New to the bass world

[carlosjr]

Hey guys,

 

I am fairly new to the bass fishing world. I am from oregon and we get REALLY great smallmouth fishing here, however, not so much of the bucketmouths many of you do on the eastern side of the US.

 

I am probably going to head to a grad school in texas or florida and don't really have a clue what rod I should buy. I found a Loomis 7' e6x MH 10-17lb mag bass rod the other day and that was pretty nice. Seemed like a good all purpose rod. But I am more so looking for something that I can kind of do most applications with, as well as maybe dabble with some inshore species like speckled trout.

 

Any rod recommendations under $200 would be appreciated

[Boomstick]

Do you know what you want to fish for lures? Buying rods for what you want to fish is usually a good idea.

 

That G Loomis rod you found should also be a good all around bass rod. I actually have a Daiwa Tatula 6'10" MH fast action rod on the way with a Tatula SV reel as well as a Mitchell pro combo for more finesse techniques and lighter lures. It might make sense to buy a slightly cheaper rod (the Tatula would do, also the St. Croix Mojo bass is well under $200 and I like them a lot too), and with the other $90 you could grab a spinning combo -- I went with the Mitchell pro combo because the reel is great no idea about the rod but it wasn't much more than the reel alone. Then you're on your way to a solid bass setup.

 

For trout, you will want a lighter rod and light line. My take on buying trout rods is that I spend my money on bass and catfish gear and grab a cheap spinning combo for trout and if a larger fish snags it and breaks it, no big deal I just buy another, since you typically spend less time casting and reeling when trout fishing. Alternatively, you could get a lighter spinning rod, say medium light that could do bass and trout, but you'd be compromising between a slightly heavier line for finesse fishing bass and a lighter line for trout.

 

EDIT: I received the Tatula and Mitchell pro combo (7' medium version with the 300pro reel) today. I obviously haven't got to use them, but they both are very light and have a very nice feel and I think they will serve me rather well.

[fishnkamp]

Take a look at a Dobyns Fury  FR 734C as a good all around rod for $110. Match it up with a Daiwa Tatula CT in a 6.3 or 7.3 to 1 ratio. The rod fishes very well, it is pretty darn versatile and the combo should run around $220. 

 

My suggestion for your second rod would be a 7 foot Medium spinning rod like a Dobyns Fury FR703 SF. The heavier or bulkier baits will fish well on the baitcaster and the lighter finesse baits will fish well on the spinning rod. Match the spinning rod with a reel like a Pflueger President 6935 and some 15 pound braid. That rod should work well for many fish species.  If you want to do more inshore fishing then the spinning rod may need to be upgraded to a Sierra series Sa 704 or a SA 705 SF.

[Further North]

Wait...there's a Bass World?  Where is it?  How do I get there?

 

Much more important:  Is there a Musky/Pike World?  I'd bribe public officials for access to that...

 

[carlosjr]

ok so I have a daiwa tatula already loaded with 12lb sufix siege. And I have it currently on a light 4-10lb casting rod that has a more moderate/fast action for lighter baits. I would imagine this could work for specks inshore...

 

As for other outfits, I do have some steelhead spinning rods, 8'6" (8-17) and 9' (6-10) that could be used inshore as well. As far as bass fishing here for smallmouth goes, I typically use crankbaits, tubes and lipless cranks, so I would imagine that is probably what I would use going after largemouth as well. However, I would like to try maybe some topwater fishing say with spooks or frogs. So I guess I may be looking for something that can do a little more power fishing with.

 

Only reason I bring up the loomis is because It had a really nice flex to it that I noticed many other bass rods don't have, such as some of the abu garcia rods I played with in the store. Many of them (to me) feel like broomsticks with an extra-fast tip. Whereas, in Oregon, we use fast action rods, but they have a progressively fast taper to them (similar to edge, NFC, Lamiglass, Loomis imx) which can load the rod nicely to the cork, not stop right after the tip in the top 1/3 of the rod. Would there be much of an application for a rod's action like the loomis, or is there a specific reason many bass rods are built so stout with limber tips? 

[fishnkamp]

 The light rod you have now, does it cast lighter baits like your tubes, smaller crankbaits and lipless cranks well enough? If so I would keep that combo together and use it for those baits as well as the paddletail swimbaits like a Fluke or Skinny Dipper.  Those baits will do a lot in the area you are moving to.

Now what you are looking for is not going to have the soft moderate bend the G Loomis rod had, not if what you want is to fish in tulles, Lily Pads, Hydrilla grass etc. You need a rod that can power fish. 

A Dobyns Fury series FR 734C or FR 735C is going to allow you to fish bigger more demanding baits. Again here comes a decision. The FR 734C is going to fish spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, topwaters, things like spooks and Pop Rs, Sammys and buzzbaits. It is a great rod to throw 1/4 to 5/8 ounce jigs plus a trailer.

The FR 735C rod is the next heavier action rod in the lineup. It is going to have a soft tip and transition into a much more powerful mid and bottom section. This is essential to cast a hollow bodied frog.  It needs the soft tip to load the rod with the bait then cast it a distance. It also needs that soft tip to properly work the bait. After that, you need to quickly transfer into a beefy powerful blank in order to haul that fish out of the slop you threw that frog into to begin with. This rod will also throw larger jigs and carolina rigs if you need to do that .

The Dobyns Fury line is Gary's entry level rods and run $110.  They fish like other brands rods costing twice that.  Those same rod models are available in the Sierra and Champion XP series. These are rods built using much better blanks and components and thus will be more sensitive and a bit lighter. Your wallet needs to make that choice. In my opinion the Loomis you held is not as nice a rod as a Fury and can not hold a candle to a  Sierra or a Champion. A Sierra costs around $180. A Champion XP runs around $260  My wife fishes frogs, topwater and some larger jigs on a Sierra 7 foot 5 power rod. I use a Champion XP 7 foot 5 power rod and they both do the same job very well.

In Florida I believe you will end up needing one of each of those rods to fish efficiently.

I hope you read the article I sent you. Please let me know what you thought of it.

[Boomstick]

16 hours ago, carlosjr said:

ok so I have a daiwa tatula already loaded with 12lb sufix siege. And I have it currently on a light 4-10lb casting rod that has a more moderate/fast action for lighter baits. I would imagine this could work for specks inshore...

 

 

It sounds like you could use the lighter casting rod with moderate/fast action for crankbaits as long as it can throw them acceptable.

 

While I have no experience with Dobyns rods, the Dobyns 734C looks like it should be an all around solid bass fishing rod with some backbone to it but if your primary focus is frogging, the 735C would be a better option.