Having A Hard Time Getting Bites.

[MCS]

Went out for an hour, tossed some worms around, didn't see a fish.... until 10 minutes before I had to leave (stupid work). Sure enough they are going nuts right now and I can't go get em!

Happens to me all the time. It is the breaks, but days when the early bit is on makes up for it.

[BassinLou]

Spinning outfit is just the only one I know how to use. But I do want a baitcaster. So If I were to go to bass pro today what am I looking for in order to have my first baitcaster that would be good for worms/jigs. 

The outfit I currently have seems to be pretty good for Topwater so I think my spinning gear I will use for that and cranks for now.

 

You are faced with an interesting dilemma. A B/C is a great piece of hardware to have in your arsenal. However, you have no experience with them. There is a learning curve with them, and it may take you a while to effectively use one. You are having frustrations catching fish as of late, and I personally attribute it to your current set up. I feel a heavy spinning rod is not ideal for many situations. I would lean toward another spinning outfit. Down grade the rod to medium/medium heavy and get a 2500 size of reel if you don't have one already. That way, the set up will be within your current expertise. 

Going the B/C route, in my opinion requires a little bit more time and research. Don't rush into something today. The choices can be overwhelming if you don't know what your looking for. If you decide on another spinner, depending on your budget, shimano's are great reels. I would lean toward a 3000 Saro's. They are cheaper than the stradics and tad bit heavier but none the less great reels. Now... this is my humble opinion, others will chime in with other recommendations. You pick what feels right for you. 

[SFL BassHunter]

You are faced with an interesting dilemma. A B/C is a great piece of hardware to have in your arsenal. However, you have no experience with them. There is a learning curve with them, and it may take you a while to effectively use one. You are having frustrations catching fish as of late, and I personally attribute it to your current set up. I feel a heavy spinning rod is not ideal for many situations. I would lean toward another spinning outfit. Down grade the rod to medium/medium heavy and get a 2500 size of reel if you don't have one already. That way, the set up will be within your current expertise. 

Going the B/C route, in my opinion requires a little bit more time and research. Don't rush into something today. The choices can be overwhelming if you don't know what your looking for. If you decide on another spinner, depending on your budget, shimano's are great reels. I would lean toward a 3000 Saro's. They are cheaper than the stradics and tad bit heavier but none the less great reels. Now... this is my humble opinion, others will chime in with other recommendations. You pick what feels right for you. 

Yeah I considered the fact I should stick with a setup I know how to use. The dilemma is, I do want to learn a baitcaster. So maybe I should get a budget spinning set up and wait on the bait caster.

I like Shimano's. I have the Sienna 4000FD reel on my shimano rod. I think they are great.  My budget is kind of low, so perhaps I can get a 2500RD.

The Solstace and the Sienna are a bit more in my price range.  Maybe even the Sedona series. 

 

What gear ratio should I be looking for?  Ball bearings?

[BassinLou]

I think your making a good move. We can talk B/C's when we meet up. As far as ratio's go,  I like 6:2 variety. I am not familiar with reels you are mentioning, but I will say again. Find one that's in your budget, and that feels great on your rod. I highly recommend pairing it with a rod at the store so you can really get a good feel of the weight and balance. Good luck!! 

[SirSnookalot]

WHOA......you are way over thinking this rod and reel bit.  When I first moved to Florida I used a $20 Walmart combo, 8# mono that came with it, cheap straight shank hooks and any generic plastic worm and I caught the pisssss out of them, as many as I catch today.  Don't mean to infer better equipment isn't nice to have.  My worm set up for canals is a med inshore rod with a soron 20 reel, I don't use this in the ocean too much anymore as the reel has low line capacity but it's fine for bass fishing.  I was out for about 90 minutes, caught a lot of fish and all on a senko.  You will see by picture #1 why I even fish this heavy, pic #2 you will see the fish isn't too big, I'm fighting weeds out there not the fish(reason bass isn't my favorite beast out there).  I'll give you a tip that works for me, I don't ever watch the line, my eyes are roving around looking at the water, I see a ripple and that's my next cast.  I may look at lure to see if something is trailing it, sometimes a bad idea, easy to set the hook to quick.

[Pz3]

I've been using a Pen Pursuit II. It is a saltwater combo and it definitly isn't My favorite. That title would go to a 60$ Quantum that my mother broke when we went fishing together (dang mothers). I have a 20$ diawa combo, and 30$ okuma combo from walmart. Out of all of them. That Okuma was best bang for the buck could feel everything in that rod and it reeled in the fish nicely. This is the problem im having with the Okuma and Diawa though. The bell doesn't lock in place anymore. Haven't opened them up yet to see why.

[SFL BassHunter]

nice fish! 

Actually I got real lucky, my dad told me to check out all his fishing gear to see if he had anything I liked that he wasn't using. Turns out I found a brand new with tags, browning medallion spinning rod. Medium action 6' and a Penn Fierce 2000 reel. It's shorter than I'd like but it was free and that is a great price for me! LOL.

I looked up the prices just now and the rod is 79.00 and the reel is 59.00. Its super light and I already spooled it up and tested in the backyard. I really like the weight and feel of it. So I've got my set up for worms and jigs! Next step is to test on the water.

 

SirSnookAlot I actually already do what you do. I barely ever watch my line. I'm always looking around for a fish to break, or if I see a small ripple. Even then I'm having trouble catching bass lol. 

[geo g]

If your fishing plastics like senkos, worms, and flukes you have to be a line watcher for the slightest movement.  Then take up the slack and then set the hook.  Line watching is extremely important.

[SFL BassHunter]

Well ladies and gents, I finally broke that slump! Tried out the rod my dad gave me and caught 3 fish in about an hour. Went out to the park after work and used my new Strike King Bitsy Bug Jig in Okeechobee Craw color with a Netbait Tiny Paca Craw in blue as a trailer to match the Okechobee Craw color. 2 Casts in I pulled in this dude:

 

Then it got hung up and I lost the darn jig. So I switched to a Cotton Cordell Super Spot Lipless which btw looks great in the water, it swims real nice and best of all only costs 2.47 at bass pro. On my 3rd or 4th cast I hooked a small little guy maybe about 7 inches long. I felt bad for him, he got hooked in the mouth and the stomach. So I let him go real quick. No picture.

 

Then I lost the darn crank, lots of tree trunks I think where I was fishing.

 

Lucky for me I had bought more jigs so I switched back to the Bitsy Bug with the Craw trailer and moved over to the other side of the lake where I hooked another 10oncer. Unfortunately I got a phone call right before that and was juggling my rod and phone with a fish hooked on it. Reeled him in and the bank was a bit high, half way up in the air he flopped around and dropped right back into the water.

 

But the point is, I caught fish! I am very happy with this medium rod, the sensitivity is great and even a 10 once fish is fun to catch. I could feel all the bites, something I'm sure I was lacking on the heavy rod.

[BassinLou]

Nice job PitBoss. Those baits are great, they cannot be thrown everywhere in the park however. There is un-seen debris in there that love to hang up those baits.

[SFL BassHunter]

I want to thank everyone who gave me some advice and helped me out. I do think I was using the wrong rod and it seems I've found a bait that I like to use. I've been able to catch bass 2 days in a row in a short time frame each day.