These five rods will cover the spread for Northeast and Mid-Atlantic kayak anglers.
It’s June and that puts us right in the heart of the saltwater fishing season. As a kayak fishing guide, no one is more acutely aware of the growth of kayak fishing than I am and I see more ‘first-year’ kayak anglers every season. June is a great time to take a breath and think about the things that your May fishing brought to light. Maybe your striper setup was too light, maybe your light spinner was too stiff? With so much great fishing coming this month and through the rest of the season, now might be the perfect time to make an informed purchase to streamline your arsenal of kayak rods, setting you up for success the rest of the way.
Length & Girth
Although I’ve been on record saying that I don’t feel that sensitivity matters as much for inshore fishing as it does for freshwater, having the ideal type of rod for what you plan on doing is critical. Consider your fishing rod like a screwdriver. Tool companies make various versions of the screwdriver for a reason. Just like every tool, every rod has its purpose.
When considering inshore rods there are few things to think about. Rod type, rod power, and rod length. As a kayak fisherman most of my rods are 7-feet long, however I do use some 6-foot-6’s and also a few 8-footers. The reason that 7 feet is the magic number is because of where your likely position on the kayak will be. The average length of a fishing kayak is around 12 feet and the seat is usually somewhere around 6- to 8-feet from the front of the kayak so that 7-foot rod is just about the perfect length to clear the bow for fish that constantly change direction.
Now that we know what to look for in terms of length, let’s focus on power and type. If you could only have one rod a 7-foot heavy fast action spinning rod could take you through the entire fishing season. However there aren’t too many fishermen that just have one rod and reel combo so the fun part is choosing the right tools for different species and techniques. Different powers and types of rods is what keeps most of us shopping for rods for the rest our lives. Rod type isn’t too complicated being that the only options are spinning, conventional, and fly. When it comes to power there are moments in the season that it would be advantageous to have a light powered rod, a medium powered rod, a medium heavy powered rod, a heavy powered rod, and even an extra heavy powered rod. That’s already five different combos! Action is also something to be considered however I feel that a fast action rod is all you’ll need regardless of type or power.
Light Power Spinning Rod
As mentioned above, this isn’t a very popular option for most inshore fishermen in the New England area, however it does have a specific place in the rod arsenal. The specs on most light rods that I’ve come across have been 1/16 to 1/2 ounce. While there aren’t many lures in most tackle shops that fall into that range, the slow action on most light powered setups is what’s most desired. The reel size that I would pair with this type of rod is either a 1000 or 2500 size. The reason for going with such a light reel in addition to the light rod is that it balances well making the rod/reel combo more comfortable to fish with.
The species that I’m targeting with this rod and reel combo are squid, mackerel, and scup in open water. When targeting squid I like to use light squid jigs and small sinkers. Once a squid takes the jig, having that very light power, slow action rod helps keep them pinned. Mackerel are another fun species to target with light tackle. Some of the lures that I use when the macs are around are 1/8 to 1/4 ounce, which is a perfect match for this setup. Fighting a mackerel on a light combo feels somewhat like fighting a bonito on a more typical inshore rod. And scup (porgy) are an absolute blast on these diminutive setups! I mentioned “open water” scup because i feel that you can land the largest scup on really light gear however if you’re fishing around bridges, docks, or tough structure the chances of losing your fish go up significantly with what most of us call a “noodle rod”.
Medium Power Spinning Rod
A medium powered rod is something I recommend that every fisherman should have in their arsenal. This rod usually falls into the 1/4- to 3/4-ounce range, though some may go up to 1 ounce. Whether you’re using really light jigheads, small metals or epoxies, small swimmers, etc, the medium rod is more than enough to get the job done. The ideal size reel for a medium rod is 2500 to 3000. The reason that reel size would go up for this power is not only for balance but also if you’re targeting funny fish you’ll appreciate the extra line capacity and heavier drag.
The medium rod gets used mostly for holdover stripers, early season schoolie stripers, squid, black sea bass, scup, albies, and bonito. As you can see, pretty much everything is in play with this combo! Most of the species mentioned have applications where the lightest possible tackle can be advantageous. If you’re throwing a quarter-ounce jighead and a 3-inch soft plastic or anything similar, this would be the rod to grab. Albies are the hardest-pulling fish on the list above and while a heavier rod and reel combo might be better suited for the larger albies, sometimes you have to present a very small jig or unweighted plastic to get bit. The medium rod loads better for light presentations giving you better casting distance and greater accuracy as well.
Medium-Heavy Spinning Rod
In both freshwater and saltwater fishing I’d be willing to bet that the medium-heavy is the most popular and most versatile across different applications and species. A nice medium-heavy rod can feel like a medium but give you the power of a heavy. When someone asks, “If I could only have one rod what would you suggest?”, without hesitation, it would be a quality medium-heavy.
Though this is the case with all rod categories, (but I would say especially with medium-heavies), they are not all created equal. One manufacturer might rate theirs at 1/4 to 1 while another might set theirs at 1 to 4. When it comes to matching the right lure with the right rod that’s a big difference! My advice is to think about what type of lures you’re planning on using the rod for and match it to the manufacturer’s specs. One thing to keep in mind is that most rod makers list the specs of lures that can be casted with the rod, however vertical presentations allow for more weight to be used than what the specs suggest. An example would be if I have a medium heavy rated 1/4 to 1 and I want to vertical jig a 1-1/2-ounce epoxy jig, I’d feel totally comfortable doing that.
The perfect size reel to pair with the medium-heavy rod (regardless of specs) would be a 4000 to 5000 size reel with the 4K being, what I’d consider to be, the sweet spot. The medium-heavy rod and reel combo in the 1/4 to 1-1/2-ounce range is something that I use for the exact same things I that I mentioned for the medium powered rod. However a medium heavy with a 1 to 3 or 1- to 4-ounce rating i will more than likely expand my tackle selections. I might throw bucktails up to 2 ounces for fluke and sea bass, medium to large size epoxy jigs, tautog jigging up to 1-ounce, jigs up to 1-1/2 ounces paired with soft plastics and hard plastic swimmers up to 6 inches, are all presentations that I would feel comfortable throwing with the medium-heavy rod. Even though I’ve been successful many times landing large fish (stripers, bluefish, tautog, and albies) on medium-heavy rods it would not be the first tool in the toolbox that I’d reach for if I knew that there were big fish around.
Heavy Power Spinning Or Conventional
If the medium heavy powered rod is the most popular rod for inshore fishing, the heavy would be a close second. Heavy power rods are usually big fish rods because most are built with a strong enough backbone to turn a hard-fighting fish. Most of my tautog fishing, large topwater fishing, tog and fluke rig fishing, etc is done with a heavy. As far as the weight of the rigs go, I use my heavy for presentations that require as much as 5- or 6-ounces of weight. Hi-lo rigs for fluke, flutter spoon, snafu tog rigs, 3-way with eels, etc. Unlike the medium heavy with very wide range specs, the majority of heavies that I’ve used usually start at 1 ounce and go to up to 5 or 6 ounces. The downside to the “big fish stick” is that you’ll struggle with casting distance when using light lures that fall below its specs.
On my heavy power rods I have spinning and conventional reels. A 4000 to 6000 size spinning reel is best for a heavy rod. Most larger reels (5000 and up) have power handles which makes a big difference when fighting large fish. The sweet spot for bait casting reels on a heavy rod is 150 to 300 size. I like to use 150 and 200 size reels for fluke, while opting for the more beefy 300 size for all other species. Lastly, conventional reels have many purposes for inshore fishing. Some of my heavy rods have conventional reels for heavy rig fishing, while others have conventional reels that are specifically for live bait fishing using the free spool clicker feature.
Extra Heavy
Over the last several years, light tackle has become the trend. And I get it, it’s fun to feel like you’re under-gunned, but knowing that your rod is up to the task. On the flipside, there’s a time and place when you have to have the beef to confidently get the job done. These include, fishing in really deep water, using rigs weighing more than 8 ounces, using large spoons and diamond jigs, targeting large stripers around gnarly structure, leadcore tube and worm, and fishing for tautog in wrecks. Believe it not technology has gotten so advanced that you can be using the “broomstick” rod but feel like you’re fishing with something much lighter.
When I’m using an extra-heavy rod, I prefer to use only baitcaster or traditional conventional reels. Although I’m very capable of casting a baitcaster due to my freshwater background, in this situation I’m using these type of reels for dropping my lure or rig to the bottom and either jigging, drifting, or using a still presentation . For a conventional reel I like 10 to 20 size reels depending on which rod I’m using. For baitcasters 300 is the perfect size.
I’ve used a lot of different brands over the years and many get the job done. There are tried and true companies like St Croix rods that have many different options in multiple price points. I like the Avid series due to the quality, the options, and the very generous warranty. As you can see rods come in all different sizes and types so when shopping for a new rod(s) keep in mind what you see yourself using it for and try to find a rod that has the feel to match your personal style of casting and fishing, this will help you make a smart purchase. Not to mention the more rod and reel combos that you bring along with you, the easier it is to not have to re-tie if/when you get broken off on a fish. Just like every other style of fishing, kayak fishing requires a small arsenal of rods to nail down all the techniques, hopefully I’ve helped you narrow it down, at least a little!
