The 7 Best Bass Fishing Rods of 2022
Best Bass Fishing Rods & Guide
It's a must to get yourself one of the best bass fishing rods out there because apparently, these things are starting to get popular day by day. Slowly, but steadily. And you know what they say; slow and steady wins the race.
From the year 2008 to 2019, the UK fishing rods manufacturers sold 29 million British pounds worth of fishing rods, a study published in November of 2020 showed. The numbers indicate that people have started to develop an interest in recreational sports such as fishing.
Hence, it’s only natural for us to review some of our favorite fishing rods out there so that by the time you and your friends decide to go fishing, you wouldn’t make a fool out of yourself by knowing nothing about bass fishing rods.
Without further due, let’s dive right in.
Comparison Chart
Best Bass Fishing Rods Reviews
1. St. Croix Triumph Freshwater Carbon Spinning Fishing Rod with Cork Handle
Features
Value
Nothing can beat St. Croix in making the best bass fishing rods out there in the market. From the stability to high agility and extraordinary quality, this rod is for sure going to give you the best fishing memories out there. And trust us when we say that this rod will grow old with your memories.
For its price, it does offer some exceptionally great yet simple features. The features are useful, especially if you’re a beginner. Easy to understand and even easier to operate, the rod is sure to make you a master in the art of fishing in no time.
Materials
The material of a rod does play a role in its overall functionality. Not only will it determine its flexibility and rigidity and hence indirectly its bend (if you’re more of an experienced one), but it will also give you an idea about how far you can push your best bass fishing rods to operate.
The St. Croix triumph spinning rod features a premium SCII graphite construction, and this is something that allows the rod to perform at an exceptionally high rate compared to the rods of the same price group.
Also, the rod features a mid-modulus graphite fiber. If you didn’t know already, the mid-modulus graphite fiber has a higher strain rate than many common fibers. When you see a rod featuring such a thing as this mid-modulus graphite fiber, you should immediately know that the particular rod will be quite lightweight yet sensitive enough for the perfect bass finishing experience.
Durability
Don’t let the sleek looks of the rod fool you. We were surprised to find out ourselves that despite being quite lightweight, the rod is highly durable.
The durability comes from the top-quality Fuji DPS reel seat, which features a frosted silver hood. Also present are hard aluminum oxide guides that add more to the durability of this rod.
Also, the rod features premium cork handles, which means that you, the angler, will be able to maintain tight grips when battling the stubborn bass fishes and reduce your chances of slippage.
What We Like About It
If you’re a beginner or even an intermediate angler, trust us when we say that you will fall in love with this rod in no time. From easy functionality to easy handling and easy catch of the day, everything is super simple and easy. The only thing that’s a struggle is you pulling yourself out of bed. Do that, and you’re on your way to triumph.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Cons
2. Ugly Stik Tiger Elite Spinning Fishing Rod
Features
Versatility
Although spinning fishing rods are designed mainly for lighter lures such as plastics etc., and are limited for a specific coast type only. The same can not be said for the Ugly stick Tiger elite. The only thing that’s ugly about this best bass fishing rod is its name.
Designed specifically for coast to coast, this fishing rod can be used in both lakewater and saltwater. And do not dare to worry; the salt will not destroy its mechanics, nor will the lake water cause its rapid corrosion. You can also use this fishing rod for some larger fish, ones that the traditional lightweight fishing rods are not suggested to fish with.
Sensitivity
You’ll be amazed at how sensitive this rod is while being exceptionally durable.
If you didn’t know already, sensitivity is how quickly and effortlessly you can feel the fish's bite over your rod. This means the more sensitive a rod is, the more it will help catch the rarest of the fishes and sometimes the quickest ones as well.
Although we talked about this in our buying guide, sensitive rods are more likely the less durable ones. However, the certain build of a rod can still make a huge difference.
As for this rod, it’s comparatively more durable when you bring its exceptional sensitivity into the equation as well. This is great because you want your sensitive rods to be durable as well, so you’ll have enough confidence in the fishing rod not to fail you during strenuous fights with the fish.
Grip
Besides a good technique, some experience, and an excellent fishing rod, what is that one thing you need to make you a pro in bass fishing? If you didn’t guess it already, it’s the Grip of the rod.
A nice grip can make a huge difference from having the catch of the day to no catch at all. You don’t want your fishing rod's handle to feature a loose grip or a design that will fatigue the muscles and tendons in your hands. You want something that not only offers a tight grip but is also quite comfortable to hold for long hours. Fishing is all about patience!
Fortunately, though, this particular rod features EVA handles with diamond shrink tape. We would’ve been on good terms with the grip with EVA handles alone since they are quite durable, comfortable, and overall offer a nice grip, but to add diamond shrink tape is completely next level.
The diamond shrink tape will improve your grip like nothing has ever done. You have to try it out to believe in it. Even the moistest and wettest of environments will not destabilize your grip. That’s a promise.
What We Like About It
Despite being amazingly sensitive, yet very lightweight and with excellent durability, this fishing rod is one of the best rods out there if you’re working with live baits for some larger species of bass fishes. Not only will it provide good grip, but its graphite build will also help it resist all sorts of strains whatsoever.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Cons
3. St Croix Bass X Spinning Rod, Raw Carbon
Features
Reel seats
Another one of our favorite best bass fishing rods in the St Croix’s spinning rods series. What can we say, we just love St Croix, and we can’t help ourselves because they are love material.
The bass X spinning rod features a FUJI ECS reel seat, which is one of the most sensitive and lightweight of all the real seats out there. Besides, the rod features hard aluminum oxide guides, which is one of the lightest materials to be used in bass fishing rods.
Lightweight along with exceptional sensitivity. What else can you ask for? And to top it all off, it’s quite lightweight on the pockets, too, a hallmark for St Croix bass fishing rods. It is a simple win-win situation for everyone; the angler and the brand equally.
Aesthetics
We are big fans of aesthetics. Just fishing with a nice-looking, aesthetic rod is very dramatic in itself. And if you’re someone who likes romanticizing activities such as fishing on a nice evening with the sun splashing shades of red and orange on the rippling lake, then the aesthetics of this rod is just for you.
Covered with a sleek, matte black finish, the rod is not only pleasing to the eyes but also the hands that behold them. The looks of this rod alone can reflect its quality to the people around you who know less about fishing rods and will go about buying the one that looks the most appealing to them. You’ll get compliments on this rod, not just for its function but for looks as well.
The modern aesthetic of this rod alone can be enough to let you know how amazing can it perform on the lake. You’ll be fishing in style in no time.
Strain rate
Before we dive into this bass fishing rod's strain rate, you have to understand what modulus is.
A modulus for a fishing rod is used mainly when the fishing rod features graphite in its construction. Modulus means the stiffness of a material. Higher the modulus, stiffer will be the material. This simply equates to lesser material needed to achieve the same stiffness of a lower-modulus of a material. The ultimate result will be a lightweight rod.
But modulus is not out of interest here; strain rate is., which is the material's measured strength. And although a high strain rate would mean a lower modulus. But not for this rod, though. Some technologies allow high-quality rods like these to have both high modulus and high strain rate, aka the perfect combo for a bass fishing rod.
In simple words, a high strain rate and a high modulus would mean that you will have more accuracy while maintaining the rod's lightweight and responsive nature. Something that is very much true in this rod.
What We Like About It
This is the cheapest and best bass fishing rod in the market, with features that classify it as the best bass fishing rod. We believe you won’t get these features in any other bass fishing rod cheaper than this. This has the best combination of all the features one needs to start bass fishing right away.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Cons
4. Fitzgerald Vursa Series Spinning Rods 6'9" - 7'6" - Tournament Rod
Features
Modulus
Since you already know about the modulus, we won’t go into details here. Mentioning modulus here just to let you, the angler, know that this specific fishing rod comes with an exceptionally high modulus.
A high modulus, in this case, means that the degree to which the rod can store and release energy is excellent. And you might know this by experience, but rods that are good at storing and releasing energy quickly and efficiently are generally the ones that provide the best accuracy.
Grade components
The build of Fitzgerald vursa features a saltwater-grade component. This makes this rod more reliable, durable, and highly versatile.
We prefer saltwater rods over freshwater ones because saltwater rods are made with corrosion-resistant guides and components. This increases durability in any type of water whatsoever and increases the reliability for longer periods.
Also, the leftover salt from a saltwater lake won’t probably disturb your next fishing trip, as compared to a freshwater rod, which you need to rinse and dry every time you fish in saltwater.
Almost all of the best bass fishing rods feature grade components that make these rods versatile.
Slim grip design
Patience is something that plays a vital role in fishing. For someone to go fishing is, most of the time, an opportunity to disengage from the busy world and relax.
Of course, you can’t relax when your fingers and hand muscles and ligaments start to fatigue. That’s why this fishing rod features a slim grip design to mimic the hand's natural grip as much as possible and, hence, allow a more comfy grip on the fishing rod.
Also, this rod's lightweight component won’t activate gravitational pull by a lot, which adds more to its comfortable grip.
What We Like About It
This is one of the best bass fishing rods we came across that performs excellently in skipping light baits. And although its tip is quite soft for a rod, it has enough support to hold the whole thing tight, which may be the reason why it’s so good at skipping light baits around.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Cons
5. Abu Garcia Veritas Spinning Fishing Rod
Features
Powerlux
This is one of the technologies why some of the best bass fishing rods are the best. The powerlux technology allows the rods to have enhanced strength without adding more weight to the rod.
The way the technology works is that nanospheres are baked into the rod’s blank, which occupies the space between carbon fiber molecules and enhances the rod’s strength; preventing any sort of fracture when your busy fishing in a big strong fish
ROCS
Another technology that is built-in to the rod. The robotically optimized casting system makes sure that you cast at the perfect angle with the right precision and pinpoint accuracy whenever or wherever you cast.
The technology also enhances the casting strength, especially with lighter lures. We all know how hard it is to achieve good distances with lighter lures, but thanks to this rod, now it is possible.
Titanium alloy guides
Now, this development is somewhat quite modern, and expensive too. The titanium alloy guides are not something that most of the cheapest and best bass fishing rods feature. But it’s always a nice thing when they do so.
The titanium alloy guide is special in that it can spring back to its original shape even if bent flat. It’s 4x lighter than most of the commonly used guides, and to top it all off, it is corrosion-resistant. How cool is that?
What We Like About It
The fact that it’s lightweight yet efficient and fast action is what we like about this rod. Also, its degree of stiffness and balance of flex is something we admire too since both the features make it one of the best choices for skipping.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Cons
6. Phenix "Feather Bass Fishing Series Spinning Rod
Features
Lightweight
As the name suggests, the phoenix Feather is by far one of the lightest bass fishing rods put there. And as you know already from the above arguments, the lighter the rod is, the more sensitive it will be.
This means that you can catch the most exquisite and naughties of fishes out there. One small bite, and you’ll feel immediately that you’re on to something amazing.
Durability
One of the drawbacks of lightweight fishing rods is their minimum durability. A lot of brands out there boast about how lightweight and sensitive their rods are, but none will tell you how least durable they are as well.
Fortunately, though, this rod is different. Featuring a cross weave of 36 and 40-ton carbon fiber in its construction, this rod is as durable as any other heavyweight rod out there. The innovative use of physics here is simply amazing. Moreover, the cross weave pattern creates such a physically stable model that the weight distribution along the entirety of the rod is exceptionally astonishing. Hence, even though it might feel fragile, it’s very strong on the inside; truly a feather indeed.
Distance
Being lightweight and feather-like, you’d expect the rod’s casting distance to be quite low, but it’s quite on the contrary. The rod can fling lures a good 35 yards without any effort. This means that with some effort and some nice technique, the casting distance can be increased to some incredible amounts. Quite impressive if you ask us.
What We Like About It
If you don’t want to miss a single fish, bass or not, this is the rod of choice for you. The exceptionally enhanced sensitivity will let you catch all sorts of fish, small and big, every time and everywhere, and it is something we admire about this rod.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Cons
7. St. Croix MJC68MHF Mojo Bass Graphite Casting Fishing Rod with IPC Technology, 6-feet 8-inches
Features
IPC Tooling
And we are back to our favorite St. Croix again because somehow, we can’t get enough of the quality they offer and the technologies they incorporate in their rods.
Speaking of technologies, the integrated pooling curve (IPC) tooling technology is one of the most admired technologies of St Croix rods. In a nutshell, the technology allows you to perform smother actions and enhance the strength of the rod by quite a lot along with its sensitivity.
Modulus
The rod features a high modulus, and you already know what that means, right? Simply put, the high modulus will allow as smooth an energy change as possible without letting a lot of energy be wasted on friction and drag.
In simpler words, there’s a smooth transition of energy from potential to kinetic, and that is enough to skyrocket your accuracy overnight.
What We Like About It
Do you mean besides high strain and high modulus? Okay, besides that, what we like about this rod is that it has just the right amount of thickness which is great when you’re looking for durable and reliable rods.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Cons
The Buying Guide On Best Bass Fishing Rods 2021
Materials
Material is one of the first things you should look at when buying a rod for bass fishing.
Most of the bass fishing rods feature high-grade graphite, which is the material of choice since it is quite sustainable and durable and lightweight. And if you didn’t know already, the more lightweight the rod is, the more sensitive it will be.
There’s also this thing called composite rods, which feature a nice combo of graphite and fiberglass. Meaning, it will have all the graphite qualities while also having some of the qualities of fiberglass like durability and soft-tip feel.
If you’re not into crank baiting, we’d suggest sticking with the graphite rods for all kinds of bass fishing.
Guides
Not necessarily something to strictly lookout for but something to appreciate when it’s there.
Guides will help with reducing friction in line and hence longer casts. Also, if you’re an expert, you already know that proper guide placement plays a big role in spreading out the stress applied when fighting a stubborn fish.
Normally the guides are made of aluminum oxide alloys, but there are also ceramic ones and our favorite; titanium alloy ones as well.
Action
Action is a fancier way of stating the flexibility and stiffness of the rod.
An extra-fast action rod will bend very little, only around the tip, and is ideal for heavy cover fishing. The faster the action, the more is pressure on the bass.
A fast action rod bends in the upper â…” only. This means there will be both power and flex, which is essential if you consider spinnerbaits, soft sticks, and topwaters.
A moderate action rod bends around the middle and is the easiest to cast lures with. These rods are ideal for light line and finesse tactics.
If you would like to use a rod that are great for traveling and storage I have reviewed the best 10 telescopic rods and give a detailed guide.
Conclusion
And that’s it for our guide on the best bass fishing rods for 2021. We hope you found it helpful, and we hope it gave you a point to start, if nothing more, your fishing journey.
Check out our The 12 Best Bass Fishing Reels which will partner amazingly with one of the rods suggested here.
