How many rods does it take to catch a walleye? Time once was when a walleye rod, was any old handed down job you took walleye fishing. Today the array of rods and reels designed especially to catch Michigan's best tasting game fish might shock the weekend angler.

When an angler serious about catching walleyes packs for a fishing trip, he's likely to travel equipped with enough rods to make a bass pro envious. Sure to be included in this collections are a dozen or more rod and reel combinations designed for as many fishing applications.

Rod and reel combinations intended for use on a specific species and or presentation are becoming widely accepted among serious anglers. In case you've been napping more than fishing lately, the market place is full of fishing rods designed especially for catching old marble eyes. As interest in walleye fishing continues to grow, its an even bet more rod companies will throw their hat into the walleye fishing arena.

In case you think species and presentation specific rods are simply a ploy to sell more tackle, think again. Today's new wave fishing rods and reels are the products of an evolution that's been taking place for years.

Major fishing rod and reel manufactures including Zebco, Abu Garcia, Berkley, Browning, Shimano, St. Croix, Daiwa, G. Loomis and others sponsor and support professional bass and walleye anglers. The evolution of fishing rod design begins with these anglers who fish for a living. As field testers and consultants, professional anglers influence fishing tackle trends in ways anglers don't see directly. Their experiences on the water are linked to the on going development of fishing rods and reels.

Back at the manufacturing facility ideas spawned on the water are transformed into prototype products for testing. When an consumer buys a rod and reel combination designed for a specific species, he or she benefits from the years of experience professional anglers put into their craft.

To use the gun analogy one more time, firearms come in different gauges or calibers for different game, and fishing rods come in various actions and styles for different fish and angling applications. Imagine a rifle hunter who could only have one gun to hunt everything from prairie dogs to brown bear.

To do so would be possible but impractical. The same is true of fishing rods.

Anyone serious about becoming a better walleye angler needs a broad assortment of rod and reel combinations. Each combo is aimed at handling one or more of the many different walleye fishing presentations anglers are commonly faced with.

Spinning style rods are the most logical place to start. Perhaps the most used and important rods in a walleye angler's boat, spinning rods are used for casting jigs, dragging jigs, vertical jigging, slip sinker rigging, split shotting and fishing slip floats.

A couple good spinning rods are the best investment a walleye angler can make. When selecting spinning tackle don't make the mistake of skimping on price or cutting corners. Rods with a graphite content of 96% or higher are the best models for telegraphing subtle bites often associated with walleye fishing. Two or three spinning rod actions account for 75% of the fishing applications walleye anglers are faced with. Considering the amount of service these rods will see, the extra cost of graphite is worth the investment.

For casting 1/16, 1/8 and 1/4-ounce leadhead jigs a medium action rod from five-foot six-inches to six-feet in length is best. A short and fairly stiff rod telegraphs subtle bites better than longer and more whippy rods. A jig casting rod should also offer enough tip action to allow for accurate casts.

When dragging jigs along river flats, reef tops and other fairly snag-free areas, a short rod will work but a slightly longer is best. A six-foot medium-light action rod combines the right amount of strike detecting sensitivity and rod flex.

When dragging any lure along bottom, a slightly softer action rod is an advantage. Imagine a jig and crawler combination sliding and wiggling along bottom. When the bait is pulled past a hungry walleye the fish sucks up the offering and swims off with the bait.

Chances are the actual strike wouldn't be detected immediately because the fish is picking up the lure from bottom and putting slack into the line. Unless the angler sees the line dart to the side, the rod motion caused when the lure ticks along bottom becomes difficult to detect from an actual fish bite. As a rule, walleyes are frequently detected when the boat or lure movement pulls the line tight. When this occurs the angler feels the weight of the fish for the first time.

It's common to hear walleye successful anglers talking about how they didn't feel the fish bite. Instead they set the hook when a mushy sensation or dead weight was detected.

A soft-action rod is more forgiving in these situations and will bend without alerting the fish. A medium-light action rod features a forgiving bend that gives the angler a greater zone of opportunity to detect the strike before the fish senses something wrong and drops the bait.

Vertical jigging in rivers or on deep water reefs requires a rod designed especially for this purpose. To say a vertical jigging rod should be stiff would be an understatement. The top walleye pros want their vertical jigging rods to be rigid as pool sticks!

Vertical jigging is a contact sport. To become effective at this common presentation, the angler must develop a sense for where his lures are in relation to bottom at all times. Using stiff action rods is the best way to feel the difference between a jig ticking along bottom and subtle strikes.

Stiff rods also are extremely fast to react when a bite is detected. Because the rod has little flex, it reacts quickly snapping the line tight and the hook home much faster than soft action whippy rods. Fewer missed fish and more solid hooksets are the added benefits of lightweight and stiff jigging stick.

Although a number of rods on the market claim to be designed for vertical jigging, most are a compromise between vertical jigging and casting actions. The best vertical jigging rods are those customized by taking a 6-foot medium-action graphite rod and cutting three to six inches off the tip until the action becomes sufficiently stiff. Once the right degree of stiffness is achieved, simply replace the tiptop guide with a little Bohning Ferr-L-Tite cement.

Using extra stiff action rods for vertical jigging will double the amount of bites an angler feels and sets the hook into. However, rods this stiff are designed for a specific purpose and are not well suited to other presentations like slip sinker rigging or dragging jigs.

It's also important to note that many walleye presentations warrant the use of two rods when and where legal. Working multiple rods doubles the opportunity to hook fish and allows the angler an opportunity to experiment with lure colors, dressings and live bait choices.

It takes a while to become comfortable fishing two rods at once. With a little practice any angler can master the art of two handed fishing.

When selecting multiple rod systems, it's imperative that the rods be perfectly matched. Every rod has its own balance and feel. Match up two with the same feel and you'll double your chances of hooking walleye. Match up to dissimilar rods and the continuity so desperately needed when working two rods is lost.

The next rod in a well stocked walleye spinning assortment sees double duty between slip sinker rigging and slip bobber fishing. Again, a medium-light action is best for these presentations and a rod from six-foot six-inches to seven-feet in length is about right.

Both slip sinker and slip float rigging require a little more rod length. The extra length is needed to lift slack line from the water when setting the hook on a Lindy Rig. Casting slip bobbers in the wind requires the extra leverage of a longer spinning rod. Longer rods also provide more control of the line while drifting bobbers and setting the hook.

The last spinning rod anglers need to consider is known as a dead rod. This rod gets its name because most of the time it fishes bottom while resting in a conveniently located rod-holder. A dead rod is used to put an extra line in the water that doesn't require the angler's constant attention.

Walleye pro Bob Propst is credited with popularizing the use of dead rods. A master at doing half a dozen angling tasks all at the same time, Propst prefers a long and rather slow action rod as his dead line.

Steelhead-style rods from 8 to 10-feet in length make ideal dead rods. A dead rod is used to drag a jig, slip shot and hook or other live bait rig along bottom. A durable soft action rod performs best.

Dead rods need not be expensive. In fact, the forgiving nature, soft action, strength and durability of fiberglass, combined with the fact that it's not necessary to hang onto this heavy rod, makes fiberglass a better choice than expensive graphite.

Before moving on to baitcasting tackle, a few words on spinning reels is in order. Although a walleye fisherman needs several different rod actions, a single lightweight model spinning reel capable of holding at least 100 yards of six-pound test line will function well across the board.

Reel weight is very important. It makes no sense to purchase an expensive, featherweight graphite rod only to match it up with a heavy framed spinning reel. There are many excellent graphite frame reels available that match up perfectly with lightweight spinning rods.

Two features to look for in a spinning reel are push-button spools and a smooth anti-reverse switch. Push-button spools allow an angler to change spools and line sizes or types quickly. Having a conveniently located and smooth operating anti-reverse switch makes it much easier to backreel a heavy fish.

Backreeling is especially important when fishing light line with spinning tackle. Most professional anglers endorse backreeling, and those who don't lose fish needlessly.

The walleye fisherman also has need for bass style baitcasting gear. Trolling crankbaits, pulling bottom bouncers, running three-way or Wolf River rigs, and fishing lead core line are just a few of the common walleye fishing methods that call for baitcasting gear.

When trolling crankbaits and or lead core line systems choose a rod from seven to eight-feet six-inches in length. Graphite and fiberglass composite rods work well for this style of fishing. Composite rods are less expensive, durable and feature softer actions that are more forgiving when fighting and landing heavy fish.

Although these rods are significantly heavier than comparable graphite rods, the weight isn't a problem since these sticks are normally placed in rodholders. Graphite rods are delicate and have a nasty habit of shattering if a lure is snagged on bottom and an angler can't get the rod out of the holder immediately.

Shorter length rods are usually used when running crankbaits behind in-line or double board planers, downriggers and diving planers. When fishing lead core line with crankbaits, spoons or spinners, the longer rods come in handy.

Lead core is normally used to reach deep-water fish. Since there is little fear of the boat spooking fish in deep water, lead core rods often are fished as flatlines. Trolling coverage can be increased by using slightly longer rods.

A lighter and more handy rod is needed when fishing bottom bouncers and three-way rigs. Since these presentations often require an angler to hold the rod, a lightweight six-foot to six-foot six-inch graphite rod with a medium or medium-light action is more practical. Such rods are also ideal for fishing crankbaits when it's necessary to cast lures into position.

Matched rod and reel set-ups are important with trolling rods. You can spot a serious troller by noting that he uses the same brand and model of rod, reel and line size on all his gear. The reason for this is reproducibility. In order to reproduce effective trolling leads and lure depths accurately, all the rods and reels must be set up in similar fashion.

Three different models of baitcasting reels meet the walleye angler's needs. For trolling crankbaits, line-counter reels are invaluable. These convenient reels make it easy to monitor trolling lead lengths and reproduce effective leads.

For fishing lead core line, a reel with a large capacity is required. Line-counter reels work well for this fishing, but because they are expensive many anglers choose a large frame baitcasting or levelwind reel capable of holding at least 200 yards of 20-pound test line. A reel of this size accepts up to three or four colors or lead core line plus plenty of monofilament leader and backing material.

The final baitcasting reel to use is a traditional bass casting style with a line capacity of 200 yards of 12-pound test. This work house reel sees plenty of action when fishing bottom bouncers, three-way rigs, jigging spoons or casting cranks. The reel must have an anti-reverse switch to allow for backreeling and a thumb-bar bail operation that makes it easy to let out line with one hand.

The rods and reels described here are capable of handling all the popular walleye fishing presentations including jigging, bottom rigging, trolling crankbaits, using lead core line and even fishing slip bobbers.

A serious walleye angler has need for 12 or more different rod and reel combinations depending on how and where he fishes. The weekend warrior doesn't need this many rods to enjoy walleye fishing, but most anglers could benefit from adding a few models and actions to their collection. With these suggestions in mind, get out on the water and decide for yourself how many rods it takes to catch a walleye.