I have been fishing a btter part of of my life, probably 30 years or so. Never put any thought into rod selection. Just kinda grabbed one off the rack, gave it a few good shakes and as long as it didn't feel to weak would be good to go.

I am wanting to put more thought into it than that, but man, the choices. Light, medium, medium heavy, fast, 6', 7', 7' 10".....

What the heck? Can someone break down the actions and when to use them as well as why all the length choices?

Thanks

It all depends on what you're fishing for.

It's hard to define actions as it actually varies quite a bit. One companies medium heavy is another companies heavy. It also varies between different lines in each company.

Also light, medium... are not actions. Those are powers. Action is fast, extra fast, moderate and so on.

Best advice I can give you is look at what types of fish you're fishing for, whether you're fishing from the bank or a boat, how tall you are and so on. Then pay attention of the ratings of the rod. Line weight, lure weight and so on.

I prefer a moderate to fast action rod myself. Also since I'm fairly tall and fish from a CC boat I really prefer longer rods.

Actions break down like this for the most part.

Extra fast, the top 1/4 of the rod bends the most.

Fast, the top 1/3 of the rod bends the most.

Moderate, the top 1/2 of the rod bends the most, also called classic action as it most closely duplicates a fiberglass rod.

Slow, the rod bends evenly all the way to the handle.

When I moved down here I realized that my salmon/steelhead rods weren't going to cut it. I now fish TFO rods in the 7' to 7'6" range. I've got powers from medium light to heavy.

I went through a similar situation. Most my equipment was Tournament Choice and uglystik stuff. I'd throw lures with the same gear I'd use to fish with for catfish. Now after doing lots of research I started buying different set ups. I got a MH 7 foot rod for senkos and trigs. The heavier power helps with setting the bigger worm bass hooks. Then you could use a M for traps so it doesn't pull the smaller hooks out of the fish. Each power and action can help differently for each situation. You can use a M fiberglass rod for lobbing toads far and still catch bass. But for me I had to use more effort in setting the hook and sometimes I wouldn't feel the fish until the rod loaded all the way up. But I switched to a 7'2 MH composite rod and now I can feel the bites easier and set the hook with less effort.