Locked and Loaded: Bass Fishing Rods

Every sport, every activity, has its source. The source of power, the funnel of energy; athletes cannot do it alone. The baseball player has his bat, the hockey player his stick. Even pool players have their cues. With these tools, players both master the game and master their energy; here, raw passion is transformed into skin, and it becomes more about mastering the intricate parts of the activity rather than mastering the opponent. Fishing is not exception, and anglers have come to respect their bass fishing rods greatly.

With bass fishing rods, anglers are able to control nature. They can attract bass, catch bass and reel bass in. While in the old days, fishermen used sticks and spears to catch fish, and even primitive rods were nothing more than sticks with strings. Much research has gone in to developing bass fishing rods that make the most of the angler’s skills, rods that can trick any fish into biting, and pull any fish in regardless of its strength or its tenacity.

Finding a Needle in a Haystack

While bass fishing rods are all designed to provide the best possible success, different rods are designed for different styles of fishing. In order for an angler to find the best rod, he or she must know his or her own fishing style. A rod and reel should feel right; it should feel light and in control at all times. Every rod has its own function, and if that function is not an angler’s style, that angler will never be successful.

The rod must be the right length; for short anglers, a rod over seven feet in length will be difficult to use all day. The angler will grow tired, and since fishing can be an all-day excursion, this will prove extremely counterproductive. Shorter bass fishing rods will feel better, but they will also allow for anglers to flip and cast with better results.

Modern bass fishing rods are also designed to allow the angler to know the minute a bass has bitten the line. This way the angler is ready to begin reeling in; before, many anglers would receive bites but not realize until it was too late. Fiberglass, graphite and other high-tech materials are now used in the production of bass fishing rods.

The blanks, or the upper portion of the rods, are attached to the handles, but the blanks are where the true artwork is. The tip of the blank is where the action is; this is the portion the angler controls when he or she flicks the rod. In the end, light rods with light blanks are rarely used in bass fishing. Bass fishing rods must be a little heavier and a little stronger to be able to lift the bass out of the water, and to pull it in when it is attempting to hide in the weeds.