Less is better?

[Bayou Bass]

I am trying this theory with my rods these days.  I am only brining two rods with me every trip.  One rod for cranks, spinners, swims, and the other rod for t-rig, jigs, senkos, frogs etc...  Certainly reduced the clutter  in my boat ;D

[DADto4]

Have you also "honed" your presentation skills with less options at hand?Or do you find yourself switching baits as often?

[Bassn Blvd]

If you could date the 10 hottest women in the world at the same time, would you leave 8 of them at home while you took the other 2 out or would you take them all?

I'd take them all.  Each one would have her own special function.

[TrippyJai]

I only have 3 rods with me... if i had the money, i would just upgrade the 3 that i have. i don't like having so many rods because it's just too much stuff to bring along.

[Sam]

If you study the body of water; know the weather and wind; understand the bass activity for the time of year; know the forage; and have confidence in your favorite baits and techniques then two or three rods can be more than enough.

One or two baitcasters and one spinning setup.

Be sure to take two additional baitcasters with you in case you lose a baitcaster due to a backlash.

You can also cut down on the amount of tackle you take.

Give it a try and let us know how you do.  

[fishfordollars]

I carry tons. I just don't like to take the time to tie on something else while prefishing. I may have three different CB tied on in three different sizes. all the same color(It varies). This way I have top water, cranks, SB, worms, jigs, swimbaits, all at an arms length that I can reach for.

If the prefishing went well, I will have it paired down to 3-4 come first tournament morning. If not, well, I'm covered up with rods on the deck and that does make for a house cleaning issue during the day.

[roadwarrior]

This is all you "need", but technique specific rods rigs are more fun!

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1196114229

8-)

[Willzx225]

I agree with Fishfordollars on this one but it is mainly because I am usually practicing for an upcoming tournament.  Idealy on tournament day I would only have 2 -4 rods on the deck.  I do think that you would stand a good chance of increasing your catch or catching larger fish if you could get dialed into fewer baits on some days but on others you would probably do worse.  I sometimes feel that versatility can be a hinderance and good ol fashioned hard headedness will pay off.

[Grey Wolf]

Not being a tournament guy , I find when I'm boat fishing , three rods are all I need.

[21farms]

ha! i usually take 6 combos with me but i feel that it was getting kinda hard to manage. so, on my last two trips, i "only" brought 3 rods/reels with me. on one trip, on my second cast, the tip of my dedicated topwater rod cracked off, rendering it useless. on my other trip, i birdnested one reel so bad that i ended up having to cut away all but 20 yards, leaving that useless. so, now, i'm going out with 4 rods/reels plus one reel in my bag for backup.

[Wayne P.]

I prefer to be prepared for numerous presentations all the time. Conditions and patterns can change from day to day and hour to hour. I don't want to be limited to what I think may work as that may not be the case. I carry enough rigs to cover the best presentations for the specific time of year and body of water. The number can range from 7 to 20 or more. I don't tournament fish much anymore but my enthusiasm for catching in the most efficient manner has not diminished.

[Raul]

To me it 's simple, if I 'm gonna go and fish from the boat, heck, I ain 't carrying the stuff on my back so I carry as much as I want, but if I 'm going to carry it on my back like when I go on foot patrol I carry only 1 rod, 1 reel and a backpack with two 3600 Plano boxes filled with the "essentials".

[Bayou Bass]

Going into a day of fishing I have a plan of what I would like to do (ideally).  I bring my two rods rigged up with whatever I plan on throwing, usually a crankbait or spinnerbait on one rod, and a jig or texas rig on the other.  If my pattern flops I step back and come up with something else.  Pretty simple I suppose and it is working quite well these days.

[Bassboss]

If you could date the 10 hottest women in the world at the same time, would you leave 8 of them at home while you took the other 2 out or would you take them all?

I'd take them all. Each one would have her own special function.

Nice analogy!  ;D

[MickD]

Who cares how many rods you have in the boat?  Have as many or as few as you want.  I'm with BassnBlvd.