GEAR
SHORT RODS
SHORTENING UP
WHY SOME PROS BUCK THE TREND OF EVER-LONGER RODS
L
By Matt Williams
PHOTOs BY D. W. ReeD II
ong rods are all the rage these days. In fact, there are
quite a few anglers who don’t even keep a rod shorter
than 7 feet in their rod locker anymore.
Evinrude pro-staffers Jim Tutt of Longview, Texas, and
Terry Bolton of Paducah, Ky., aren’t among that crowd. Both
veteran FLW Tour pros still make use of shorter sticks a high
percentage of the time, largely because of the belief that
shorter rods provide some inherent advantages not found in
longer ones.
“I use them so much that some of the guys on Tour make
fun of me,” Tutt says. “You might sacrifice a little bit in casting
distance with a shorter rod, but in my mind it’s usually not
enough to offset the other advantages. The only time I might
go to a 7-footer would be in obvious power situations, when I
might need to make super-long casts to reach schooling fish
with a topwater or when fishing swimbaits in really clear water.”
Like Tutt, Bolton’s penchant for short sticks is based largely
on factors like functionality, efficiency and personal preference.
“I’m sort of old school,” he says. “I started out fishing with
short rods, and they still have a place in my arsenal. I’m going
to have a rod under 7 feet on the deck for something in just
about every tournament – sometimes more than one.”
Maneuverability, Low Trajectory
50
Both pros point out that short rods yield some definite
advantages over long ones, especially when casting around
docks or really tight cover like bushes or trees.
One of the main benefits is maneuverability. According to
Tutt, a long rod can be more of a hindrance than an asset
when there are lots of bushes and other obstacles in close
proximity to the casting deck and he’s making casting presen-
tations versus flipping.
“A shorter rod makes it much easier to get in there and bang
around in the trees without hitting limbs on your backcasts or
on a side pitch,” he says. “Plus, it makes it easier to make under-
hand skips under docks. You can’t do that very well with a 7 1/2-
footer unless you are really tall, because the bait will sometimes
slap the water before it ever leaves the rod. It’s just easier for
me to put a shorter rod in motion, and that enables me to make
a quieter, more precise presentation with the bait.”
Bolton agrees with the tall guy/long rod analogy and used
the physique of his good friend and three-time FLW Tour
Angler of the Year Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn., to illustrate.
Terry Bolton prefers shorter rods when he’s
fishing around docks or overhanging shoreline
cover that requires more precise casts.
FLWFISHING.COM I FEBRUARY-MARCH 2018