Can You Use a Jigging Rod for Bottom Fishing? Here is the Answer ...

Having specialized fishing equipment for every technique is great in theory, but the reality is that would cost a fortune and you would need to convert your living room into storage!

Many pieces of equipment you have at home are versatile and can be, more or less successfully, used in various conditions. If you are a fan of jigging, and you have rod, the question arises:

Can you use a jigging rod for bottom fishing? The answer is YES, you can! These rods are sensitive and enable you to feel even the slightest movement around your bait and are light and flexible! All of this makes them great for bottom fishing.

The fact these rods are usually shorter makes them great for boats or bushes around riverbanks. But, same as everything, they have some downsides.

Casting ability of jigging rods is not as good as in other types, so you should limit your bottom fishing in areas closer to you.

If you are interested in how to use your jigging rod for bottom fishing, read on to find out everything!

What is Considered as Bottom Fishing?

Firstly, let`s define bottom fishing.

As the name suggests, this is a technique where anglers position their baits at the bottom of a water column in a body of water they are fishing at.

To lower a bait, lead is used to sink it. Of course, the weight of a lead depends on the depth and how hard is to sink a specific bait. Various shapes of sinkers exist, and they all have different features. Together with that, lines that sink easily will also give you advantage.

This technique may seem extremely simple, and some aspects of it truly are, however, to be successful you must know how to do it properly.

Bottom fishing can be done in any body of water, and it works excellent for many popular fish species, including carp, catfish, perch, bass, and many others. Many species prefer deeper water in summer to get away from the heat, so think about this technique on your next summer fishing day!

What Kind of Rod is Best for Bottom Fishing?

Bottom fishing can be done anywhere, so different rods may be used for it. You can either cast your bait far away, or if conditions allow, you can simply lower it below the rod until it reaches the bottom.

Many angers, especially beginners, choose light spinning rods and spinning reels as those are extremely versatile and allow you to practice all kinds of bottom fishing.

These rods are usually around 7 ft long, and those are great for fishing close to the shore, or from boats or perfectly located piers. Of course, you can use longer ones if you need a lot of casting distance, and some anglers choose rods over 10ft.

Medium to fast action works great in many fishing situations, and some anglers even use such rods for basic jigging (slow pitch or vertical).

Of course, high quality, strong and durable rods are recommended for the overall fishing experience.

What is the Difference Between a Bottom and Jigging Rod?

To answer is using jigging rod for bottom fishing a good option, I will define jigging rod too.

Rod for jigging is usually shorter, up to 7 ft long, at least those used for vertical jigging. Handles are very comfortable and designed in a way that that lay in your hand much better.

Power rating of such rods is from medium heavy to ultra heavy, so that it can withstand powerful strikes of large fish that often happen during jigging.

They are rigid, resistant, and very sensitive. This sensitivity is needed to feel the movement of your jig that you constantly need to create. For vertical jigging, fast action is also a required feature.

As you can see, these rods share some of the same qualities as rods for bottom fishing.

Here is a short comparison table where you will see the difference well.

Besides vertical, there are 2 more jigging techniques, and those are slow pitch and cast and retrieve. Rods used for slow pitch have slow action and are designed differently. In simple words, those are not suitable for bottom fishing.

On the other hand, rods for cast and retrieve jigging could be used for bottom fishing if conditions are right.

Can You Use a Jigging Rod for Bottom Fishing?

As already mentioned, YES, you can!

Although some differences exist, jigging rods are perfectly capable of landing you a fish when bottom fishing. Their sensitivity is an advantage, as well as overall sturdiness of the rod.

You will have to sacrifice casting distance, a that is the only thing that jigging rods are not good for. You will be limited to shorter casts, however, these short jigging rods are excellent for boats, thick vegetation, and piers that were perfectly placed above places where hungry fish congregate.

Can you use a jigging rod for bottom fishing greatly depends on bottom fishing conditions and if all the mentioned conditions are met, you can be very successful!

Cast your lures to a reasonable distance, or simply lower to the bottom if conditions allow.

Conclusion

Using versatile equipment that can work for different techniques is great, especially for complete beginners who don’t yet have a lot of different rods or haven’t decided what their favourite technique actually is.

Jigging rods even have some advantages for bottom fishing, such as high sensitivity that allows you to feel even the smallest bites and lure movement.

Don’t wonder about can you use a jigging rod for bottom fishing and just take the rod and head out to the nearest water to check it yourself!