Well we are all familiar with the old cliche on opinions.
Problem for me is that I’m not hung up on just one method or way of doing things.
That means having a variety of different rods on my boat so i can shift gears on what I’m doing.
Also, trolling can get very boring for me if I’m not having action.
So that means I’m reluctant to commit myself to the expense of say 8 14’ rods.
Besides that, where do you put 8 14’ rods on a 14’ boat when they aren’t being used?
That said, i have anywhere from 20 to 25 rods on my 14’ boat all the time and none are laying on the floor.
The reason i can do that is because 15 or more are 10’ to 14’ telescopic rods folded up and stored in one spot.
The lakes i fish are mostly shallow of 10 to 12 ft max, which is a plus when using rods without reels.
I make up leaders of various legnths which are easily snapped onto the tip and changed or extended in length very quickly.
When one gets tangled its simply removed, placed in a bucket which is also my seat, and a new one attached.
A big feature for me is the ability to shorten the rod when retrieving a fish, especially since i always fish alone.
I mean try to net a fish on the end of a 14’ rod when your alone in a 14’ boat.
I usually have the rods pre rigged before i get on the water and the line just wrapped around the keepers with short sections of Velcro covering the hooks. When I’m done fishing i simply fold them up one at a time and place them in the rack on top of each other.
They also work very well when anchored or drift fishing with floats, but I don’t use them when trolling behind the boat, except for one straight out and straight down on each side.
Shorter rods can be used out the back anyway for the most part.
Best part is you might have $100 invested in 10 rods, and down at Okeechobee you will get them for even less.
Now do i think that having 8 14’ good rods with reels would be better? Yes i do, but fact is they aren’t an absolute necessity to have, and wont necessarily mean you will catch more fish by having them.
And in my case with my boat i feel i have a better setup, and you might also, especially if you just want to try it out before jumping all in.