Best Fishing Rods for Trout in 2024

The best fishing rods for trout are typically on the lighter side, and have a fast to moderate action. Choosing the best rod depends on what kind of lures you’re using and what size of trout you’re targeting.

Below, we’ll go over what to look for in a trout rod, so you can choose the right one for your specific needs.

St. Croix Trout Series Spinning Rod – Best Overall Trout Rod

• Power: Ultra-Light, Light, Medium-Light, Medium
• Action: Fast, Extra-Fast
• Length: 4’10” – 7′
• Material: Carbon Fiber

St. Croix Trout Series Spinning Rod is our pick for the best overall trout rod. It’s made by St. Croix, so you know you’re getting a quality rod. It’s also built specifically for catching trout.

The carbon fiber blank, along with the split handle give this rod a very lightweight and balanced feel, which is important to reduce fatigue on those long days of constant casting.

The Trout Series Spinning Rod comes in over 10 different varieties ranging from short to long, ultra-light to medium. It is a fast action rod and comes in either fast or extra-fast. This rod will work excellent for the majority of trout fishing styles such as fishing with worms or powerbait, using small spinners, spoons, jerkbaits, and more.

It’s also backed with a 5 year warranty, so you know this rod is going to last a long time.

Ugly Stik GX2 Spinning Rod – Best Budget Trout Rod

• Power: Ultra-Light, Light, Medium, Medium-Heavy
• Action: Fast
• Length: 4’6″ – 9′
• Material: Composite

The Ugly Stik GX2 Spinning Rod is one of the most well known fishing rods of all time. It’s used by beginner and experienced anglers alike. The reason? It’s a well made rod at a very low price.

The Ugly Stik GX2 comes in over 15 different powers/lengths, most of which are either ultra-light or light, making this rod ideal for trout fishing.

It’s made from fiberglass and graphite composite material making it a strong/durable and balanced rod. It also comes with a 7 year warranty, which is almost unheard of for such a low priced rod.

This rod comes in at around $50, with several sizes slightly below that price, making it our top choice for a low cost, high quality trout fishing rod.

Okuma Voyager Spinning Travel Kit – Best Travel Trout Rod

• Power: Medium-light
• Length: 6′
• Material: Composite

The Okuma Voyager Spinning Travel Kit is a 5-piece medium-light spinning rod that comes with a size 20 spinning reel and a convenient case for transportation.

It only comes in one length (6 feet) and one power (medium-light), but this is just about perfect for a trout rod, so we highly recommend it for anyone looking for a rod that can break down into multiple pieces and be transported easily.

The rod breaks down into five 16′ sections and comes with a great feeling high quality cork handle.

The nylon case it comes with contains a shock-resistant foam insert to keep your rod and reel safe when traveling. It also comes with a small area to hold an included tackle box, which is a great plus.

G. Loomis Trout Series Spinning Rod – Best High End Trout Rod

• Power: Ultra-light, Light
• Action: Fast, Moderate-fast
• Length: 4’8″ – 7’6″
• Material: Composite

G. Loomis Trout Series Spinning rods are made for serious trout anglers that want the best trout rod on the market. These rods are high quality, lightweight and sensitive, coming in 1-piece and 2-piece options.

Handcrafted in Washington, these rods feature a multi-taper design to reinforce stress points, creating a very durable rod.

The GLX models, which are the higher end of this series, have recoil guides, which are nearly indestructible. They can bend all the way down to the blank and will snap back to the original position with ease. Recoil guides increase sensitivity and are lighter weight. The GLX models also feature a cork and foam handle and an up-locking reel seat.

The rods come in a wide variety of lengths ranging from 4’8″ to 7’6″ so you can get the perfect length whether you’re fishing small streams in close quarters or casting far distances on big lakes.

They come in two powers: ultra-light and light, and two actions: fast and moderate-fast, which is ideal for trout. Because these rods are so well built, you’ll be able to catch all sizes of trout, both big and small with ease.

KastKing Perigee II Spinning Rod

• Power: Ultra-light, Light, Medium-light, Medium, Medium-heavy, Heavy
• Action: Fast, Moderate, Medium-fast
• Length: 4’6″ – 7’6″
• Material: Carbon fiber

The KastKing Perigee II Spinning Rod is a great, popular fishing rod used for a variety of different fishing species. It’s available in nearly 30 different sizes, but we recommend going with an Ultra-light, Light, or Medium-light power with a fast, moderate, or medium fast action.

Available in 1-piece, 2-piece and even 3-piece options. The Perigee II has hybrid spigot joints in the 2-piece rods, which make it feel like a 1-piece rod. This rod is great for those looking for the portability of a 2-piece with all the sensitivity and feel of a 1-piece.

Made with Toray 24-ton carbon matrix KastFlex blank technology, this rod features Fuji O-Ring guides, high density EVA grip handle, and a graphite reel seat, making for a light weight and sensitive rod that is perfect for trout.

With that said, you can pick this rod up for around $50 bucks, which is a steal, considering how lightweight and high quality it is.

St. Croix Triumph Spinning Rod

• Power: Ultra-light, Light, Medium-light, Medium, Medium-heavy
• Action: Fast, Moderate
• Length: 5′ – 7’6″
• Material: SCII carbon

The St. Croix Triumph Spinning Rod comes in nearly 20 available sizes and with most of them being in the ultra-light to medium range, this rod is perfect for trout fishing.

The Triumph spinning rod is built with premium quality SCII carbon, has Sea Guide Atlas Performance slim aluminum-oxide guides and a Sea Guide ECS or TCS reel seat, depending on which size you select.

The rod features a premium-grade cork handle and two coats of Flex-Coat slow cure finish, making this rod not only high quality, but pleasing to the eyes.

When you buy the St. Croix Triumph, you’ll get a 5-year warranty, so you don’t have to worry about having the rod fail on you and being left worrying about paying for repairs or buying a new rod.

How to Choose the Best Fishing Rod for Trout

There are several things to consider when choosing the best trout fishing rod. Some of the most important things include rod action, power, and length. What’s best for you will depend on where you’re fishing, what kind of lures you’re using, and how big the trout are that you’re targeting.

Rod Action

Rod action is how the rod bends when pressure is applied (or when you’re catching a fish). A fast action rod will bend only in the top area of the rod near the tip. A moderate/medium action will bend from the tip down to about midway, depending on the rod. Slow action rods will bend all the way down to the rod handle.

Which Action is Best for Trout?

Choosing the right action mostly depends on what style of fishing you’ll be doing.

Fast action is best for small/lightweight lures, jerkbaits, and fishing bait such as worms or PowerBait on the bottom where a highly sensitive tip is what you need in order to detect the often light bites of trout.

Moderate/medium action is better for heavier lures like spoons, crankbaits, swimbaits, etc., where the trout are striking the lure in a more aggressive manner.

Slow action rods are not very common. They work best with crankbaits, reaction baits, or lures with treble hooks. Slow action rods are great at keeping fish hooked that make abrupt movements.

We recommend fast action as that is the most common, and will likely be appropriate for most trout fishing applications.

Rod Power

Ultra-light, light, medium-light, medium, medium-heavy, heavy, extra heavy. These are all the different levels of power to choose from in fishing rods. Power is basically how strong the rod is and how heavy of fish it can handle.

While trout can range in size from under a pound to upwards of 40 lbs., the majority of trout that are caught are pretty small, with most being under 5 lbs.

Which Power is Best for Trout?

Because most trout are usually only a few pounds, ultra-light or light are going to be best.

Rod Length

The main thing to think about when selecting a rod length is where you’ll be fishing.

Longer rods cast longer distances than their shorter counterparts. With that said, if you’re going to be fishing big lakes or need to cast farther out in order to reach the trout, go with a longer rod – around 7 ft. should do the trick.

If you plan to fish rivers, creeks, ponds, or small lakes, a shorter rod is best. Shorter rods are not only easier to cast in small confined spaces, such as brushy rivers, they also weigh less, which will reduce fatigue in your shoulders and arms.

If you fish everything from rivers to big lakes, go with something in between. You usually can’t go wrong with a 6 ft. rod.

Which Rod Length is Best for Trout?

As stated above, it depends on where you’re fishing, but in general a rod around 6 or 7 ft. is best for most trout fishing scenarios.

Rod Material

The majority of fishing rods are made from either fiberglass or carbon fiber, or a mix of both (composite).

Fiberglass rods have been around since the 1940s, as a better alternative to bamboo rods. Fiber glass rods are lightweight, very durable, but are lacking in sensitivity and power.

Carbon fiber (graphite) rods were introduced in the 1960s, and are typically lighter in weight than fiberglass, more sensitive, powerful and faster action. Carbon fiber rods are usually used by professionals while fiberglass is more or less considered a beginners rod.

Composite combines the best of both materials, and allows for a more customized rod in terms of action and power.

What’s the Best Rod Material for a Trout Fishing Rod?

As you might have noticed, all the rods recommended above are either carbon fiber or composite, which is what we recommend when searching for a trout rod. Because fiber glass rods lack in sensitivity, they make for poor trout rods considering a sensitive rod is one of the most important factors for trout rods.

Line & Lure Rating

Line rating is not really something to factor in when choosing a trout rod, but it’s important to keep in mind. Once you purchase a rod, be sure to check the line rating and try to follow it close in order to keep your rod from breaking.

Lure rating is a bit more important, as trout lures can vary greatly in weight. You might be using a small trout magnet which is 1/64 oz in weight, or a trout spoon, which might be as heavy as 1/2 oz or more. Check to see how heavy the lures you use most often are, and look for a rod that has a similar lure rating.

Summary

Trout fishing can vary widely. From small streams and big creeks, to 1 lb stocked trout and 40 lb browns.

When choosing a trout rod, be sure to keep in mind the locations you’ll be fishing (rivers, big lakes, etc.), the size of trout you’ll be targeting, and the type of lures or style of trout fishing you’ll be doing.

The best trout rod can vary greatly depending on individual needs, but in most cases a light rod with a fast action around 6 or 7 ft. is going to be best for the most common trout fishing applications.