Trout fishing rods offer anglers various ways to fish and fool more and bigger trout. Choosing the right trout rod, however, can be confusing for anglers. You are often fishing with light line, fishing in current and often have the potential to catch a big fish that you need to be able to control in a fight. So finding that right balance of action, backbone and length can take a bit of consideration.
We will give you some insight on what to look for in the right trout rod and why we use certain trout fishing rods for different applications you will commonly find when trout fishing.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD TROUT ROD
Length, action and power as well as the taper of the rod all affect how it fishes and how well you can hook and fight fish as well. You want a rod that has enough action to allow you to throw small lures a good distance. But you need a enough length and action to take up slack quickly, get a good hookset and control and play down a bigger trout.
You can of course catch trout on an ultralight rod. And you can catch them on a medium power rod. However each has its advantages and disadvantages. Anglers should focus on what you will be doing with that rod and what you require in a rod to be able to do that.
For example, a more limber action will load up easier and make it a bit easier to throw lighter lures. However if there is not enough backbone, it will make it harder to set a good hook or to fight bigger trout, especially in current. On the flip side, if you have too much backbone, the rod will be too stiff to load well and you won't be able to cast light lures very far. So you need that balance of rod action for casting with backbone for hooking and landing fish.
Length also matters. If you want to drift a lure under a float naturally in current and you need there to be 7 feet of line under the float, it's going to be difficult to cast that on a 5-foot rod. Likewise if you're in tight quarters and need to make precise casts, a 9-foot rod can be very unwieldy. So again it's about matching the rod to how you intend to fish for trout.
If you have to work the lure a lot with your rod, you don't want it to be too slow or limber so you're fighting the rod's taper on every jerk of the rod. You will want more of a balance with a limber tip for casting, but quickly into the backbone so you have some power to fight fish.
SMALLER RODS FOR TIGHT CASTING AND LIGHT LURES
A great place to start, savvy trout anglers often start with a 6-foot to 6 1/2 foot light-power rod that has a fast action but is limber enough to cast small baits. These rods can be multipurpose and serve a lot of needs. You can cast a 1/64-ounce Trout Magnet on light line, you can pump a 1/8 ounce D2 Jig and you can cast cranks and spoons to all with this one rod.
The Trout Magnet SLS 150 offers anglers a staple rod for all trout fishing at a pretty amazing price point. This rod is a light action with a great responsive tip for making long casts with light Trout Magnet jigs. We will rig it with 2-pound SOS line most of the time with a 2-pound Phantom fluorocarbon leader. We will also rig some with light braid and a Phantom 4-pound leader to fish more aggressively like jigging 1/8-ounce D2 Jigs in deeper water and heavier currents.
A rod like this can fish jigs, hard baits, spoons, spinners and float fish as well. You can set a bobber 5 feet deep and still cast this setup well. Or you can cast a single 1/64-ounce jig easily without worry.
Specialty rods like light and ultralight rods in that 5-foot length can be great choices for fishing in small streams, tight quarters like with a lot of trees over you and behind you, and when need to be ultra stealthy. The new Trinity Series SLS 501 features an ultralight blank with high end components and will be great for light jig presentations and accurate close casting.
"The SLS - 501 is an incredible little rod that adds a new degree of fun and excitement to ultralight angling," Trout Magnet Guide David Taylor said. "I have had this prototype rod (we call it princess) in my boat for weeks, and in that time, I caught hundreds of trout on it. Where this rod really shines is twitching Trout Magnets and 1/32-ounce D2 Jigs. I also caught several on the redesigned Trout Magnet Spin and that was a blast! I see the SLS - 501 being exactly what I want when fishing a small stream or creek as you can easily shoot a tiny bait into those hard to reach places. "
LONGER RODS FOR FLOAT FISHING AND TIGHT-LINE TWITCHING
When you want to fish a float, a longer rod gives you a lot more control and flexibility. But again you need a rod that is not too whippy but can load well to cast a light jig and lighter float into those seams from a distance and be able to take up the slack and control a big fish. Rods in the 8 to 9 feet of length offer anglers a lot more room to float a trout magnet through deep runs and pools.
When float fishing, you need a longer rod for several reasons. The longer length enables you to manage slack in your line while drifting a Trout Magnet and get a QUICK hook set. It also enables you to easily cast a Trout Magnet that is set 6 or 7 feet deep. Most people don’t fish the Trout Magnet as deep as they should, but they also don’t have the right rod to do it.
The downside to longer rods is that they are often heavier and unbalanced, which makes fishing all day much more tiresome. The Trout Magnet Trinity SLS rod is perfectly balanced and is noticeably lighter than other float rods out there on the market. I did not have a single complaint about how the rod felt in the hand or fatigue from using it for 8 hours at a time.
Twitching a trout jig really has only one requirement. You need a fast tip that will vibrate with minimal effort at a fast rate. When you shake the rod, you want most of the vibration to stay in the top 1/3rd of the rod. This means you aren’t fighting the vibrations that reverberate down to the middle of the blank. The original Trinity Rod was GREAT for float fishing, but terrible for twitching. It was a slower action that really transferred those vibrations to the middle of the pole, making it almost impossible to feel bites or get a rapid rate of vibration at the rod tip.
"The new SLS - 802 has become my daily driver," said Taylor. "I have had this rod in my boat for the last 8 months and have personally seen thousands of trout come to the net with it. I have put it in the hands of over a hundred clients and have turned down many offers from them to buy the prototype. This is a lightweight, fast-action rod that feels great in your hands. We wanted to make a rod that would be great for twitching and for drifting a Trout Magnet.
"I took this rod with me to East Tennessee and Montana. I loved that I could easily go back and forth between float fishing and twitching depending upon the water I was currently in. I also loved how handy it was in a drift boat."
"In my travels with this rod, I got to fish tail waters and freestone streams. Freestone streams require you to twitch against the current more and the longer rod enabled me to twitch the Trout Magnet in front of fish below me, without spooking them. Wild fish can definitely be more spooky than stocked trout. However, I had several catches In Montana that I simply wouldn’t have caught without the ability to reach out and twitch the Trout Magnet or jig in front of the fish. Out of the three new Trinity Rods, this is the one I will use the most day in and day out.
While fishing in East Tennessee, Taylor met up with clients Luke and Phil on a nearby fishery.
They had been tipped off by a local that they could get into some big fish if they went to this particular stretch of river. They traded 2-pound SOS for a small-diameter braid and 4-pound Phantom Fluorocarbon leader. Using a technique Taylor calls “Jig and Float” they could deliver a 1/16-ounce D2 jig in 5 - 9 feet of water under an EZ Panfish Float.
"Luke and I had fished this section the day before and caught some good fish with the 1/8th D2 Jig, but we really wanted to see how a more precise presentation would fare," Taylor said. "I had Phil fishing with the new 9-foot Trinity SLS 902. He had a 1/16-ounce peaches D2 with two bb split shot staggered about 12 inches apart to help the jig stay 8 feet deep under the EZ Panfish float in the heavy current.
"Within the first couple drifts his float sank and he set the hook. On the other end of the line was a massive rainbow trout. After about a 5 minute fight, we had it in the net. The rainbow was 23 inches and weighed more than 7 pounds. It was by far the strongest rainbow I’ve ever had in my net and the best fish of the trip! The rod did its job to wear down a strong fish on light line. It also enabled us to throw a light jig set 8 feet deep into a seam 50 feet away where this fish was laying in wait to ambush an easy meal."
We believe great memories on the water start with preparation. A key piece to this is having the right tool for the job. The Trout Magnet SLS and Trinity Rods deliver for a wide range of uses from float fishing to jigging. The faster actions of the long rods enables you to twitch Trout Magnets without floats and drift deeper waters with floats.
If you find yourself targeting big trout and steelhead, the Trinity SLS - 902 will be your rod. If you want an all-purpose rod, the original 6-foot, 6-inch SLS-150 or the Trinity SLS - 802 are your best bets. And if you want a more compact, ultralight rod for smaller waters, the Trinity - 501 will be your best bet.
Look for the new Trinity rod releases by the end of the year.
