Do Fishing Rods Float?

Picture the scene.

You are fishing from your favorite kayak, you toss our a topwater frog and start to bring it back to the boat. You pause for a moment to check your phone when unexpectedly a huge bass comes up and hammers your topwater frog.

You quickly try to put your phone in a safe location and yet at the same time you don’t want to lose this giant. Without thinking when you go to set the hook, you accidentally knock your second rod into the water.

How do you feel?

No doubt you are excited that you landed the fish, but most likely frustrated that you dropped your rod.

In a situation like this, this is not the time to ask the question: Will my fishing rod float? Better yet, now is the time to ask it, before you go fishing before accidents like this happen.

In this post, we are going to take a closer look at that question as well as offer you some cool tips to help protect your fishing rods from falling into the dark abyss only to be lost forever.

Do Fishing Rods Float?

And the answer is: Yes, some rods on their own will float (the key word here, some, not all). However, because of the weight of a reel, a rod with a reel attached will not float. And if you don’t take the appropriate measures you could end up losing your favorite rod.

Let’s now talk about how to protect your fishing rods.

What To Do To Protect Your Investment

Whether you are a kayak fisherman or just looking for a solution when fishing with your kids. Here are a few good ideas to protect your rods from ending up on the bottom of the lake.

Fishing Rod Float. The first option is very popular among kayak fisherman, it is a simple rod float. The one pictured above is the Blakeman Rod Floater. This particular rod float is 6 inches long and is made with a pool noodle like material.

Simple, open the velcro straps and attach it to your pole somewhere near the reel. It is that easy.

The best part about this device is that you can keep them attached as you fish. Great to have if you are fishing with your youngsters for the first time and you are worried they are going to drop their rod into the water.

But the question is, does it work? Will it keep my rods from sinking?

Learn more in the following video:

Fishing rod leash. Another great option to keep your poles in the boat is to use a fishing lanyard such as the Boom’s Heavy Duty Fishing Leash pictured above.

When coiled this lanyard is 15 inches long, but it can reach up to a little over 6 feet long. This is great as it gives you plenty of room to do some fishing without the rod leash getting in the way of your casts or more importantly your catch.

Simply attach one end to your rod and the other on your persona. It has enough room that you can even attach it to the boat and still do some fishing.

Lastly, this particular option is very durable with tensile strength of 50 pounds and yes it is saltwater approved.

Rod Holder. I know it might sound simple, but having a good rod holder can save your rod when the unexpected occurs.

Most kayaks nowadays will come with some sort of rod holder accessory. However, oftentimes they are nothing more than a cup holder shaped hole in the boat.

Now, these have their place and purpose, but I like to have something more secure, especially when kayak fishing.

For that reason, if you have the tendency to lose your fishing pole often I would recommend you check out an aftermarket rod holder such as the one pictured above. It is the Bekith Adjustable Rod Holder.

What I like most about this option is that it is really easy to install and 100% adjustable to your fishing needs.

Floating Kid’s Rod. This next one is for all those fishing dads out there who are tired of spending all their fishing time trying to recover their fishing gear off the bottom of the lake.

It is the Zebco’s floating rod and reel. This rod is specifically designed with kids in mind. Not only will make them feel special to know that they have their very own rod, but the best part is that it floats.

That makes it a whole lot easy to recover in the event that they drop it into the water.

DIY Option. The last option to protect your investment can actually be made by you at home. As we mentioned before, the rod floats on the market are basically a portion of a pool noodle with a few velcro straps.

These work great if you don’t have the time/desire to make your own. However, if you are looking for a more custom option, you can buy a few pool noodles a few zip ties and make them yourself.

The only downside is that I have found the DIY pool noodle options to be a little bulky and can cumbersome when fishing.

See just how it can be done in the following video:

I Dropped My Rod In The Water, Now What?

The unthinkable happened. You dropped your favorite fishing pole in 10 feet of water and nothing was attached to it to prevent it from sinking to the bottom. What should I do now?

Well, first don’t panic. The good thing about the rod sinking is that most likely it will stay in the same spot. At this point you have two option, jump in and try to recover it if you are a confident swimmer. ( Almost practice safety when out on the water and don’t in deep water alone, learn more about life vests here.)

Or, fish for your fishing rod. Yes, you read that correctly. Simply tie on a heavy crankbait or a heavy sinker with a few treble hooks and start fishing away. ( A good lure retriever could also work in this situation, such as the Frabill Lure Retriever learn more in a previous post found here).

Please share your thoughts with us. What do you do to protect your fishing gear?