I prefer the LT2000 size with whatever line size is referred to as 10 lbs braid (apologies to @bulldog1935 , I'm trying, LOL), and then 6-8 lbs fluorocarbon leader on my spinning rods. But, if I were you, I think I would go hippity-hop to the tackle shop with my rod in hand and try one of each in the 2000, 2500, and 3000 size to see which one feels most balanced on that rod.
To me, balance is at the top of my priority list in most cases with spinning gear. I HATE fishing a rod that feels tip heavy, and I also don't care for a combo that I have to fight in the opposite way. I will also say that for me, I would look for a non-USDM reel with a shallow spool. Line is too expensive these days to be careless with how much it takes to fill the reels they sell us here with deep, and even 'regular' depth spools, and you'll never need 1/3 of what it takes to fill a LT2500D-XH and futzing around with backing is a chore I don't need to deal with. JMHO.
The Shimano World Minnow is 4.5" long and weighs 5/8 oz and has a weight transfer system to optimize weight bias during a cast and then adjusts in the water to a better swimming / jerkbait angle. Depth is listed at 4-6 feet.
I have had the 7'4" Phenix Classic BFS rod for over half a year now. I throw small/finesse (not so much true BFS IMHO) plastics, jigs, chatterbaits, crankbaits, spoons. . . . all kinds of stuff. A three to four pounder will give you a fun workout.
It has enough backbone to set a treble hook and lighter wire worm and jig hooks. It has 16 guides so it takes a minute to get the line through them all. They are very small diameter guides but I haven't had any issues with braid to leader knots.
I have a Shimano Curado BFS and a KastKing Zephyr BFS reel that that I have used on the rod. The Zephyr and Classic BFS combo weighs around 9.5 ounces and is well balanced.
I am not that interested in pushing the boundaries of the lightest weight baits it can throw TBH. I am most likely to be throwing baits that weigh between 3/16 to a 5/16 of an ounce, maybe 3/8 of an ounce, and this rod does that quite well (even though it's only rated for up to 1/4 of an ounce. And although it is rated for 4-10 lbs line, I would only use 10 lbs braid (not straight mono or fluoro of that size).
The 7'4" length works for me since I mostly fish relatively open water. I do occasionally fish some tight quarters and one of the shorter lengths might be more desirable for that, but I opted for the longer casting capabilities of a longer rod, your needs might be different.
I have a 7' Shimano Expride L/F spinning rod with a Daiwa LT 2000 Kage and for the baits I throw, the 7'4" Classic BFS / Zephyr BFS bait cast rig has been generally outcasting the spinning setup, sometimes by a lot on all but the lightest baits. On the lighter side of things, I'll just say that I haven't been great at it with the BFS baitcaster. At least some of that is a "me" problem.
I don't have a lot of experience with other rods of this type, so there may be other rods out there that will work as well or better.
The 7'6" hair jig rod with the AGS guide train was rated M-ML (the Seth Feider model) and sold for around $270. That rod is no longer listed on their website. Instead they have assigned Feider-man a 6'9" casting rod for jerkbaits. The new Chris Johnston Tatula Elite 7'6" hair jig spinning rod is the one the OP has and is a pretty recent offering.
There is also a 'regular' Tatula 7'6" M-ML hair jig rod too.
On my visits to Texas, I have checked out Academy and the H2OX brand stuff seems like it's (dollar for dollar) probably at least as good as the house brands from Bass Pro or Cabelas for whatever that's worth.
A 3' tag end seems long to me, but I have no way to know it won't work. I do sometimes use a second hook up higher on the line, and sometimes I use a tag end as short as 4-6" or maybe up to 16".
As for the line memory when tying a Palomar know, it can usually be avoided by pulling the tag to cinch, or keeping the whole knot a little loose, then wetting the knot as you cinch it down (s-l-o-w-l-y) with short tugs at a time.
Tungsten is nice, but I am much more likely to use it for Texas rig or Carolina rigs. A bit too Gucci for me to use with dropshotting rigs, but YMMV.
I have caught a ten pounder on a 1000 size reel, so they don't generally scare me away from using one to bass fish. . . . if it is balanced with the rod it's on and ultimate casting distance is not needed. If you were only fishing creeks and didn't need casting distance a 1000 could be all you need and great for creek fishing. Daiwa does make a Legalis LT1000S that is around half the price of a Fuego if a 1000 suits you.
You certainly don't need a 2500 for creek fishing. On many Daiwa spinning reels, you can interchange a 2000 and 2500 spools with the arbor being the same, but the skirt of the spool is slightly larger. A 2000 with a shallow spool (from the JDM or EU market) would be the biggest I think you could 'need'.
Daiwa makes a Tatula LT2000S-XH, but it won't be found in any tackle seller's inventories in the USA. If weight is of less concern than the price, they also make the same reel in the Fuego line.
In case you hadn't noticed, I am a fan of shallow spools on spinning reels.
If a reel has a low profile, and relatively high line capacity, the only way(s) to achieve additional capacity would be a thinner arbor on the spool and/or a wide spool. There's only so much room between the spool arbor and the reel foot.
Big channel cats and stripers in the surf can take you for quite a ride and that means line capacity could definitely be an issue. You honestly should also be looking at reels that are made to withstand saltwater fishing environments (salt and sand), and that level of sealing adds cost for sure.
Unfortunately, you're asking for a unicorn and I can't even pretend for a grown adult that unicorns exist. Please don't misunderstand me, there is nothing AT ALL wrong with asking, and you're asking because if it did exist, that would be a great thing for a one combo solution to exist, especially at a semi-budget price point. However, this is like asking for a vehicle that can tow a 24' boat, launch on sandy beaches, handle like a Porsche, seats 8, gets 45 mpg, and costs less than $30K. It doesn't exist at any price, and if it did, it would most certainly cost more than $30K.
I also can't think of a rod that would do all of them well, even conceptually other than a two or three piece that could have different middle and top sections. Even then multiple piece rods are generally not likely to perform or be quite as light as a purpose built one piece.
And contrast a frogging rod with one that also works for shallow running crankbaits? If it does either of those reasonably well, it's going to suck at the other.
Honestly, in my estimation, you're going to hate your fishing life to try to do all of those things somewhat reasonably well with anything less than three rod/reel combos and those are going to run at least an average of $300 to $400 for each rod/reel combo, and that doesn't include putting line on them.
I'm not gonna lie, I have had some 'Three Stooges Go Bass Fishing' moments using long Carolina rig leaders. More than I care to talk about on an individual basis. I will say that if you care to fish long leaders on your Carolina rigs (and I do), be extra super careful casting.
You will probably learn the hard way, just like casting a big fluffy spinnerbait into the wind with a baitcaster. Like telling a two year old not to eat sand at the beach. As soon as you stop paying attention. . . . yep. . . . you'll wrap that sucker onto something and try like heck to cast it into the lake before you can stop yourself. I will not reveal here & now how I know these things, but I do.
I mostly carolina rig with 36" to over 48", usually around 40" to 50", and I mostly carolina rig in the colder months. It seems to work better here than in the summer months. In the warmer part of the year, I will use a slipshot rig with a 24" to 36" leader and a much lighter mojo slip sinker.
The lake is low, but not necessarily shallow. The lake has places that could be 300' deep at full pool, so now with it over 100' below that. . . .it is low, but not shallow.
You shouldn't need to fish in more than 30' of water at this time. I didn't fish deeper than that even in the winter. There are places that you could reach 50' deep with a shoreline cast. Some places you might only get to ten feet, and there are a few places where there are humps, islands, and points that extend out that you might not see. But for the most part the shorelines are on the steep side.
There are schools of bass that live offshore, suspended, and feasting on schools of baitfish for much of the year. There are others that spend a lot of time relating to structure and cover along the shoreline, and others that are in between that. All of those bass have to eat to stay alive, so you should conceivably be able to figure out a way to target any of them if you have the time, patience and equipment.
Searching for those offshore schools in a rental boat is going to be a challenge, but you could literally drag crankbaits across main lake points or even out in the middle of the lake, and you will have some success. I have done it, and I still see others doing it. BUT, IMHO, it isn't going to be anywhere near as productive as targeting bass that are relating to shoreline structure and cover.
I understand that many of us just have methods we enjoy using more so than others. Others really don't care as they just want to learn to catch as many as possible regardless of the method. I know that jigging spoons in 50 to 60 feet of water in the winter time may be productive for some anglers. I don't care to fish like that, and since I mostly fish solo, I can choose to fish any way I'd like.
If crankbaits are your jam, then you can do all you can to learn to catch fish on crankbaits.
I caught my PB (just under 13 lbs at Castaic on a crankbait), but I'd be a lying sack of manure if I tried to tell you I had a great handle on the crankbait fishing there. I have found it to be all over the place as far as what works. From topwater to 25' deep, I have caught fish on crankbaits, but I just haven't put much together as a particular pattern that holds up over time.
No need to buy dropshot rigs. I tried the store bought rigs and didn't do much with them either. My advice is to save your money. They are a super easy setup to rig yourself. Use a palomar knot to tie a hook on your line and leave 12" to 18" of tag line. Attach a dropshot sinker to the end of the tag line. It really is that simple. One could argue that a splitshot rig is a tad simpler, but they are two sides of the same coin.
IMHO, the best part of renting a boat is that you can use it to access shoreline that hasn't been pressured as much. There are several folks that do quite well from a rental boat. You can nose the boat into a sandy bank, use an anchor to work an area. Use the anchor to drift, stop, drift, stop along a bank, or let the breeze move you along. Some even use the gas motor to back into the wind as though they are using like others would a trolling motor.
I think it's first come, first served. Now that we're past Labor Day, the pressure should be much less.
Not that I am aware of. But you could get checked by other official personnel. Fish and Game violations can get ugly though. . . .
The lagoon is like a completely different type of fishing experience. Lots of shallow water, and some places where it's 60 feet deep. Lots of weeds in the summer, all the way to the surface in some areas, none in others. You can only legally shore fish from the East shoreline. You can usually fish from the fishing pier 24/7. I have no particular hot spots to recommend from the shoreline. They are kinda random hit or miss for me.
Fishing from a boat is a different animal. It gets shallower in the middle from south to north. The northern quarter of the lake doesn't get much over 10' deep or shallower and can be mostly choked off with weeds, for better or worse. Some anglers know how to fish that stuff. I'm more of a fiddle around the edges kinda angler and catch a fair number of bass that way at around the 18' to 25' depth at the edges of the weeds, but that is quite a ways from shore. In the springtime, it's very good along the banks too.
I suspect that the lagoon has just as many if not more big bass than the upper lake if you know how to fish there. I go back and forth for periods of time. I'll spend weeks at one without touching the other once I get dialed in.
I am looking forward to the weeds dying back a ways in the mid to late fall.
The 'spots' I know on the lower lake were mostly gifted to me by others. In my mind, they are therefore not mine to freely give away, especially on the internet, especially while they are hot. If I home in on them myself, then that's my business. I have some on the upper lake like that too. Same with techniques and patterns. If I read somewhere that carolina rigs fished deep are producing and I go to a deep spot that makes sense and I figure out that 4" Keitech Swing Impact in Electric Shad on a 4' leader with a 3/4 ounce weight slowly crawled along cover and structure in 18' to 25' is killing it ;~), then that's mine to do what I want with. If someone else turns me on to that, then I'm not talking about nothing but 'deep plastics'. Nothing personal, just common fisherman's courtesy/code IME.
Some plastics that are not secrets by any stretch of the imagination. Here are some that are readily available and will catch fish:
4.5" Roboworm (they make at least three different 4.5" plastic worm baits and they all work): Oxblood - light red flake, Margarita Mutilator (MM III), and Hologram Shad. There are others, but those three colors are different from each other and should have you covered.
5" Senko - Color #297
C3 Shimmy in Neptune Shad (a local baitmaker that sells off of FB and some local tackle stores).
There are people fishing out in the middle of the lake. Some are trolling Yak flies on lead core line catching stripers, and occasionally bass (LM & SM). Renting a boat is still a good idea because you can to several different areas, and it's easier to to fish more areas in a boat. Mornings and evenings are best.
Mostly, I have been fishing very close to the shoreline, as in casting parallel as close as I can to the edge of the water, and I have been getting a large percentage of my bites close to shore, but on steep banks, and cliffs. It's easier to fish like this in a boat, but you can fish parallel to the bank from shore if you're kinda stealthy. Most of the time these days, my boat is positioned so close to shore that I have to keep an eye out to make sure the motor isn't banging the shoreline. I'm usually within a boat length from shore, but the bow will be around 12-14 feet deep or more.
The water level is down more than I have ever seen it, but there is still plenty of water that is deeper than many here will ever fish. There are tons of smaller fish going ape crazy right around the launch ramp area. The dam is a good spot to try even though it looks like a nothing type shoreline. Hopefully, now that we're past Labor Day, the throngs of 'other' lake users will be spending time on their other hobbies.
I fish plastics 90% of the time, and although I may fish slowly much of the time, it's anything but a sit and wait type of fishing. It takes focus and concentration to keep connected and the bait is generally moving as much as it's pausing. That is regardless of whether I am fishing weightless wacky rig, dropshot, texas rig worms, slipshot or carolina rig.
Lately, for me, the bites have been as soon as it hits the water to about 20% of the way back to the boat. That's not always the case as I would normally work a bait all the way back to right under the boat (especially if I am fishing 20 feet or more deep).
Texas rig 4.5" Roboworms (ALL types honestly) in the popular colors have all been money lately. Weightless wacky 5" Senkos are the other top producers for me. I'm not saying you have to have those to get bit, but if you're having trouble, those would be what I would suggest.
I have seen things like jigs, buzzbaits, crankbaits, Flukes (jerked), other plastics of different types are all getting decent action.
No harm in asking questions. Some I will answer freely and they are worth only as much as you paid for them. I fish Castaic once or twice a week on average. I have been four times in the past week and a half. I know there are others that fish completely different than I do and have excellent results, but they're not all here sharing with you like some of us here. Locals that fish Castaic on the regular all have their own things that work well for them. Many, many of them have much better results than I do, but I have been doing alright. Good luck out there.
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