Fishing Equipment: How To Choose Your Own Fishing Equipment

If you want to have fun and a good harvest, the first thing is to choose the right fishing equipment. A fishing rod is usually not enough if you often go to different places and fish for different kinds of fish. It is best to consider what type of fish you want to catch before making preparations accordingly.

Fishing Rod Classification

According to the reel (reel) used with the classification (the design of the rod with different classes of the reel will be different), the most common four categories are as follows, respectively

• Fly fishing reel
• Baitcasting reel
• Spinning reel
• Spincast reel

Beginners are generally recommended to choose a spin cast reel or spinning reel. These are the two most accessible reels to get started. A spinning cast reel is commonly used by children and has a lot of limitations. Therefore, adults are generally better off choosing a spinning reel directly. 

How to choose a fishing rod

There are long and short rods. The longer the rod, the farther the bait can be cast. In general, if you are in a pond or a not-so-open place on the lake shore, a length between 5 feet and 8 feet is suitable. If you need to cast a heavier lead farther on the pier or the beach, choose 8 feet to 10 feet, or even longer.

Besides length, you may also see parameters such as Power, Action, Line Weight, Lure Weight and so on marked on the rod.

-       Power refers to the strength of the rod that can withstand. We usually have the word “heavy”, “medium”, “light” and other words to describe the weight. The heavier rod suitable for casting heavier lures and fishing larger fish.

-       Action describes how much the fishing rod bends after the force is applied and is expressed by words like fast, moderate, slow, etc. For example, slow fishing rod is usually suitable for casting heavy lures.

-       Line Weight is the manufacturer's recommended line strength range. If it says 10-20 lb, it means that the manufacturer recommends that the rod is best suited for fishing 10-20 pounds of fish.

-       Lure Weight is the recommended weight range of lures.

Fishing Reel

Another reason beginners are advised to choose a spinning reel is that most spinning reels can be installed either left-handed or right-handed, as long as the handle is removed and installed on the other side. However, if you choose the Baitcasting reel, you must decide in advance whether the handle is on the left or right.

Usually, if you are used to casting with your right hand, choosing the left hand (handle on the left) may be more comfortable because then you don't have to switch the rod to your left hand after casting and stir the handle with your right hand.

If you want to save time, you can also buy Rod & Reel Combo fishing rod + reel set. If you want to choose the fishing rod and reel suite you, it is better to buy them separately.

Description of parts on the Spinning Reel

• The reel foot is where the reel is fixed to the rod.
• Drag adjustment is used to adjust the coil tension. The line cannot pull outward to adjust when a fish is hooked. 
• A line spool is for fishing lines storage.
• A bail is a locking device. When it is open, the fishing line with a loose coil is easy to automatically run out. Once closed, the fishing line will automatically go out. So do not forget to open it before throwing the fishing line.
• The handle is the need to keep stirring when you are retracting the fishing line.
• Anti-Reverse is a very important feature that prevents the handle from turning back and messing up the thread.

When choosing a fishing reel, the first thing is to choose a suitable fishing rod. If the fishing rod is large and the reed is small, the installed line may not be enough. On the other hand, a large reel with a small fishing rod will be a waste, and your hand cannot balance well and feel uncomfortable.

Generally speaking, the size of the reels of different brands is not standardized. Some called 10 may be the same as other brands of 1000, so it is more practical to look at the line capacity.If the line weight of the selected fishing rod corresponds to the recommended line weight of the reel, it is basically okay. Generally, the strength of the line should not exceed the upper and lower limits of the reel because a line that is too thin (below the lower limit) can easily cause problems such as tangled lines and knots, and a line that is too thick (above the upper limit) may be too short to use.

Some additional fish coil parameters include.

• Gear Ratio (Gear Ratio), for example, 5.1:1 means one turn of the handle and 5.1 turns of the coil. Therefore, the bigger the number in front, the faster the fish coil turns when the handle is churned, and the faster the line is reeled in.
• Ball Bearing (number of bearings), generally, the higher the value of BB of the same quality, the better (and more expensive),but in general, the quality of BB is more important than the quantity.

Lastly, if you're going to the beach to fish saltwater fish, you must always choose a high-quality or labelled saltwater version of the reel!

Fishing Line

As mentioned earlier, there are different options for monofilament, braided fishing lines, etc. The more common ones are the following three.

• A monofilament line (mono for short) is a nylon thread that is cheap and easy to use, with different thicknesses and colors. This thread is elastic, and its color decides its visibility.Nylon will age after using in the sun, so it is best to replace it yearly.
• Braided line is also a very popular fishing line. With the same thickness，the strength of braided almost doubled than the strength of mono. Moreover, braided lines have no memory and not easy to mess up, but you can always use it because of sunlight ageing. But a braided line also has disadvantages, such as no elasticity, not wear-resistant, very slippery and not easy to tie a tight knot, and high visibility underwater, and easy to be seen by fish to scare fish away. It is also more expensive.
• A fluorocarbon line is invisible under water and it is called an invisible fishing line. The same strength as mono. And it is thin, more durable and wear-resistant than mono. The disadvantage is that it has the same memory but more expensive, so it is generally used to lead, with the braided as main line.

Tip: When buying a fishing line, pay attention to the capacity of the fishing reel. It is best to buy an integer multiple length of the reel's capacity. For example, if the reel is marked 6 pounds of a line can be wound 200 yards, buy 6 pounds of line to try to buy 200 yards or 400, 600, 800. This way, when you want to change the line, you don't have to connect it, and it won't be wasted. Of course, the extra line can also be used to make leads, so if the reel's capacity is 220 yards, then buying 250 yards is better than 200 yards.

Fishing Hooks

Fish hooks have different shapes and sizes. The U.S. hook size is expressed in two formats.

• Number: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10...
• Aught: 1/0, 2/0, 3/0, 4/0, 5/0...

Size 1 and 1/0 (1/0 is pronounced as 1 Aught) are the medium size standard for certain hooks. Size 1 is slightly smaller than size 1/0, starting from 1. The larger the number, the smaller the hook. The larger the hook, the smaller the hook; with an expression like 1/0, the larger the number, the larger the hook.

In many cases, fishing regulations refer to the hooks that can be used to catch a certain type of fish. There are specific requirements, such as the size of the hook gap, a single hook, or a barbless (without barb) hook. If you can't buy a version without barbs, just use pliers to flatten the barbs yourself.