Two Golf Secrets Every Angler Needs To Know

Pros teach every golfer two fundamental rules that are equally important for anglers. The first thing a beginning golfer learns is the swing followed by endless hours at the driving range attempting to perfect the stance, grip, and muscle motion to produce the perfect arc. In short, they train their bodies to memorize the movements and instill “muscle memory” to make the ideal swing second nature.

Consistently weighted golf clubs are vital to achieving muscle memory. If you look inside a golfer’s bag, every club is made by the same manufacturer to exacting specifications. While they may have a unique putter, all the irons have the same feel and balance. As a result, when a golfer swings the club, his or her body knows exactly how it will behave.

The angling equivalent of the golf swing is the cast with the spinning rod and reel combo being the club. However, many anglers miss the important, but distinct, lesson buried in the golf bag. If anglers use spinning rods and reels from different manufacturers, the cast must change to account for the varying power and flex of the spinning rod as well as the weight of the spinning reel. Now you know why your casting is not as accurate as you want to be! Every time you pick up a different spinning combo, your brain must adjust the stroke, recalculating power and release point to hit the target.

Therefore, standardizing the spinning combo is just as necessary as using a matched set of golf clubs. To activate a finely tuned cast, the rod and reel combo must behave in a memorable way for each type and weight of lure. In one respect, fishing is more challenging than golf because of the variability in lures and terminal tackle. The aerodynamics of the quarter ounce jig head is different from an equally weighted crankbait and require slight modifications when casting. However, if the angler uses the same rod and reel combination, then it is easier to determine how to adjust to account for the difference. In effect, sticking with a rod and reel combo that performs consistently eliminates a significant variable impacting accuracy and distance.

This principle applies to the entire range of spinning combos. When fishing, we encounter situations where we want to use different power rods – light, medium or even heavy. If these are within the same model series from the same manufacturer, we will understand their behavior – making it much easier to get the lure to precisely the right place to catch the fish.

So, as you replace gear, settle on a single model line. Do not make the mistake of buying “eaches”. Before settling on a manufacturer, make sure they offer balanced spinning combos ranging from ultralight through at least medium heavy. The rods must feature the same material construction (type of graphite blanks), and the reels must be from the same “family” in sizes ranging from 1000 through 4000. One way to make sure you are getting a balanced rod and reel at the best price is to buy a combo set up.