With the understanding there are variables to everything....you must choose 6 essential rod/reel combos to develop a pattern for any Texas lake.

Determined only by:

Length of rod
Power of rod
Action of rod
Reel type (casting or spinning) and gear ratio
Line (mono, flouro, braid)

What would be the match for each variable to create the essential 6 and what technique would each match up cover (crank baits, topwater, spinnerbaits, t-rig, jigs, swimbaits, etc.)?

Perhaps a 7' MH moderate action rod paired to a 7.3:1 casting reel loaded with 20lb fluoro to present t-rigs, swim jigs, vibrating jigs is one of the 6 essentials.

What say you TFF?

Man. I got 6 different setups just for Texas rig.

I thought that was the norm.

Ok. Essential. I’ll try to play along. If I was a co angler and could only carry six. Here goes.

7’0” medium fast spinning rod for wacky rig. 10lb braid to 6lb leader
6’11” medium light fast spinning rod for drop shot or small swim bait
7’1” medium heavy fast casting rod with 12 lb and a 6.3 reel for moving baits (traps, chatterbaits, spinners)
7’6” medium heavy moderate castingnrod with a 6.3 reel and 12 lb mono for cranks (square bills and deep stuff)
7’4” heavy fast with 50 lb braid 7.9 reel for jigs, frogs, heavy Texas rig, flipping
7’6” heavy fast with 50 lb braid 7.9 reel for c rig, heavy punching

I have 24 rod and reel combo's in the boat to cover all the variables. Various rod lengths, actions and several different gear ratio reels. They will change from time to time depending on the time of year or the cover I am fishing. Right now I don't have a "frog" rod in the boat. Not time for that yet.

All braid....all the time.

This ain't far from perfect^^^^^^

ok, I'll play....this is what I will have setup this coming Sunday morning...

7’0” medium fast spinning rod for wacky rig. 12 lb. flouro - Wacky (something more bulky than a Trick worm)
7’0” medium light fast spinning rod for drop shot - Trick worm
6'8" medium heavy fast casting rod with 12 lb and a 6.3 reel for moving baits (traps, chatterbaits, spinners) - Spinner
6'8" medium heavy fast casting rod with 12 lb and a 6.3 reel for moving baits - Super Fluke
7’0” medium moderate composite casting rod with a 6.3 reel and 12 lb mono for cranks (Rat'l Trap, square bills) - Rat'l Trap
7’0” heavy fast with 20 lb flouro , 7.5 reel for (jigs, frogs, heavy Texas rig, flipping) - Jig

All great insight....keep it coming guys.

This is very helpful to the anglers that are getting started and those of us that find ourselves in analysis paralysis.

We can all spend ourselves to oblivion and overthink all of these variables, but I for one try to fall back on the basics to validate what I'm doing is the right approach despite my spend to catch ratio.

Also, every experienced anger on TFF has their wheelhouse technique they always use as a goto approach, but sometimes it just takes patience and going outside the box to make for a productive day of fishing.

That's all you need.. Literally.

If I could only have 6 rods for the entire year without ability to change:

7’ med/fast/15 lb mono for topwaters
7’ med/fast/ 12 lb fluoro for square bills, jerkbaits
7’6 - 8’0 mhvy/mod 12 lb fluoro for deeper cranks
7’6 mhvy/fast 15 lb fluoro for light Texas rigs, weightless flukes and stick baits, chatterbaits
7’6 mhvy/fast 20 lb fluoro for T-Rigs, spinnerbaits
7’6 heavy/fast 50 lb braid for jigs, punching, frogs

Revo winch on cranking rod, revo sxhs on the rest

Wired2Fish has an excellect write up on this topic. I actually took all of my rods and ended up with multiple rods per category! Made me think more about what I had and how I used that particular rod.

Highly dependent on what kind of lakes you fish (how much thick vegetation and timber are in the water).
Some good, general outlines above.

Rods are like cattle.... if you know many you have it’s not enough LOL!!!

You guys carrying two spinning rods out of only six are Lake Fork based I guess? I carry one under everything else just in case I graph a pile full of crappie.