k813zra

I will have to try that but my wife likes her fish roasted whole. I got used to eating them like that as well since I lived in Spain for 5 years. I sure do miss the fish markets there!

Thanks again, I will give some dealers a call tomorrow. As an aside, I just got back from fishing and brought home some white bass for lunch. Those Gulp Alive Minnows in two inch are killer on panfish! It is like being a kid all over again.

I live on the PA/Ohio border. About 10 minutes from the Shenango outlet in Sharpsville. If I go to Ohio I can go to Fin and Fur, Gander, or Dicks. If I go to Eire There is a Gander, Field and Stream and Dicks. There is a Bass Pro somewhere around but I've not been there. I really like to buy from a local bait shop in Orangeville Ohio as they have been there for years and have always been helpful. They don't carry much of the high end stuff but I can get my tackle, bait and reels there. I have family in Hanover and some in Frederick. So fishing down your way is not to far of a stretch.

Thank you so much for the detailed response, clarification and the offer to fish! I played around with my car a bit and I think I can get a 6'6'' in there with the seats down and the rod running to the center console. The 6' fits with no issue and room to spare. I don't know why I hadn't thought of it before! I like the looks and what I read of the St. Croix but I would love to check one out in person so a trip to a shop or two may be in order. But after your clarification I may just check out a Shock for now. They have them at walmart for $40 and I think at that price it is hard not to give it a go! Seems like a good next step from my ugly and maybe the St. Croix next month.

Thanks, I can give that a try. As for medium, should I be worrying about the lure ratings? Most of the medium power rods I see are rated at 1/4+ and I will be throwing weightless plastics that have to weight under 1/8. With a T-rig, for example, that is less of an issue as I can adjust the weight but for weightless I am at the mercy of the weight of the bait.

Thank you both for the suggestions but that leads to a question or two. The shock I have heard is similar in construction to the ugly stick in that it is a more moderate action and a composition of graphite and glass with a glass tip. From what I have read people say this rod is basically good for crank baits, which I do not use, but is it okay for other stuff as well? I had also read that it was designed specifically for braid, which I don't understand, and would be ill suited for mono. Do I have a correct understanding of this or am I misinterpreting? Maybe it is not the action at all that leads to the issue, again, I can only go by what I have read thus far but many say the shock has a soft tip, which I think would cause it to have a similar feel to what I already have?

A little background. I have recently got into fishing for the first time in about a decade and at that time I was a teenager that fished with a simple ugly stick hand-me-down from my grandfather. When I said I was getting back into this my wife and mother both bought me fishing rods, lol. Long story short is that I ended up with an Ugly stik elite 5'6'' light/"fast" and an Ugly stik gx2 6' medium/(I think it is moderate but it does not say). Now, I still have the ugly stick from my youth and the newer ones are an upgrade but I don't know anything better to make an informed decision. What I can say is that the GX2 feels better with weightless plastics than the old US but something feels wrong. I can not feel if I am moving the bait very well, with a weightless worm, for example. Also, it seems to recover too slowly to give it more than one twitch. Anyway, I have little experience so I am going off of gut feel and by what I have been reading over the past few months while waiting for the ice to thaw. The ugly sticks do make fine rigs for catfish, carp, and panfish, which is what I fished for in my youth and still enjoy but I would like to try out bass fishing. As I have always been into UL/L panfishing I think that finesse might be the way to go but I could be looking at this wrong. Anyway, I am familiar with things such as jig/worm, drop shot etc as these are similar to how I fished in my youth. Background out of the way, maybe I can get some advice on what I need to get started. I am more comfortable with a spinning setup for now and have a handful of of president reels laying around, which range from 25-35 size. So something to match one of those reels would be nice. I am looking for something that will do well with weightless plastics such as wacky worms, as well as light T-rig (1/8 and 4") and maybe senkos. Could I get a rod that does this and will work well for cast/retrieve on light jigs or will I need a second rod? I forgot to mention that I will likely be using mono for now until I learn a little more about what I like and how I like to fish. A few requirements: Rod length: If 1pc it has to be 6' or less as I can fit nothing larger in my car. 2pc changes things but I would like to stay at or under 7'. Handle/grip: I seem to prefer the medium to longer handles thus far. It could be my form but there is less fatigue. I like a longer front grip too. Price: Under $100 as I am still trying to discover what I like and how I want to fish. I can upgrade later if needed. I apologize in advance for my thoughts being all over the place. I have been doing a lot of reading here and in general and it is overwhelming. When growing up fishing was just tossing a minnow or crawler in the water and waiting for a bite. As well as a little jigging for white bass and crappie. So I am learning all over again. If I need to give any more information to help with the process, please ask as I would be happy to answer and learn. Also, if I need more than one rod for different application, that is fine. However, I would like to keep it to 1-2 rods for now because as I said, I do not know which way I will go and there is so much information to take in. Or maybe I am overthinking this. As always, thank you in advance for taking the time to read my jumbled thoughts and lend a hand!

Maybe I am misunderstanding but wouldn't that be a little overkill for a 5' ultralight and 4 pound test? I have the Sienna 2500 now on my medium 6'6'' and that seems large.

Thank you both. I have not had the chance to try out any of the mid to high end shimano gear, maybe that has a better feel than the Sienna. I like the idea of taking the rod into the shop, that won't be an issue. I think I will do that this afternoon. As an aside, the fishing was decent today. No target species but I brought in a fairly large carp and a few shad (small ones).

A while back you all advised me on picking my first rod (in years) and aside from getting a lemon the first time around I have been happy with the replacement. My current rod is used for mostly small eater sized Channel cat 1-2 pound range and walleye or whatever else bites the line. It is a 6'6'' Shimano Sojurn Medium with a Shimano 2500FE and has been serving me well this past few weeks. However, as was mentioned to me by a poster here I did in fact decide I needed a second setup pretty quickly. I do a lot of panfishing and my wife brought me home a surprise rod. Ugly stick Elite. This rod is an UL with a line rating of 2-6 pounds and a lure rating of 1/32-1/4 and is 5'. It will be used for 1/16-1/8 crappie jigs and roster tails of the same weight. Maybe a little float fishing around trees and stumps. I think the size will work well for the stretch of river I panfish as there is a ton of overhead cover and the river is narrow. My question is what size reel to go with? Now, I like the Shimano just fine and I liked my old Abu Garcia Cardinal too but I got to see and feel some president reels in the bait shop the other day and they just feel better to me. I can't describe why, I just connected with the reel. The thing is, I don't know which size to go with. 20, 25 or 30. I was tinking that the 25 might best fit this rod. I have been doing a lot of reading and it seems that the 25 is overall larger and has a bigger diameter spool than the 20, which from reading seems to be something many suggest. On the other hand the 30 seems like it might be a bit heavy for a 5' UL rod. Also, is there any reason to go with the XT over the regular president? The thing is, I may or may not outgrow this rod and want something different for panfishing. If that ends up being the case I would like to get a reel that will move over to the next rod nicely. Thanks!

Thank you again. Also, I will check out that rod builder too, that sounds interesting.

Thanks everyone, I guess I will look into something on the higher end. I thought it might have just been a defect as well but the other returns just sitting there made me nervous as well. Edit: Ignore the quote thing. I tried to use it but I am on a mobile platform and something went wrong.

After asking some questions and figuring out which length, action and power rig I wanted for which purposes I picked up a combo for what I thought was a good deal. I ended up with a Shimano Sojourn 6' medium light action with a Sienna 2500. All seemed well so I strung it up and took it out to try some white bass fishing. First cast, I am loving this thing, second cast seems good but while bringing the line back in the rod kind of just folded over. I thought it just came apart but nope. What a bummer, I have not fished in years and was excited. No, there were no snags or bites for that matter. After giving myself some time to think I took the rod back and was going to exchange it. These things just sit out for everyone to play with. My first thought was that some kids got ahold of it in the store and banged it around but when I got to the returns desk the lady said she got two more of these rods back this week for the same issue and there was another one sitting behind her broken in the same spot...At that point I just got my money back and came home to think. Again, I don't know if it is just that these rods are getting banged around in the store, if it is a quality control issue or if I should just stay away from this sort of rod in this price range. This whole thing has left me a little gun shy about graphite but I am trying to shake that. Many people use these sort of rods and seem happy. I almost went back and got an ugly stik like I used to use as they served me well growing up. My first rod and had it for 12 years or so. However, I wanted to get something lighter so I abstained. Any suggestions on where to go from here? I don't have a ton of money to spend but I don't want to go through such a letdown again. As I said in the other thread, when I first asked about rods, I am looking for something to use with 1/16-1/8 ounce jig heads. I have a lot of cover and small transport so something around 6' in a two piece. I will want something for bass later on but I am just testing the waters for now, so to speak. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you to everyone for the advice so far.

I've been out for five or six years but that is a long time for me and this is the first time I have bought my own gear. Quite exciting for me. Yeah, it is much lighter than I remember. I have been searching some threads and picked up some general tackle too. I got my licence and all of my stamps as well, so I am good to go. I will get to try out the rig soon, which will be nice! I hope to put some fish in the freezer for my wife, who is from Spain, and is used to getting fresh fish from the market. Nothing like that around here. Thank you and everyone else for the advice. I hope to learn through some trial and error as soon as I can get out. I have to sort out where I can and can not fish as there are special regulations due to trout stocking at the moment.

I just thought I would update and let everyone know what I went with. I took the advice here and went to a local bait shop that has been in the next town over for many years. They had just got in a new shipment and I was checking out rods and reals when the manager came over and picked up a combo and handed it to me. That ended up being a Shimano Sojourn 6' medium light (fast) paired with a Sienna 2500FE. More than anything else that felt right so I brought it home. Not bad priced, $50. The manager and I got to talking and he said it was a good setup to use as general purpose for now and see which way I want to go if I decide I need a more specific setup or two. I can tell you that it is a much lighter feeling setup than my old ugly stik from high school.

I just stopped at a semi-local bait/tackle shop and they had loads of rods and reels. Seriously, the selection dwarfed walmart's. Anyway, the fellow that works there spent some time with me going over the pro's and con's of material type, power, length etc. He suggested some similar setups and he fishes this area. Of course they had a lot of ugly stik's but he was showing me around some Shimano and Berkley rods and the Pflueger reels. I think they were regular lightning rods not the shock and were only one piece but he said he has more in the back. I am going to go back in a few days after some more reading. Thank's everyone, this is a lot of help.

Thank you and I will keep that in mind. That should not be an issue. If I need to go up a step, my wife keeps asking me what I want for my birthday.

Thank you everyone one. When it comes to not recommending gear that one will need to replace, I can understand that. My main hobby is Japanese knives and I feel the same way when making those recommendations. However, there are tools that are low cost good quality backups or community knives for the family. My wife might go fishing with me a few times a year or my brother so one can become a loaner or backup. As for the blue cat, that is a big fish. I have never run into anything like that. 1-2 pound channel cats is about it. We used to catch loads of them early to mid summer when I as younger. Enough to fill the freezer. From the suggestions it looks like I am better spending my money on one rod and reel and figuring out what I like/dislike about it and going from there. I can do that. Looking like I will want to drive over to ohio and check out some of the larger bait shops, and there is a gander mountain over there. No other big stores for quite a drive around here. I am looking at the suggestions online now. The abu garcia site seems to list tons of nice looking rods! I really need to take a long drive up to Eire or something and check some of these out in person. Thank you for all the suggestions. I will do some window shopping for now and get a better idea and let you know what I find. Edit to add: I was looking at some of the tackle that I still had left it is mostly 1/16-1/8 jig heads etc. I would guess that matching one rod to that tackle would be ideal as it is what I will likely use most. Does that sound right? Also, I saw that there are a lot of ugly stik classes. The elite looks nice but walmart seems to have one called the lite pro, no one else sells this. It looks like the elite with some cheaper options. Wlamart does seem to get a lot of "exclusive" items that are more budget friendly. It says that the rod will be stiffer and more sensitive than the GX2. Would that be an option to consider?

I've been reading and that is where the confusion comes in. Growing up my parents and grandparents were weekend fishermen and used one medium weight rod for everything. I got curious and ran a search and it seems there are so many rods for everything under the sun. Stripped bass, white bass (I know it is a panfish) are what are common in my area, at least where I fish. You hear reports of large ones but from memory 20-25 inches is more common on stripped bass and white are much smaller than that. Would maybe there be a good route to take that is setup for bass and would work for smaller spices such as panfish on the side?

To make a long story short, I have been out of country for a number of years and as such have not fished in some time. Also, I do not have gear any longer as I gave it away when I moved. I realize this is a bass forum but I will likely fish multi species. Typically trout and panfish (specifically white bass). I also ran into stripped bass and small mouth from time to time. Walleye and catfish were a favorite when I was growing up. So as you can see I am more of the opportunistic type. I will fish most weekends spring through fall in a local spot. River and stream fishing but the area landscape makes things quite tight. Lot's of trees to cast around and cover overhead with the exception of two clearings along the river. I do remember that longer rods were tougher in this case. If I remember correctly my rods were 5'6" and 6'6'' one was an ultra lite with a small abu garcia reel and the other a medium with a stock reel for cats and whatever else. Both rods were ugly sticks bought by my grandfather and I had them for a number of years. Bait that I used and likely will again will be live (minnow and earth worms), small jigs and rooster tails. Or something similar. Background out of the way: I realize there is a lot of different things listed for the use of one rod so I figure I should likely get two rods that are suited to general purpose. One lighter and one heavier but I am not sure. I have been poking around wlamart looking at combos and don't know what route to take. I have seen some Berkley, Shimano and Ugly stik rods. I like the feel of the Shimano rods best and their reels feel smooth. The value is good for a combo too at around $50. But I really don't know what I need. Sure I could just pick two at random but I figured that I would asked those more experienced for advice. I was a little worried about the graphite rods as a few fishermen had told me in the store that they will fracture easily. Is this an exaggeration? I mean, they made it sound like if I sneeze that these things will explode. I am on a rather tight budget at about $100(ish) for both combos, which I know isn't much but things could change in a year or two. I am just looking to get started. Other random notes: I have only used spinning reels and rods. I only have a car for travel so a two piece is a must. As a note, I have been reading around on the forum and there is just too much information to process. Thank you in advance for any advice you have to offer.