Rod Selection - How to Choose a Rod for Texas Rigged Soft Plastics

As many of you know.  I am a custom fishing rod builder, and own a custom fishing company called P. H. Kellner – Quality Custom Fishing.  So, as you might imagine, the fishing rod is an important piece of the fishing puzzle to me. I have done more on-the-water research than you can even imagine, testing different fishing rods in different situations.  In this series of posts, I will describe how to choose the best rod for each specific fishing situation and presentation.  I will start by going through each lure category and situation and discuss the best choices for each scenario.  I will then help discuss how to choose how to whittle down your rod choices and decide what to take out on a kayak.

I know it is cliché, but the rod to an angler is like the brush to a painter.  It is a tool, maybe the most important and overlooked tool that the angler has to make decisions about.  The wrong rod can cost you fish!  And in a tournament situation, or anytime you’re out on the water, losing a fish can turn a good day bad, quickly.  Here is the how and why of choosing the correct fishing rod for you specific situation.

Texas Rigged Soft Plastics:

This is a little tough to narrow down to one specific rod that would be best for all Texas rigged soft plastics.  But we can do it.  A good rod is definitely a must when throwing any type of soft plastics and this is no different when they are Texas Rigged.  The proper rod will help you catch more fish when throwing a Texas Rig.  Here is what I look for in a good Texas Rig Rod:

Length: This is often a matter of what you are most comfortable with.  I know anglers who use 6’6” worm rods and some, very few but some, that use 8’ rods for Texas Rigs.  Most are in the middle.  I like a 7’ rod when I am Texas Rigging.  This rod is long enough to give me the distance and accuracy on longer casts and not too long to work around docks and in heavy cover areas.  It is also long enough to get a good quick solid hook set, that is necessary when fishing slow.

Action: Action is very important when choosing a rod for Texas rigging.  I would not throw anything less than a fast action rod, and most of the time I use an extra fast rod for Texas rigging.  An extra fast rod is more accurate on each cast, and is much more sensitive once your bait is in the water.  Sensitivity is a must when Texas rigging.  You need to be able to feel every bump of the bottom, each branch on the tree, and most importantly every little light hitting bass that barely sucks the lure into its mouth.  The more fish you feel hitting your bait, the more fish you will catch.  An extra fast rod will also help pick the slack up out of the line that you will have while fishing slow.  You need to be able to quickly pick up this slack in order to get a good solid hook set.  With a slower action rod, the rod will give more while setting the hook, causing the line to not pull tight as quickly and transferring less power to the lodge the hook in the fish’s jaw. 

Power:  This can vary depending on the weight of the Texas Rig, the size of the soft plastic, the pound test line you are using, and where you are fishing.  But most of the time, I use a Medium Heavy action rod.  This rod gives me the power and backbone I need to pull a fish out of thick grass or trees.  To me, it is not necessary to increase to a heavy action rod most of the time, but I do if I am fishing a very heavy weight or am fishing in very heavy cover.  I will sometimes step down to a medium power rod if I am fishing very small and light Texas rigged soft plastics in areas of lighter cover.  But for most of my Texas rigging, I am using a Medium Heavy power rod.

Guides: As with most of my other rods choices, I find the benefits of micro guides very appealing, especially with worming rods.  You want sensitivity when fishing a Texas rig, and micro guides provide that.  Because micro guides are lighter, the top end of your rod will be lighter, for better balance and better “feel.”  They also allow for more guides to be placed on the blank for less weight than traditional guides, allowing for more points of contact between the line and your rod, increasing sensitivity even further.  They are also more accurate, and cast further.  All of that adds up to you catching more fish.  The only time I would not use them is if I were fishing braided line and tied that to a leader.  I do not want knots running through micro guides.  But...I almost never do that.

Handle and Reel Seat: Like a jig rod, or other worm rods, I want a full grip handle and a Minima reel seat.  Why?  Because the full grip adds a little more weight to the back end of the rod, making the tip feel lighter.  When you are fishing slowly with the rod tip up, a lighter tip will increase sensitivity.  I will sometimes even add a little weight to the very butt of the rod to help with this balance.  I use a Minima reel seat because it allows for the most contact between my fingers and the blank.  This increases the sensitivity even further. Just like any other rod, I feel that the decision in grip material (cork, EVA, etc.) is mostly a matter of preference. 

So, if I had to break it down and only choose one rod for fishing Texas Rigged soft plastics, I would choose a 7’ Extra Fast action, Medium Heavy Power, P. H. Kellner – Quality Custom Fishing rod with Micro Guides, a full grip handle, and a Minima reel seat.  You want the most sensitive rod you can find but still need some backbone, and to me…this is the rod for that.

How to Choose:
What is the "Action" of the Rod
Jig Rod
Crankbait Rod
Spinnerbait Rod
Topwater Rod

Other articles of interest:
Interview with Jim Dolan
Plight of the Guadalupe Bass
Case for a Big Time Kayak Fishing Tournament Trail
Fishing Artwork