BrianSnat

Looks pretty cool, but it doesn't look cartopable and you need a trailer. If you are trailering then why not just a regular boat?

At one time I had mostly 6' 6" rods with a few 6' sprinkled in. I limited myself to 6' 6" because they fit in my rod rack in the hallway. I bought a 7' rod because it was such a good deal at the time and now I'm a fan of the 7' + rods. Those extra 6 inches add a lot of versatility and casting distance, especially if you are using a baitcasting reel. The technique doesn't change, but a few extra inches will give you a much longer cast.

The Tatula is nice, I have one and like it. But check out Lew's. You can get their excellent Tournament MB for a few dollars more if you shop around and their low end Speed Spool reels for about the same price as a Tatula. Excellent reels for the money.

I have lot of 6' 6" rods and often wish they were 7'. I rarely wish I went shorter unless I'm fishing streams or shorline with trees. If you are fishing from a boat or shoreline without obstructions, go longer. I'm assuming from your post, you mean verticle jigging. The shorter rod will work nicely for that, but that 6' 6" rod will be a bit more versatile and you can use it for methods other than jigging as well. BTW the HMG is a very nice rod for the money. I love mine.

Perhaps you need to set your sights a bit lower and get something that will fit easily in the garage. Perhaps not a true bass boat but you can get a really nice 14 ft jon boat or V hull that will fit in a garage easily. Failing that, do you have a friend who likes to fish and has some room? Perhaps you can trade off storage for fishing time on the boat. If none of that works check out a marina at a lake you like to fish and see what it costs to keep it there. Also a bait and tackle store near me allows you to keep your boat on their property for a reasonable fee. Perhaps that is an option.

I've been looking at the ATK 140 and sort of drooling over it, but in the end, I'm happy with my canoe for car topping. It is way lighter and a cinch to car top and carry, has way more room for stuff and does the job well.

A Lew's Tournament MB with a Fenwick HMG or Shimano Clarus should come in at about $200 if you shop around, and you have yourself a pretty nice outfit. You should come in at about $170 or $180 with a Berkley Lightning Rod Shock and still have a darn god rod. The Diawa Tatula is good reel too. I have the Tatula and the Lew's and prefer the Lew's but they are both really good for the money. I think a 6' 6" to 7 ft , fast M or MH would be the most versatile rod. I usually use 6' 6" for spinning rods but find I like them a little longer for baitcasting, so I go 7' and a little longer. One consideration since you started with spinning reels, is that you are used to working the rod with your dominant hand and cranking with your non dominant hand. With baitcasters its the opposite. I've found I prefer to stick with the spinning configuration so I bought lefty baitcasting reels even though I'm a righty. Something to consider.

I use the Albright knot for braid to floro connections. As others said, always wet the knot before cinching it down.

For spinning reels I'm pretty much all Shimano, except for 2 UL Pfleuger Presidents. I like the Quickfire trigger and as far as I can tell Shimano is the only mfr. who offers it, so Shimano it is. Baitcasters I search for good deals, so I have Diawa, Lew's and Shimano. Rods, again it's more about finding the right rod at the right price. I have Shimano, Berkley, St Croix, Bass Pro Shops and Fenwick rods. So I'm basically only loyal when it comes to spinning reels and that's because Shimano has a feature I like.

Unfortunately fellow anglers are often the worst offenders. I constantly see empty styrofoam bait containers, big balls of mono, beer and soda cans and empty bags of fast food on the banks of streams and lakes. I won't call someone out in person because you never know what sort of nutcase the person (or people) are. I have written down license plate numbers of offenders and reported to the police. Not once did something come of that, at least that I know of. I have cleaned up the messes if I have a room to carry it.

Don't skimp on the paddle. The lighter the better. You don't need to shell out $400 for fishing, but a good paddle is essential. I have the Bending Branches Angler Scout and it is great for fishing. https://www.campmor.com/c/bending-branches-angler-scout-kayak-paddle

I've had bad luck with fluoro on spinning reels. I spooled a few of my spinning rods with fluoro a few years ago and it was tangle city. After a few weeks of frustration I ripped off over $50 worth of brand new fluoro and respooled with mono. Your experience may differ.

That's a pretty good starter outfit, though I may have gone with the Berkley Lightning over the Veritas. Both are fine rods for the money. Now it's tackle time: Soft plastics: Yamamoto Senko, Yumdinger, Zoom Trick Worm, Zoom Brush Hog, Rage Tail Thumper, Zoom Super Fluke, Yamamoto Kut Tail, Rage Tail Space Monkey are good starter points. I've had best results with darker colors. Black, Green Pumpkin, Watermelon, Junebug but your mileage may vary. Also tube baits are good to have. There are made by dozens of mfrs and most should be fine. THis category also includes swimbaits. They are generally soft plastic fish imitations. Keitech, Strike King, Zoom and Berkley make decent ones. Spinnerbaits: BooYah and Strike King are decent and fairly inexpensive Topwater: Rapala Skitterpop, Rapala traditional floating, Rebel popper, Rebel FrogR, Jitterbug, Heddon Torpedo, Smithwick Devil Horse, Hula Popper are good ones to choose from. I think the Jitterbug, traditional Rapala and a popper of some sort are essential. There are also many soft frog imitations that are great. Scum Frog and Spro are popular. Jigs: Football head jig (Strike King is good and not too expensive) Crankbaits: You should definitely have a good assortment of these running at a variety of depths. The running depth should be noted on the box or on the order page. Some to choose from are Rat-L-Trap, Bomber, Strike King, Rapala Shad Rap, Storm, Luck-E-Strike. Choose colors that match the major forage fish in the lakes you plan to fish. If in doubt its hard to go wrong with sliver/black. These can get expensive but I see no need to shell out 10 - 20 dollars for a crankbait. The brands I mentioned tend to be on the cheaper side. Also look into suspending jerkbaits. Yo-Zuri makes a good one Inline spinners: Some good ones are Mepps, Panther Martin, Rooster Tail and Vibrax Spoons: There are many choices here, but you can't go wrong with Kastmaster, Krocodile, Dardevle, Johnson and Hopkins. Also blade baits such as Binsky, though not really spoons are often fished in a similar manner. Other tackle: Weights: egg and bullet sinkers in several weights from 1/8 to 1 oz. A splitshot assortment pack is also useful Hooks: Extra wide gap bent shaft worm hooks in 3/0 to 5/0. Octopus hooks from sizes #6 to 2/0. Standard baitholder hooks from sizes #8 to 1/0. Gamakatsu, Lazer and VMC are decent brands Also, snap swivels and barrel swivels Bobbers for bait fishing Good to have: Net until you get good at landing without it. Rubber nets cost a bit more but will save you a lot of frustration. Hooks and fish don't get tangled in them the way they do in cotton or synthetic nets. Pliers or hook removal tool. Tackle box: Hard or soft sided is a purely personal choice and so are features. Get one with room to expand, because you WILL be buying more tackle as time goes on if you get even a little into fishing.

I've never in my life cleaned rods with anything other than a squirt with the garden hose.

I can only go by rods I own and I think the HMG (and the HMX) are outstanding rods for the money. I have over 25 freshwater rods now and have to pick and choose when I go fishing. My HMGs and HMX are always among the chosen.

I've picked up a Lews Speed Spool and a Diawa Tatula for slightly LT 100. Both are good reels for the money. For another $25 the Lews Tournament is a very nice reel. Yudo1 brought up a good point. Like you, I was a life time spin fisherman. After over 40 years of only using spinning reels I decided to go with lefty bait casters. I was used to cranking with my left and working the rod with my right and didn't want to switch. Once you get the hang of it you'll love baitcasters. In the three years since I started bait casting, I now have 5 baitcasting outfits and they all are always in my boat when I'm bassing. All but 2 or 3 of my spinning outfits stay home.

Sun Dolphin makes low cost, low quality boats. I lived in a lake community for many years where people kept their boats on the shore. You could pick out the Sun Dolphins, Colemans and Pelicans from a distance because the hulls were terribly warped after a few seasons.

Well the Senko (and its knockoffs like the Yumdinger) is my go to worm. Next to that I like Zoom Speed Worm, Rage Tail Thumper, Yamamoto Kut Tail, Zoom Trick Worm , Jackall Flick Shake and Rage Tail Anaconda pretty much in that order.

I probably fish for bass with soft plastics about 85 percent of the time. I rarely use cranks because I've had little luck with them. The only other things I use are jigs and topwater.

Last spring I bought a Fenwick HMG, 7' Medium, moderate taper baitcasting rod. It has proven to be an ideal rod for cranks. I think I paid $90 for it and I've seen the HMG cheaper on sale.

Yep, I used this for fluke/summer flounder. A four oz marabou jig as the weight and a live killie on the dropper hook.

I think the most versatile rod for bassing would be a 6' 6" to 7', MH fast taper rod. For under $50 its hard to beat the Berkley Lightning, or Lightning Shock. For under $100 chek out the Fenwick HMG and HMX, Shimano Clarus and Bas Pro Carbon lite

Ditto on the Fenwick HMG. I bought one this summer and love it. If you want to go under $50, try the Berkley Lightning or Berkley Lightning Shock.

There is something wrong with that reel. I can pretty much lock down the drag on all of my spinning reels (Shimanos and Presidents of a variety of sizes). I landed a 6 lb hybrid striper with my President 6930 and those stripers are strong.

In that price range I'd look for a Lew's Tournament MB. I got mine on sale for under $120. Also Diawa Tatula CT. I have both. I like the Lews a bit better, but both are good reels for the money. For a rod, the Berkley Lightning and Lightning Shock are really good values.