G Loomis Glx + Abu Mgx

[ChicagoEd]

Hey guys, need a little advice.  I am relatively new to fishing and just bought my first rod and reel setup.  I paired a Gloomis GLX MBR844C which is a 7' fast heavy rod (1/4-1oz) with an abu garcia MGX 7.9:1 reel.  I want this to be my versatile rod...used for many applications.  However, are there applications you think SHOULD NOT be used on this combo vs others that would be perfect for this setup?  I chose the rod for the sensitivity, caught everything from walleye, bass, to pike and lakers.  The reel is super light and casts a mile, breaking system is amazing especially since i was horrible at baitcast reels.  Since switching to the mgx I havent had to untangle a birds nest...my sanity thanks me!  So let me know what techniques you think would be great for this setup.  Thanks all!

[Tartan34]

Nice combo!  I would stick with non-treble applications.  Jigs, weighted T-rigs, larger spinnerbaits, especially fishing near cover.  I think that the rod would be difficult to keep the treble hooks in a hooked-up fish.

[Dwight Hottle]

That outfit will cover a lot of ground for many different applications & fish species. Ideally it is a jig rod, small swimbait, spinnerbaits & even topwater. It will work with treble bait applications if you use a looser drag and or mono for adding a little stretch in the system. Like you mentioned it can be used for pike, lake trout & walleye. I used that rod for many years in the imx version for big pike & lakers in northern canada and it will handle 30lb plus fish very adequately. Enjoy your new combo.

[ChicagoEd]

Thanks for the info fellas.  Dwight, you hit it right on the head.  I do an annual fishing trip in Northern Canada every year (north spirit lake lodge in Ontario) and fell in love fishing for pike, walleye and lakers.  Pike hits were easy to tell even using my old walmart combos i originally started on but for walleyes i noticed i wasnt feeling hits...every time i pulled in my line the worm/dead shad had disappeared.  I switched up to plastics and jigging and still couldnt differentiate between rocks,cover or bites.  my buddy was fishing this same loomis rod, let me use it, and bam I felt everything.  The sensitivity was brilliant.  Landed many nice walleye and pike, even caught some perch on his rod until he finally wrestled it from my arms.  In Illinois were I mainly fish for bass I had the same issue and again his loomis out fished my $50 combos.  I'm sure part of it is because I'm a novice but the gear really improved my success.  What do you think about spoons, the MGX should give a nice recovery on spoons especially pulling them out of heavy cover?  I mainly use braid so I'll definately loosen the drag as you suggested. 

 

Also, I just got into crank baits.  Was thinking of pairing a veritas Winch 7' medium with a 2013 abu revo winch 5.4:1.  Where along the quality scale would that setup land?  Am I better off going with a GLX crank rod...although I dont know about spending all that dough on one application specific rod.  Thoughts?

[tomustang]

It really depends if you tune yourself to the combo, another thing to consider is what size line to go with.

Speaking from experence, I started on a heavy powered rod and 300 sized reel with 15lb line. I learned to use everything on it and tuned myself into the combo to make it versatile. Even little bluegill didn't care for the bigger line size

[Dwight Hottle]

I would use that rod for everything on a Canadian trip with a 2nd rod as a back up. I have used 2 oz jerbaits with that rod no problems. Cranks would work with a drag adjustment. It all depends on how many rods you can & want to bring along. Remember the whole idea behind a multipurpose rod is to make it work for all/most applications.