I carry 9 rods with me on the boat, I start with half of them rigged for a horizontal presentation: (2) crankbait, spinnerbait, topwater.
The other half rigged for vertical presentation: jig, (2) t-rig, c-rig, weightless senko or fluke.
When I get to the lake the first thing I do after launching the boat and deciding on where to start is check the surface temp.
If theres little or no wind and the surface temps are above 55 degree's I'll usually start with some sort of topwater. If it's really windy then I 'll usually start with a shallow crankbait, spinnerbait or buzzbait.
If the water temp is below 55 degree's then I will usually start with a suspending jerkbait.
If the water temps are in the high 80's or higher then I usually start deep with a jig or a c-rig.