Serious tournament fisherman 2025
GoneFishingLTN reply :
How many doubles of rods do you keep for x season so let’s say spring do you have two spinnerbait rods or one?
Two squarebills or one?
scaleface reply :
I carry one rod that used for Texas rigs and jigs . Then I'll carry three to five others and they are not delegated to one type of fishing . They have to cover everything else . My favorite buzzbait rod also doubles as a crankbait , spinnerbait... The same with the rest of them .
CroakHunter reply :
I usually have 2 or more rods for my favorite or most successful techniques. For example I will have 2 rods for moving baits with jig hooks (spinnerbait, chatterbaits, buzzbait, and swim jig), 2 or more for pitching (jig and texas rig, braid pitching, fluorocarbon pitching) and 2 for bigger texas rigged plastics (weightless 7 inch senko, 12" worm). As you can tell I'm most comfortable fishing shallow water with plastics.
Mike L reply :
On 1/7/2019 at 11:03 PM, scaleface said:I carry one rod that used for Texas rigs and jigs . Then I'll carry three to five others and they are not delegated to one type of fishing . They have to cover everything else . My favorite buzzbait rod also doubles as a crankbait , spinnerbait... The same with the rest of them .
Pretty much the same for me.
As a co angler every combo I bring does double duty
Mike
Catt reply :
On 1/7/2019 at 10:26 PM, GoneFishingLTN said:How many doubles of rods do you keep for x season so let’s say spring do you have two spinnerbait rods or one?
Two squarebills or one?
2 worm rods;
Weightless to 1/2 oz
3/4 to 1. 5 oz
2 jig rods:
3/16 to 1/2 oz
3/4 to 1.5 oz
Smokinal reply :
The only time I'll keep 2 rods rigged with similar baits is in the spring when I throw jerks; I'll have 2 different colors tied on different rods.
And in the fall, the same two baits; and I'll also have 2 different lipless baits on different rods.
Nice to be able to go back and forth and narrow down a pattern/color
RHuff reply :
My setup look like this:
1 heavy/fast with high speed reel for flipping/jigs/frogs with heavy braid
3 Med-Heavy/Fast for Cranking with 6.8/1 one with 20lb flouro and two with 14lb flouro
1 Med/Fast with 6.3/1 for Topwater and Jerkbaits with 12lb mono
1 Spinning with 10lb flouro for finesse
I keep three rigged on each side of my casting deck. It covers everything I need and gives me plenty of room to move around without over crowding my front casting deck. Hope that helps.
GoneFishingLTN reply :
On 1/8/2019 at 1:20 AM, Smokinal said:The only time I'll keep 2 rods rigged with similar baits is in the spring when I throw jerks; I'll have 2 different colors tied on different rods.
And in the fall, the same two baits; and I'll also have 2 different lipless baits on different rods.
Nice to be able to go back and forth and narrow down a pattern/color
That’s my thought doesn’t most serious anglers do this for every highly productive bait during that season
Smokinal reply :
If you know they will be on a bait with high probability, it's a good idea to have a couple of similar baits in different colors; at least until you narrow down a certain bite/pattern. Sometimes I'll keep both on all day and just alternate between the two if both keep producing.
J Francho reply :
I have double of my two favorite drop shot rods. AVS63MLXF and AVS63MXF. I have plenty of 7 MH and 7M rods on hand as well, though not all the same rod.
TOXIC reply :
It's not unusual if I am in my own boat to have 4 rods rigged with different presentations of Senko's. 
junyer357 reply :
I dont tourny fish, but i do keep multiples of presentations once i have a decent pattern going.
Normally not the exact same thing, but close for example, i may have a few diffrent color squarebills, say a white w/blue back and a cream w/black. Or 2 white spinnerbaits, but diffrent combo of blades. A couple of jigs with same skirt but diffrent trailers.
LxVE Bassin reply :
As a co-angler I’m limited to 5. Dropshot, Spinnerbait, Chatterbait, and jig are guaranteed to come with me. The 5th rod will depend on the body of water and what the fish like at that time of year.
riverbasser reply :
Similar to others I have doubles of my 2 most productive setups. 2 identicle jig rods and crank rods. The jigs rods I vary weight and color and cranks I vary depth and color. I have confidence in these two presentations. I feel I just need to narrow down the exact one for the day and this makes it easier
RichF reply :
I usually have 4 or 5 jig rods on the deck if I'm fishing a tourney where largemouth dominate. Two different size jigs on two different lines and usually a swimjig.
Bass_Fanatic reply :
This may not apply to most as I carry 48 rods in my boat, but if I’m on a good Crankbait bite, I may have 15 rigged up. Different colors, different rattles, different brands, etc. I always have 2 Carolina rigs and 2 jigs rigged up everyday.
12poundbass reply :
On 1/17/2019 at 12:24 AM, Bass_Fanatic said:I carry 48 rods in my boat,
I'd say your screen name is fitting then. How big is the barge you tow behind your boat to haul all you lures?
new2BC4bass reply :
On 1/17/2019 at 12:24 AM, Bass_Fanatic said:This may not apply to most as I carry 48 rods in my boat, but if I’m on a good Crankbait bite, I may have 15 rigged up. Different colors, different rattles, different brands, etc. I always have 2 Carolina rigs and 2 jigs rigged up everyday.
I want a boat like yours! 
Also I can see I need a few more crankbait rods. 
Bass_Fanatic reply :
On 1/17/2019 at 12:56 AM, 12poundbass said:I'd say your screen name is fitting then. How big is the barge you tow behind your boat to haul all you lures?
It’s a Puma FTD.
On 1/17/2019 at 1:11 AM, new2BC4bass said:I want a boat like yours!
Also I can see I need a few more crankbait rods.
Lots of Dobyns cranking rods lol
WRB reply :
You should have a back up for everything you plan to use during a tournament. IMO you should know in advance what the bite is before putting any money in the pot, that way you set up what you need.
Tom
Log Catcher reply :
On 1/17/2019 at 12:56 AM, 12poundbass said:I'd say your screen name is fitting then. How big is the barge you tow behind your boat to haul all you lures?
I want to know how big the boat is to haul that many rods.
FishTank reply :
I use 5 setups on the boat, each a little different. I have duplicates of two of what I call my general purpose setups. If something goes south the duplicate set ups are a good fit for just about any type of bass fishing. That way I don't feel like I have to rush to get something fixed or replaced.
I use 2 jig and worm rods (one for light baits and one for heavier baits), 1 crank bait rod, 1 top water (or jerk bait depending not the time of the year), and 1 general purpose.
J Francho reply :
On 1/17/2019 at 8:37 AM, Log Catcher said:I want to know how big the boat is to haul that many rods.
20'4" Basscat. Storage is their hallmark. There's room under the rod tubes for bulk storage for setups. I carried around 40 rods an reels in my Bullet, using the center storage, once I removed the rod tubes. There was room for plenty more. The key is to use rod sleeves and reel covers.
Bass_Fanatic reply :
On 1/17/2019 at 9:56 PM, J Francho said:20'4" Basscat. Storage is their hallmark. There's room under the rod tubes for bulk storage for setups. I carried around 40 rods an reels in my Bullet, using the center storage, once I removed the rod tubes. There was room for plenty more. The key is to use rod sleeves and reel covers.
Yep. Remove the rod tubes and use rod sleeves and you’d be surprised how many will fit. I could probably fit another 20 between both lockers if I wanted.
Columbia Craw reply :
Three pre rigged crankbait rods and two pre rigged drop shot rots.
WRB reply :
I use expando sleeves to cover my rods and terry cloth towels inbetween layers of reels to cushion them. Wish I thought of expando sleeves as a commercial item to offer to fisherman 30 years ago, we had a braiding division that made the expando sleeving for decades used for aerospace wire harnesses.
I use reel cover if I am transporting rods with reels to fish with someone else. The terry towels are handy to wipe the boat dry etc, etc, and make good padding in the rod locker.
Tom
kstephes033 reply :
Usually after prefishing and getting a good idea of what’s going on I’ll have 3 or 4 identical setups on deck with the same bait in the same color. For instance if they are going good on a beaver in green pumpkin then I will have usually 4 setups with same line, weight, color, and bait setup ready to go. That way if one gets bit off,
plastic stolen, pincher bit off, frayed line, whatever... all I have to do is own and grab another and fire right back in there. Tourneys are about maximizing time with your bait in the water. Having one setup and losing the bait then having to go into the box to get another out and either retie or just put another plastic on takes time, 2 casts minimum and if you have to retie that could be 10 or more casts missed out on depending on how proficient you are with tying. I will usually have other options on deck as well such as that same situation I would have a couple of jigs out in similar color, maybe a smaller t-rig with lighter weight, and something finesse to clean up an area like a Ned rigs or dropshot. If it is something where I’m cranking all day I’ll usually have 2 setups with the same thing since you aren’t having to remove or replace Plastics, just the occasional retie. Now that’s all if you are a boater. If you are a non boater the ideal situatoin in s to either prefish with your partner or get the info ahead of time to be able to rig up on a couple rods then have a few alternates, in this case I’d probably have two identical setups and then 3 or 4 different offerings that you could use as double duty for something else if it pops up.
dam0007 reply :
I carry right around 25 combos with me. Then keep 6 spare rods in the event the unfortunate happens to one of them. Every rod is dialed in to a exact bait: gear ratio on the reel, type of line, lb test. Etc.
Only 2 cases I’ve doubled rods with the similar setups is for a very specific purpose or having a back up ready to go.
One is flipping, 2 scenarios though. One ready with braid and the other fluorocarbon. This is if I’m going back and forth from rocks to weeds. I’d prefer braid in this instance but on the rocks with possibility of zebra mussels run the Fluoro. The other is weight same set up one with say 3/4oz and the other 1.5oz so I could work inside weed line and out side weedline at the same pace.
Next case would be cranking. Especially doing some squarebilling or deep cranking. Squares often I’ll have 2 same bait set ups one with heavy mono and the other light Fluoro. To target 2 specific depths around weeds. For deep cranking mainly identical setups just with 2 different baits I.e: silent and rattles, white and chartreuse. Etc
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