blakebrown71 Posted June 23, 2017 Posted June 23, 2017 Hey guys, I've done a ton of research and have a fairly decent idea of what types of setups are used for what situations, but there's also a lot of conflicting information, especially regarding line choice. I'm sure people will have different opinions on here too, but I wanted to get some ideas. Below are the bass setups I currently have. I'd like to know what everyone's recommendations are for each setup in regards to line and lures/presentations to use each for. 1. Ugly Stik Elite Spinning - 7' Medium Fast Abu Garcia Orra 2s (5.8:1) 33"/turn retrieve rate 2. Cabela's Pro Guide Casting - 6'6" Medium Heavy Fast Abu Garcia Black Max (6.4:1) 26"/turn retrieve rate 3. Abu Garcia Veritas 2.0 Casting - 7'6" Medium Heavy Fast Abu Garcia Revo SX (7.1:1) 29"/turn retrieve rate My current lures consist of plastic worms, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, buzzbaits, and frogs. I'm planning on buying a decent arsenal of jigs and carolina rigs in the next week or so. In the 1 year I've been bass fishing, I've caught 90% of my fish on Senkos, very few on spinners, and none on crankbaits or topwater. While I love Senko fishing, it's not efficient for locating fish, so more often then not I have outings with 0-2 bites. I've spent hours and hours reading articles and watching YouTube videos and I believe I understand proper retrieves for most of my lures, but I'm certain I'm probably not using them in the best situations or using them to their full potential (Ex: using correct depth crankbaits or using line that allows them to get to desired depth). The point of this post is to ensure I'm using the proper equipment for the correct lures before I continue to try and improve on technique. Wisconsin lakes and ponds I fish tend to have a good combination of open water and areas of weeds, along with cover along shorelines (laydowns, rockpiles, etc). I currently use Power Pro braid on the first two (haven't received 3rd setup yet - next week). I used to use fluoro leaders but once I had to cut my line I got lazy and haven't tied any back on since. I really want opinions on straight fluoro vs straight braid vs braid to fluoro, what lb test, and which lures each setup would be best suited for. Thanks for all the help! Quote
Scarborough817 Posted June 23, 2017 Posted June 23, 2017 28 minutes ago, blakebrown71 said: 1. Ugly Stik Elite Spinning - 7' Medium Fast Abu Garcia Orra 2s (5.8:1) 33"/turn retrieve rate weightless plastics lighter crankbaits 2. Cabela's Pro Guide Casting - 6'6" Medium Heavy Fast Abu Garcia Black Max (6.4:1) 26"/turn retrieve rate spinner baits buzzbaits t-tig lighter jigs chatterbait 3. Abu Garcia Veritas 2.0 Casting - 7'6" Medium Heavy Fast Abu Garcia Revo SX (7.1:1) 29"/turn retrieve rate crankbaits frogs jigs okay i would fish the following on each of these rods as for the new setup i would be spooling 50lb braid with a flurocarbon leader for crankbaits or jigs. now it's not ideal to fish crankbaits on a 7:1 ratio reel but it's possible you just have to slow yourself down. what crnakbaits are you fishing? how deep are they rated for? 1 Quote
blakebrown71 Posted June 23, 2017 Author Posted June 23, 2017 38 minutes ago, Scarborough817 said: okay i would fish the following on each of these rods as for the new setup i would be spooling 50lb braid with a flurocarbon leader for crankbaits or jigs. now it's not ideal to fish crankbaits on a 7:1 ratio reel but it's possible you just have to slow yourself down. what crnakbaits are you fishing? how deep are they rated for? Thanks for the input! To be honest, since I haven't ever had much luck I don't use them enough to know most off the top of my head. Only ones I typically throw anymore are Squarebill 1.5s and Lipless. I believe I have a decent variety for the rest that I don't use, ranging from 8-20ft between the different lures. Any suggestions for line for the first 2 setups? Quote
Scarborough817 Posted June 23, 2017 Posted June 23, 2017 36 minutes ago, blakebrown71 said: Thanks for the input! To be honest, since I haven't ever had much luck I don't use them enough to know most off the top of my head. Only ones I typically throw anymore are Squarebill 1.5s and Lipless. I believe I have a decent variety for the rest that I don't use, ranging from 8-20ft between the different lures. Any suggestions for line for the first 2 setups? i would say the braid you have one the 6'6" is fine what size braid id on the spinning rod? Quote
blakebrown71 Posted June 23, 2017 Author Posted June 23, 2017 10 minutes ago, Scarborough817 said: i would say the braid you have one the 6'6" is fine what size braid id on the spinning rod? 15 lb Power Pro on the spinning rod 1 Quote
blakebrown71 Posted June 26, 2017 Author Posted June 26, 2017 Is there any reason to have a straight fluoro setup instead of braid to fluoro? Multiple tackle shops and people online have recommended braid to fluoro because of the how smooth braid casts, but most pros have straight fluoro. For my setups above I was thinking: 1. Ugly Stik Elite Spinning - 7' Medium Fast Abu Garcia Orra 2s (5.8:1) 33"/turn retrieve rate 15 lb braid to 8 lb fluoro 2. Cabela's Pro Guide Casting - 6'6" Medium Heavy Fast Abu Garcia Black Max (6.4:1) 26"/turn retrieve rate 15 lb fluoro 3. Abu Garcia Veritas 2.0 Casting - 7'6" Medium Heavy Fast Abu Garcia Revo SX (7.1:1) 29"/turn retrieve rate 50 lb braid (with 8 lb fluoro when not fishing topwater) Quote
PAbasser927 Posted June 26, 2017 Posted June 26, 2017 Straight fluoro shines in slack line sensitivity. Braid has many great characteristics but this it's biggest downfall IMO. 2 Quote
Super User Boomstick Posted June 28, 2017 Super User Posted June 28, 2017 I generally agree with Scarborough817 but I would not throw that Pro Guide into any weeds or rocks or anything that might get the slightest snag. I had got one for my oldest son and with the drag set to 2.5lbs on 12lb line, the rod just shattered. I pulled the lure out of the rock it got snagged on with my hand rather easily. So if there's weeds around, I might use the Veritas in place of the Pro Guide even for spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, etc. 1 Quote
blakebrown71 Posted June 28, 2017 Author Posted June 28, 2017 Thanks for the advice! Fortunately the rod's held up to the tests I've put it through the past year (trees, logs, you name it lol). I've been careful every time when trying to unsnag to not put too much bend in the rod, I usually point the rod straight at the snag and pull straight back, usually snaps the line. Anyways, I'll definitely keep that advice in mind when I'm around heavy cover! Also in response to my last post, I'm actually rethinking straight fluoro and considering straight mono on the Black Max/Pro Guide to use for crankbaits. All of my rods are fast action, so it sounds like mono is the better options with it's stretch. Any opinions on that? 1 Quote
Super User Boomstick Posted June 28, 2017 Super User Posted June 28, 2017 3 hours ago, blakebrown71 said: Thanks for the advice! Fortunately the rod's held up to the tests I've put it through the past year (trees, logs, you name it lol). I've been careful every time when trying to unsnag to not put too much bend in the rod, I usually point the rod straight at the snag and pull straight back, usually snaps the line. Anyways, I'll definitely keep that advice in mind when I'm around heavy cover! Also in response to my last post, I'm actually rethinking straight fluoro and considering straight mono on the Black Max/Pro Guide to use for crankbaits. All of my rods are fast action, so it sounds like mono is the better options with it's stretch. Any opinions on that? I actually had the rod pointed smack at it too. The rod looks like it broke at the joint, but the second half completely shattered. I gather a lot of people have similar issues too. The rod definitely has a great feel to it as well. I could very easily fish mono on a MH fast action combo. I ended up putting 30# braid on mine for fishing with a frog in a bed of lilly pads, but I ran mono before that. Fluro is good because it sinks but has its shortcomings as well. 1 Quote
blakebrown71 Posted June 29, 2017 Author Posted June 29, 2017 16 hours ago, Boomstick said: I actually had the rod pointed smack at it too. The rod looks like it broke at the joint, but the second half completely shattered. I gather a lot of people have similar issues too. The rod definitely has a great feel to it as well. I could very easily fish mono on a MH fast action combo. I ended up putting 30# braid on mine for fishing with a frog in a bed of lilly pads, but I ran mono before that. Fluro is good because it sinks but has its shortcomings as well. Oh wow, well I'm definitely going to be as easy on that rod as possible now haha. Thanks for all your help & advice! 1 Quote
Super User Boomstick Posted June 29, 2017 Super User Posted June 29, 2017 16 minutes ago, blakebrown71 said: Oh wow, well I'm definitely going to be as easy on that rod as possible now haha. Thanks for all your help & advice! Yeah, I replaced it with an ugly stik. But we both liked the Pro Guide better. One of these days I will take it back to Cabela's and use it on open water but considering it's a 120+ mile drive one way, I have to give up a day of fishing to get out there so the gx2 will have to do for now. The good thing is that you have a larger rod you can load up with braid that can fish most of the same lures if you're fishing heavier cover areas too. You should be fin as long as you're aware of what you're fishing in Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.