Modern day tournament anglers have learned to rely on a wide variety of lures and prescribed techniques when pursuing largemouth, smallmouth and Kentucky bass on lakes all across the United States.

In the process, we’ve also learned that certain fishing rods enable us to utilize these baits and perform these tactics better than others. It’s sort of like the professional golfer’s need for a complete set of golf clubs. Every fishing rod is designed to serve a specific purpose, just as each club is his golf bag is designed to do a specific job.

A weekend or pleasure fisherman can certainly get by with a fewer rods. But if a guy is serious about tournament fishing, he’s got to have rods available to cover every style of fishing. Because of this realization, it is nothing out of the ordinary for a pro angler to have as many as 15 different rod and reel combos rigged and ready for use when tournament time rolls around. Personally, I’m not comfortable unless I’ve got at least a dozen sticks at my fingertips.

These rods should be like brands and may range from six to 7 1/2 feet in length. They’ll also have different grades of stiffness or “action.” The most popular actions among bass anglers are medium/light, medium, medium/heavy and heavy.

As mentioned earlier, different rods work better in combination with different techniques and lures than do others. Here are my preferred rod choices for performing some of the more popular bass fishing techniques:

Crankin’

Selecting the proper crankin’ rod is a very comprehensive subject in that the angler may need as many as 3-4 different rods on hand in order to cover all the bases. This is so because crankbaits vary in size, how deep they run and how hard they pull.

To wit: When I’m throwing a 3/4-ounce lipless crankbait like the Rat-L-Trap, I’ll go with a seven foot, medium/light action rod by Bass Pro Shops. However, when I scale down to a 1/2-ounce or 1/4-ounce ‘Trap, I’ll drop down to a shorter 6 1/2-foot rod with the same action. As a rule, lighter lures simply cast better on shorter, lighter rods.

There is a two-fold reason for the medium/light action. First off, these rods have a “forgiving” tip, which helps prevent ripping the lure out of bass’ mouth on the hookset. Second, the flexible tip helps promote the long casts that are conducive to more strikes with these clear water baits.

Deep-diving billed crankbaits like the Norman Deep Little N and DD-22, on the other hand, work best in combination with a rod that has a little more backbone throughout. A seven-foot Bass Pro Crankin’ Stick is my choice, here. This is graphite/fiberglass composite rod that allows me to work these hard-pulling lures with relative comfort all day long.

Still another rod is required for working smaller cranks like the Baby N or Shap Rap. I like a six-foot, medium/light action stick for these types of lures as well as for throwing small Rogues and Rapalas. It’s also a good idea to scale down in line size with mini-cranks in order to get better castability and maximum depth. My preference is eight-pound test Trilene XT.

Carolina Rigging

Opinions among the public sector may vary on the best rod choice for draggin’ a Carolina-rig. But if you were to ask 10 of the top-seated pros on the B.A.S.S. tour to reveal their favorite, it would be a seven-foot rod with a medium/heavy action.

Spinnerbaitting

There are a couple of good choices, here. Anglers who like to make short casts and keep the blade working close to the surface prefer 6 to 6 1/2-foot pistol-grip rods with a medium-heavy action. While the pistol-grip does promote optimum accuracy, I tend to favor a 6 1/2-foot, long-handle rod with a medium-heavy action.

Pithching

Quite a few anglers are of the belief that a 7 1/2-foot rod is mandatory in order to perform this highly-effective bass fishing technique. As a direct result, many wind up with more rod in their hands than they can handle.

Because of the sheer mechanics of the technique, I believe the physical build of individual angler should help determine the size rod he or she uses for pitching jigs, plastic worms or crawworms into shallow cover. Anglers up to six-feet tall who have fairly short arms will be much better off going with a rod that’s 6 1/2 or 7 feet long than a 7 1/2 footer. The longer rod is much better suited for taller anglers, whose natural line of trajectory is higher above the water.

The ideal action? There are two, the best one hinging on the type and thickness of the available cover as well as the caliber of fish in the area.

About the only time I’ll resort to a heavy-action stick is when I’m probing matted hydrilla and suspect there are big fish in the area. The rod I use when pitching around willows, buck brush and laydown logs will have a medium-heavy action.

Texas Rigged Worm

Rod length should be a big concern when fishing Texas-rigged worms, crawworms and lizards. Use too long a rod and you’ll have a tendency to “over fish” these baits and subsequently cut down on the number of strikes you’ll get. My primary choice for Texas-riggin’ is a six-foot Bass Pro rod with a medium/heavy action.

Finesse Lures

Wacky worms, floating worms and soft plastic jerkbaits are what most pro anglers consider to be “finesse” baits. The baits are most often fished without a weight, so castability is fairly limited on conventional casting tackle, even if you go to a 6 or 6 1/2-foot rod with medium action and 14-pound line.

In my opinion, the very best finesse lure “system” is composed of lightweight spinning gear. My personal favorite is a six-foot medium action rod that’s matched with an open-face Bass Pro spinning reel and 14-pound Berkley FireLine. The small diameter “fusion” line gives me 14-pound test strength, while at the same time providing the castability of six-pound test monofilament.

Topwaters

Probably one of the biggest mistakes anglers make when selecting a topwater rod is choosing one that’s too long. In a nutshell, too much rod equates to too much work, particularly when fishing a bait like the Zara Spook. This is because the “walk the dog” action of this lure is 100 percent dependent on the angler.

My favorite topwater rod is a six-foot composite rod with a pistol-grip handle. The shorter rod is lighter and much easier to handle, which likewise enables me to fish these lures for extended periods of time without my forearm becoming tired or fatigued.