Pairing Rods with Lures to Solve the challenges of Bass fishing

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THERE IS NO ANGLING PURSUIT quite like bass fishing. While every species has its intricacies and multiple ways to pursue, none have the depth of options available like the largemouth bass. Considering the range of waterways bass inhabit and their propensity to get finicky, pursuing them can be like putting together a puzzle.

A big piece of that puzzle is choosing the right rod to use with specific lure styles.

From Flippin’ sticks to shaky head setups, there are myriad options available in both casting and spinning. We’ve looked at some of the leading rods on the market and matched up a list of lure styles with rods to help you match the best rod to your favorite technique.

Spinnerbaits

Spinnerbaits catch hundreds of thousands of bass in Texas every year. Whether you’re fishing Colorado, Willow Leaf, or even the in-between Indiana blade, they are simple to use and draw big strikes.

A 7 ‘3 Victory medium/fast casting rod is a great choice to throw spinners, and with this line of rod’s comfort and balance, you can chunk heavy spinners all day without fatigue.

Jigs

Texas Fish & Game once polled professional bass anglers as to which one type of lure they would fish if seeking the fish of a lifetime. Nearly three-quarters of them answered with “jig.”

A good jig-flipping rod is indispensable for a bass angler and in the Victory line, and the 7 ‘6 moderate-fast casting rod is hard to beat.

Being able to horse a fish in and get a lure working down through heavy cover, yet still being able to feel slight bites and work the jig, isn’t a task for just any rod. This one will get the job done.

Topwaters

Anglers are mixed on the best kind of topwater rod to fish. On the casting side of things, especially for walking-style plugs, the Victory 7 ‘1 medium-heavy/fast is a great option. On the spinning side, the 7’1 medium with fast action is great for fishing chugging style lures.

No matter the style rod, remember not to overreact when you get a “blowup”. It’s usually best to let the fish strike and wait for a second to set the hook to make sure it has the lure in its mouth.

Finesse

Finesse fishing is essentially using shorter, lighter lures on a spinning rod to get bass to eat when the bite is off in times such as high barometric pressure or during unusually cold periods.

For this, you need a medium/extra fast 6’8 Victory spinning rod. This is perfect for vertical fishing small drop shot rigs, chunking tube jigs around docks, and delivering small swimbaits when the bass are keyed in on smaller shad.

Buzzbaits

A 7’2” medium heavy/moderate fast Victory casting rod is perfect for throwing big buzzbaits. 

These are great for searching out water, as you can cover long distances and they are a great way to introduce kids to fishing larger lures. Since you essentially just have to keep them running along the surface, anyone can learn to use them with minimal instruction.

Hair Jig

Hair jig fishing isn’t something that is super popular in Texas yet. This finesse strategy is gaining traction around the nation, especially for big “offshore” bass. This 7 ‘10 medium-light/ extra fast spinning rod in the Victory line is specifically designed for this tactic, giving anglers everything they need from the reach to the sensitivity.

Texas Rig

Many bass anglers started on a Texas rig and although it’s sometimes overlooked nowadays, due to its simplicity, it can still deliver.

The simple bullet weight/hook/worm combo is easy to fish, and it’s super effective. The 7’3” medium heavy/moderate fast Victory casting rod is excellent for this application, with the combination of enough backbone and action to make the technique impactful.

Deep-Diving Crankbait: The 7’2” heavy/moderate Victory Casting Rod is great for full-contact crankbait fishing. The light, well-balanced rod gives anglers extra stamina while fishing a technique that can quickly cause fatigue.

Wacky Worm

Wacky worm fishing is old school but still has a huge following, especially in East Texas where it’s a great way to catch bass along grasslands on the big reservoirs and pick apart docks and cypress stumps in the river systems.

Spinning rods are great for wacky fishing and a 7 ‘1 Victory medium/fast action is a great setup for going wacky style.

Shaky Head

This can fall under the “finesse” category, but it’s also sort of a category of its own, so we thought it worth the profile.

The 7’1 medium/fast Victory spinning rod is perfect for this application as it gives the angler the needed length and action for shaky head presentation. 

Now is a great time to get more serious about matching rods and lures and putting a little more technical edge to your bass fishing.

 

Texas is experiencing a major uptick in trophy bass fishing with mega catches caught over the last couple of years at lakes like Sam Rayburn and O.H. Ivie.

But it’s not just the enormous fish that are on the rise, it’s the overall opportunity to catch quality bass around the state. Virtually everyone is within an hour of a top-notch reservoir. Add to that high-quality river and stream fishing and bass fishing is as good as it has ever been in Texas.

Taking the extra time to think out rod selection can go a long way in helping you fish more efficiently and hopefully catch more fish in the process.

And hopefully, some of them are genuine Texas-sized specimens.

—story by AUTHOR

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