20 Best Fishing Rods For Kayaks (2023 Updated)

This rod has amazing accuracy when casting from a kayak. It’s able to cast baits throughout its weight range a respectable distance. I’ve had next to no backslashes while casting 1/4 ounce lures in breezy conditions.

Without tightening up the reel. Low profile reels sit well in the reel seat for palming them. Gives the rod a sleek design. The rod is light and balanced. I have experienced very little fatigue fishing with it for 6 hours.

Very sensitive feedback with jigs and crankbaits. First catch was an 18inch bass. This is an amazing and versatile rod for kayak fishing.

I have 9 of the mojo cat rods. They are super sensitive and powerful with each model spot on to specifications. I have these in every weight range. I love them. I’m 60 and have owned and used every major manufacturer rods.

These replaced my Lamiglas and others. I’m totally sold. Don’t hesitate to purchase, you get more than your paying for !!!!.

Purchased this last spring, 7’6″ MH F. I have this teamed with a Lew’s Pro TI 7. 5:1 with 50 lb. braid. It is great for throwing big swim baits a mile. I also use it for some flipping, frogging (lighter cover, use a 7’0″ St.

Croix Premier H F for the heavy stuff and punching). I fish from a Kayak, so this rod is really set up for this type of fishing. I just purchased the 7′ spinning rod and would buy the 7. 0 baitcaster, but Bass Pro only has the medium and I currently have 2 good crankbait rods.

Rambw3080c66 We Bought 12 of these rods for this charter season. 1st trip of the year, reeling up the 2nd fish one of them snapped in 2 between the 3rd & 4th guide. And also had one go down due to missing eyelet (which happens on a charter boat) As the season progressed we started breaking braid, 4 or 5 times a trip.

At first I assumed it was a bad batch of line. Respolled the reels 2 week ago with power pro and results were the same. Preformed some pull tests at the dock Monday; tying the line to a cleat and putting a strain on the rod, 6 out the 10 remaining all cut the line at the 3rd eyelet from the tip.

Upon close inspection each had a hair line crack in the ceramic insert. Penn customer service was very unresponsive, blaming the issue on heavy use & was unwilling to work with us at all, even on the snapped “single use†rod.

Now I know my testing wasn’t very scientific, but 6 rods with defective guides all in the same place, appears more systematic than “heavy use†wear & tear after 7 weeks (which that was when I tested them, I almost positive they’ve been damaged from the start of the season) Also of note, we had run the Slammer rods of the combo package for a few years without issues such as these.

When it was apparent Penn was not interested in addressing the problem on whole, I offered as a compromise that if they sent me replacement guides I would replace them myself. But unfortunately that offer was rejected as well.

They are completely washing their wash hands of any culpability in this matter.

I just received my 7’ fast action, heavy Rampage spinning rod and after preliminary examination it appears to be a strong backbone workhorse. I purchased this rod to match up with my Daiwa BG 6500 for pelagic offshore trips.

The Rampage feels at home with the weight of the reel and the reel seat holds tight. Although the item description stated that it was a fast action tip, it doesn’t seem like it is. May have to stick to trolling or jigging.

I rated each of three categories, in this case 1 star is good, and gave it 3 stars for the quality, weight, and physical components (would have liked an Aluminum reel seat) but I have not used it yet, so to be fair I gave it a 3 out of 3.

Once I test it out I will be able to rate the performance and strength. ( the other two stars). Overall I am pleased with the product received and expect it to be a successful advisary to the mighty yellowfin.

One thing I learned in my 50 years of fishing, is it is not the expensive equipment that all the product promoting “ review and angler” sites rave about being needed to catch fish. It’s the skill of the angler that puts the fish in the boat.

I know that big fish can be caught on a 150 foot piece of Dacron rope, a pair of fireplace mits, a meat hook and a sloppy, oily, piece of chicken, but don’t tell those “super-promo” fishermen because they get too much free stuff to agree.

Overall, for the price tag on this rod you cannot go wrong. Great rod great price.

I’ve been fishing for many years evidenced by my equipment made in America then Japan then Korea and now China. I’ve bought very good quality equipment but mostly very good value equipment like this rod.

The 13′ and 15′ surf rods I own are hard to handle and with an RV purchase in the near future would have been too much for my rod case so I bought this 9′ and hoped for the best. Except for minor issues; some coating drips on top of (no issue with performance) the largest eye and a bit of material that could be left or nipped off it’s near perfect.

I bought it knowing the eyes were not lined but I use monofilament and fish opportunity permits so it’s of little concern to me. If you like braided line this might be a concern for you. It performed very well with my Daiwa long cast 5500 on the Severn River with casts well beyond 50 yards during today’s calm.

I bought this in a 6’6″ MH to take on a 4 day inshore Snook fishing trip in South Florida. I paired it with a 4000 size reel , 20# braid, and we were fishing live finger mullet with 30# leader and circle hooks.

It may have been overkill but I did wench a couple of 30″+ fish out of deep cover with no issues. I don’t think it is a true inshore rod but it served for this purpose and ended up being the perfect tool for the job.

I would totally buy it again. It is well built, nicely finished, and tough as nails. The line guides on this thing are so beefy it just looks sick, but it is also super light. I use the ugly stik elite series rods that I pair with 2500 size reels for bass and I think the Tiger Elite is a hair lighter.

I make it down to salt 3 or 4 times a year and this rod will serve as my “big game” live bait inshore rod. It is a beast of a rod.

I wanted to like this rod. No, I wanted to love this rod. It looks amazing. The short rear portion of the handle makes casting from a kayak easier. The feel of the handle material would be fantastic – IF my hand actually held any of it.

So, here is the flaw: This is the first spinning rod I’ve owned where the reel seat’s tightening “nut” (the part that moves) is located at the bottom end of the seat, instead of the tip end. Why is this a problem? Because that means that I have a full finger (pinky in my case) is in contact with the threads – all the time.

So, I don’t actually get to hold that amazing feeling handle material. I know that some people prefer to have hand contact along the reel seat to they can feel the line better. I get that from my other rods without having to grasp threads, which is not only uncomfortable, it is a tactile distraction from feeling the rest of the rod and line with my index finger.

Well, ‘you could move your hand after casting”. Yes, I could. Or I could completely alter the way I hold the rod in the first place. And if this were an inexpensive rod, okay, maybe. But, when you pay for a rod this pricey.

Lastly, this rod is supposed to have a short end for kayakers – and by reversing the location of the moving nut to tighten the reel, they lost an opportunity to keep the rear end as short as possible.

So, this is my first, and my last ever, St. Croix rod. Really wish I could have tested this in a store beforehand, but literally no one in over a one hundred mile radius of me stocked it. Now. If you believe none of the above matters to you: Construction seems consistent with reputation St.

Croix carries (in other words, solid). I got the Medium/Fast rod and compared to my others I would say this feels more like a Medium-Hvy / Fast rod. So, overall a little stiffer than many other brands.

At the end of the day, even if you took away the massive design flaw from this thing, I still could not justify the price tag on this again compared to any other rod I use (all of which are less expensive).

I’m n?w to kayak fishing and when I saw this “Yak†spinning rod it seemed like a good idea so I purchased it. After fishing with it several times I feel that the rod itself could be used in any situation.

It does very well from the seated position in a kayak but this rod would work well for any fisherman standing in a boat, wading or on the bank. I’m am very IMO with the quality of the rod. This is my first St.

Croix rod and I have always heard this company made excellent fishing rods, now I know just how true that is. The blank is beautiful and the guides and handle are very high quality. I own several G Loomis casting and spinning rods , I my opinion the St.

Croix are equal in quality and dollar for dollar a better purchase.

I’ve bought a few kayak-specific rods from St. Croix and others, and the Mojo Yak rods are my favorite. They have a great smooth feel, not too unbalanced (easy to compensate for the shorter handle), and they have a sexy finish! Nice warranty seals the deal.

FishingOnline as always is quick to deliver and their pricing is excellent with no tax/shipping.

I bought this rod to pair with a Legalis 4000 real. This set up was my primary rod for casting lures in the surf. Great back bone and just an all around good rod. I am more than pleased with its perforce.

Handled big reds with ease. I will buy more!.

I purchased 2 of these rods and outfitted wove Alet sx reels. I fish salt water out of a boat in the Cape Cod area. We caught Back Sea Bass, Fluke, Scup, Tautog, and some blue fish. I have many rod setups but love fishing this light weight with some back bone.

Great for the money.

This is my fav rod. Cork grips for a nice feel, lightweight, nice flex but still tough. Good for I’d say up to about a 10/12 lb saltwater fish. Nicely balanced with a Tsunami 4000 reel.

I was looking for a price-effective rod with good attributes. Well, I found it. I purchased now 5 of the 7ft MH Spinning rods. They fit great in the rod holders and feel fantastic while reeling in fish.

I prefer these over my 7ft Ugly stick Elites.

Excellent quality pieces of tackle. Solid, well made; very happy with this purchase. Tackle Direct is an excellent retailer. Rods showed up well packaged and protected and on time. Thank you very much!.

Hi All, It is very important for every one to know that you have to keep tension on the line in order to hook and catch the big ones. This rod is excellent for casting and Jigging. The perfect 20-40lb class puts you in a wide range of salt water fish from Porgies to small Tuna in the 20-40lb range.

I have 2 Tsunami Saphire XT rods and I’m planning to buy another. I would recommend this rod to any Fisherman/Woman from Beginners to Avid fishermen/women. Light and durable and the flexibility is amazing.

I have already caught more fish with this new rod than many of my others. Buy it now and Go Fishing. Gil C.

Tatulas are awesome rods for the money. I got the 7’2″ MH for a froggin’ rod. Light for it’s size, great action. I fish out of a kayak and wanted the extra length to keep frogs and other plastics on top.

Works well, but is very technique specific, for me anyway. I find rods that are 6’6″- 6’10” more comfortable for general freshwater applications. This would also be a great inshore saltwater rod though.

This is the a great casting rod. Being mainly glass construction, the rod really loads great. With 30lb braid on a Kastking reel, I can toss a Whopper Ploppler 75 about 100′. The moderate action helps with poor cast not resulting in birds nests on the reel.

I just love it. This rod has plenty of power too. I landed a 41″ 19lb musky with no problem. Since Diawa has stopped production on this rod, I bought a second, just in case I break my main rod. The only negative on this rod is the tip top guide.

The braces on each side of the ring can cause braid to get hung up. Just an annoyance.

Just picked up the Diawa 7′ ul rod. I haven’t had a chance to try it out yet. I paired it up with a Okuma cemar c-20 and loaded the reel with 20 lb braid. You just can’t beat the quality of these two components for the price.

I know I won’t be disappointed.

I originally purchased the 8′ medium. Felt it was too stiff and acted as a heavy action. I wanted something that would break down to the size of my two surf rods I take when traveling by air. With this being a two piece at the handle it fit the bill.

I tested lures from 1/2oz to the 2oz rating. The 1/2oz bucktail went off like a rocket with a quick flip of the rod instead of a full swing. All lures through the range cast very well and the rod loaded with ease.

This 7′ light feels like a 7′ medium Teramar. Rod is very sensitive and light. Paired with a Shimano Twin power 4K and this is my new go to rod for inshore and light surf casting.

Received my new rod quicker than expected. TD shipped same day. Love the fit and finish of the rod. For a medium action it seems a little stiffer than I’m used too. Also the tip isn,t as soft as I would like.

I went out and tested it with plugs from 1 oz thru 3 oz. 2 oz plus or minus seems to be the sweat spot. I threw jerk baits, top waters and spoons. Also threw a 3 3/8 oz Tsunami top water which felt heavy on the rod from start of throw to release.

Rod was matched with a Saragossa 6K with 30lb 832 Sufix and 30lb leader. Also used a 5000 Stella that is the late 90’s vintage. They both balanced well and felt good in the hands. I tried my 8000 Saragossa and Stella but the reel seat size did not fit as I could not tighten the jam nut.

The handle is thinner than expected so if you have larger hands it might feel awkward. I was looking to use this rod for the above mentioned lures and weights for shore casting and piers. I am thinking on ordering the ML to compare it and see which one fits my needs better.

All in all I like the rod, but not sure it is the perfect match for my needs.

Extremely light! It can handle jigs up to 180 grams but in my opinion it really shines for jigs up to 100 grams. Pairs great with 4000-5000 size reels. One issue is it does not have a hook keeper a Fuji EZ hook keeper solves the issue and it does stay in place pretty well.

I brought 2 of these Combos a while back and they are working great. I’ve used them for both Fresh and Saltwater and the reels seem to hold up just fine provided you do the proper care after fishing.

These are light and you can feel the hits when they strike. The Rod itself is a beast I’ve had both of them get snagged and put them through some really tough bends and neither of them snapped, Uglystix holding true to there name.

These rods are a beast. Only Issue I had with the reel was I fell and landed with the reel hitting a boulder and bent the bail. Thats on me not the company, I was able to bend it back into place and make it work again so they can take some abuse :-).

I deffinetly recommend these combos.

Bought 2 combos last month. Rod is really strong. I’ve got nothing bad to say about it. I’ve snagged a lot of weeds and whatnot but I’m never worried that this rod would break. This combo has been dropped and kicked (accidentally of course).

But it’s really sturdy. My wife and I love this combo and we’ve caught a lot of fish with it. Bought some Daiwa reels just incase the one that comes with this combo breaks. But so far it stands use and abuse.

Would buy a third one for my sister for our next fishing trip.

This is a very nice rod. I’m currently using it for reds. The rod has a lot of backbone and just enough at the tip so that I can cast some lighter weight baits with fairly good accuracy. The rod is light weight and has allowed me to fish all day with little arm fatigue.

So far this rod has lived up to my expectations. I’m very pleased and if the rod preforms this well on a consistent basis, I will certainly purchase another.

I’m like everyone – throw the ‘ole Jackhammer all the time in Spring / Fall. Have rotated through rods for this application and finally landed here! The 7’4 MHM is truly perfect for Chatterbaitin’. Grabbed on last Spring, picked up another in Fall.

If you need a Chatterbait rod, you won’t find anything close at this price point!.

I purchased this rod for throwing deep diving crankbaits and it absolutely did the trick! The action is perfect for feeling that “thump” when dragging bottom with deep divers. Additionally, the rod has a great parabolic bend for keeping the fish pinned.

I 100% recommend if you’re in the market for a new cranking stick.

I’ve fished with the Omen’s since version 1 and they’ve progressively gotten better. But, the jump from 2 to this Omen 3 is pretty amazing. Perfectly balanced, light, actions are on point. I have 4 spinning rods now that I use for everything from Skipping Senkos to Fluke Fishing to Dragging Tubes.

I really don’t think you can find a better spinning rod at this price point.

Credit to the 13 Fishing team on this one – each of these Omen’s keeps getting better. I have added 3 of these models to my casting line-ups. I’ve flipped with them, chatter bait fished, cranked – handles everything really well.

The biggest impression is how light these are – super comfortable to fish all day. Love the price, too!.

Great value and ideal little Kayak rod, at 5ft 3in it’s far more practical than the micro rods as its long enough to use a normal size sea rig without having to resort to handling the line. Being Shakespeare the quality is excellent for the price just don’t expect a Ferrari, but why shell out for a Ferrari when a Ford Focus does everything you need?.

Not used it yet but the build quality is as expected of Shakespeare rods. This should meet most of my needs, jigging in the summer and light ledgering on the sea bed in winter. Angling Direct delivered quickly.

I have been using it for a fair while now and have caught all sorts on it pike, skate even smooth hounds. Great value.

The order arrived a day later, but in perfect condition. The Hart toro Spin Fast rod of 3. 00m and 20-60 gr of action certainly fulfills the expectations that I had put into it. I have caught good 1kg-2kg seabass and its blank and sensitive tip has helped me to fight them very easily and lifts the 1kg fish with power.

Without a doubt, I am very satisfied with the purchase of this product. I recommend it.

In the absence of testing it in the sea, it is a very beautiful rod, very rigid, which transmits security when pumping large fish, I have no doubt that it can handle tuna weighing 70 kilos and more. The largest thread guide ring is mounted upside down, which caught my attention.

Very robust rod.

As I’ve said in a previous review, I love the range of Hart sea and freshwater fishing rod. I especially love their sleek design and casting ability with little effort. Although I haven’t tried this one out yet and won’t do so until the season reopens here, I have no doubt it will prove another great purchase.

CAN’T WAIT TO TRY IT OUT, A BEAUTIFUL ROD. MY FIRST CINNETIC ROD, I AM IMPRESSED. NOW I WILL LOOK AT OTHER RODS FROM THIS COMPANY. THANK YOU CINNETIC AND WAVE INN FOR A QUALITY PRODUCT.

I had the previous version of this rod and regretted selling it. It’s a fantastic rod and suits me very well. Quality is excellent and value for money to match. I may even purchase another one.

I bought the first three weeks ago because it reminded me of 11 rods I built for striper fishing in California in the early 80s. Those were fiberglass Lamiglass, the classic yellow blanks. I fish in north Florida now for big reds and tarpon in the surf.

This Penn is a graphite stick with a lot more butt and mid: it flings the 2-3 oz a really long way from the sand, distance drops a bit if waist deep because of butt length, just no way to flex it with the right hand high left hand yank I learned from my Philipino friends back then.

It throws up to 5oz without losing balance, above that is ridiculous , I dont fish those spots in heavy rip that need 7-8 oz, too rough on the rotator cuff. I have a Penn V6500 with 17# test, run shock leader on surgeons knot with 3 wraps on the spool for loading the Rod for a serious heave.

Its twin is still in the box awaiting th 2nd rod. The Battalion is so well built with custom bumps under the grip hand and the reel seat. I would have preferred the classic Fuji sliding stainless reel seat but the composite seat serves well.

The shrink fit web style tubing is a great grip miles beyond cork tape and the alloy guides will stand the test of time. I liked the action well enough to order a secondPenn Battalion 11 as pompano are on the way nowand also bought about 4 of that same shrink-fit to rehab an old Fiberglass 10 garage sale stick I came across.

If I had to suggest an improvement I would cut the butt section down at least 9 for a better left hand grip: I am 57 so I have to grip up from the butt section for better spacing. This rod as stock might better fit a 6 or taller person.

I will most likely weave a Turks Head grip from black nylon braid and seal it with epoxy in the right position for me, making them both custom rods though I could also cut them down and reinstall the butt caps 9 up more easily.

Worth the money, you will not be disappointed if you are looking for a sensitive and responsive surf stick. Your good technique will be rewarded with distance, believe me.

I purchased 2 Battalion 10 ft surf spinning rods rated 12-20 lbs and I totally agree with some of the reviewers here that this rod is heavy and stiff for its rating. This is not necessarily bad though.

I have a 10 foot Okuma Cedros surf spinning rod rated 15-30 lbs and the Cedros is definitely more flexible and weighs slightly less. I like that the Battalion is stiff because here in Hawaii we fish from the cliffs.

I am hoping that this rod will cast as far as the Cedros. This rod is definitely not for whipping lures in my opinion unless you have a muscular build and has strong arms. I will update this review once I get to use these rods for a while.

Hopefully I will catch something that will put these rods to test.

I got this rod (9′ medium light) for casting lures from shore and this rod can cast 1oz+ weight lures with gusto. With lighter lures, it does ok, so I’m very happy with my new saltwater rod. Also, the photos online don’t do it justice.

This is a good looking rod. I’ve paired it up with a SSV4500 and 30lb Power Pro.