Rod/reel/line for treble lures?

[biggiesmalls]

Well, I have abandoned my idea of carrying one rod and one rod only for bass fishing (downgrade from six) - I don't think I can make do with less than three. I'm already set on two of them:

• 7' medium light (fast or extra fast) spinning rod
• 7'3" medium heavy (fast) casting rod

That will cover all of my finesse tactics (wacky rigs, bitsy bug jigs, pond magic spinnerbaits, weightless flukes, etc) as well as my heavier tactics (frogs, texas-rigged worms, etc). However I still need something for spooks and squarebills, maybe with a lipless crankbait on it every once in a while. For that, I was thinking of getting a rod that's about 6'9" with a medium power and a moderate-fast action. Would this work well? I am going from using an extra fast spinning rod for spooks and a moderate casting rod for all my crankbaits, so I don't have much experience fishing both baits on one rod. 

 

What would an appropriate reel/line be for this? Thinking a baitcaster around 5.7:1 and 17 pound mono - would 15 be a better choice? 

 

Tight lines,

Drew

[RichF]

15 pound mono would be better and definitely a faster reel.  I like a 7:1 for top water and 6.3:1 for squarebills and lipless cranks. 

[biggiesmalls]

37 minutes ago, RichF said:

15 pound mono would be better and definitely a faster reel.  I like a 7:1 for top water and 6.3:1 for squarebills and lipless cranks. 

Thanks for the reply. Wouldn't you want a slower retrieve reel, closer to a 5.4:1 or something for cranks, and closer to a 6.4:1 for spooks? I was thinking something right in the middle (leaning more towards 5.4:1 since I fish cranks a bit more than spooks) would be best for this. 

 

Now I am looking for a good 6'8" or 6'8" medium mod-fast rod to do the job. I don't think there are any good factory-made models that are around $100 or less. I might buy a MHX blank and have my buddy do some work on it (he's building me a shark rod as I type this). 

[J Francho]

For the specific baits you mentioned, I prefer a medium power fast or x-fast taper paired with a mid range speed reel.  There are some specific times I need more speed when using a lipless, but you other casting rod would be fine for that.  I go with a faster taper simply because I want to ba able to manipulate the bait faster when dealing with shallow cover.  I wouldn't worried about tearing hooks, or the myth that you have to "give the bass a second with the bait."  When trebles pull free, it's because the fish was poorly hooked in the first place - probably because the angler didn't fast enough!  A moderate taper rod is better with deep diving baits.  It aids in better deflection off the bottom, and stumps.  For line, anything from 12-15 lb. mono or copoly will be fine.  If it were specifically for topwater spooks, I would recommend the low stretch Tuf-Line SuperCast, but you want this third rod to be as multi purpose as possible.  Length is up to you, but somewhere 6-8 to 6-10 would be ideal.  Long, but not so long you suffer from accuracy, and still be able to make underhand casts for casting under docks, overhanging trees, etc.  The big bonus here, this makes a great spinnerbait rod, and will also toss some of those lighter finesse jigs 1/4-3/8 oz.

[biggiesmalls]

1 minute ago, J Francho said:

For the specific baits you mentioned, I prefer a medium power fast or x-fast taper paired with a mid range speed reel.  There are some specific times I need more speed when using a lipless, but you other casting rod would be fine for that.  I go with a faster taper simply because I want to ba able to manipulate the bait faster when dealing with shallow cover.  I wouldn't worried about tearing hooks, or the myth that you have to "give the bass a second with the bait."  When trebles pull free, it's because the fish was poorly hooked in the first place - probably because the angler didn't fast enough!  A moderate taper rod is better with deep diving baits.  It aids in better deflection off the bottom, and stumps.  For line, anything from 12-15 lb. mono or copoly will be fine.  If it were specifically for topwater spooks, I would recommend the low stretch Tuf-Line SuperCast, but you want this third rod to be as multi purpose as possible.  Length is up to you, but somewhere 6-8 to 6-10 would be ideal.  Long, but not so long you suffer from accuracy, and still be able to make underhand casts for casting under docks, overhanging trees, etc.  The big bonus here, this makes a great spinnerbait rod, and will also toss some of those lighter finesse jigs 1/4-3/8 oz.

Thank you for the response J

 

I fish ponds probably 99% of the time - so the depth never gets into the double digits, and usually doesn't get over 5 or 6 feet (Best guess). So deep divers aren't necessary - I don't have a use for anything that dives deeper than 4 or 5 feet.

 

I'll look around for a rod that fits the bill of what you described - haven't found anything so far but I'm going to continue to look 

[J Francho]

I have a few that work well for this...

 

Okuma Scott Martin TCS 6'9"

Pinnacle Perfecta DHC5  Micro 6'8"

Saint Croix Avid AVC68MXF

 

The Avid is probably my favorite.

[jbsoonerfan]

I too am going down to 3 this year. For the baits you are considering I am going with a 6'8" MH fast Crucial with a Caenan reel.

[RichF]

1 hour ago, biggiesmalls said:

Thanks for the reply. Wouldn't you want a slower retrieve reel, closer to a 5.4:1 or something for cranks, and closer to a 6.4:1 for spooks? I was thinking something right in the middle (leaning more towards 5.4:1 since I fish cranks a bit more than spooks) would be best for this. 

 

Now I am looking for a good 6'8" or 6'8" medium mod-fast rod to do the job. I don't think there are any good factory-made models that are around $100 or less. I might buy a MHX blank and have my buddy do some work on it (he's building me a shark rod as I type this). 

 

Reels with gear ratios that low are meant for power.  That's exactly what you'd want if you were gonna fish big, deep diving cranks.  The slower ratio pulls in less line per crank which allows cranks to dive deeper.  That added power makes it much easier to reel in big cranks also.  For squarebills, that ratio isn't necessary.  

 

I like a little bit faster for spooks but a 6.4:1 would be my pick to cover all three baits.  @J Francho's rod suggestions are really good.  My father uses both a 6'6 MF and a 7'0 MF SC Avid for lipless cranks, topwater plugs, and jerkbaits.  He likes them a lot for those baits.  I'm more of a glass fan myself but, to each his own. 

[biggiesmalls]

What I might do for a rod (I love the suggestions you posted J, but I have to unfortunately keep the rods on an even lower budget than those) is buy two Blackout rods (on sale for $55 at TW) and have them cut down. The specs on them are:

• 7'6", extra fast tip, 12-25 pound line, 3/8-1.25 ounce lure
• 7', fast tip, 10-17 pound line, 1/4-5/8 ounce lure

Those are both a bit longer than I was hoping for in the rods (would need 3" taken off of both to be completely satisfied with the rod). So, I will talk to my rod builder and see if he's down to take the grips off of those rods, cut the blank down, and put new grips on. If that's the case, I can have three rods (will also purchase a spinning rod from them) for about $180. 

[RichF]

10 minutes ago, biggiesmalls said:

What I might do for a rod (I love the suggestions you posted J, but I have to unfortunately keep the rods on an even lower budget than those) is buy two Blackout rods (on sale for $55 at TW) and have them cut down. The specs on them are:

• 7'6", extra fast tip, 12-25 pound line, 3/8-1.25 ounce lure
• 7', fast tip, 10-17 pound line, 1/4-5/8 ounce lure

Those are both a bit longer than I was hoping for in the rods (would need 3" taken off of both to be completely satisfied with the rod). So, I will talk to my rod builder and see if he's down to take the grips off of those rods, cut the blank down, and put new grips on. If that's the case, I can have three rods (will also purchase a spinning rod from them) for about $180. 

 

Don't do it! Cutting down the rods is going to destroy their action!  The 7'6 will be a broom handle and the 7' will be more like a medium heavy.  TW has a 6'10 medium glass Powell diesel that would suit your needs and is like $5 more than the Blackout.

[the reel ess]

Just my $0.02, but here's what I use:

 

Spinning: 7' M M-F rod, 20 lb braid (I use braid on all bass spinning). I don't usually use a leader, but I'm experimenting with a short one right now. This combo is for light treble lures like a Rapala minnow.

 

Baitcasting: 6'6" M MF rod with 15 lb Berkley Big Game. This combo's for heavier treble baits, topwaters and lipless cranks. If I fished deep cranks a lot, I'd probably opt for a crankbait specific rod for them.

 

These are both Lightning Rods. I know their are people on this board who consider these as useless as Ugly Stiks for bass fishing, but their action is just right for trebles, they're light and they just keep getting the job done. When using a reaction bait with trebles, the lack of sensitivity can be a plus. I'll replace the BC rod at some point, but not for a while.

[J Francho]

I think you'd find what you want in a house brand rod that is decent quality, like BPS Bionic Blade. There's a lot of bang for your buck there.  Unless you have a very specific reason, you shouldn't cut a rod down.  I know some custom builders that will cut a blank down, or even add to the blank, but it's always just a couple inches, and always at the butt section, never the tip.

[biggiesmalls]

Okay, I guess I won't be cutting down any rods. Anyone have anything to say about the Lew's Laser SG Speed Sticks? They are IM6, and while they only have five reviews of them on Tackle Warehouse - they all say that they are great rods for the price. Not bad looking at all either. If I dropped the $150 on them, I'd probably buy:

• 6'10" medium heavy casting rod (1/4-3/4 ounces, 10-20 pounds)
• 7'3" medium heavy casting rod (1/4-5/8 ounces, 12-25 pounds) 
• 7' medium spinning rod (1/8-1/2 ounces, 6-12 pounds)

 

[Clackincrank53]

On April 5, 2017 at 8:57 AM, biggiesmalls said:

Thanks for the reply. Wouldn't you want a slower retrieve reel, closer to a 5.4:1 or something for cranks, and closer to a 6.4:1 for spooks? I was thinking something right in the middle (leaning more towards 5.4:1 since I fish cranks a bit more than spooks) would be best for this. 

 

Now I am looking for a good 6'8" or 6'8" medium mod-fast rod to do the job. I don't think there are any good factory-made models that are around $100 or less. I might buy a MHX blank and have my buddy do some work on it (he's building me a shark rod as I type this). 

Not sure how much deep cranking you do but for shallow to med cranks as well as lipless baits you should consider a Skeet Reese spinnerbait/worm rod (7 med fast) don't let the fast action designation as its moderate more than fast.. Or the bucoo micro cranker (7 med mod) I can't guarantee it but I promise ? you would be impressed by either rod for the baits mentioned above and can get either rod for under 100 bucks. As for reels the only time I would want a specific gear ratio would be for throwing deep  cranks or pitching/flipping, slow for deep cranks and fast for pitching/flipping, everything else I have no problem reeling faster or slower to make my presentations...