Planning Your Fishing Trips: How Many Rods To Bring (And What To Rig)
- By: Tony Acevedo
- on August 28, 2020
Here’s are some question we’ve been getting recently:
How should I prepare my fishing rods for an inshore trip?
How many rods should I bring?
What should I rig on them?
These are all great questions since how you prepare your rods for a trip can either save or cost you a lot of time.
Plus, if you don’t bring enough rods, your trip could easily be cut short by bad luck.
In this video, I’m going to share how many rods I bring and how I rig them up to save time and catch a lot of fish.
Check it out below.
How To Prepare Your Rods For An Inshore Trip [VIDEO]
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You always want to bring at least two rod and reel setups when you go fishing.
If you have just one, something could happen to your rod or reel, your line could get tangled, or you could get spooled by a big fish.
If any of those things happen (and they’re not uncommon!), that’s probably the end of your trip.
So always bring at least two rods.
For me, the maximum I’ll bring is three rods.
Any more than that and it’s easy to get indecisive about what setup or lure to use, and you may find yourself focusing on that, instead of what matters: finding feeding fish.
If I bring two rods out with me, here’s what I have rigged on them:
- A weedless wide gap hook
- A jig head
This lets me cover shallow and deeper water and I can switch up soft plastics on these two hooks.
Usually, I’m using either a paddletail, jerk bait, or shrimp lure.
As far as what size equipment I use, I usually have a 3000 series reel with 10 lb. braid and 10-40 lb. leader, depending on what species I’m targeting.
For trout, flounder and redfish, I usually use 15-20 lb. leader, and for snook and tarpon I go with 25-40 lb. leader.
If I’m bringing three rods, I bring the same two setups as above, plus my “utility” combo.
Usually I’ll start with a topwater lure here, but I may put something else on depending on the conditions and where I’m fishing.
If I’m fishing open water, it’s usually a 7′ or 7′ 6″ medium or medium heavy rod and a 3000 size reel with 10 lb. braid.
But if I’m fishing structure like docks or bridges, I’ll bring a 4000 size reel with 20 lb. braid and heavier leader.
Conclusion
By bringing two or three rods rigged for different areas of the water column, you can save a lot of time from having to tie on new rigs, and cover a variety of areas to catch a lot of fish.
I always have a jig head and a weedless wide gap hook rigged up, and I’ll occasionally bring a rod for topwater lures or fishing heavier structure.
Have any questions about these setups?
What do you bring on your inshore trips?
Let me know down in the comments!
And if you know someone who needs to see this video, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
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Hey Tony,
got a question for you, one thing I don’t see you guys talk about hardly at all is swivels.
Barrel swivels and/or Snap-on swivels.
Are you all pro using them or against them and why?
I used to use a small but tough (50 Lb tested) snap-on swivel at the end of the leader for convenience to change out lures fast and easy but does this affect the effectiveness of the lure?
Hey Francisco,
We’re not a fan of swivels for a few reasons. Here is an article we put out recently on that very topic:
https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/snap-swivels-artificial-fishing-lures/
The only time I will use a swivel is for live bait or cut bait depending on the rig I am using.
Great confirmation, thanks Tony
No problem Eddie, thanks!
Nice.!!
What about the rods? What power and rating do you bring?
All of my rods are 7’6 to 7’10 and are medium to medium heavy power and fast action. I like to keep them all the same because I want them all to “feel” the same. Many people prefer to use different rods based on the type of lure they are using, but if you get comfortable with one type you can adjust how to use it for many different types of lures.
Tony, what set up would you recommend for live bait? I usually bring two rods, but mostly identical set ups so I have backup if one fails (like you say in the video).
Hey Jay,
I use the same setups for live bait as far as rod and reel. If i’m going after snook I’ll use a minimum of 30lb leader. For the flats I am usually just free lining if using live bait so i’ll just tie a hook directly to my leader without any weight and let the bait swim naturally.
If you’re fishing around structure (docks, trees, pilings) you are going to want to go with heavier line (minimum 20lbs). For this I like to just have a spare spool for one of my reels filled up with a heavier braid and i’ll go heavier with the leader as well. This way all I have to do is change out the spool for the heavier line.
Hey Tony, great video as always. Is there a difference as to when to use a Texas eye jig head to a twistlock hook if weights are the same? Seems I have had more success with jig head around oyster beds for flounder and has seemed to have helped that they can be weed less than just using trout eye jigs.
Hey Troy! Check out this response I made just below this one (it was the same question so I’m assuming you may have posted it twice, or crazy coincidence haha)
Hey Tony, great video as always. Knowing that the trout eye jig head can be weed less, and has helped me near oyster beds for flounder, would there be a difference between twistlock or trout eye if weight is the same?
Thanks!
The positioning of the weight is what makes the biggest difference when using a weighted hook vs. a jig head. On a jig head the weight is forward (at the nose) so your bait will dive down quicker and have a more erratic motion when retrieving it. I prefer a jighead in deeper water and stronger current for this reason. A twistlock hook of the same weight will make your lure fall differently and move differently in the water because the weight on those hooks is a little further back from the nose.
What weight jig head do you go with 3/16 or 1/4. I like the 3/16 but do I need to go heavier
1/8 is my go-to, but i’ll have 1/4 and 1/2 in my box as well just incase. I primarily fish in less than 4 ft of water so I dont bring too much tackle with me unless I know i’ll be fishing deeper or in stronger current.
You hit the nail on the head as usual Tony ..great tips !!
I bring all those set ups however I also bring 1 additional rod with a knocker rig ready just in case I hook a ladyfish and feel like using sum cut bait !! I made me a 4 rod holder that sits kinda high out of the way and behind to clear up sum room …works really well !!
Good stuff Josh! The rod I use for topwater will turn into a cut bait rod if needed. Or I’ll just use the rod with the jighead for a piece of cut bait as well.