Let's take a look at Shakespeare's new for 2006 Powerod Bigwater rods and Powerod Boat rods. The Bigwater Rods have reinforced tubular fiberglass blanks and stainless steel, double-bridged guides with aluminum oxide inserts. The reel seats are graphite and the hoods are cushioned stainless steel. The grips are EVA cushioned foam and have rubber butt caps.

Powerod Boat Rods have additional features, including heavy-duty, chrome-plated, stainless-steel, double-bridge guides on the casting models and blanks that extend through the handles for extra strength. Select models also have graphite gimbles with removable rubber butt caps. When fighting big-game fish like tuna or marlin, a rod with a gimble is a necessity. The grooves in the gimble hold the rod securely against a horizontal pin in a fight belt or chair rod holder. But when fighting smaller fish, a gimble cover helps prevent bruises where the rod butt may dig into the angler's thigh.

Powerod styles include medium, medium-heavy, spinning and downrigger patterns. Boat and trolling rods run from 6.5 to 8.5 feet in length and spinning rods from 6.5 to 14 feet in length.

The rod blanks are made of fiberglass, a durable material that is not as sensitive as many of the graphite composites used in freshwater rods. Fiberglass rods typically have more flex than graphite rods, with greater durability for standing up to the brutish abuse of saltwater game fish. Aluminum oxide guide inserts are sturdy as well as abrasion- and corrosion-resistant and the double-bridge wrappings prevent them from folding or snapping under pressure. Most freshwater rods have thinner guides that give them more sensitivity and less weight for catching smaller fish in a relatively non-corrosive environment. They're specialized for a specific job, but many are not very corrosion resistant and none are built as beefy as the guides used on saltwater rods.

While lighter grip materials will work for a bass-fishing rod, they don't hold up well to saltwater use. Banging around in rod holders, scraping against fight belts and fight chairs, or bouncing off the gunwales as an angler leads a fish toward a gaff are hazards of saltwater fishing that quickly destroy flimsy rod grips. Once the grip is gone, the rod is useless. High-quality saltwater rods have grips that are resistant to abuse and degradation by sunlight.

Saltwater reel seats must also endure plenty of abuse. If a big fish hits and the drag setting is high, it can be a difficult feat just to work the rod free of a holder. That kind of pressure can snap a reel seat -- or the rod just above the reel seat -- which is the weakest point of a rod because it acts like a fulcrum. A rod is, after all, merely a lever. Having a rod blank that extends through the handle may seem insignificant, until you try fighting a fish with a broken rod. I've seen some big fish landed that way but it's tough to subdue a fish with half a fishing rod dangling from the line.