Plain old fishing poles

[Blacksmith]

+1 on the build your own. No harder than casting Boolits and you can make it like you want. A little fancy thread work makes it a custom rod. You can make most of your own tools and equipment if you are just building a few, a tea cup and book for tension have worked for generations.

Here are a couple of sources I have used and a Google search for Rod Building Supplies will turn up a lot more:

Mud Hole
http://www.mudhole.com/

Anglers Workshop
http://www.anglersworkshop.com/

[izzyjoe]

Funny, I've had good luck with the el cheapo Walmart Shakespeare rods for many years, but that's been for perch jerkin'. I have a few older Eagle claw rods for bass fishin' that I dearly love. I also have a Browning sinflex with an old ambassador 5000 that was a gift, but I can't use that thing save my life. Can you say backlash!

[54bore]

Ugly sticks pretty hard to beat for the price, I really liked the lamiglass rods for pulling plugs from my driftboat but they are 100 bucks a piece, ugly sticks can be had for 30 and will last forever even with poor care

[farmerjim]

I mostly use the cheapo walmart selection. I have a 6.5 heavy ugly stick with an ambassador 5000 that I bought 50 years ago. It is a tank, I use it on Redfish (red spotted drum). If you use a bait cast enough you will not get backlashes. ( or at least very few )

[Blackwater]

Here's one more vote for the Shakespere Ugly Sticks for a very reasonably priced and tough rod. I don't think you'll find one that'll take more abuse than an ugly stick. I have over 30 rods, and about 8 of them are Ugly Sticks. Get the 1 pc. if possible. They are a tad stronger and tougher than the 2-pc. The salt water models are stiffer and tougher. I love them for striper rods. A big striper CAN break a lot of rods out there when you get it up by the boat and they suddenly decide to dive away from you. Lots of rods have been broken at that moment, and if yours isn't up to it, it can ruin your day. Ugly sticks also have a rather soft feeling, clear fiberglass tip, that tends to let you place your casts more easily than a stiffer tip. The trade off is their heavier weight. Fiberglass just can't be as light as graphite or carbon fiber. But it's a lot tougher, and will take those surges from big fish and shrug it off, whereas solid graphite or carbon fiber stuff is more susceptible to sudden large forces on it. Zebco Rhinos are awfully tough, too, but are even heavier than the UgStks. The Ugly Stick Lites are about as close to a best of both worlds as I've seen, and are $10 higher than the std. ones. For a rod I'll be making a lot of casts with during the day, I consider that money well spent. FWIW?

[DerekP Houston]

crappie/sunfish are all we fish for around here (ok that's all we can catch) and the ugly stick has held up well. No clue how old it is now but it'll keep catching em.

[winelover]

Another vote for ugly sticks. I have an old model, that I use for dedicated Striper fishing, that was made in USA with a metal reel seat. Recently bought another, made in China, and there is a obvious difference in construction. Plus one, on the one piece rods of any make, nowadays. Even, higher end Fennwicks. The old two piece ones, with the metal ferrules, never came apart when casting.

Winelover

[baogongmeo]

Look at Cabela's Whuppin' Sticks... their version of the Ugly Stick with a 10 year guarantee.

[GhostHawk]

One of my first brand new rods was a Cherrywood. Recently ran across a modern version of it with a nice shakespear rear drag spinning reel at the pawn shop. Priced at 15$ it went out the door with me for 10$. Stripped the line off, reloaded with cheap chinese knockoff spectra 20# braid. I can get a 500 yard spool for the same as what a single 100 yard spool of spider wire costs.

It is cheap, but it will spool 4 rods for the price of one, is a nice silvery gray color. And works just fine for fishing the Red River of the north.

You throw stuff in the river, sometimes it don't come back. So I keep my rigs stripped to bare minimum. I cast my own walking sinkers, then smack em on an anvil and turn them into nice no rolls. I buy my hooks by the hundred.

[opos]

If it's salt water and if it's big and angry...nothing like Cal Star..either factory or custom wrapped blanks...fresh water..have not a clue.

[beechbum444]

I think the verdict is in....ugly stick !

[Tracy]

This is what I thought of when I saw "plain old fishing pole:" http://amzn.to/2ueyncW