30_pound_bass

My dad got me a Johnson Tanglefree 10 when I was little, maybe 16 years ago. I reeled in mainly lots of rainbow trout and a meter-long 15-pound carp with that bad boy, had it for 7 or 8 years before going to baitcasting. Still at my mom and dad's house to this day, probably barely works at all now...not that I maintained it well. Lots of memories and fish! Looking back, I really should have moved on to spinning tackle sooner, never used that until a trout trip in the Bighorn Mountains last year. IMO, it really makes more sense for most casual fishermen to learn spinning gear. I have a cheap ultralight Shakespeare that is smoother than the old Johnson, although that was made in the early '90s. I'm sure the new higher end models are better.

What kind of fishing do you use it for? Lures, methods, etc?

I like the BPS ProLite Finesse for the bass lures I use, mostly 1/4-ounce type stuff. I haven't tried it with weightless worms or anything super light, but small topwaters, sassy shads, and other baits are very easy to cast. I found this on sale for 70...if you don't want to drop 200 big bucks on a reel.

I used to fish in a deep reservoir as a kid with my dad. We caught lots of rainbows...IMO a downrigger is priceless for deep lakes in the summer. This time of year, the rainbows may be 30-50' down. They seek cool water and sometimes this means uncommonly deep areas for rainbows. As lures/baits go, Powerbait is more for stocked trout in my opinion. Rapala crankbaits work pretty good. I caught an extremely delicious rainbow on a Rebel Crawdad crankbait one year, would not hesitate to try that again! For downrigger trolling, the go-to setup is "cowbells", a rig with 4 or 5 spinner blades to attract trout, with a big ol' live worm on 2 or 3 hooks behind it. I caught lots of rainbows that way and banged a 15.5-lb. carp when I was 9 years old on that rig. Still the biggest freshwater fish I ever caught...14 years later. For shore fishing, small spoons and spinners on ultralight tackle can produce magical results. IME this is good on small mountain lakes where the trout are accessible from shore.

What about a baitcasting combo?

I've never tried that for bass, but I caught a nice rainbow trout on a Rebel up in Wyoming. I would have to think smallmouth would bang it too.

I think a baitcasting setup is best for most bass fishing, BPS makes some good reels at good prices. I want to try a Shimano baitcaster but have never used one. For spinning, Shimano stands out also. I have a Spirex mostly for catfish and carp and other "sit back and wait" fishing. If I got one for bass, maybe a Sahara or Symetre. The Spirex and Sahara are about $60 and the Symetre is $80. Good baitcasting reels start in that range and go UP. I've had a couple Quantums also, mixed experiences there.

I also have a ProLite, like it for lighter lures. Smooth and casts well with the ITB system. They advertise this reel for finesse fishing. The Curado is twice the price at $200, so I would expect a proportional increase in overall performance but have never used one.

BPS makes some nice reels, I have a ProLite Finesse that I use for bass with lighter lures. I find it easy to cast with the "inertial transfer braking" that helps control spool speed. I think it really depends on how much you fish and what you want to use it for. I also just bought an Ambassadeur 6600 C4, will use that for big catfish though. That size is probably too big for most bass fishing IMO....245/14 line capacity for big bruisers. IME you really don't want a cheap $30-40 reel, I started out with one and it pretty much wore out in 2 years. You do get what you pay for, generally speaking. If I could only have one baitcaster, a Shimano Curado maybe.

I was more curious about the rod, don't know if it is graphite or composite.

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Some background info: I have been fishing for about 18 years now, starting out with trout when I was like 4 years old. Currently living in College Station, Texas where bass and catfish are my main gamefish. I started out with the little-kid closed faced spincast reels, then graduated to the baitcaster described below and now also use spinning reels. I got out of the Army last year, now trying to make up for 4 years of almost no fishing....also want to catch big catfish and carp in addition to bass and have a big spinning combo for that. I bought a 6' medium Quantum Lite baitcasting combo about 7 years ago. I recently replaced the cheap reel with a BPS ProLite Finesse, and so far that reel has worked great with lures in the 1/4-oz range. I use spinnerbaits, sassy shads (swimbait right?), rattle traps, topwater, buzzbait, and will try some Texas-rigged worms next time. I don't have a boat and not a whole lot of bass experience...my biggest was maybe 3# back in high school. Does anyone else have a ProLite Finesse or a Quantum Lite rod? Any other recommendations? I'm one of those people who end up doing things crazy...have a 32" HDTV in my apt living room and bought a $1000 .30-06 and scope combo last year. I'm not rich but behave that way sometimes lol. My other rods are a 5' ultralight trout weapon and a 7' H spinning with a Shimano Spirex for the big blues and flatheads and old bugle lips (still haven't gone on a lunker trip in freshwater though). Lots of people on here seem to have like 10 rods just for bass! Do I need more than one baitcast rod for bank fishing?

Do you know what species of carp that is? I caught a 15.5-pound common carp years back, and it had bigger scales and was not as fat. That looks unusual for a carp IMO. Must have been a tremendous fight though....those are not bass!