Help pairing up rods and reels

[jsh32]

Right now I have 5 casting combos that I could use some help deciding which rods to use for what purposes and what reels would match that as well.

 

Rods

Pheninx xg700 7'0 mod action crankbait rod

Abu Vengeance 6'9 Med H 3/8-1 oz

Abu Vengeance 6'9 Med H 3/8-1 oz (had to cut off about 3-4 in from the tip of the rod because I broke it but have put a new tip top on it)

Abu Vengeance 7'0 Med H 3/8-1 oz

Shimano Sellus 7'2 Med H XF Worm and Jig Rod

 

Obviously I will be using the two technique specific rods for what they are rated for, listed them for help paring reels with it.

 

Reels

Abu Orra Winch 5.4

Lews Mach 1 7.1

Lews CarbonFire 7.1

Daiwa Tatula CT 8.1

Daiwa Tatula CT 6.3

 

Any and all help/advice would be appreciated.  

[fishnkamp]

Here is my opinion. Your arsenal is a bit limiting because you have too many of the same rods.  First, you almost have to pair the 5.4-1 orra with the Phenix or else the reel has no purpose with your other rods. This will make a decent combo for big deep running cranks, but limits you when you want to throw small to mid sized cranks, traps or square bills.  My preference would be to match that crankbait rod with a 6.3 Tatula CT.  This combo makes your crankbait rod more versatile.  I would spool it with either 12 pound copolymer line or even good old 12 pound Stren mono.  Using that combo you should easily throw the smaller cranks, traps, squarebills and even get away with throwing spinnerbaits on that rod as well. However that leaves a question as to what the purpose would be for the Orra 5.4 reel.   Perhaps you sit on it and add a longer 7'6 or 7'11 crankbait rod that would be better for deep divers,  If you throw baits like DD22s and Manns 20+ or 30+ baits it would be worth it.  If not, I would trade/sell it and get another 6.3-1 reel.

Lets forget about the wild card, the 6'9 Vengeance rod that is now a 6'6". We have no idea what it throws well as of now. You will have to experiment with it later this spring.

So now we have a pair of Vengeance rods. Try putting the 8-1 Tatula CT on the 7' MH Vengeance. I would try to use that rod for throwing frogs or pitching and flipping and carolina rigs.  It would be spooled with 40 pound Power Pro Spectra braid. I would test throwing hollow bodied frogs with it.   I use a MH Abu Garcia Veritas rod that rates 1/4 to 1 ounce for frogs, so your 3/8 to 1 ounce rod might work well. I usually say 65 pound braid for that purpose, but 40 pound will work okay and be good for real big jigs on deep ledges and as well as flipping and pitching.  

Next, I would pair the Shimano Sellus 7'2" worm and jig rod with your Lews Mach 1 reel. I would spool it with either 30 pound braid like Suffix 832 or a quality copoly line like P Line CXX in 10 pound test.  Berkley Big Game in like 14 pound test would be another possibility. I would use this rod for texas rigs, and jigs mostly. 

That leaves the 6'9" Abu Vengeance and the Lews Carbon Fire as the next combo.  I would spool it with some 12 to 15 pound mono. I would see if it throws buzzbaits, poppers, spooks etc.  These rod/ reel combos and each one's purpose will take some fishing time to see if what i have suggested will work. I have not felt those rods to see how well they will play, but I am certain they should be good at the jobs I suggested. If I had your arsenal I would forget about the Orra and the broken Abu for now. Go fish the combos as I put them together.  Then think about what rods you have and what each one does well.  Do you fish in places that you will throw a crankbait that gets down 22 to 30 feet.  I have fished for 45 years and never thrown those type of baits, maybe the 5.4 -1 gear ratio and a super long rod is useless to you. Maybe you trade/ sell or buy another 6.3-1 reel like the CT.   Perhaps a good choice might be a lighter action baitcasting rod that would allow you to throw baits like a fluke or Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper, with a lightly weighted swimbait hook. That rod would also be good with light weight swim jigs . I have a 6 foot BPS Extreme that throws those lighter baits a country mile with accuracy.  Maybe you should look at a real nice medium action spinning rod.  It could be of more use in order to cover the Sencos, Ned Rigs, and light weight texas rigs.  I hope this gets your ideas going. Let me know what you think of my matches. 

 

 

[jsh32]

Thanks for the help. I have a good spinning setup but didn't list it because I only have one rod and reel so matching those up was fairly easy lol. But I was thinking if I should try to return the orra and get another ct. I think you just talked me into it. 

[fishnkamp]

Unless you think throwing DD22s and such fits your needs, I would consider a CT in 6 or 7 to 1 range and maybe a rod that can handle the lighter baits. A rod like an Irod Genesis Harold's Lone Star Special IRG 693C.

[jsh32]

My deepest diving crankbaits are the StrikeKing 5XDs so 15 is the deepest I will go, and I only have like 2 of those so I dont think it is needed to have a setup dedicated only to them, I do however have a hell of alot of normal to shallow cranks and squarebills. I went and got the CT in the 7 ratio. I also fell into the trap of buying an other rod today. I ordered the Daiwa DX bass rod from TW. So now I can put that broken rod to good use, practice my rod building skills a little bit this winter.