Rod Riot on Board

I spent many years being what could only be considered as a professional non-boater. This crossed over in research as well as for tournaments and a hyper efficient, one size fits all tackle and rod lineup was the outcome.

It’s the rods which always drew the most attention. My minimum compliment is six, but eight works better. As I would load the rods on board the boater would invariably say, “You’re bringing ALL THOSE RODS with you?.” Of course if you look into their rod lockers there are easily 20 or more rods available to them.

So how about a basic rod lineup? Here’s the way I rig my eight rods for maximum coverage and efficiency on the open water in the Lake:

1) Baitcaster – Spinnerbait rod
2) Baitcaster – Crankbait rod
3) Baitcaster – Tube rod 5″ tube w/1/8 oz. or 3/16 oz. tube head
4) Baitcaster – Jerkbait rod
5) Spincaster – Drop-shot rod
6) Spincaster – Tube rod 3/16 oz. weight for tube head
7) Spincaster – Tube rod/short 1/8 oz. weight for tube head
8) Spincaster – Wacky rig rod

This allows me to cover a variety of depths, fish at a wide range of speeds and present multiple color choices in soft plastics. In a pinch I can pare this down to a six rod lineup like this:

1) Baitcaster – Spinnerbait/crankbait rod
2) Baitcaster – Tube rod 5″ tube w/1/8 oz. or 3/16 oz. tube head
3) Baitcaster – Jerkbait rod
4) Spincaster – Drop-shot rod
5) Spincaster – Tube rod 3/16 oz. weight for tube head
6) Spincaster – Wacky rig rod

On the river it might be like this:

1) Baitcaster – Spinnerbait/crankbait rod
2) Baitcaster – Tube rod 5″ tube w/3/16 oz. or 1/4 oz. tube head
3) Baitcaster – Jerkbait rod
4) Baitcaster – 3-way rig – 1/2 oz. pencil weight (Adjustable)
5) Spincaster – Drop-shot rod – 1/2 oz. pencil weight (Adjustable)
6) Spincaster – Tube rod 3/8 oz. weight for tube head

(c) 2010 Wayne Carpenter

Tags: bass, bass baits, tube baits, Wayne Carpenter, xtreme bass tackle