new rod selection

[MuskieBait]

Unfortunately, you have been inspired and caught the species hunting fever. That is quite a dilemma indeed. The dilemma is that each species may behave slightly different and your presentation and methods are thus a little specific for each fish. Thus, there is often no one combo that can address all your species hunting needs.

However...I had caught, and continue to catch, many species using 2-3 basic combos. My workhorse rods and reels are:

1) 6'6" UL rod with 1000 size spinning reel
2) 7' M rod with 2500 size spinning reel
3) 9' MH rod with 4000 size spinning reel

Aside for some specific situations, especially for deeper or larger saltwater fishes, those three rods covered most of my species hunting requirements.

As Zippy and OT said, carefully consider what species and opportunities you may encounter, then select the appropriate gear. I think both of them went through the selection criteria quite well.

Remind us again, what rod length, rod action and reel size is your Trion combo?

If I were to suggest which rods to add, I would suggest a 6'6" UL and a 8'6" MH rod with the appropriate size reel (ie, follow what I've used). The UL rod allows you to target many smaller species with lighter lures, jigs and rigs. The longer MH rod would allow you to fish heavier lures and cast heavier weights.

Specifically look for rods with these specification:

UL - 6' or 6'6" length, 1/8oz - 1/4oz casting range, fast action (Daiwa Spinmatic-C is a great one to check out...and fairly cheap)
MH - 8' or 8'6" length, 3/4oz - 1 1/2oz casting range, fast action (any Steelhead/Salmon rod...Shimano Convergence or Clarus is great)

That being said, I've caught a lot of small and big fish with my 7' M action Trion rod before...from little 3" Emerald Shiner to 30lb Grass Carp. You may need to be a bit creative for the smallest fish, and have some experience casting larger rigs or fighting larger fish on a lighter rod...but it is certainly possible. With the bigger fish, you do have to make sure that 1) you set the drag light enough to protect your rod and line, 2) you palm the spool to slow a fish down gingerly and use a pump and wind method to gain line, and most importantly 3) you play the fish patiently.