First Baitcasting Setup

[CalebWVU]

Hey everyone. I imagined this topic would have been posted a thousand times before, but running a search for "baitcasting" "first" or "beginner" brought back way too many irrelevant results for me to sift through, so sorry if this is a common topic.

Anyway, I plan on buying a baitcasting combo, but I really don't know what to get. I do have some specific features/limits in mind I'd like, so hopefully you guys can point me to a few recommendations based on that.

So first off, price. I'd like to spend around/no more than $100 for the combo, although I can stretch it to ~$120 if I absolutely have to (broke college student budget here). I'd rather buy a pretty good combo that will last a while rather than a cheap one, so if there aren't any decent combos for this price range please just say so rather than recommend a shoddy combo in my price range.

As I said before, I'm on a college student budget so I don't have the luxury of having a different rod/reel for each fish species. I don't have the means or desire to have a combo specifically for crankbaits, specifically for bass, specifically for catfish, etc. I understand this is a bass fishing forum, but I also enjoy catfishing so I need a combo that will be able to handle most freshwater situations. No 50 pound monsters or anything, but it should be capable of handling a ~15 pound catfish as well as sensitive enough for the 3-4 pound bass. I need a combo that's good at everything rather than great at one thing.

Third, I'd really prefer a combo with a left handed retrieve, but it's not a dealbreaker by any means. Also, I do some occassional night-time catfishing, so I'd like to have a reel with a bait clicker to notify you when drag goes out. I've never used a baitcaster before, so I don't know how much sound the drag makes when it goes out for reels without a clicker. If reels with the clicker are all too heavy for bass or too expensive, I can do without it as long as I can hear my drag going out.

Lastly, I imagine most good quality baitcasters are all about the same as far as difficulty in using/learning to cast, but if that isn't true then I'd prefer something that is somewhat beginner-friendly.

Please be as detailed as possible in your replies, because I really am completely unfamiliar with the baitcasting world. Somewhat off-topic, but it'd be great if you could include the type and # line to use with the recommended combo.

Thanks so much everyone for all the help. This site has done wonders for me already.

[roadwarrior]

Use a rod you have or save your money for something you want.

Your first baitcasting reel should be a "gently used" Citicia (~$75)

or Curado ($115-$125).

[Diggy]

you are limited at that price in all honesty but you could order a mettle reel from academy for 49.99 but its rh...probably the best reel in this price because its aluminum framed and has centrifugal brakes. You can get a berkley lightning rod/shock from walmart for 40 bucks and some lines for 10-15 and call it a day.

If you can find a good used reel in the market that may be a good bet for you,

walmart also has some abu combos on the shelf for 99 and under, they are graphite framed but will work well

[rockchalk06]

http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-Tourney-Special-Limited-Rod-and-Reel-Baitcast-Combos/product/1205110823344/481602#BVQAWidgetID

I picked this up the other day as a dedicated Sekno rod. It will throw a wacky rigged 5" Senko like a pro. I set it up for flipping jigs and I was blown away buy what a 60 dollar combo can do. Very user friendly too.

[TylerVC]

I'm a poor college student too lol. You could try to find someone that works at bass pro and they could buy you BPS stuff for 40% off. There is a left handed johnny morris sig series on the bps website for 69 dollars and a carbonlite rod would be around 100 dollars. With a discount this would be in your ball park. Also, you could see if there is a bass club at your college. Mizzou has one and we get a discount on falcon and ardent.

[CalebWVU]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I live a few hours away from the nearest BPS, so I'd like to avoid shopping there if possible. I know I could order online, but shipping is a hassle. I can't really find any cheap Curado or Citica reels, plus I don't really want to take apart my spinning combo for the rod. I'll keep an eye out though. The Johnny Morris reels looked like a great buy, but the sig series and gold series are both out of stock.

Can someone explain what the main difference is between round reels and low profile reels? Is it just a comfort thing, or is there some other different I don't know about besides line capacity?

Anyway, I'm not necessarily partial to Abu Garcia, but they seem to have the most combos locally and in my price range. Considering either the Silver Max combo, the Ambassadeur combo, the Daiwa Exceler combo, or a Cabelas Tournament ZX combo right now. Shimano combos are just too expensive :x

Abu Garcia Ambassadeur

http://www.dicksspor...4414799.4414833

Abu Garcia Silver max combo w/Cabelas Tourney Trail Rod

http://www.cabelas.c...80;cat104822280

Daiwa Exceler

http://www.cabelas.c...80;cat104822280

Cabelas Tournament ZX w/Tourney Trail Rod

http://www.cabelas.c...80;cat104822280

Any suggestions from those 4, or any other advice would be great. Not sure how comfortable I am buying a Cabelas brand combo, so if anyone has experience with those I'd love to hear about it.

[deep]

Here's my suggestion:

An used Curado 201B or Citica 201D/E from ebay or one of the several fishing website flea markets/ ebay. If you look around hard enough, you should spend no more than ~$60. An used BPS PQ would probably be slightly cheaper. I like the Shimanos slightly better. A gear ratio of 6.x:1 would be useful, but shouldn't be a deal-breaker.

For the rod, Bass Pro and Cabelas have some house-brand rods, which are decent. TW often has some rods on sale too. You're probably looking for a medium-heavy power fast action rod in your favorite length (6'6" to 7"?). I personally about kinda leery about buying used rods- I baby my equipment- but I do understand you can save a lot of money if you buy used.

Good luck.

EDIT: sent you a PM with a couple of links.

[Busy]

A few years ago bought a quantum code combo at cabelas for ~$80. After line (braid for me) you are looking right around $100.

I fish with this as much as my Citica/Compre and have been pleased with the reel. Rod was a 6'6" MH F 1/4oz.-3/4oz. I think. I'm not sure if this combo is available and I may have gotten it at discount, can't remember.

[anhtuanb]

I found my local Walmart carries some good Abu Garcia baitcasting combos in your price range. Check your local Walmart.

$99.96 combo - http://www.walmart.com/ip/Abu-Garcia-Pro-Max-Low-Profile-Baitcast-Combo-Rod/20893179

$79.96 combo - http://www.walmart.com/ip/Abu-Garcia-Silver-Max-Baitcast-Combo/19716433

$65.48 combo - http://www.walmart.com/ip/Abu-Garcia-Black-Max-Baitcast-Combo/19716434

[JunkYard814]

Make sure you shop around through places like Cabela's, Bass Pro and Tackle Warehouse. I know the big fishing exposition is right around the corner (not sure when), but you can find a lot of nicer reels with some pretty decent sales because they are getting ready to release their new line of products. If that was my money, I would spend most of it on a reel and strap it to something on the cheaper end until I could afford a little more expensive rod, especially if you're going to be fishing baits like spinnerbaits or cranks, where sensitivity isn't the main issue because bass usually annihilate them.

Again this is just my opinion, but the drop off on casting reels is pretty significant once you dip below the $100 retail price range.