choosing my rig

[cheezyridr]

i have lived outside of the usa for over a decade, and haven't been able to do any bass fishing. because of this, i haven't kept up on all the latest trends with tackle, etc. now i'm back and i want to get into it again. 

back when i lived here before, my budget was tighter than it is now.  my rig was a garcia 4600c on a 5' pistol grip ugly stick with 12 lb trilene.  i was fishing 3/8 spinnerbaits, carolina rigs with small slip sinkers, and a few shallow runners and  top water baits. it seemed at that time, the rig served me pretty well. i learned to cast with very good accuracy to about 60' or so. i always fished from the banks of farm ponds or small rivers like the brandywine in delaware.

 

today i went into cabela's and walmart, looking for a rig. everything seems changed!  can someone recommend a few decent rods/reals/lines, etc? what features i should be looking for, and what pitfalls i should avoid if possible? i would appreciate any advice you folks might offer me. thanks in advance.

[XpressJeff]

Welcome, glad to see you back in CONUS. I too took a number of years off fishing for different reasons so I understand your dilemma.

 

I loved the reference to the pistol grip rod too. My granddaughter just closed my rod locker door on my last one the other day. I was not happy!

 

You will find huge disparities of opinions on gear. And fishing gear has improved considerably. Since you know the basics of what you want I would suggest you pick up a combination (lews, Abu Garcia or something similar that feels good) and get some line wet. I prefer braided line but you will be recommended many combinations of line, leaders and so forth. It's a Chevy/Ford/Mopar thing, imports too! You will get no shortage of opinions anyway!

 

Have fun, be safe and we're glad you're here!

[scaleface]

I'm an old pistol gripper and Abu 4600 c user too . Those reels were the only ones I used for a couple of decades . I could still use them today and be very comfortable .The longer rods are a huge advantage over the short pistol grips .   The handles are a little long for my liking  on some of them . They get in the way . So I have to hold them out farther which makes my back start to ache after a few hours . I've been contemplating taking a hacksaw blade to some of them .

[Angry John]

Order from tackle warehouse and save a good load of money.  They also have a program to try out reels.  If your big on round reels I would say check out the luna 103.  Fits all the good spools so you can change the casting a lot as your needs change.  For a first rod in a long time I would recommend the fenwick hmg.  Great rod not a killer on the bill fold.  Modern copoly lines are wonderful.  A spool of yhb or p-line cx will treat you right.

[deep]

I honestly don't know how you old-timers casted with one hand with those short pistol grip rods.

 

@cheezyridr what are you looking to spend on the rod + reel? Spinning or casting?

[cheezyridr]

6 hours ago, deep said:

I honestly don't know how you old-timers casted with one hand with those short pistol grip rods.

 

@cheezyridr what are you looking to spend on the rod + reel? Spinning or casting?

 

well,  i would like to get something dependable and user friendly.  i would not object to spending $300 or a little more, until i begin to get a feel for what is available, and what will serve me best.  i like baitcasting reels because i learned to be very accurate with them before.  the rod will probably ride around in the back of my car when not actiually being used. you gotta be prepared, in case you find a spot you havent tried before, right?

 99% of the water i'll be fishing is shallow, and i rarely throw any real weight. my go to lure is a 3/8 oz spinner bait with the biggest willow blades i can find. i also used to throw a carolina rig worm or crawdad with a small 1/4 oz slip sinker. i almost never needed more weight than that. sometimes a small rapala or a stick bait. i think the heaviest lure i had before was a spence scout.

 

 you guys probably already know this trick but i'll put it out there just in case...

i liked to go to clearance sales at walmart, to buy saltwater floating lures similar to rapalas. big ones, like 7 or 8 inches long. replace the treble hooks with smaller ones, and break off the bill with pliers so they wont dive.  when done you might have $2 invested, but aggressive fish  slammed the daylights out of them.  you can throw them into the worst snaggy areas and not worry about losing a $20 lure.  

[islandbass]

Did you need to go with a two-piece casting rod so it fits in the trunk? That is a narrow field but you should be able to find such a rod.  Shimano used to make and still might have a 2-piece casting rod in the their lower to middle lines (Compre and Convergence lines - both lines are very good and excellent value for rod with good components) and Cabela's rods too.  I have a 2-piece Cabelas mag touch (they don't make it anymore) and it is a fantastic rod for it's price. Since you're willing to spend up to $300, I'd spend up to $120 on the rod and the remainder for the casting reel.  Since you're going to be throwing spinnerbaits, I think a MH at a length as long as you can get away with is what I'd choose. Round reels are awesome, but perhaps you'd consider trying an Low profile casting reel this time around.

[XpressJeff]

Old Timers eh...

 

 

I resemble that!

[cheezyridr]

i'd like to avoid a 2 piece rod, if i can. i might have no choice.   the low- profile reels are cool looking, i wouldn't mind at all trying one out.  is the advantage solely an ergonomic one, or is there some other design aspect that separates them from round reels?

i think i will take your advice on the rod/reel price ratio.  

looks like i'm buying a car this week, so the rod will come after that.  thanks all for the info and  good advice so far!

[cheezyridr]

just an update:

 

right after i posted here last, the company i work for went on super serious o/t  and stayed on it for 8 months.   working 60+ hrs/wk left me no time to do ANYTHING other than work and rest.  i just picked up a combo from cabela's. it is a 

lew's mach 2 slp combo.  of course it's raining like the devil this weekend, so i haven't had a chance to use it yet. looking forward to having a little free time this summer so i can do some bass fishing and maybe even ride my new motorcycle. thanks for all the great advice i got from everyone here.

[The Bassman]

All work and no play will make you old and grouchy before your time.  Let's try not to let this happen again.  Welcome back and let us know how that combo works out.  I fished pistol grip rods years ago but if I cast one now it feels like I'm going to throw it in the lake.

[new2BC4bass]

5 hours ago, cheezyridr said:

just an update:

 

right after i posted here last, the company i work for went on super serious o/t  and stayed on it for 8 months.   working 60+ hrs/wk left me no time to do ANYTHING other than work and rest.  i just picked up a combo from cabela's. it is a 

lew's mach 2 slp combo.  of course it's raining like the devil this weekend, so i haven't had a chance to use it yet. looking forward to having a little free time this summer so i can do some bass fishing and maybe even ride my new motorcycle. thanks for all the great advice i got from everyone here.

I understand that. I work a second job that sometimes comes to 16 hours a week if the shop needs me.  Sometimes half that.  Plus I spend over 10.5 hours a week traveling if I only work my regular job...and if there are no accidents....slightly over 51 miles each way.  Obviously more when working the part-time job.  I may not work weekends, but at 70 years old (and out of shape) I am too wiped out by the weekend to fish much.

 

Welcome back to the world of people that have a life.  Hopefully you will not only get to enjoy some time fishing, but riding your new motorcycle. 

 

I don't have any Lew's rods, but do have a few of their reels.  From what I've been able to find, that combo should treat you well.  Best of luck to you.  Rained all weekend here, too.

[Lead Head]

Start off with plenty of tension on your spool and cast lightly at first. You don't want to bully that reel like you could the older ones. My brother-in-law recently made a similar upgrade and I get a kick out of the creative swearing coming out of the back of the boat every 20 minutes or so. He can cast fine but eventually he forgets or gets in a hurry and tries to cast with way more force than is necessary... then the swearing starts.

[cheezyridr]

On 5/13/2018 at 8:43 PM, new2BC4bass said:

.slightly over 51 miles each way. 

 i am on a new site now, it's only 3 miles away, but for the last 6 months it was 70 miles one way.  i'm not a big fan of driving that much.  i don't see in the dark as well as i used to. it seemed like once a week was a long drive in bad weather, and that's not what i'd call a joyride either. hahahaha

15 hours ago, Lead Head said:

Start off with plenty of tension on your spool and cast lightly at first. You don't want to bully that reel like you could the older ones. My brother-in-law recently made a similar upgrade and I get a kick out of the creative swearing coming out of the back of the boat every 20 minutes or so.

yeah, the ambassaduer reels i used to use, i controlled the spool with my thumb.  i expected i'd still have to do that,  but i'll still try to avoid the "creative swearing". hahahaha  btw, your sig line is awesome. bruce is one of my favorites.

[Lead Head]

Thanks! It's rare, but always cool when someone catches it. 

[new2BC4bass]

10 hours ago, cheezyridr said:

 i am on a new site now, it's only 3 miles away, but for the last 6 months it was 70 miles one way.  i'm not a big fan of driving that much.  i don't see in the dark as well as i used to. it seemed like once a week was a long drive in bad weather, and that's not what i'd call a joyride either. hahahaha

 

Used to be 44+ miles.  Been doing it for 32+ years.  Accidents kill me.  Hard to run around them.

 

Back to fishing.  Hope not to work 2nd job today.  Getting up to 87 degrees.  Brought two rods with me in hopes of stopping somewhere after work.

 

I use a lot of 12# mono/co-polymer lines on my MH rods.  I like AN40, Siege and Mean Green.  You might want to look at the original Tatula 7'2" MHR for an all around rod.  $150 rod that can be found for $110.  I paid less than $100 for mine.  The Dobyns Fury gets a lot of love in the $110 price range.  Now if you are willing to spend $200 or so, there are a ton of excellent rods.  I treated myself to an ALX Zolo Deputy for Christmas.  It is a 7'1" MHF...another excellent all around rod.  I prefer MH for most of my fishing.  Some prefer Mediums.  I did use a MF spinning rod with 30# braid this year to catch almost all of my bass while visiting relation in Florida.  A first.  I much prefer baitcast reels.

[d-camarena]

I have a lews mach2 combo, i have higher end combos but i really enjoy that setup. Its sensitive enough and seems to have a little magic, i always get bit on that rod

[cheezyridr]

so far, this combo seems to work fairly well.    i am still getting used to the reel.  to be honest, i dont understand what the magnetic  thing is supposed to do.  i still get backlash with it, even though i have it maxed out.  maybe it's just me, but i seem to remember having less trouble with the ambassador reels i used to use.  maybe over time i'll get more used to it. the combo is otherwise very comfortable,  seems to handle bass pretty well so far, and casts the lures i use well enough that i have no other complaints.

[Lead Head]

Try tightening the spool tension a bit and then using the magnetic brake to fine tune if your having too many backlashes. It's been my experience that the external magnetic brake control on Lews reels is pretty weak. When internal brakes aren't present (this is the case with the mach2) most of your control is thumb and spool tension. 

[cheezyridr]

yeah, i've kinda noticed that too.  when i do get backlashes, they happen in the beginning of the cast, not at the end.