How to Choose Spinning Fishing Rod

With some exceptions, spinning rods are principally used for fishing with lures for bass. The spinning rods are used with fixed spool reels. If you hold a spinning rod at your local bass and pro shop, you will see that it is principally used for largemouth bass fishing. Spinning rods are especially useful with the proper bass bait.

Modern rods are made from graphite (carbon fiber) composites or a mix of glass fiber and graphite. In general, the lightness and strength of a spinning rod with a high graphite content is an advantage for most spinning rods, simply because of the number of times it will probably be cast during a day's fishing.

However, a somewhat cheaper glass/graphite mix is worth considering if it's to be used by youngsters or beginner Largemouth bass fisherman with bass lures that are not too hard to cast. Also, for the rough usage of creek and estuary fishing over rocky shorelines, glass/graphite rods have a tendency to manage bass for lures a little better around obstacles. A good glass/graphite mix is also a perfectly acceptable alternative to graphite for trolling bass baits, where the rod is only held while the largemouth bass is being played.

Most graphite rods have the fibers laid at angles around the tube, but 100 percent linear carbon rods, pioneered by Berkely, have the fibers running in just one direction, along the line of the rod from the butt to the tip. This type of construction produces a significantly lighter tube that is said to provide greater sensitivity. Greater sensitivity is very important if littler lures for bass are being used. Again, the best way to determine what is best for your situation is to visit your local bass and pro shop to test the rods with your favorite bass lures.

Some of the most versatile rods, though, are those wrapped in a mesh of Kevlar fibers. This construction combines good shock resistance with tremendous strength and rigidity, but allows the tube to bend progressively to give an easy action when the largemouth bass is being played.

Good rod rings are essential on any rod intended for use with lures for bass because of the amount of wear they have to withstand - a bass lure fisherman may well make up to 2000 casts in a day. Aluminium oxide-centerd rings, such as the Fuji range, are well proven, while those lined with heat-dissipating, diamond-polished silicon carbide offer minimal friction and thus minimal line and ring wear. The lightweight Dynaflo rings, with either polished stainless steel or titanium centers, also give superbly smooth casting and retrieval with minimal friction.

Whatever type of rings your rod is fitted with, if you can hear the line passing through them then there is excessive friction between the line and the rings. When that happens, line damage and ring grooving are likely, so the rings should be replaced.