What's your Setup Baseline?

[SoFloSully]

Out of curiosity, I am attempting to slowly become a more versatile bass fisherman. I understand there is preference to everyones setup, but if you had to put a baseline to each technique you guys use what would you say? What rod power, action, and length for each particular technique you guys use? What reel would you pair that rod with gear ratio, casting, or spinning? Then what line would you prefer to use on each setup? The majority of my time bass fishing I have stuck to soft plastics (mainly flukes), crank baits, jerk baits, and frogs. But I do want to expand this for sure as I gain more knowledge.  For those of you who don't use as many setups what techniques do you combine with each setup? Curious to see what everyones preferences are. Thank you!

[Junger]

I had the same curiosity in June, which is when I really committed myself to getting back into fishing after a couple decades of other hobbies.

 

What helped me was finding this article: https://www.bassresource.com/beginner/bass_fishing_rods.html and then getting into these forums and reading a bunch of them.  I actually went through the whole sticky post on rod selection and found for some applications, my preference was a little different than what others preferred, but got great ideas for some other techniques.

 

From June of 2017, I went from one 7'1 MH/F spinning rod to now have seven rods for multiple applications.

- 7'1" MH/F Spinning Rod - Jigs/T-rigs

- 7'3" MagH/XF - Frogging (my favorite way to fish)

- 6'10" MH/F - Bladed Jigs, spinnerbaits, plastic swimbaits, I would say this is my all around rod.

- 6'9" ML/Moderate - Poppers/Jerkbaits (my preference for poppers is a softer tip than most probably)

- 6'6" ML/MF Spinning Rod - Light tackle panfish rod, inline spinners

- 7' ML/F Spinning Rod - Ned/Drop shotting

- 7'6" H/XF - Flipping/pitching

I don't profess to be a master at all of these applications, but my goal is to gain more confidence with them and maybe even changing gear as I go along...yeah that's how I rationalize the bait monkey tapping my shoulder!

 

 

[Scott F]

Contrary to what all the "pros" do, I don't over think my set ups. I just grab a rod or two and go fish. I find it much easier to use a few rods at a time that than having the deck of my boat covered with a different rod for each bait.

[Sam]

Rods - 7-foot Medium Heavy

Reels - 6:1

Line - Baitcaster 12 pound fluoro; Spinning 8 pound braid

 

Basic set ups.

 

Will change for specific conditions or if throwing a Carolina rig, etc.

[Mike L]

Everyone has different preferences, strengths and weakness. We all tend to taylor make our equipment around those parameters in one way or another. 

I tournament fish as a co angler so my combos have to be versital but still dialed in for most all presentations around the waters I fish most often. 

Those waters are natural lakes which for the most part are stained and shallow with vegitation of all types. 

 

With that said I have more heavy and med heavy power rods with either XF or F actions with none longer than 7'3" or shorter than 7". 

 

My reels are all mid priced with varing high speeds, 2 are spooled with heavy braid (65 & 50 while the rest with quality Flouro from 14-20#. 

 

I don't use spinning rods or mono line for anything.  

 

i just didnt come to this by mistake or guessing. It took years and a lot of time on the water to dial in what works for me. 

 

My advise is to do the same. In time you'll know what works best and hopefully be better for it. 

 

Good Luck

 

 

 

Mike

[Angry John]

Your mode of fishing will have as much as anything to do with your setup choices.  Have a big boat with lots of room, or are you shore bound with lots of trees in the way.  Guy one will use long rods and cover tons of water and guy two will try and make exacting casts to hard to hit targets.  Yet a third guy is fishing from a yak which is what i do and tend to lean tward rods right about 7 feet for a good ballance.  I tend to like faster rods because i fish a lot of copoly, and a good hookset is needed as soon as you start cranking the yak is moving.  The platform you fish from will be a large factor on the setups you choose, and what works best.  Frog fishing from a yak is a blast but i would not say its easy by any means.  Try hitting a big bass with a 7'3" to 8 foot heavy rod in a yak and see what that does to your stability and movement.  There are no one right or wrong way to do anything in fishing and two people standing right next to each other will like a diffrent setup for the same exact presentation.  

[Dtrombly]

3 casting 1 spinning at the moment. 

 

7'3" MH/F 8.1:1 reel. #15 copolymer 

My jig and Texas rig outfit. 

 

7' MH/MF 6.8:1 reel. #15 copolymer 

Mainly spinnerbaits and chatterbaits. This doubles as a do-it-all rod when I'm wading a stream or only feel like carrying one rod along with me, it's far and away my most versatile setup. 

 

7' H/F 7.1:1 reel. #65 braid 

My heavy cover rod. Frogs, heavy jigs and Texas rigs and punching. 

 

7' M/F spinning. 2500 reel. #15 braid to an #8-10 fluoro or mono leader depending on situation. Wacky rigs, ned rigs and poppers mostly. 

 

That's it ATM, in the process of adding a jerkbait/topwater rod which will be a medium/fast casting and a cranking rod which will be a medium/moderate casting. 

[Catt]

One worm rod

One jig rod

One spinnerbait/trap rod

One frog rod

One punch rod

 

Good to go ?

[OnthePotomac]

When I  retired 17 years ago and decided to get into bass fishing on the mighty tidal Potomac, I studied everything I could find on fishing the Potomac and resolved to keep it as simple as possible since I am only a day a week pleasure angler, so I put the money into nice reels and decent, but not expensive rods (14) ($100 limit and thank you Lord for the sales)and have ended up with a mix of 7' Med and MH and 6'6 Med and MH and use them for everything from soup to nuts.  In other words, I fish a lot without "technique specific" rods and it works.  My initial three spinning rigs still in the rack are rarely used except by my daughter and grandson.   My rod variety goes to accommodate the bait variety.

[thinkingredneck]

In my yak I carry 2 to 3 rods.  One MH 7 for spinnerbaits and jigs 6.3:1reel with braid 65# +/- leader. One M 6 6 for worms 6.1:1 reel with 14 # fluro (my most used), and one spinner with 8 # braid + leader, for treble hook stuff and finesse.  Sometimes I change out for a 7 ft H with 65 " braid for toads.  My worm rod is a St Croix and the rest are BPS.  One spinner is a fenwick and the other an Ugly stick.  I mostly fish worms, jigs or spinners.  on top, I prefer a fly rod.  St Croix there, too.

[BrackishBassin]

I’m a bank beater, so I stick with just 3. I’ve got a MH Fast casting with 50lb braid on it. Use it for frogs, worms, jigs, some topwaters. But I consider it the ‘sitting still’ setup. Next is the M Fast casting with 12lb mono. Use it for cranks, jerkbaits, bladed jigs, etc. It’s the ‘moving’ setup. Last is a ML spinning with 15lb braid and various leader strengths based on what I’m doing but almost always between 6 and 12lb test. Use it for some weightless plastics, smaller cranks and jerkbaits, drop shots, etc. It’s the finesse or too fricken’ windy setup. 

[LCG]

My primary set up as a bank angler is two rods and a backpack with all my gear. Trees and brush are factors for me, so I generally choose shorter rods for accuracy and control. 

 

6'8" m-xf spinning rod with a 30 size reel (6:1 gear ratio). 10lb braid for finnese, soft plastics, and lures below 1/2 oz. Good for open water or light cover. 

 

6'6" mh-f casting rod with a 7:1 gear ratio reel. 50lb braid for pitching jigs, frogs, and anything above 1/2 oz. Good for laydowns, light to moderate cover, and lilly pads. 

 

I don't throw crank baits and very few lures with multiple trebles. I do use in line spinners a lot as a search bait and all I do is adjust the drag accordingly. I fish for other species of freshwater fish other than bass, but bass fishing is my focus. 

 

I also have two rods for travelling, vacation, etc that are two piece rods. 6'9" ml-f spinning and a 6'10" mh-xf casting. 

[Dens228]

I kayak fish and bring four rods, three are 7 foot, MH/Fast, real gear ratio is 5.something:1.

The other rod is 7'3" Heavy/Fast with a 7.4:1 gear ratio for topwater frogs, Whopper Plopper, and my bigger swim baits.

 

I may switch out on of the first three for a crankbait rod.

[Spankey]

I think there are a lot of variables. Bass species you're after, size of your bass and part of the country. I enjoyed your post and the all the opinions. You have gotten a lot of good info. I just happen to fish much lighter than you guys. I do have a lot of set ups but you don't need all that many to achieve what you are trying to do. As Scott posted above, I also don't like too many rods all over my deck. But the three that I have out at a time will be rigged for 3 different techniques.   

[scaleface]

I usually carry four casting combos and a spinning outfit . They have to be versatile enough to cover all my bases .

 

The baitcasters are 

 

: An old 6'8" MH for texas rigs and jigs . This rod has a short handle making it equivalent to a 6'10" rod . A high speed baitcaster is on it . Spooled  17 lb Berkeky XL clear blue Fluorescent .

:  6'6" med action rod for a host of lures, often a squarebill is tied on. Spooled with 12 lb Big Game

: 7' med rod for mainly for crankbaits  and buzzbaits . Spooled with 12 lb Big Game

: 7" MH with a slow speed baitcaster  for larger deep diving crankbaits and other lures . Spooled with 12 lb Big Game

 

:  Dropshot spinning rod for all finesse fishing . Spooled with  8 to 10 lb Trilene XL . I have never Drop shotted with it LOL .

 

[ww2farmer]

When I am forced to pair down my setups.........like when I hop on someone else's boat as a non-boater, etc..I can do it with three combos:

 

7'3" H/MF casting. 7:1 reel, spooled with 50lb braid. This covers all my flipping/pitching/frogging, and other heavier cover needs.

 

7' MH/F casting. 6:1 reel, spooled with 30lb braid. This is a "do-all" casting set up. It can do everything the H pwer rod can do in light to moderate cover, with any baits weight less than 1 oz. Plus I can toss deep/medium/shallow and lipless cranks with it. Not the "ideal" treble hook bait rod, but works well enough that it's never been an issue.

 

And a 6'8" M/XF spinning rod. 2500 sized reel, spooled with 10lb braid. For all finesse work like drop shotting, flick shaking, shakey heads, etc....

 

I carry spools of leader material in my "go" bag, and can adjust to the lb test needed for the conditions faced on the fly.

 

Heck, sometime on my own boat...I will only have these three rods when I am feeling like I need to go simple. But often times I have more....many more LOL

[BigAngus752]

I am not an experienced bass fisherman, but of all the things I've learned over the past year of really applying myself to become a good bass fisherman is that the line I'm using is more important than the rod.  I haven't yet amassed a big collection of rods so I make sure I have all my reels spooled differently.  Once I decide what lure I'm going to throw then I choose my reel first (spinning or casting), then I choose my line, and then I will give consideration to the rod.  A $500 rod won't do anything for you if you are using the wrong line.  IMHO

[LOTR88]

I have 5 setups but mostly use only 2 of them. The lake I live on I mostly do top water in the morning and Texas rig in the evening. I fish from a pontoon boat with limited space so my biggest rod is 7'. I use a 6'8' MH/F casting 7:1 with 12lb Floro for my Texas rigs. A 7' MH/F casting 7.1:1 for my top water with 30lb braid as my main two setups, I also have a 6'10' M/F casting 6.8:1 that I use for crank baits with 30lb braid and a 6'6" M/F 2500 spinning that my wife and kids use and I sometimes use it if it is very windy on the lake. I recently picked up another 7 MH/F casting rod that was on sale at Dicks paired with a Lews LFS Speed Spool 7.5:1 reel that I am not sure what I am going to do with yet.:-)

[CroakHunter]

I have 11 casting combos I use in a regular basis. Ranging from an 8' heavy power To a 6'6 medium light. 3 of my rods are exactly the same including the line and reel. I'm a technique specific guy. I could condense my arsenal down to 4 and be ok. But I don't like cutting off and re tying. Because what didn't work in one particular spot may be the hot bait 300 yards away

Like stated above. Your most versatile is going to be a 6-7 ft medium heavy with a reel that has a 6-7 gear ratio. 

[Boomstick]

What I'm using currently...

 

7'2" MH/R glass cranking rod - crankbaits and sometimes spinnerbaits or chatterbaits. Will use 14# or 17# mono or FC.

6'6" M/F spinning rod -finesse techniques. 8lb mono or FC

7' M/F spinning rod - used to use this for crankbaits before I got the cranking rod, occasionally soft plastics. Doesn't really add too much my setup anymore since I got the cranking rod.

6'10" MH/F - everything else, 40# braid.

 

While not 100% ideal, these really three rods do offer me a wide variety of what I can throw on them. What should I add next? A proper ML/F rod for dropshotting? A heavy rod for frogs, heavy jigs and larger swimbaits?

 

[Yudo1]

I fish 75% in a yak, 20% from shore and 5% in the back of my buddy's boat. From a yak I take 3 combos which vary depending on body of water I'm fishing. I fish rivers for smallies and lakes which have weeds and pads for largies. All of my combos are versatile enough to pull double duty.

River smallies (choose 3)

1. 7'1" medium /fast rod, 7.2 gear reel, 10lb sniper

2. 7' ml/f rod, 6.8 gear reel, 8lb copoly

3. 6'8" m/mf rod, 7.1 gear reel, 10lb copoly

4. 7' ml/xf spinning, spinning reel, 10lb braid

Lake largemouth (choose 3)

1. 7'2" x-heavy/fast rod, 7.3 gear reel, 50lb braid

2. 7'3" x- heavy/fast rod, 8.0 gear reel, 40lb braid

3. 7'3" h/f rod, 8.1 reel, 30lb braid

4. 7'4" mh/xf rod, 8.1 reel, 12lb sniper

5. 7'2" mh/mf rod, 7.1 reel, 30lb braid