gar732

I just paired up a lightning rod shock with a silver max reel. I went with that rod because everywhere I looked I came up with the same thing you are getting here, everyone loves them, great for the money.

Thanks for everyone's input. I finally got out there and spent a couple hours at a small lake near by. I was throwing a 1/2oz lipless crank bait around and finally got it jammed into something and had to leave it at the lake when I couldn't get it free. I'll try the weedless worm next time since there seemed to be a ton of weeds everywhere. I got a few birds nests and had a few decent casts , all in all it wasn't as bad as I though it would be but I do need to get out there and practice more because I just wasn't getting the distance I should be and my accuracy was all that great either. I'm pretty confident it's my technique and not my gear. I did switch to 50lb braided and next time I'll try some mono so see the difference. Even after the difficulties and losing the lure I still had a good time, I can't wait till I hook a fish.

Just out of curiosity why the heavier line, is it because its thicker? When I was younger I used to go fishing with a spinning reel but never really knew what I was doing so I never caught anything. It's been years since the last time I've gone out.

Aquaholic, I've fished with a spinning reel before but never with much success and its been years. I just though that going for bass, the baitcaster was the way to go. I've still got my old spining reel setup, I guess I'll take that along too.

Thanks guys, I'll definitely get out there and start practicing. I figure I'll either get good at casting or I'll get good at working out those backlashes, but either way I'll learn something, lol. There were just too many options, I was stand in the isle with the medium in one hand and the medium heavy in the other for about 20min and the then there was the 6'6" and the 7' and I still left wondering if I got the right rod.

Hello all, new to the site and new to fishing. I've been trying to do some research and pick up some inexpensive gear to get me started. To be honest all I've managed to to do is reinforce that fact that I don't have a clue. I'm kind of tired of reading about it and I want to get on the water which seems to be the best way to figure out what I'm doing. I've picked up an abu Garcia silver max reel, a berkley lightning rod shock 6'6" MH rod, and some spider wire 30lb braided line. I'll be fishing from shore and bought a few different types of baits and I figured I'll go out and try them all and see how I like to fish. I can return the rod and line if you guys think I'd be better off with something else that might work better with the reel I have. Right now I'm just looking for a decent all around set up to get started. Please let me know what you think, thanks!