The only thing more confusing than figuring out which line to fish is selecting the best rod for the job. After all, you need to consider action, length, power and, if you carry it further, material (glass or graphite?), the reel seat, number or guides and other considerations.
Let’s focus only on action for now, as it's a confusing topic, but an important one.
Rods come in three primary actions:
Fast Action — soft tip, stiff mid and butt sections
Medium Action — soft tip and mid sections, stiffer butt
Slow Action — soft tip, mid and butt sections (rod forms a big “C” under heavy pressure)
I find the fast-action rod is best for applications like jigging that require superb sensitivity. The fast-action rod is the easiest to cast accurately, an important consideration when trying to lay a bait a few inches on the nose of a tailing redfish or cruising bass.
A medium-action rod is a good option when a little give is a good thing such as when fishing cranks, spinnerbaits or other lures fished with a tight line.
A slow-action rod is best for specialized applications like downrigging or when fishing big fish on light line (rod acts as a shock absorber).
Length is another consideration, but we’ll have to cover later because I’m going fishing.
— Steve