Fishing tackle, read on its published figures
The blank carries a casting weight,
and it is the number that decides every lure you can throw.
Rods for the lure, the lake bed, the whip and the beach, reels for each of them, sounders and bait boats — then the line, the lures, the hooks, the leads and the bait bought again every season. Compared on the lines that decide whether a purchase was worth making: what casting weight a blank really carries, whether a reel size holds enough of the line you use, what a test curve in pounds actually means, and which of two rigs suits the bottom you fish. Priced on the Amazon store in your own country.
- Categories covered
- 46
- Products reviewed
- 140
- Accessories & spares
- 181
Every family, from the rod to the bait that goes on the hook
Start from the water you actually fish
20 families bought once and kept for years on end, 26 that wear out, run out and get bought again. Each hub compares one family and opens with a straight answer to “which one should I buy?”, followed by the published figure most often misread when buying it.
- Spinning rods Casting weight first, length second
- Carp rods Test curve in pounds, and how far it has to reach
- Feeder rods Quiver tips, and the weight the tip will carry
- Poles Length in metres, and no reel at all
- Fly rods Line weight, and the four pieces it travels in
- Surf rods Four metres and more, to throw a lead past the breakers
- Boat rods Short, heavy, and rated for the weight that hangs below
- Spinning reels The size number, and what it means in line
- Baitcasting reels Gear ratio, braking system, and which hand it winds with
- Freespool reels A second drag, so a fish can take line from a rod in the rest
- Fly reels Line class, arbor size, and how the body was made
- Fish finders Castable or transom, and whether GPS comes with it
- Underwater cameras A screen on a cable, or a camera on the line
- Bite alarms Sound, light, and whether a receiver comes with it
- Rod pods Three rods on ground that will not take a bank stick
- Bait boats Range, hopper load, and whether it finds its own way back
- Waders Neoprene or nylon, and the boot size that comes attached
- Buoyancy aids Newtons, and whether it inflates itself
- Landing nets Handle length, and a mesh that does not strip scales
- Unhooking mats Dimensions in centimetres, and a tape printed on it
- Monofilament line Diameter against breaking strain, and the metres on the spool
- Braided line How many strands, and no stretch at all
- Fluorocarbon leaders Nearly invisible in water, and sold by the leader or the spool
- Hard lures Length, weight, and how deep it swims
- Soft lures Centimetres, and the jig head that goes inside
- Spoons and spinners Grams, and a flash that works without any technique
- Jig heads Weight in grams and hook size, always as a pair
- Pilkers and metal jigs Grams, and how fast it drops through a hundred metres
- Hooks Size, and whether it arrives already tied
- Floats Grams of shot it carries, and whether it lights up
- Leads and weights Grams, shape, and whether it can be moved
- Swivels and clips Size, breaking strain, and whether it really turns
- Wire traces Bite-proof, because a pike will cut nylon
- Carp rigs Ready-tied presentations, each for one lake bottom
- Keepnets Length and diameter, and a mesh that does not mark a flank
- Fishing scales Kilos, a hook, and a tape if you are lucky
- Pliers and hook removers Length, and a cutter that will go through braid
- Rod rests The head that holds the rod, and the thread that fits
- Boat rod holders A clamp that fits your rail, and 360 degrees of angle
- Tackle boxes Compartments, and whether it is also a seat
- Tackle bags Litres, and whether the rods travel with it
- Rod holdalls Length in centimetres, and how many rods fit made up
- Fishing gloves Landing a pike, or keeping hands warm — rarely both
- Method feeders Grams, and the mould that packs the bait around it
- Groundbait Kilos, a target species, and whether liquid comes with it
- Boilies Millimetres, a flavour, and whether they sink
How this site works
Three rules this site holds to on every page
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Ordered on published figures, never on what a sale pays
Commission has no say in where anything ranks. When the mid-priced reel is the sensible buy because its size holds enough of the line you actually use, the page says so plainly — and when a dearer landing net earns its cost because its mesh is rubberised and will not strip a flank, the page explains exactly that.
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The deciding figure, in the unit its maker chose
A casting weight given in grams rather than by adjective; a test curve in pounds kept beside the fact that it describes a casting load and not a fish; a line diameter kept beside the breaking strain it goes with, because one without the other says nothing; a newton rating named as what a buoyancy aid does, not as a grade. Each appears in the maker’s unit with its source named. A figure no maker published is marked as missing, never filled in.
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Sent to the Amazon store that can really deliver it
A press opens the same reference on the Amazon store for wherever you are reading, priced in your own currency. Where a model has no offer on that store — and a four-metre surf rod is stocked, shipped and priced very differently from one market to the next — the page says so instead of sending you to a listing that has gone.