Fishing Equipment You Need to Catch the Big One

With more and more people taking out fishing as a hobby each year, the fishing equipment industry now is big and is much more international. In the early days, most equipment is made from the usual European or American nations. The Japanese manufacturers are now a major force and so are the many other third world nations, particularly China. These new forces are churning out tons of new tackle aggressively and cheaply into the market. Other than some established Japanese brands like Shimano and Daiwa, the quality wise of these new products are very low. Most of them are just nice to look, but not good to use.

What I’m trying to bring to you in this page is to help you to select and buy your fishing equipment wisely. Buying cleverly is much needed with the vast array of tackle you can see in most well-stocked tackle shops. For beginners without much knowledge it can be quite confusing. My personal advice is that you bring along someone close that has the experience of sport fishing to guide you. Not all owners of tackle stores are truthful. Some will recommend you tackle that are old or hard to sell. I happen to know so much because in my free time I like to hang around tackle stores. It’s quite heartening to watch many beginners buying off unmatched or useless gears.

By knowing the types of fishing you’re after as well as the places you’re fishing, the type and size of fish, and the techniques used also play an important part in the selection of fishing equipment. For sport fishing purposes, tackle includes a rod, reel, line and terminal tackle.

Fishing rods range from short, long, light or heavy. Some have big guides and some have small guides. Most are 1 piece or 2 piece-rod but some have 3 or more pieces. Prices range is wide. Some rods can be real cheap. Avoid this range, often they’re the useless lot. Some are specialize and high-performance rods which can be very expensive. But most of the good quality fishing rods come from the mid-price ranges and established brands.

For any particular fishing situation, choosing the right type, style and length is very important. As there’re many different methods of angling, there’re many types and categories of fishing rods. Here are some of them.

Poles

Fishing poles are long, some as long as 60 ft., popular lengths are those in between 15-20 ft. and can be taken apart into many sections. Some are telescopic-like, sometimes called collapsible fishing rods. These rods are shorter, normally below 20 ft. They’re good for close range fishing and have more bends than those take-apart versions. The most basic piece of fishing equipment, a fishing pole consists of a line with a weight or float and a baited-hook. It’s cast and retrieved by hand without a reel.

Spinning Rods

Spinning rods are used with fixed-spool or open-faced reels. The reels are mounted below. They can be used for a wide range of fishing and easy to use too. This type of rod is very popular and the best for beginners to start with. The guides are big, more guides are better and they’re common in 1 or 2 piece models.

Baitcasting Rods

Baitcasting rods are used with multipliers or baitcasting reels which are mounted on top, facing the angler instead of below. This kind of rods has small guides and most come in 1-piece. Look for one that has many guides and not tip-heavy. Tip-heavy rod tire you out fast. Like all other kinds of rods, make sure that the placing of the guides are in a straight row.

Spin casting Rods

These rods are almost the same as baitcasting rods. They’re light, shorter and softer, having a lighter action for use with lighter lines and lures. Their handles are either straight or pistol grip and they mostly come in 1-piece models. Most of these rods are cheap, made of fiberglass and they’re not for serious anglers. Avoid them; they will let you down when you hook on to a fairly large and aggressive fish.

Surf casting Rods

Used in surf fishing these rods are long, strong and heavy, needed for casting weights of 2-4 ounces or more with the bait into the surf. Surf casting rods are designed for fixed-spool reels or multiplying reels. Those designed for fixed-spool reels have large guides. Rods for multipliers have small guides. Their length range from 8-16 ft. The most popular lengths are the 10-12 ft. range. Look for one that’s suited to the type of fishing you’ve in mind.

Fly Rods

Fly fishing rods are specialized fishing equipment. They range from cheap fiberglass rods to those very expensive bamboo rods. Bamboo rods are only good for showing-off or rather collector items. To start off with fly fishing a 6 wt. and 8 ft. long rod will be fine. It’ll be able to handle most freshwater species. Look out for one made of graphite which is light and cheap to begin with.

Saltwater Rods

Saltwater rods are generally created for boat fishing. Lot of different rods fall into this category, some are short and some are long. Most are 2-handed handles built for multipliers. When you’re choosing a saltwater rod, look for one that’s suited to the type of fishing which you intend to do. It’s pointless when you’re going to do bottom-fishing on a boat but you’ve a popping or jigging rod. Some saltwater rods are only means for big game or offshore fishing. These are the most costly fishing equipment. They’re built for handling the meanest and largest fish of the sea.

Fishing Reels

Today’s fishing reels are not just line storing devices. Choosing the right reel is important. It must be matched to the rod you’re buying. And again the type of fishing you intends to do. Other than fly fishing reels which are specialized fishing equipment, there’re 2 kinds of reel: fixed-spool or multiplier.

Spinning Reels

Spinning reels are also known as fixed-spool reels. There’re a number of different types of fixed-spool reels. The closed faced reel is one of them which don’t have an exposed bale arm. This is not a popular reel; it’s more of a toy for children, not for serious anglers. Spinning reels the spools do not revolve, they only move up and down along the line. Of all the reels in the fishing equipment this type of reel is the most common in use. Most people can cast a long distance with this type of reel. It’s very easy to use and beginners should begin with.

They’re available in various retrieve rates. For most purposes, a 4:1 is the best choice. And if you’re after hard-fighting species and need to reel in lures at high speed, a 6:1 ratio or even higher is best.

Most of this kind of reels comes with an extra spool. You can fill them with line of different lbs. test. Most of the handles are interchangeable for left or right-handed use.

For surfcasting or any other saltwater fishing use, large spinning reels with wide spools capable of holding more than 200 meters of 15-25 lbs. test line are needed. They should be corrosion-resistant, most aren’t.

Multipliers

Multipliers are baitcasting reels which are mounted on top of the rod and the line comes off a revolving spool. Though it’s not easy to categorize fishing equipment as being just for saltwater or freshwater, you can buy multipliers for freshwater or saltwater fishing. They range from very small models for freshwater casting with lures to offshore big game models for trolling and other deep-sea applications.

You need practice to cast with a multiplier. It’s famous for the word “bird’s nest” which is due to the overrun of line while casting which resulted with a great tangle of line. This can be prevented with the use of your thumb as a brake on the spool once the bait hits the water.

Though multipliers are harder to learn, these reels are better and have more power to control when fishing hard-fighting species. They’re easier to work with heavier line.

Fishing Line

Fishing line is one of the most important fishing equipment. Whether you able to have a perfect cast, to entice the fish to take the bait, a good hook-up, playing the fish, landing the fish and many other considerations, choosing the right fishing line always play a big part.

Before you buy, there’re many things that you must consider. Examples are like the strength, size, resistance, stiffness, stretch, visibility and so on.

With the amount of lines in the fishing equipment market it’s quite a task buying the right line if one’s new to sport fishing. Most experienced fishermen have their own particular brands. Often they’re from well established brands like Berkley, Power Pro, Ande, Asso, Sufix and many others.

There’re 2 main types of line used in fishing: monofilament and braided line. Of course there’re other lines like fly line, fluorocarbon, fused, wire which are made for special uses.

Monofilament or mono is the line that most anglers use. It’s cheap and proven. It can be used for both freshwater and saltwater fishing. This comes in breaking strains from 1 lb. to over 100 of lbs, with 6-15 lbs. test the most popular for freshwater fishing. The drawback of mono is its elasticity or stretch which adds to its shock absorbing capacity.

Braided fishing line is soft, strong and has small diameter for its strength. It tie knots firmly, has no stretch and memory unlike mono line. Due to its lack of stretch and abrasion resistance it’s the favorite line for deep-sea fishing. But braids are some of the most expensive lines on the fishing equipment market.

Terminal Tackle

Terminal tackle is whatever you tie at the end of the fishing line. The list is endless with manufacturers of fishing equipment pouring out new fishing accessories everyday. But the common items to catch the big one are hooks, swivels, weights and floats.

Hooks

Fishing hooks are just as important as any other sport fishing equipment which most anglers overlook. Also known as fish hook, they are the main link with the fish. You may use the best rod, reel and line but it’s pointless when the hooks let you down. Will you able to hook, play and land the fish, much depends on the quality of the hook that you tie at the end of the line.

The main point is not to be stingy when buying hooks. Buy those that have a good proven name or rather reputable brand.

With so many patterns and sizes available, it’s very important that you choose the right hooks that are suited for your type of angling's need. If you are unsure, ask the dealer for advice.

Swivels

Swivels main function is the prevention of line twist. Their other purpose is to provide an easy and fast way of joining sections of line, trace and terminal rigs. They’re available in a variety of patterns, colors and styles. Look for those with quality, poor quality swivels like those cheap brass barrel swivels with a twisted head are the worst. Often they’re not reliable. This small piece of the fishing equipment can be the weakest link between fish and angler. Ball-bearing swivels which are much more expensive have better quality and far better to rely on. They’re stronger and turn much freely due to the stainless steel ball bearings and design. This type of swivels is best used when fishing hard-fighting species and trolling, where swivels need to be free running.

Weights

Fishing weights also known as sinkers of the fishing equipment come in many styles, shapes and sizes. Some are shaped like a bell, egg, pyramid, bullet or even a torpedo. They come in weight from tenths of an ounce to lbs. All have their special uses.

Smaller sizes are best used for casting. The size to use depends on how far you want to cast. And in running water it all depends on how much weight is needed to keep the bait on the bottom. The larger ones are designed for boat fishing. As for boat fishing, the weights range from a few ounces to 2 lbs. or even more.

Floats

Fishing floats are the best bite indicators. They’re also used for keeping the baited-hook hang up at a level away from the bottom.

Modern floats come in all shape and sizes for different kinds of fishing. Most are made of cork, Styrofoam, balsa wood or hollow plastic.

Floats or bobbers as sometimes called are mainly used in freshwater fishing. In saltwater fishing for species like shark, garfish and mullet do sometimes employ the use of a float.

Mentioned above is only a small part of the volume of fishing equipment available in the market. To start with, these are the usual and common essential tackle for sport fishing. Eventually, more fishing tackle can be added when you gain better knowledge on the field. After reading through this page and some other pages which deal on fishing gear on my site, I hope you be able to shop smartly. And most of all I wish you’ve a good time with this wonderful sport.

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