Finding the best boat fishing rods
Boat Rod Line weightings / Weight Classes
This is the line strength, in breaking strain, that’s recommended on that rod.
You can tell how powerful or in complete beginner terms ‘stiff’ a boat rod is by its line rating. On the side of the rod and in the product description when buying online it will say the recommended line weight – e.g. “8-20lb”. This refers to the recommended breaking strain of the monofilament line. The logic behind this is that you can fight a big fish on an 8-20lb rod with line of that strength and, with a reasonably well-set drag on your reel, your line should snap before the rod does.
For instance, if you put 50lb line on a rod rated to 8-20lb, and you had your drag up too tight, a big fish could come along and snap the rod. Your line would be stronger than the rod.
If you put 5lb line on a rod rated to 8-20lb, the stiffness of the rod is going to mean that too much strain will be placed on the line when fighting a fish. A rod is supposed to bend to help absorb the energy of the fish’s movement, and if it is not ‘bendy’ enough, the line takes too much of the load.
Most people ignore line ratings when using braid
In some cases, it makes sense to use a heavier line than the rod is rated to. For instance, if you’re fishing over snaggy ground, such as wrecks or rocky reefs for species known for crash diving into structure, like pollack and wrasse. Braid is much thinner than monofilament (transparent) fishing line at the same breaking strain, and nobody would ever put 8lb braid on a rod rated 8-20lb. They probably wouldn’t use 15lb either. It’s more likely to be 20-25lb, with a long section of heavier leader above the lure for more abrasion resistance still.
With a carefully set drag to reduce excessive load on the rod, it’s very hard to snap a rod fishing a fish. Line breakages are much more common.
So, line weightings literally mean ‘if you use line of this strength, the rod is unlikely to snap first if you hook a big fish’.
Let’s look below at the kind of boat fishing set up anglers tend to use for each purpose.
The best boat rods for your needs
A 20lb and 30lb rod can target the same fish, but they suit different conditions due to the trade-off between power and sportiness. In deeper water with stronger tides, a 30lb rod provides more lifting power to handle heavier leads, whereas a 20lb rod may struggle. Over rough ground, a heavier rod helps pull fish quickly away from snags, while on cleaner ground, a 20lb rod allows for a more sporting approach. The lighter setup also offers better bite detection and is much nicer to fish with, arguably.
Class 12 – 20lb – Suggested lead range (100 -300gm) – 3.5oz – 10.5oz
If you will be trolling with mackerel feathers, a rod weighted to 20lb will enable you to fish with leads that are weighty enough to hold your rig lower in the water column even with some speed. A lighter rod will not enable you to do this, even though it would have more than enough strength for the fish themselves.
A rod rated to 20lb is heavy enough to be used for pretty much all inshore boat fishing. It’s light enough that you still get sport from most decent sized species – like a large pollack or a good bream. In boat fishing terms, this is considered a light rod.
A rod rated to 20lb is typically used with 20lb monofilament mainline or 30lb braided mainline and a long leader. You can use weights up to 10oz, depending on what you’re doing with the rod. If you’re jigging, you’ll likely be using weights closer towards the middle of the rods range. In this case, that’s about 150-200g.
These rods can be used over shallow wrecks, for tope, rays on the bottom.
A 20lb line weight rod can be used for jigging over inshore wrecks for species like bass, pollack, cod etc. In an ideal world you’d have a separate jigging rod (full guide here) for this purpose, but a 20lb weight boat rod is more general purpose if you will also be fishing with baits, trolling or using ledgering rigs.
If you’re going to choose a 20lb rod and think it might be a lighter option for the kind of fishing you’re going to be doing, then a longer rod will help you absorb powerful crash dives from fish over a shorter boat rod.
Class 30lb max rating – leads to max 15oz, 450g
A 20-30lb rod is a good weight for wreck drifting as well as bottom fishing for hounds, ray and cod. You need the extra grunt to be able to fish with heavier leads and hold baits in stronger currents. If you’re wreck fishing for larger fish or in deeper water where you can apply less lifting pressure the fish, the extra power of the rod also helps you get fish safely away from snags. It’s a less sporting option when used over shallower marks or in calmer waters when it likely isn’t needed.
It’s common to pair a 30lb weight boat rod with an 8000 size fixed spool beachcasting reel if you’re using braid or need to be able to cast away from other anglers lines. Use a multiplier if you’re using leads above 8oz or monofilament above 20lb.
Class 40lb max rating – Suggested lead range (200 -400gm) – 7 – 14 oz
These rods are beyond the scope of FISHMAG’s current expertise. We are not familiar with when a rod this heavy would be useful in British sea fishing, asides from perhaps fishing the very deepest waters or waters with extremely large currents that force you to use super-heavy leads. Please reach out at [email protected] to inform us when you use a rod of this weight and why you prefer it to a 30lb rod for the same purpose to enlighten us!
Class 50lb max rating – Suggested lead range (200 -500gm) – 7 – 17oz
Useful for targeting skate in Scotland, as you need to be able to put a huge amount of pressure on those fish to get them off the bottom. Otherwise, there is no practical application for a rod like this – even the biggest conger in the deepest wrecks do not require anything like a 50lb rod.
Uptider rods
Uptide rods are specialised fishing rods designed for boat fishing using the uptiding method, commonly practised in the UK’s shallow coastal waters, particularly in areas with strong tidal flow like the North Sea and the Bristol Channel. These rods are typically 9 to 10 feet long, with a casting weight of 2 to 8oz, a powerful butt section for playing large fish, and a soft tip section to detect bites without resistance. The longer length allows you to cast their bait away from the boat, rather than fishing straight down, reducing the chance of spooking fish in shallow water. Paired with a grip lead, the uptide rod holds the bait firmly on the seabed despite strong tides, making it highly effective for species like cod, bass, rays, and smoothhounds.
The uptiding method works by casting 30 to 50 yards uptide (against the tidal flow) and allowing the tide to create a bow in the line. This slack in the line is crucial, as when a fish picks up the bait and dislodges the lead, the line will suddenly fall slack — known as a drop-back bite — signalling that you should strike. This method not only reduces boat noise disturbance but also allows the bait to cover more ground. Uptiding is most effective in depths of less than 60 feet with strong tidal movement, making it a popular technique for targeting large fish. We will be updating this section shortly with more information on the best uptiding rods.
Jigging rods
Jigging rods are designed for fishing with metal jigs vertically down the side of a boat. They are lightweight, so that you can be stood there lifting the rod up over and over the whole day without getting tired. They have parabolic actions – slow actions – meaning that the rod is designed to bend heavily into the jig so as to snap back at the top of the ‘lift’, forcing the jig to be lifted higher. This creates a larger range of motion for the jig. It gets quite technical, and there are both slow pitch jigging rods and regular or ‘speed jigging’ rods.
We have a full guide to the best jigging rods, and you can find a suitable baitcaster or small multiplier to pair with a modern jigging rod on our best multipliers page.
Multiplier rod or fixed spool?
Generally speaking a multiplier reel is the best selection for any downtiding using leads of over 8oz. It’s all a matter of power where the combined pressure from the tide and a large fish can render a fixed spool reel all but useless.