Walleye Rods buying guide

Are you looking to catch the notorious walleye? Invest in proper walleye rods to gain a cutting edge over the fish.

Reeling in the walleye is a little tricky, as you need to access every light stroke and pull before the fish spits out the lure.

While selecting a suitable rod, you have to look into several factors. A buying guide allows you to access all the necessary information on these pointers in a jiffy.

You can quickly go through them and pin down the best variant according to your needs. Let us start with a quick introduction and then move further with the guide.

What are Walleye Rods and their benefits?

A proper walleye rod is a sensitive and stiff fishing rod which helps the anglers in fishing walleye. With this 7-foot fishing rod, you can identify a subtle strike on the lure. Also, it allows you to make a strong hook set to catch and pull the walleye efficiently.

Walleye fishing poles usually have medium to medium-light power and fast action, essential for walleye fishing.

A good walleye pole's performance also depends on whether you are jigging, rigging, or trolling.

It will be useful to have a good walleye rod because they are extremely sensitive to detect any soft strikes, and it is firm enough to set the hooks rapidly and firmly so that the walleye can not spit your lure and escape.

The problem with walleye is that they bite very lightly and tend to spit out quickly. So, it is challenging to detect their bite, especially if you have a regular fishing pole, there will be less chance of successfully catching the walleye.

It means you will need a technic-specific rod, mainly made for fishing the walleye, that will provide the right amount of sensitivity and stiffness and strength and power to maximize your performance.

Types of Walleye Rods

1. Jigging Rods

Jigging is an easier way of walleye fishing that requires the right stuff. You will need a good quality jigging pole with an extremely sensitive blank, sensitive, and comfortable handle material and lightweight design to succeed in your walleye fishing.

You are recommended to have a 5'9" rod for jigging. You may find it too short, but shorter rods have some advantages for jigging. A shorter rod helps you reduce the distance between your hand and the lure, increasing the rod's sensitivity.

It does not mean that longer rods can not work well, but having a short and lightweight rod will reduce fatigue effectively.

The rod should work with medium-light to medium power along with a fast to ultra-fast action. A sensitive rod will allow you to detect the shy bites so that you can set up the hook in less time.

When it comes to choosing the material, you should never pick up fiberglass for jigging. You can look for a carbon-fiber or graphite blank for better sensitivity and quicker action.

2. Rigging Rods

Some anglers are more likely to catch walleye by rigging with live baits. However, the rigging rods should have some other factors besides sensitivity to get a good catch.

Unlike jigging, you will need a longer rigging rod along with a softer tip. A softer tip ensures that a fish can pick up and hold the bait for some time, and it will not feel much pressure. Also, it helps to detect small bites.

A light tip is more like a that helps you observe the strikes and bobbing motion to indicate a fish on the fishing line.

Rigging rods should have a length between 7' and 7'6," which is perfect for walleye fishing. These longer rods offer more leverage for hook sets.

Moreover, they work with the medium, medium-light, or light power. These rods have moderate action for medium power and, similarly, fast action for light power.

The graphite and carbon fiber made blanks are incredibly durable and sensitive well. Rigging rods are also cheaper than jigging rods.

3. Trolling Rods

A trolling rod works more like a shock absorber than a fish fighting tool. It is essential for trolling to have a rod that can withstand the non-stop pulsing of the fishing lines from the strong waves and the shock and stress.

Therefore, you must choose a longer blank which will be durable along with comfortable and durable handles.

The trolling rods should have a length between 7'10" and 10'. You can consider 8'6' as a perfect rod length for regular trolling.

These rods work with medium-heavy to medium power along with moderate action. To make the handles more durable, EVA foam or cork is used, and also the rod comes with rock-hard reel seats.

The most important thing to mention is that you can choose fiberglass blanks for trolling rods because they do not seek higher sensitivity. Graphite blanks are also appropriate for these rods.

Trolling rods are the cheapest among all three types of walleye rods.

Things to deem about while selecting appropriate Walleye Rods

Length

Typically, walleye rods come within a range between 5'9" and 8" long. However, you should choose the length of your walleye rod depending on your fishing style.

A shorter rod is ideal for jigging because it is lightweight, and you can cast comfortably for an extended period without exhaustion.

On the other hand, you can use a longer rod for live bait rigging. It will help you to make a quick hook set to haul the fish effectively.

You will also need a long rod that ranges between 7'10" and 10' for trolling that is strong enough to maintain a rock-solid hook set.

1. Shorter Fishing Rods

Having a shorter walleye rod means you will get more power and faster action from the rod. You will be able to cast with higher accuracy. Also, shorter rods are more comfortable to transport and store.

2. Longer Fishing Rods

A longer fishing rod allows you to cast in a longer distance. Besides, you will have more rod strokes as well as more line speed during casting. It will take a little more practice to handle longer rods.

You should also consider the overall configuration of the walleye poles. A one-piece model comes with more strength and sensitivity, where a two-piece rod is significantly easier to carry and transport.

Having this walleye rod ensures that you will detect a softer strike, hook and haul the fish efficiently.

Line Weight

It is very crucial to check the line weight of the walleye rods to have the best performance. The rod's power directly depends on the line weight, so it is elementary to understand that more power means more line weight.

If you want to have a more powerful rod, you should always look for the fishing line's higher weight. Generally, a pound test line from 8 to 12 lb is ideal for walleye fishing.

You need to make sure that the line weight you are choosing provides you with an adequate level of power so that the combination will help you enhance your fishing experience, and you can land walleye effortlessly.

You must select the rod design according to this weight. If you are trolling with a heavier line, you should buy a heavy-duty and powerful rod to effectively deal with the heavier line weight.

Material

You must choose the right material for the frame of your fishing rod to have an impressive performance. You should make sure the rod offers a fair amount of sensitivity, strength, and power to meet your fishing needs.

You will not find much variety of materials when you are going to choose the walleye rods. Almost all the walleye fishing poles are made of either graphite or carbon fiber. Some of the rods are also designed with fiberglass.

Graphite and carbon fiber are mostly used because they are incredibly lightweight, sensitive, yet strong, perfect for walleye poles.

Typically, fiberglass is used in trolling rods because they require more durability than sensitivity. For trolling, you will not need much sensitivity of the rod; instead, you must choose a rod that provides more strength.

This is the reason why fiberglass is used in designing the trolling rods. You will also find high-strength graphite construction for trolling rods.

1. Fiberglass

Fiberglass is an excellent choice for trolling rods because it offers more strength than durability, which can be extremely helpful for trolling. You need to endure a lot of pressure during trolling, so you must have a strong and durable fishing rod.

Fiberglass rods are also a little bit heavier and thicker. You can have a low to medium rod action. Fiberglass is more rigid than any other material, so you can use these rods without any headache.

2. Graphite/Carbon Fibre

Both graphite and carbon fiber are renowned for their sensitivity and strength. But they are also more expensive compared to fiberglass. Epoxy and resin are blended with these materials to make the rod blanks.

Graphite and carbon fiber are incredibly sensitive, so you can feel the lightest bites easily. Therefore, they are used in making the walleye rods for jigging and rigging. Another important thing is that both of these materials are lightweight, so they are easier to handle.

3. Multi-material composite

Some manufacturers are more likely to use the combination of different materials to create their fishing rods. These rods are naturally stronger and more durable.

However, multi-material composite fishing rods are too expensive, so anglers try to avoid them in general.

Moreover, you should check the rod grips and runners' construction to ensure that they are designed with the best quality materials.

Action

Action refers to the flexibility of the fishing rods. Usually, fishing rods have different action types, including slow, modern, fast, and extra-fast action.

For the walleye rods, sensitivity is significant, especially for jigging. Generally, jigging rods come with fast to extra-fast action, where rigging rods work fast or moderate.

1. Fast action

This action comes with the highest sensitivity that helps you detect the subtle bites, and you can set up the hooks quickly. Mostly the upper part of the rods bends with fast action.

2. Moderate action

The fishing rods bend up to the middle part with a moderate action, which is a little deeper than the fast action. It is very useful to haul bigger fish.

3. Slow action

The rod tip can bend up to the butt of the rod. With a slow action rod, you can catch lightweight bait easily.

When it comes to fishing walleye, you should know that walleye give the lightest bites, so you will need a softer rod for better performance.

It is recommended to look for a fast or extra-fast action rod for jigging. Oppositely, you can go for a stiffer fast fishing rod when you are going on trolling.

Power

The power of a rod is closely related to its action. Practically, power is a rating that indicates the resistance of a rod to flexing. Put simply, power rating tells you about the stiffness of the rods or how much pressure a rod can withstand before bending.

Usually, fishing rods come up with different power ratings such as ultra-light, light, medium-light, medium, medium-heavy, heavy, and extra-heavy. However, you should choose the walleye rods according to your fining techniques.

Ultra-light and light power fishing rods are thin. If you want to have thicker rods, you should look for a medium to medium-heavy power rating.

Also, you should check the line weight and lure weight before choosing the rod power. You will need a more powerful rod for a bigger and larger fish.

Especially when you are going for walleye fishing, you should choose the rod power more carefully. It will be better to have a higher power rating for your trolling rod to ensure the rod can withstand the rigors related to trolling effectively.

Medium or medium-light power is appropriate for vertical jigging, where you should choose a medium or light power for rigging poles.

Durability

Durability is one of the essential buying factors for fishing rods, so you must consider it while selecting the walleye rods.

The quality of the materials used in designing the rods has a significant role in determining the durability of the fishing rods. You should always settle with high-quality materials.

Typically, walleye fishing poles are made of graphite and carbon fiber, which are strong and durable. But, fiberglass used in trolling rods is more durable than other materials.

Therefore, you should choose durable materials for walleye poles because they need to withstand a lot of pressure.

However, you should choose the handle material according to your personal preference. Handles are built with either EVA foam or cork, but they are incredibly durable to last long for years.

Anatomy of fishing rods

1. Butt Cap

You will find the caps at the but end of the handle of the walleye rods. Typically, cork or rubber is used to make these caps, so they are solid and durable.

The primary purpose of using the butt cap is to support you while fighting a fish. You can press this end into the abdomen to get more strength, and thus you can pull up a fighting fish effectively.

2. Handle

Handles are also known as grips, which help you to hold the fishing rod comfortably. In general, handles are made with EVA foam or cork or a combination of these materials.

Cork is used in designing a firmer grip where foam can resist temperature changes and damages. Nevertheless, it is up to your personal choice, which material feels more comfortable in your hand.

Fishing rods handles have two shapes, such as a pistol and trigger stick.

If you want a shorter grip, you can go with a pistol grip. It comes with a contoured design so it can take the shape of your hand easily. This grip is equipped with a hook that helps you to cast accurately.

With a trigger-stick grip, you can cast longer distances because it is longer, and you can hold it with two hands smoothly.

3. Reel Seat

This is an essential part of the fishing rods because the reel is attached to this spot. The reels can be connected in different ways, so the reel seat also comes with different designs.

Some rods come with rings that go above the reel foot, ensuring more safety while fishing.

4. Hook keeper/keeper ring

You should consider the hook keepers as an essential feature of the walleye rods that can increase the rods' safety to a great extent. This is the place where you can hook the unused hooks hassle-free.

It helps you arrange the hooks properly and prevent them from swinging to not hurt your skin.

5. Butt

This thicker end of the rod blank is found on the rod handle.

6. Butt Guide

This is the first guide found at the end of your fishing rod's handle, and it is the thickest part.

7. Female Ferrule

This feature is mainly found in the two-piece fishing rods, broken into two separate pieces. The point where the two separate sections are attached is called a ferrule.

Now, the lower section of these two parts is known as a female ferrule, and it matches the male ferrule on the upper part.

8. Male Ferrule

As mentioned above, two-piece rods have two separate pieces, and the bottom part is the male ferrule. The female ferrule is fixed onto this part, so the male ferrules come with a flared shape.

It supports the female ferrule to slip onto this effortlessly.

The main reason behind using the male ferrules is to make a strong connection between the two separate sections of the fishing rods.

9. Guide Rings

These small rings are found on the rods that help to guide the fishing lines along with the length of the rod, precisely, from the rod butt to the tip.

Not all the rods have the same number of rings or the spacing or guide size. It differs according to the style of the rods. But as a thumb rule, you should look for more guides for better performance.

It is recommended to look for a high-quality rod that has at least one guide at a one-foot distance throughout the length of the rod.

For example, you should look for at least seven guides for a 7-foot long rod.

10. Windings

Windings are more like strings that are attached to the rod guides. They look like fasteners. These windings are designed with protective paint that is effective to reduce corrosion caused by water.

11. Tip

The tip is the uppermost part of a fishing rod, which is extremely flexible. This is the thinnest part, and it plays a significant role in determining the action of the rods. It is found near to the tiptop of the rod.

12. Tip Top

This is the extreme tip of the fishing rod. It is the smallest part which helps you in casting accurately. Because of its size, it tends to break off quickly. So, you must be very careful while transporting the rod to prevent this rod from getting damaged.

FAQs

1. What is considered as the best Walleye Rods?

A Walleye rod has an ideal long fishing rod with a length of at least 7-foot along with fast action. Opt for medium power rod. This combination will allow you to access the light strokes and reel in the fish as soon as it gets stuck in the hook.

2. What is vital while trolling?

A walleye rod that has high shock absorption, a robust build, and a medium or fast action is best suited for trolling.

3. How are Walleye rods so lightweight?

Walleye rods are made up of carbon fiber or graphite, which makes these rods very lightweight. They are quite durable and powerful and have a high threshold against wear and tear.

Final Verdict

Walleye rods present a simple yet effective way to enjoy the sport and catch tons of fish. Here, in this guide, you will get all the pointers that define the product's usability and performance.

Go through the details and make an informed purchase. Arm yourself with an elite rod and have a safe expedition.