended is generally a good idea, but in my area, I will never ever need a flipping rig, so as much I would love to add one to my arsenal, it wouldn’t be more than a glorified dust collector on the rack.

 

That is just one example of what would normally be a decent recommendation might not suit the conditions you commonly face.

[casts_by_fly]

In a kayak or walking the bank you have a limited carrying capacity. So you need to consider rods that are versatile generally. And then if you need a specific thing you can add it. For my own lakes the way I like to fish and fishing out of a kayak which carried 5 rods, I would always have two of my rods every trip- 6’10” fast 1/4-3/4 and 7’4” fast 1/2-1. I could throw most anything that I regularly fish with those two rods.  Most of my lakes are grassy after may so treble hooks are tough most of the year. Depending on the lake and season I’d add in a crankbait rod early season, a frog rod from June, a heavier pitching stick around the same time, a spinning rod for either ffs or neds. If you don’t have heavy cover, you could skip the pitching stick and frog rods. If you like finesse fishing then you need a second spinning rod. So like said above, how do you like to fish and what rods support that?

[Brian11719]

Looks like I beat Glenn to posting this video:

 

Pretty much spot on IMHO and 4 is what I take in my kayak although I could fit 5 if I really wanted to...

 

Since you already have a couple of Dobyns rods I'll throw in what I'd do if it were me.

 

KD735CB - all purpose crankbait rod...great for a lipless and can also throw a topwater walking bait like a spook or a bladed jig with it.

 

KD745C - good for frogs, pitching and flipping, spinnerbaits and small swimbaits.

 

If you want to pick up a fifth one I'd suggest 1 of 2 routes depending on what you tend to throw more. If you want to get into punching or heavier swimbaits you could get something like a KD735FLIP and use that for a punching rod or throw heavier single hook swimbaits like a 6" magdraft freestyle with an owner beast in it. On the other hand if you like trebles more instead of the KD735CB you could go with a 6104CB and use that for smaller stuff like jerkbaits, squarebills and poppers and then go up to a DC736CB for bladed jigs and medium - deep crankbaits.

 

No reason to stick to all Dobyns I just used these as an example because I'm familiar with them all (and own most of them). A third option for the fifth rod would be a second spinning rod if you find yourself throwing a lot of finesse stuff.

 

 

 

 

[JackstrawIII]

For bank fishing, I like to be as simple and unencumbered as possible. I want one rod in my hand... and that's it. After trying everything, I settled on a 6'10 MHMF (happens to be a Megabass Orochi XX Spinnerbait Special) for literally everything. The only thing it can't do is heavy cover frogging, but I don't do that from the bank anyways. With this rod, I regularly fish paddletails, chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, texas rigs, smaller jigs, topwater toad baits in sparse cover, and more. Heck, I've even thrown dropshots with it successfully. You could also throw crankbaits on it, but I'm not much of a treble hook guy. I've caught bass, walleye, perch, catfish, and drum with this rod. No joke. 

If I'm going to stay near my truck, I'll throw in another long/heavy rod occasionally with braid so I can throw a frog for fun... but honestly, I could just carry an extra reel spooled up with braid and throw a frog on this rod too, if I really wanted to. Honestly, when you're trying to keep it simple, it's amazing how much you can do with one rod. 

With all that said, if I was going out on a kayak with your two rods (which are good all around choices), my third rod would depend on what I threw most often. I love topwater, so maybe I'd bring my SA735C to throw frogs... or if I was going to throw jigs/t-rigs more often, I'd bring something like my Tatula 711HFB. I guess it depends on what you wanted to do most often. Something like the SA735C spooled up with braid would probably be my choice, as it could work for frogs AND flipping/pitching/punching. Very solid all around choice. 

[king fisher]

 

[FishAndPlanes]

  On 3/24/2025 at 10:01 AM, islandbass said:

First, I would recommend figuring the cover and conditions you will be facing most often and share it here. 
 

Without this information, you might as well spin the bottle and hope for the best, lol. 
 

For example, a flipping stick as @IYAOYAS recommended is generally a good idea, but in my area, I will never ever need a flipping rig, so as much I would love to add one to my arsenal, it wouldn’t be more than a glorified dust collector on the rack.

 

That is just one example of what would normally be a decent recommendation might not suit the conditions you commonly face.

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  On 3/24/2025 at 2:46 PM, casts_by_fly said:

In a kayak or walking the bank you have a limited carrying capacity. So you need to consider rods that are versatile generally. And then if you need a specific thing you can add it. For my own lakes the way I like to fish and fishing out of a kayak which carried 5 rods, I would always have two of my rods every trip- 6’10” fast 1/4-3/4 and 7’4” fast 1/2-1. I could throw most anything that I regularly fish with those two rods.  Most of my lakes are grassy after may so treble hooks are tough most of the year. Depending on the lake and season I’d add in a crankbait rod early season, a frog rod from June, a heavier pitching stick around the same time, a spinning rod for either ffs or neds. If you don’t have heavy cover, you could skip the pitching stick and frog rods. If you like finesse fishing then you need a second spinning rod. So like said above, how do you like to fish and what rods support that?

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  On 3/24/2025 at 9:26 PM, Brian11719 said:

Looks like I beat Glenn to posting this video:

 

Pretty much spot on IMHO and 4 is what I take in my kayak although I could fit 5 if I really wanted to...

 

Since you already have a couple of Dobyns rods I'll throw in what I'd do if it were me.

 

KD735CB - all purpose crankbait rod...great for a lipless and can also throw a topwater walking bait like a spook or a bladed jig with it.

 

KD745C - good for frogs, pitching and flipping, spinnerbaits and small swimbaits.

 

If you want to pick up a fifth one I'd suggest 1 of 2 routes depending on what you tend to throw more. If you want to get into punching or heavier swimbaits you could get something like a KD735FLIP and use that for a punching rod or throw heavier single hook swimbaits like a 6" magdraft freestyle with an owner beast in it. On the other hand if you like trebles more instead of the KD735CB you could go with a 6104CB and use that for smaller stuff like jerkbaits, squarebills and poppers and then go up to a DC736CB for bladed jigs and medium - deep crankbaits.

 

No reason to stick to all Dobyns I just used these as an example because I'm familiar with them all (and own most of them). A third option for the fifth rod would be a second spinning rod if you find yourself throwing a lot of finesse stuff.

 

 

 

 

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Thank you for the suggestions guys! I forgot to include in the original post, waters I mostly fish don't have a lot of grass covers, mostly laydowns, drop-offs, rip rap, and sometimes docks. For now, I mostly use my Fury 703SF for T-rig, but I'm looking to add drop shot and shaky head to my rotation. As for the 734C, I almost always have the jerkbait tied on, but will occasionally put on  squarebills or bladed jig. I do want to fish jigs more, so I guess ideally I'd add 1 more spinning rod for an extra finesse technique, and 1-2 casting rods, so I can rotate between bladed jig, crankbait, and jig. What would you guys recommend in terms of power, action, and length, etc. ? Thanks again! 

[Brian11719]

  On 3/25/2025 at 12:09 AM, FishAndPlanes said:

so I guess ideally I'd add 1 more spinning rod for an extra finesse technique, and 1-2 casting rods, so I can rotate between bladed jig, crankbait, and jig. What would you guys recommend in terms of power, action, and length, etc. ?

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Staying in the Fury series:

FR 705CB - crankbaits and a bladed jig (I'd use a 3/8oz bladed jig instead of a 1/2oz since a 1/2oz evo or thundercricket w/ a trailer is just short of an ounce while you can get away with it using a 3/8oz would probably help a bit).

FR 734C - jig rod...could also go with the 7' model if you want.

FR 702SF - a drop shot / shakey head seems like it would work.

Having said that you can pick similar sizes / lure ratings and go with different rods and IMO it might be worth paying a little more for the finesse rod. Not sure what your budget is but I personally like the Poison Adrenas the best in terms of bang for the buck...but even going up to the Sierra series for the second spinning rod would be a noticeable improvement over the Fury series.

[Gorris317]

If you are staying with the Fury line I would pick up the following rods:

FR705CB for Crankbaits

FR735C for Frogs / Flipping and Pitching 

 

[FishAndPlanes]

  On 3/25/2025 at 12:32 AM, Brian11719 said:

Staying in the Fury series:

FR 705CB - crankbaits and a bladed jig (I'd use a 3/8oz bladed jig instead of a 1/2oz since a 1/2oz evo or thundercricket w/ a trailer is just short of an ounce while you can get away with it using a 3/8oz would probably help a bit).

FR 734C - jig rod...could also go with the 7' model if you want.

FR 702SF - a drop shot / shakey head seems like it would work.

Having said that you can pick similar sizes / lure ratings and go with different rods and IMO it might be worth paying a little more for the finesse rod. Not sure what your budget is but I personally like the Poison Adrenas the best in terms of bang for the buck...but even going up to the Sierra series for the second spinning rod would be a noticeable improvement over the Fury series.

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I'm wondering why you suggested the 705CB for bladed jig, instead of keeping the 734C as the main bladed jig rod? How different are the actions of those rods? I really like the action on my 734C for moving baits, as well as jerkbait. 

 

Also, I really like Dobyns for the warranty aspect. My budget for finesse rods is definitely higher than moving bait rods, I was thinking around $200 for finesse rod, and keep other moving bait rods as Fury, or maybe Kaden. A friend of mine has Fury, Kaden, and Champion 733C, and he said Fury is not far off of Champion, at least not as much as the price difference suggests. 

  21 hours ago, Gorris317 said:

If you are staying with the Fury line I would pick up the following rods:

FR705CB for Crankbaits

FR735C for Frogs / Flipping and Pitching 

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The FR705CB for crankbaits is a great idea. I've just moved to a new area (Southern California), and not sure how relevant is a frogs/Flipping and Pitching rod would be. Thank you for the suggestions nonetheless. 

 

I currently use the SLX 71HG (with MGL 3 spool), and love that for bombing casts, it's also really smooth and I have no complaint. But I was wondering if I should invest in a beefier reel (Curado MGL is budget limit) to work crankbaits since I know they can be heavy the gears. 

[Brian11719]

  18 hours ago, FishAndPlanes said:

I'm wondering why you suggested the 705CB for bladed jig, instead of keeping the 734C as the main bladed jig rod? How different are the actions of those rods? I really like the action on my 734C for moving baits, as well as jerkbait. 

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The 705CB is a mod fast action...similar to their other crankbait rods. Some people think moderate action is the best for a bladed jig. Others say it's fast. Ultimately it comes down to preference but in my case I've found a moderate fast action does well in terms of keeping them pinned but still having enough to drive the single hook through and rip through grass. I actually own a KD 735CB and a DC 736CB GLASS. While I use the 736 as my primary rod, in the 735CB also does very well as a bladed jig rod especially with lures that are just a little lighter. Not going to try and convince you why any action is better for a bladed jig than another (there's plenty of info on the subject out there), but if you look at the Evergreen Combat Sticks that were designed by Brett Hite they also have a more moderate action...