Help Buying A New Rod/reel...under $100

[Fishindan]

Went out fishing today with my old rod and think it may be too light. Its a ultralight 6.6" rated at 4-6lb line with a old spinning reel. I caught a few small mouth bass with it today, about 10in long, and had trouble reeling them in. Tried to adjust drag and that didn't help. Put on some crank lures and it felt heavy, almost like a fish took the lure. So I'm in the market for a new rod/reel.

Im looking for a good off-shore medium rod, either spinner or baitcaster reel, that can be cast pretty far and would be good for bass. All for under $100.

Also, would lures would you recommend? Going to pick up a rattle trap, any others I should try? Also, what line weight should I pick up?

Thanks in advance! I had a blast fishing today, brought back old memories when I was a kid.

[NorcalBassin]

Welcome to the boards. You may want to look at the 7' medium Berkley Lightning Shock rod ($49.99 retail) and combine it with a 2500 Shimano Sonora reel (also $49.99). I keep this on deck as a "loaner rod" for friends I take out and they have all loved the combination.

8# line is a good starting point for an all-around spinning rod set up. As far as "lures" go, there are not very many out there that will put more fish in the boat than a Senko.

[Fishindan]

Is there a benefit of using a baitcaster over a spinner like casting line further, better reel once you get the hang of it, ect? I know the spinner reel is easy to use, but I was thinking about picking up a baitcaster combo. Im interested in the challenge and to learn something new.

Also, is my current rod, the 6.6" 4-6lbs ultra light with a spinner good as another set up?

[buzzfrog]

i only use plastics with spinnng, trust me last year i was new to BC and all i wanted to do is cast with spinning, i dont say it as an opnion, i say it as a fact, you have to learn baitcasting. jus it openss the door to lots of things.. i stil have 4 spinning rods, but mainly take BC out, and the lightning rod is pretty good, my bro has one

[Fishindan]

i only use plastics with spinnng, trust me last year i was new to BC and all i wanted to do is cast with spinning, i dont say it as an opnion, i say it as a fact, you have to learn baitcasting. jus it openss the door to lots of things.. i stil have 4 spinning rods, but mainly take BC out, and the lightning rod is pretty good, my bro has one

I was looking at the Abu Garcia Black Max combo or a Quantum Nitrous combo. Both seam like a good deal. What line should I use with a baitcaster? I was thinking 12# power pro. I fish in muddy, murky colored lakes and ponds. Would a green line be a good choice or should I go with a clear. Im planning on using the spinner rod for plastics and then use the baitcaster for crank baits.

[new2BC4bass]

Remember that braid is much smaller diameter than mono. 12# PP is probably around 4# mono equivalent. Some say that light braid will dig in on a baitcasting reel. Based on what I had previously read about that, my lightest braid on a baitcasting reel is 40# Sufix Performance...around 10# mono equivalent. I personally lean more towards mono for most of my set ups with 12# and 8# being the most used. However, in Florida 12# is considered light by most people. My bro-in-law uses 40# PP on all his spinning gear.

I looked at the Black Max combo and liked its looks, but have no idea how it will perform or its longevity.

Average Joe probably can cast further with a spinning rod. A baitcast rod works best with 3/8 oz. up for us neophites. Casting a lure lighter than 1/4 oz. takes a bit of skill...along with a decent reel and the right rod. Stick with spinning gear if throwing 1/4 oz. and lighter until you are willing to spend more than $100 on each. Read here and on tackletour to find out what others use.

Learning to cast with a BC reel is a steeper learning curve than for a spinning reel. Lots of fun tho. I've gone from all spinnning gear to almost exclusively baitcasting.

One of my lure staples is a spinnerbait. Made a believer of my bro-in-law last month when I used one to pull out 5 in a row to his zero using a plastic worm. Later that day the worm was the top performer.

[Simp]

Welcome to the boards. You may want to look at the 7' medium Berkley Lightning Shock rod ($49.99 retail) and combine it with a 2500 Shimano Sonora reel (also $49.99). I keep this on deck as a "loaner rod" for friends I take out and they have all loved the combination.

8# line is a good starting point for an all-around spinning rod set up. As far as "lures" go, there are not very many out there that will put more fish in the boat than a Senko.

'

This is a good recommendation IMHO. The main reason is the quality of what was suggested is very high for the price and with the proper care will last you for years, Baitcasters at the 50$ price point are going to give out on you after about one season typically. While this spinning set up has a higher chance of lasting you for years. A 7ft Rod is going to give you some power and briad will teach you allot about how things feel. You should be able to fish a ton of different things with this set up, from mid sized cranks to jigs and senkos/yum dinger. You don't have to use braid with this set up but keep in mind braid will last you a VERY long time. BTW are you in a boat or on land?

[smalljaw67]

Stay with your spinning outfit until you are willing to invest at least $100 for just the reel. I always give this advise because I've talked to a few anglers with one being a friend of mine who gave up trying to learn as they tried casting with budget reels. The difference is the quality of the bearings and overall balance of the spool, backlashes will alway occur when trying to force a cast and a good reel requires little effort but while budget reels do work, they are very hard to learn with as you need to exert a lot more force to get them to cast and when you are just learnig that extra force is going to equal extra backlashes. The other thing is adjustability, better and smoother braking systems make casting easy and as I said, most budget reels lack the refinement in braking and bearings which makes casting much harder and will prolong the learnig curve much longer than normal.

[jerzeeD]

At FFO.com you can get an all star pro series rod for 50 dollars shipped, then go to walmart and get a pflueger templar reel for another 50. Its a REAL good combo for 100.

[Fishindan]

Well I went and played around with a few reels. Tested out the Abu Garcia Black Max baitcaster and didn't like the feel. It was smooth, but then I tried a Shimano Sienna 4000FD and that was by far the smoothest IMO. So I picked that up along with a Gander Mountain Advantage 6.6" medium graphite rod, they were on sale this weekend for $20. Pretty happy with my setup. Its a ton better then what I was using. Thanks for all the help!

[Fishindan]

Now I'm curious about lure weight. The rod says 1/40z to 5/8oz. What do you guys recommend along with line weight. Rod says 6-12lbs.

[hatrix]

If it is a medium rod it is probably better suited for things like un weighted plastics or cranks. You could maybe use some lighter jigs and stuff but it might not have what you need in a tip to always slam it home and get a solid hook up in dense cover. I would try to stay with in the rod specs for line and lure size. Pick you line size based on the diameter of the line not the # test. For example 30# power pro has the diameter of 8# mono.

[buzzfrog]

i was wanting to say aswell, in fishing it is better to wait for what you want.... me personally, id get a pro qualifer, bps, on sale for 80, but if ya cant wait, just spend 100 for the PQ, next check/money etc... get ya a rod, lightning isnt the best but it will do, just save up, there is alot of descent rods in the 70-100.00

[LunkerLust]

Actually I was going to reccommend the Sienna only with a lightning rod or a shock.

I would try Yozuri hybrid ultra soft 8 lb test with a bag of yum dingers and some 3/0 wide gap hooks.

Also, I would wait on the baitcasting combo until you can afford about $200. A cheap combo will work OK until you get a 4 lber in the pads. I stipped the gears in 2 or 3 cheap BC reels, trying to muscle them out.

[Fishindan]

Yeah I picked up a Shimano Sienna 4000FD with a Gander Mountain Advantage 6.6" medium graphite rod. I was looking for a Lightning rod, but couldn't find any at Gander Mountain or Dicks Sporting Goods. They had a few Berkley Amp rods, but no Lightning. I saw the Advantage rod and remember reading a bunch of good reviews, plus it was on sale.

Also picked up some Pline Floroclear 8# test. After staring at the lure section for a good bit confused what to get, I just decided to pick up some Senko and a rat-l-trap. I will pick up some jigs next.

[iceintheveins]

For spinning, I would go with a BPS Graphite Series Rod with a Pflueger President. That will cost you right around $100. For casting, an Abu Black Max and the BPS Graphite Series in a casting model will do you good.

[JunkYard814]

The Berkley Amp is a great value rod. If you were looking at a spinning set up for under $100, I would recommend the Pflueger President paired with an Amp.

[st00pid]

I just picked up one of the newer split grip lightning rods.

I also suggest trying a baitcaster. I've still got my first 79.00 diawa after 5-6 years its still going strong. I've pulled in many 5-15 pound fish with it of all types ranging, from bass, catfish, whitebass, wipers, carp.

Im looking at steping up to a revo s