New To Fishing, Hows My Current Setup??

[ItsallabouttheBass]

Hey everyone! Just joined recently so I could learn some stuff from you seasoned fishermen/women! I have only been fishing for over a year and have been getting more serious about it in the last couple of months. I am just curious if there are any ideas/recomendations that could be made to my current setup to make my angling more productive? I have been focusing almost exclusively on soft plastics to learn to fish those well and effectively. All of my fishing is done with the following gear:(I know its all budget gear but I wanted to make sure I enjoyed it before reaching deeper into my pockets!)

 

6.5" Daiwa Laguna Rod Medium with Fast Tip/Pflueger President 6940x/ Lined with Trilene XL 12LB Mono for all my plastics and Jigs.

7" Ugly stik Gx2 Medium/Shimano Sedona 2500FD/ Lined with Seguar Senshi 10LB for all my topwater bait (poppers,rapala's etc..)

6.5" Ugly Stik Gx2 Medium/Shimano Sedona 2500FD/ Lined with Seguar Senshi 10lb as a generic pole for spinners, spinnerbaits etc...I dont use these baits too much though.

 

I already understand that Flourocarbon may be better for my plastics rod but I tried 12lb Spiderwire Flouro and hated it. The memory was real bad and the line was tough to handle. I decided to switch back to Mono this season and give that a go. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas that would help me out?

 

Thanks a ton!

 

[tappinbass]

12 lb  seems a little big for plastics, maybe 8 for plastics?

 

Ugly Stik may not have enough backbone for good hooksets topwaters.

 

Definitely get yourself some baitcaster reels for any crankbaits, spinnerbaits, lipless cranks, swimbaits, and even larger topwaters.  Research how to use one first or have someone teach you.  Don't give up on it when frustrated, backlashes and birds nests will happen at first, but in long run, you will enjoy fishing with a baitcaster much more.

[sprint61]

Sounds like youve got it pretty much figured out. Casting gear is nice but deffantiely not needed, you can fish pretty much anything on spinning gear. Everything looks good to me I would advise you to use finesse jigs with your jig setup though. A medium spinnig Rod may have a hard time getting a jig with a thick hook set. Have you tired braid? Lays very well on spinning reels and cast well. I would suggest getting some 20lb braid and trying it. Not only will it last a long time it is sensitive and will float so it will work woth topwaters well. If I was you I would use the 7' Rod for my jig/plastic Rod it will help with hooksets with lures that have weed guards or the hook imbedded, because of the extra length. Switch the 6.5' Rod to your topwater I personally like a shorter Rod for this presentation I feel I can work the lure better. These are my suggestions Goodluck!