Help On Baitcast Rod Purchase..and Reel for that matter

[TotalNoob]

Hello, thanks in advance for any insight or information you can provide. As my screen name implies, I am pretty much a noob to bass fishing it turns out. I had success fishing for stocked trout as a kid using chartreuse spinners, so when I picked up fishing again last year at age 35 I thought it was gonna be easy breezy. Didn't take long to realize I didn't know much at all. 

 

Okay so, here's where I stand (apologies if this is somewhat jumbled and long): I fish a reservoir that is primarily a Walleye brood lake for the state of Colorado. We have the 3 black bass species though not many of those are Largemouths. Smallmouths make up most of the bass population in my experience and per the gillnet sampling provided by the CPW. We also have Wiper. I fish from shore for now. 

 

I caught and released a 30"/10lb post-spawn walleye just after midnight on April 28th this year on a jerkbait (tried to post a pic, not sure if it'll show up). I ran into a few wipers this Spring as well on the jerkbait (spinning set up). Of course I ran into a few 17" smallys and some chunky 16" spotteds in the Spring, right now I am mostly texas rigging worms/soft plastics on a spinning set up for early morning bass fishing. I'm not finding topwater to catch anything other than the occasional small Smally. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

 

https://imgur.com/rOm8wwn

 

 

Bass fishing was my main reason for taking up fishing again. I realize now that Bass fishing in Colorado (and my reservoir in particular) is not the glamour of many a Youtube vid or televised Bass tourney. I grew up watching and loving B.A.S.S tourneys and Bill Dance and Roland Martin and the such, as a kid I fancied being a professional fisherman ha. 

 

Fast forward to today and this reservoir is what I have to fish. This is what I get. Having said ALL that (again, sorry for the length) I have been going in circles trying to determine the best one or two overall rod/reel set ups for fishing this res. I think I've already made some premature purchases without fully knowing what I was doing. I have spent the last several months really trying to understand rod Power and Action and their different applications. 

 

If you were fishing my reservoir and could carry exactly one rod/reel combo ($250.00 max likely), what would it be? 

 

If you were fishing my reservoir and could carry exactly two rod/reel combos (~$400 max), what would they be? 

 

I caught the 30" eye and the 3 wipers on a 6'10" Wright & Mcgill Skeet Reese rod - it's ugly bright yellow and annoyingly has the hook keeper down below the reel seat (why do they do that?). It's rated M Fast, 1/8 - 3/4 lure, 6-10lb line. I got it on sale at Dick's earlier this year ($50). I spooled 20lb braid onto a Pfleuger PRESSP30 reel using a 10lb flouro leader joined with an FG knot. That was my Spring jerkbait set up. Since then I've really just been throwing texas rigged soft plastics on a 7' BPS "pro qualifier" M Fast 1/8 - 1/2oz, 4-12lb line. I never threw spinnerbaits though I feel like I should have. 

 

I feel like there are a couple reasons I need a baitcaster set up: 1) I think I can get more distance in my casts throwing jerkbaits as I found these to be very effective this past Spring and want to take that success to the next level. I feel like the more water I can cover the higher probability (obviously) of a big wiper spotting and smashing it which leads to reason 2) I feel like I want the back bone to fight a big wiper when I'm lucky enough to eventually cross paths with one. I know several 10-15lb wipers were caught this Spring as our wiper population has been gradually rebounding. 

 

I just reread what I've wrote so far and it's a ton so I'll end this now. I will provide more information as necessary per the responses. Again, thank you in advance and I look forward to any feedback. 

[kenmitch]

I guess the hardest part would be picking the correct rod for the baits you intend to use in the end. 2 combos would probably be best and you could most likely get a couple decent combos in your price range if you shop wisely and look for sales or coupons if not on sale.

 

2 rods I'd probably bring these ones. 1 rod the nod goes to the Abu setup for the most part unless I was intending to throw heavier baits.

 

I like to throw lipless crankbaits and other 1/2oz or so offerings for the most part. My favorite combo for them is the Abu Garcia Revo MGX SHS paired with a Vendetta 6'6" Med Fast rod. The Revo I got on a 1 day special at BPS for $175 otherwise I wouldn't be sporting it as I'm more of a bang for buck guy. I have a Carbonlite 2.0 baitcaster combo I got on the BPS $120 sale back in Feb that has a 7' MH Fast rod which works also.  

[TotalNoob]

22 minutes ago, kenmitch said:

I guess the hardest part would be picking the correct rod for the baits you intend to use in the end. 2 combos would probably be best and you could most likely get a couple decent combos in your price range if you shop wisely and look for sales or coupons if not on sale.

 

2 rods I'd probably bring these ones. 1 rod the nod goes to the Abu setup for the most part unless I was intending to throw heavier baits.

 

I like to throw lipless crankbaits and other 1/2oz or so offerings for the most part. My favorite combo for them is the Abu Garcia Revo MGX SHS paired with a Vendetta 6'6" Med Fast rod. The Revo I got on a 1 day special at BPS for $175 otherwise I wouldn't be sporting it as I'm more of a bang for buck guy. I have a Carbonlite 2.0 baitcaster combo I got on the BPS $120 sale back in Feb that has a 7' MH Fast rod which works also.  

I definitely wish I would have been able to pick up that $120 Carbonlite 2.0 combo back in Feb. I think that would have been a good way to really get acclimated to a 7' baitcaster this year. BPS is an hour away and I was on the fence about baitcasters at that time. 

 

I think you nailed it when you said the hardest part is picking the correct rod for the baits intended to throw. I'd like a set up to be able to throw 5/8 oz jerkbaits (a mile), 1/2 to 3/4 spinnerbaits/chatterbaits, 1/4 or maybe even 1/8 oz jig heads if I need it to. I had some success on post-spawn walleye throwing lipless cranks. Those were 1/2oz. We don't really have any kind of cover to punch here so I don't think I'm needing to throw heavy texas rigs ... I'm finding this finesse set up that I'm using right now to work out well. 

 

To be honest, I'm not even 100% sure what lures I should be throwing at this reservoir (and best times for them). We don't have a lot of Largemouths or a lot of cover BUT we do have a healthy population of Smallmouths and Spotteds. I basically just switched from jerkbaits in the Spring straight to finesse soft plastics here in the summer. I must've missed a phase in there. I know I can catch fish on the texas rigged plastics so that's why I basically just made the straight switch when the jerkbait was getting less effective. 

 

Well, back to the rod. In my mind (based on what I know right now) I feel like a 7' MH Fast action is the range I'm in for an all-purpose type set up. Jerkbaits, Spinner/Chatterbaits, Crankbaits, 1/4oz texas rigs. If this is correct, which one? I'm really keen on a super sensitive rod. The walleye and prespawn bass bite on jerkbaits is somewhat subtle. I had bought a Lews American Hero 6'6 combo for $70 bucks from Dick's and I had a walleye hook himself on the pause on a jerkbait and I didn't even know it until I went to twitch it again and felt pressure. I never didn't feel a hit on that yellow Skeet Reese rod.

[Choporoz]

Welcome...and beautiful walleye. 

As to your gear...I agree that MHF is a great sweet spot - "which one"...unfortunately, there's probably a hundred different ones out there worth recommending.  I think in your price range, you'll be fine with whatever you decide. 

 

Oh...and I agree with everything you said about the yellow spinning rod - I got one from DSG years ago -- strange bird....pretty whippy, surprisingly sensitive, stoopid hook keeper; unfortunately, I paid a couple more bucks and got one with a WM reel that didn't last three outings....but I still use the rod for throwing micro spoons and Mepps spinners.

[kenmitch]

Maybe a better option would be 1 reel and 2 rods? You could just put the reel on the rod that is best suited for the bait your wanting to throw at the time.

[J.Vincent]

2 Rods will be best: A 6ft10 or 7ft1 Medium Heavy Moderate Fast Graphite Baitcasting rod with a 6.6 or 7.3 to 1 BaitCasting reel. And a 6ft6 Medium Fast Graphite Spinning Rod with a 2000 or 2500 series Spinning reel....at least those would be the two I would want on a similar body of water and with similar conditions. 

[TotalNoob]

1 hour ago, Choporoz said:

Welcome...and beautiful walleye. 

As to your gear...I agree that MHF is a great sweet spot - "which one"...unfortunately, there's probably a hundred different ones out there worth recommending.  I think in your price range, you'll be fine with whatever you decide. 

 

Oh...and I agree with everything you said about the yellow spinning rod - I got one from DSG years ago -- strange bird....pretty whippy, surprisingly sensitive, stoopid hook keeper; unfortunately, I paid a couple more bucks and got one with a WM reel that didn't last three outings....but I still use the rod for throwing micro spoons and Mepps spinners.

Thanks on the walleye. Was 2 nights before the full moon. I caught my first two wipers ever earlier that night (just a 14 and 15" but WOW the fight in those guys) and tons of eyes. We have an 18" slot limit on eyes so I was trying to catch some keepers (turns out walleye is delicious table fare - yea I'm late to the party). I wasn't TRYING to catch her but man oh man was she one heck of a fish! She hit the jerkbait probably not even 15 ft from shore, zero fight. The net felt heavier than usual when I landed her (adrenaline probably numbed my senses a bit in the moment) but when I pivoted back to the shore I caught my first glimpse in the moonlight of what was in the net and I was absolutely dumbfounded.

 

Anyway, so yea with this being a heavy walleye reservoir I'll probably be on the big pre and post spawn walleye hunt every year from here on out - which also means I'll be on the pre and post spawn Bass hunt. Of course, wiper come out to play at this time, too.

 

Walleye have no fight though. A 12" Smally ... heck, a 10" Smally has more or equal fight than a walleye 2x or 2.5x the size.

39 minutes ago, Active_Outdoors said:

2 Rods will be best: A 6ft10 or 7ft1 Medium Heavy Moderate Fast Graphite Baitcasting rod with a 6.6 or 7.3 to 1 BaitCasting reel. And a 6ft6 Medium Fast Graphite Spinning Rod with a 2000 or 2500 series Spinning reel....at least those would be the two I would want on a similar body of water and with similar conditions. 

What are the reasons you would choose these two setups? I want to understand the logic. 

 

I think I get the ~7ft MH Mod Fast bait caster ... mod fast over fast because you want some flex at the tip for treble hooksets on jerkbaits? And no greater than 7.3:1 reel because 1) this isn't a largemouth lake where I need to get a jig in and out of cover quickly to cover water and 2) because a potential huge wiper fight (or really good sized Smally) would be better met with a gear ratio in that range? Please let me know what I'm missing or misunderstanding here. These are the kind of details I am trying to fully wrap my mind around so I'm not standing in a rod aisle at BPS looking and feeling like a moron about to make a stupid and costly purchase. 

 

On the spinning setup, why a 6'6"? I think you choose M Fast because this is a finesse rig with a single hook to set (?) ... but aren't I getting longer casts out of my 7' M Fast? 

 

What are the pros and cons of both the 6'6" and the 7' M Fast rod for this application, considering as well that I'm casting/setting hooks from shore?

[J.Vincent]

A Moderate Fast Casting Rod will allow you to cover a lot of bases; its a great option for covering water with search baits. I think many pros would agree and probably want a Reel with 27 to 30" of line recovery for this type of fishing rod. Some pros might exclusively fish 8 to 1 geared reels (Aaron martens comes to mind, but he is an exception) but as a general rule of thumb 6 to 1 and 7 to 1 gearing is preferred. The 6ft6 Spinning Rod would be a setup I choose for drop shots and shaky heads ; but has the versatility to throw jerkbaits. I choose the shorter length because I like to retrieve jerkbaits with a downward motion and rod tip pointed towards the water. A longer 7 foot Medium Fast would work for taller anglers and achieve greater Casting distance, but not in my situation; I'm 5ft8 on a good day. Also, my advice is based on targeting Smallmouth Bass or maybe Spotted bass.

[grub_man]

Shoot, I would "settle" for your reservoir.  It sounds like you have a really good multi species fishery there!

 

Walleye certainly aren't the most vicious critters when it comes to fighting, but they are still fun to catch.

 

For those brown bass and spots, they will come up and hit top waters like no tomorrow.  In general you'll be most successful on top early in the morning and late in the evening when the light is low.  However, keep an eye on top, and if you see them start chasing bait, get a topwater out near them.  They travel in packs and when they start feeding on top, there is generally at least a small school of them around.

 

When it comes to rods, you are in the right general ball park right now.  With treble hook lures that you work with the rod, you basically have two ways to go.  Option 1 is a moderate to moderate fast crank bait rod.  A good fiberglass cranking rod will have a lot of power in the butt section (probably my choice if regularly catching wipers), but they are heavier than graphite rods and can be tiring if really working a jerk bait for long periods.  The glass blank reacts and recovers more slowly and helps keep the fish hooked better.  The graphite crank bait rods tend to have a bit less power in mid and lower sections.  They are lighter, more sensitive, and more responsive.  Option 2 is a medium power fast or extra fast action rod.  These rods have soft tips and are very light making for a less tiring day when jerking.  The downside is that you will be more prone to pulling the treble hooks out of the fish, and because they react and recover so quickly, it's much easier for the fish to get slack into the line to throw the bait.

 

For the light T-rig rod, that Medium power fast to extra fast action rod will get the job done perfectly.  My home waters in OH and Lake Norman down here in NC seem to be quite similar to yours in terms of cover.  Most of the rods I've built for myself over the years are variations on the couple of rods I mentioned above.  The most powerful rod I have in my boat most days is a 7' MH power worm/jig rod.  The cover in my waters just don't dictate that I use more powerful rods.

 

I'm a shorter guy as well, 5'8" and typically prefer shorter rods around 6'6" - 6'10", but a 7' rod will really help get that lure out there further when you need to.

 

[TotalNoob]

1 hour ago, Active_Outdoors said:

A Moderate Fast Casting Rod will allow you to cover a lot of bases; its a great option for covering water with search baits. I think many pros would agree and probably want a Reel with 27 to 30" of line recovery for this type of fishing rod. Some pros might exclusively fish 8 to 1 geared reels (Aaron martens comes to mind, but he is an exception) but as a general rule of thumb 6 to 1 and 7 to 1 gearing is preferred. The 6ft6 Spinning Rod would be a setup I choose for drop shots and shaky heads ; but has the versatility to throw jerkbaits. I choose the shorter length because I like to retrieve jerkbaits with a downward motion and rod tip pointed towards the water. A longer 7 foot Medium Fast would work for taller anglers and achieve greater Casting distance, but not in my situation; I'm 5ft8 on a good day. Also, my advice is based on targeting Smallmouth Bass or maybe Spotted bass.

Okay.. I see. The yellow skeet reese spinning rod I have right now is 6'10" and literally says "Drop Shot" on it. I've used it 80% for jerkbaits (Xraps, Shadow Raps) and 20% for rattle traps and some other 3/8oz to 5/8oz cranks (like Countdowns). It hasn't been used for jigging or drop shot or t-rigging at all. 

 

I 100% agree with the shorter rod for jerkbaits. I do the same thing (point the rod down at the line/water) and it's nice not having a ton of butt end of the rod right at your body. 

 

Having said that (and correct me if I'm wrong) I'm looking for longer casts to cover more water with jerkbaits and that's where my mind goes to the 7' baitcaster. I feel both the reel and rod will help get that thing out there further and in front of more potential takers (especially casting out into some of that deeper water where the Wiper come in from). Is this a correct thought process? If so, do you think it's worth the trade-off of having the shorter rod for working jerkbaits?

 

Additionally, are most folks throwing jerkbaits on a spinning set up or casting?

 

Fyi I'm not married to ANY type of thinking. I don't know enough about all this quite yet to make a comfortable conclusive decision. I'm learning. 

[Choporoz]

46 minutes ago, TotalNoob said:

 

Additionally, are most folks throwing jerkbaits on a spinning set up or casting?

 

Yes.

 

I typically throw 110's on baitcasting and smaller on spinning, but not always. I do like longer jerkbait rods for the distance, generally.