At the time, we were discussing a few of our collection of fishing rods.

Obviously for people who love their fishing, the tools I’m referring to are their rods, reels and assortment of tackle.

In this article, I want to discuss fishing rods themselves and leave the rest for another topic at a later stage.

There are several purposes to use a fishing rod instead of using a hand line. 

The fishing rod allows you to cast your baits or lure, whether it be for distance or for accuracy.

If you are after trout with a fly, try casting a fly with a hand reel and you’ll see why you need a specific fly rod.

Also, think about beach fishing – in some cases, the fish are right in close to your feet but in many cases they are out behind the breaking waves.

How do you get your bait to them and how do you keep your line above the level of the breaking water?

A beach rod is the obvious answer.

As you get more and more into fishing for different species of fish, you will see greater need for speciality fishing rods, which assist you to present your bait or lure to the fish.

In the case of fishing for marlin and other big pelagic fish, you don’t need to cast for them.

In the majority of cases, you are trolling a spread of big lures or baits for them.

These rods are built very short and stiff – they are designed to be a lever to be used against big strong fish. They also take a strong fit person to use them effectively.

I personally like fishing with soft plastics and small lures designed for catching flathead, bass and estuary perch (EPs).

Whiting and bream also take these lures, so in many cases you can find a rod that will fit a common purpose.

I like a seven foot spin outfit in the two to five kilogram range with a medium fast action. This type of rod for me covers all the bases for the species I’ve mentioned and usually fish with two to four kilogram braid or gelspun, with a 2000 or 2500 reel.

You can go even smaller if you wish.

I you ask a golfer to show you their tools of the trade, they will show you a bag of clubs ranging from a putter, to wedges, then irons and then woods – each has a specific purpose.

It’s very much the same in fishing. You just need to choose the right tool to use at the right time.

This is only something that experience and asking questions will help.

Don’t be shy if you don’t know. Ask someone in your local tackle shop and I’m sure they will be only too pleased to help.