Gear Help & Recommendations!

[740angler]

Hi all! I just got into bass fishing earlier this year and am still working on acquiring more equipment. I plan on using the winter months to continue to buy more as well as organizing, rigging etc. so that I can head out in full force next year. I’d like to list current equipment as well as planned future purchases below and ask for any and all input on which rod you would pair with which reel as well as a line suggestion (brand, type, test, etc.). I realize a lot of this is personal preference and everyone will likely have differing opinions, but I would genuinely like to hear from as many of you as possible. The more input the better. Also, if you have any suggestions for any other rods, reels, etc. that would be beneficial I’d love to hear about those as well.

 

Rods:

Cousins IM-8 Graphite Cranking – 7’3” Medium Heavy/Medium Fast

Castaway Taranis – 7’ Mag Medium Heavy/Moderate Fast

Kistler Magnesium 2 – 6’9” Medium Heavy/Fast

 

Reels:

6.6:1 baitcaster

8.1:1 baitcaster

7.3:1 baitcaster (pre-ordered, should arrive early 2017)

 

I also have a Lew’s Mach II spinning combo. As far as future purchases I plan on getting a Shimano Scorpion 200HG as well as a Powell Max 3D 736 CEF Frog rod.

 

Thanks!

[fishnkamp]

Here is my thoughts.  Although I have never handled the Cousins so I am guessing it is the most moderate action rod you own ( bends the farthest down the blank). If I am right the 6,6-1 reel would land here with 12 or 14 pound copolymer line like P Line FloroClear or even good old Stren Clear Blue in 10 to 12 pound test. With this I would throw small to midsized cranks, rattle traps, and jerkbaits. I would also try to throw my spinnerbaits and squarebills on this rod. Most of these baits have treble hooks and a slower reacting rod will help you hook and land more fish on these baits.

The Taranis most likely would handle my texas rigged plastics and regular 1/4 to 1/2 oz jigs with a plastic trailer. I would use your 7.3-1 reel on this rod. This should also be good for swim jigs and even some baits like a buzzbait. This reel could get some 20 pound 832 braid or perhaps some 12 pound copoly or mono depending on your preference. Fluoro would work here but will require a bit of line management. 

The Kistler 6'9" MH fast should be your stiffest rod that you own, This is the rod I would throw carolina rigs and larger heavier weighted plastics.  I would probably think about using the scorpion in a 7 something on this reel ( the one you intended on ordering) and use the 8-1 reel you already own on the frog rod. This rod would probably 17 to 20 pound line like P Line CXX copoly or Big Game.

The frog rod would get Power Pro Spectra 65 pound line.

[740angler]

Thanks so much for the input! Are there any other rods or reels you'd recommend that would pair better with anything I already have for more techniques? Any techniques I'm missing out on that I need a totally different setup on? Which of the above would you throw a chatterbait on?

[fishnkamp]

Let's start this thinking process differently. Over 40+ years fishing I have owned 11 different boats to fit different fishing conditions and my tackle has adjusted accordingly, so behind me, in my room here, sits well over 30 rods that my wife and I fish. Some do not fit my fishing areas now, but I use them when I go on vacation.  We have fly fished across much of this country and even on our honeymoon in Calgary, Alberta Canada.  Those rods do not fit much of my angling today.  We have some very expensive 7 foot G Loomis rods. They are extremely sensitive, light action spinning rods that used to do lots of work when I fish on the Pennsylvania rivers for smallies. We also fished a very deep, clear, PA lake for fresh water white perch, so we setup some 5.5 ultralights and two 7 ft medium rods with line counter reels equipped with 6 pound braid. These look like trolling gear for walleyes, but they were setup to troll for the white perch. Occasionally you would tag into some big walleyes while trolling, so we had to look out when it happened, drag adjustments were critical! Man those fish tasted great! I miss having them in my freezer.

I own 6 different  spinning rods that belong to my wife. She regularly fishes these when we fish for light tackle stripers or bass. My arsenal includes 4 spinning combos and about 14 or 15 baitcasters for bass and stripers.  I usually have 2 or 3 spinning outfits and maybe 9 or so baitcasters in the rod box on any given day. Here at home in MD. I fish the tidal rivers feeding the Chesapeake Bay. For the most part we are talking dirty off color water, lots of shallow water targets and the term "deep drop off" might refer to 15 feet, unless I am fishing a river channel. Most of my fishing is targeting wood, rock pilings, docks etc. The rods I carry for this are much different than when we go fish out in the TN and KY.  Those lakes are deep, 100 foot plus, 60 or 70 mile long impoundments, like Dale Hollow, Center Hill and others. It is easy to see at least 5 to 8 feet down. I can leave my big punching rod and frog rod at home, but I better have a rod for Ned rigs, traps for fishing submerged grass flats, and jerkbaits. Jigs are real important there as well.   I am not saying YOU need to invest thousands of dollars or own the numbers of rods we have.  Actually I believe 4 or 5 rods can do it all well, if you identify which 5 meet your needs the most.

Here is where we turn the question around. What type of water do you fish?  Are they small, slow meandering streams and rivers, Are they big fast major rivers, perhaps ones with commercial traffic on them. Are they small ponds and small local lakes, perhaps drinking reservoirs (these are usually clearer and deeper bodies of waters).  Do you fish major impoundments that are miles and miles long. How clear is the water and what are your major fishing targets, perhaps lily pads and heavy vegetation, rocky outcroppings, docks, bridges etc. Are there more smallies than largies or are there both?Do you fish from shore or from a boat and if so what type or configuration. What I mean is is it a jon boat, kayak, aluminum bass boat, or big fiberglass rocket ship.  Each type has different storage abilities and restrictions. My aluminum bass boat can handle 13 rods in the rod storage compartment but it can not fit a rod 1 inch over 7 ft. this makes a difference when selecting a punching rod or a frog rod. 

 All of these answers help determine what fits your needs best, Give me a mental picture of the majority of fishing conditions you will encounter and we can both come up with a plan or strategy,  

You already own some good equipment, the next step is learning how to use it best for your conditions and then that will help decide what to add to complement it.

Of course my approach is to identify lures/techniques that work best on each of the rods you already have before moving on. This will require you doing some "practice fishing"  with a set of lures on each rod. We can go rod by rod together. This will help you understand what "feels" good on that particular rod. Once we determine what it does well we can determine what we are missing.  You biggest need could be a frog rod, a big heavy flipping & punching rod or it might be a second lighter action finesse spinning rod. Perhaps a dedicate jerkbait/topwater rod. I look forward to hearing from you so we can explore your toys and how to make them play. I am sorry if I make you go fishing as homework, but someone has to do it! LOL

 

 

 

[740angler]

Wow, first off let me say thank you! I genuinely appreciate the effort you put into that post! Let me try to start from the beginning and cover all the bases.

I started off fishing young with my dad, mainly for bluegill, with the occasional crappie or perch. He passed when i was 15, and no one else in my family had any interest in fishing, so there was a long period where I didn't really have the resources to fish. Eventually I started fishing with a buddy, mainly for catfish, occasionally we'd do some baitfishing earlier in the day to use for catfishing that night. Even then, I hadn't really ventured beyond Walmart level gear. Now, being 27, I've finally decided to get into bass fishing (apologies to my wallet). My soon-to-be 17 year old nephew really got into bass fishing earlier this year and joined a team through his school so that helped sparked my interest, and my wife loves to fish as well so I'm a lucky guy.

Now as far as typical fishing for me, I'm in southeastern Ohio. No boat (yet) so 99% of my fishing is bank fishing, so I'm trying to get to the point that I have enough rigs ready to go that I can cover as many techniques as possible while not overloading myself and making it a pain to lug it all around. I know 5 or 6 setups are typically referred to as the golden number. Majority of my fishing is on small ponds, smaller lakes, reservoirs, and creeks. So I'd say the water varies from clear to chocolate milk. I do live close to a fairly large river as well as some of the largest inland lakes (acreage) in Ohio, but without a boat it's a little difficult to fish effectively, I usually have to pick my spots and try to cover as much ground as possible but I'm still missing probably 99% of the lake in those situations.

As for vegetation and structure, (I'm still trying to get better at recognizing and breaking down structure so I'm probably missing some things here) I'd say it's close to a 50/50 split between soft and hard, rocky bottoms, typically see quite a few laydowns, some ponds have standing timbers in them so a lot of wood, and I target riprap whenever I can find it. I didn't start going out regularly until late August, so I'm not too sure about spring/summer conditions as far as how grassy they tend to get. So far only one out of the maybe 10 places I've been to so far had any lilypads, but it's also probably been one of my favorites to fish.

I enjoy fishing ned rigs, shakey heads, crankbaits, chatterbaits, and frogs. I haven't had much success in general but I suppose I'd say I feel more confident with those. I haven't had any luck whatsoever with a weightless Texas rigged Senko, wacky rig, buzzbait, spinnerbait, whopper plopper, or jig.

Let me know if I've left anything out! Thanks again for all of your help!

[roadwarrior]

I suggest adding gear "as needed".  The generic rod & reels I listed in the post will cover nearly every technique except big swimbaits.  As you refine your "needs" other rigs may come into play. For me, a couple of dedicated crankbait outfits are probably used the most. Next is a jerkbait rod, then another baitcaster for moving soft plastics. Jig rod of course and then dedicated spinnerbait...and the list goes on. From a practical point of view I rarely carry more than one rod for shore fishing, two at the most. In a boat, maybe five or six depending on the season.

 

[BigGame0892]

I've done a lot of bank fishing for bass in the last ten years.  Still have yet to invest in a boat.  To be honest, lugging more than say 3 rods around a given lake or pond seems to be overkill.  I generally bring one rod for plastics, jigs, frogs or whatever - usually a 7 ft MH or H.  Then, I'll have one rod for other topwaters, spinnerbaits and shallow cranks.  Then, one spinning rod for shaky head or wacky worm.  That's usually about all I need.  Throw your tackle in a backpack and be prepared to move around a lot to have success.

When I fish as a co-angler out of the back of the boat I usually bring the 5 or 6 as roadwarrior said.

[fishnkamp]

I agree with roadwarrior, fishing from shore requires only a few rods with you and an arsenal of maybe 5 to choose from.  Right now your spinning rod will handle all of your finesse needs. Here are some tackle suggestions to have available for this rod.  I do not want you to purchase hundreds of these baits,  just a couple of 10 packs in several colors each.  Start with a good 5 inch grub. I like Kalins 5 inch Lunker Grubs or Zoom Fat Albert Grub as well as Yamamoto grubs. Pick up some in Bluegill (Kalins) and watermelon red flake (all 3 have these). Pick up some 4 inch ring worms in  watermelon red flake, blue fleck, and black with a chartreuse tail. Another option is a Zipper worm or some smaller finesse style worms like Lunker City Ribster in chobee craw and again watermelon red flake or maybe blue halo.  Add to these some good creature style baits like a Missile Baits D Bomb or Grande Bass Mega Claws. Keep it simple for most of these bait you can rig with two different style hooks. First is a stand up style shakey head jig and the other is a personal favorite of mine. Check out Bass Pro's Perfect Finesse Worm hooks. Using this we can rig any of these baits and change them easily. Here is what I am talking about.  First is the stand up shakey head jig. Second is the Perfect Finesse jighead,  It is my favorite way to rig a grub!

                  

They come in many colors and weights/size hooks. I only stock the green because it does not make that much difference.  I do stock 1/8,1/4 and 3/8 ounce jig heads for these. Match the right hook size to the bait and the right weight to get the bait down quickly enough.   I also use some of the larger Perfect worm hooks to quickly rig my 6, 7 and 8 inch worms.

 Lastly go look at Reaction Innovation Skinny Dippers. These are hollow bodied swimbaits. I fish them unweighted and with Gamakatsu  belly weighted swimbait hooks. These come in several colors. I find Houdini and white trash to be great colors as well as money shot green and any of the 'blue shad" patterns  The 3rd picture shows a belly weighted swimbait hook.

Now for the baitcasters. Let go over the first one. The Cousins rod is supposed to be your most moderate action rod.Match that rod up with the 6.6-1 reel and some 12 pound line like I said earlier.  I want you to go tie on a few of these baits on it. Go cast it an see how well you can cast these baits, and how well you can feel these bait. First, if you do not own a few rattle trap baits then go purchase several 1/2 ounce Strike King Red Eye Shads, Cotton Cordell Rattling Spots or Bill Lewis Original Rattle trap baits. These should be in chrome and blue and fire tiger. Try throwing a 3 inch 1/2 ounce Pop R type topwater bait and both a 3/8 ounce spinnerbait and a 3/8 ounce buzz bait. Throw any small to mid sized crankbait on this rod as well. Lastly throw some kind of jerkbait, either a 5.5 inch Rebel Minnow, a Rattling Rogue or Rapala about the same size. It could also be a sinking diving bait as well. These brands are just suggestions, many companies make great jerkbaits.

Let me know how this rod works with these baits.  If you can work some of these baits, but not others, it tells me a lot. I am trying to help you find out how versatile that rod is.

Once we figure out these two rods we can move on to the other rods you already own.