The Baitcaster rod question

[TriStateBassin106]

Hey all, I've recently got into fishing baitcasters and I want to expand my arsenal, I heard it's always good to just have medium heavies and I heard other people say you should have at least 5 different baitcasters with different sizes, (Medium fast, Crankbait rod, medium heavy, Heavy broom stick)

 

I've been fishing for only bass for about 3 months now and my arsenal includes one baitcaster (Cheap 6:3:1 abu garcia) and a 6'6 ugly stick , I also have two spinning rods the same size (Medium action)

 

Now I will be fishing the most basic Bass lures (Finesse, Cranks, Bottom baits, topwater, jigs, Spinners etc) but I just can't decided on what rod types I should get for each application and situation. I'm not asking for brand specifics just rod and reel sizes and types for the different situations I may encounter out on the water.

 

I look foward to the responses!

[Choporoz]

 

[scaleface]

7'0"  med and med hvy rods will cover most everything . Thats pretty much all i use . Plus a 6'8" mh wormin rod .  The only reason I use 6'8" rod is I like the feel of it but a 7 footer would be just as good or better.

[Glaucus]

6'6" - 7' MH/F and M/MF casting and 6'6" - 7' M/F spinning should be the first setups you ever own, in my opinion. You should have all 3 to really cover most situations. Then expand from there a setup at a time. For example, are you going to be doing ultra finesse (ML/F-XF spinning), deep cranking (MH/M-MF casting), pitching heavy cover (H/F casting)? Get those next 3 in whichever order you will be doing most of and you'll be virtually all set.

[Koz]

In my opinion it’s way too easy to get caught up in having a ton of different setups for different baits. The average recreational angler can get by with a 7’ MH setup. It’s the Swiss Army knife of tackle.

 

I fish a lot (from the bank) and my 7’ MH sees the majority of the action. I do have a 7’ 6” heavy baitcaster for frogging and swimbaits as well as a 6’ 6” M spinning setup but I rarely use those. 

 

I think the question you should be asking does having dedicated rods for specific techniques make a difference in the catch rates for the average angler. My guess is that the difference is negligible compared to a good, all purpose rod and reel.

[Brew City Bass]

Personally, all those set-ups are only worth it if you know how to use every single one to their advantages, and the baits they were meant to chuck.

I personally don't even have that many technique specific rods. I have a bazillion rods, but I have multiples of the same kind from up-grading and such throughout the years. When I go fishing, I generally bring 2-4 rods with me on the boat. If I know I'll NEED 5 rods, I might bring more. The rods I bring to cover what I need are usually a Medium Light spinning rod for ned rigs, drop shot, tiny worms, a medium heavy as a do all (spinnerbaits, t rigs, lipless, etc), a heavy rod for bigger jigs and heavy carolina rigs, and then a second medium heavy with a different bait tied on just so I'm not retying my moving baits every time I feel I should throw a change-up in a certain spot.

My best advice, save all the money you would spend on 5 combos, and buy 1-2 really nice quality combos. And yeah, medium heavy is the go-to all around rod, and for good reason. One of my favorite rods is a 7'1 Medium Heavy and I throw everything on it. Frogs, jigs, t rigs, carolina rigs, you name it, that rod has caught fish with it. Is it the right rod for frogs and jigs? No, not by definition, but it catches fish and I've personally never had a problem with them tossing bigger baits upto 3/4oz. 

The only time I really recommend technique specific rods are if you have cash to blow, are fishing extremely specific baits like a 3oz swimbait or a 2oz punching rig, or similar. Everything else can be covered by 1-2 rods. 

Also, if you're bank fishing, that amount of rods becomes ridiculous. I tried carrying 5 rods around before and it sucks! 2 is my max if I'm hitting the banks, and it's always a spinning rod (medium light) and a medium heavy baitcaster. 

[FishingGeekTX]

I'd get a decent MH-F combo if you're on a budget...lightweight rod that way at least it's easy on the body all day fishing.

If you frog/jig heavy cover a lot, you could get a H-F or H-MF after that, so you could load it up with heavy braid.

Otherwise, me, I'd probably just get another MH-F.

Some people like to use a Moderate or moderate-fast taper for treble hook lures, but I don't enjoy soft tips personally. 

[WRB]

My suggestion is start with 1 good baitcasting rod & reel combo and see where that takes you. You already have Combo.

Dobyns FR734C w/ Daiwa or Shimano reel within your budget. 

Tom

[jbsoonerfan]

Well, this may be of no use, but I will give you my current 5 as a co angler.

 

6'10 ML - finesse

6'10 M - cranks/jerks

6'10 MH - lipless/chatterbait/spinnerbait

7'2 MH - bottom contact

7'2 H - jigs

 

All casting rods.

[TriStateBassin106]

10 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

Well, this may be of no use, but I will give you my current 5 as a co angler.

 

6'10 ML - finesse

6'10 M - cranks/jerks

6'10 MH - lipless/chatterbait/spinnerbait

7'2 MH - bottom contact

7'2 H - jigs

 

All casting rods.

This is my ideal setup i'm gonna go for, I really want to get into the specifics of this sport I plan to have 3 casting rods and one spinning rod 

11 hours ago, WRB said:

My suggestion is start with 1 good baitcasting rod & reel combo and see where that takes you. You already have Combo.

Dobyns FR734C w/ Daiwa or Shimano reel within your budget. 

Tom

Already have a walmart abu combo on a ugly stick. Love it but I want more since I fish specific baitshahahaha 

23 hours ago, Glaucus said:

6'6" - 7' MH/F and M/MF casting and 6'6" - 7' M/F spinning should be the first setups you ever own, in my opinion. You should have all 3 to really cover most situations. Then expand from there a setup at a time. For example, are you going to be doing ultra finesse (ML/F-XF spinning), deep cranking (MH/M-MF casting), pitching heavy cover (H/F casting)? Get those next 3 in whichever order you will be doing most of and you'll be virtually all set.

Thanks for the advice Glaucus, my first order of business is to get a new medium heavy rod. Since my Abu garcia is starting to act up. Once I get that setup I'll probably get my Medium fast setup for cranks and other lightweight stuff.

11 hours ago, WRB said:

My suggestion is start with 1 good baitcasting rod & reel combo and see where that takes you. You already have Combo.

Dobyns FR734C w/ Daiwa or Shimano reel within your budget. 

Tom

I plan on getting a Enigma p100 with a lews laser sg1 since it's in my price range as a new medium heavy

[WRB]

6 minutes ago, pondhopperNJ said:

This is my ideal setup i'm gonna go for, I really want to get into the specifics of this sport I plan to have 3 casting rods and one spinning rod 

Already have a walmart abu combo on a ugly stick. Love it but I want more since I fish specific baitshahahaha 

The FR734C will work very well for all the specific lures and presentations you referenced. 

If want to buy a set of rods it always a good idea to start a good rod and reel for a baseline. 

Tom

 

[bwjay]

I recently got into baitcasters (and fishing in general) and have done a fair bit of reading to figure out why people recommend what they do. I don't have a boat or kayak so am limited to bank fishing which limits me (personal choice) to 2 rods max per outing. I take canoe trips to the Boundary Waters yearly but I still only bring 3 rods max. So, I wanted to find the best combos I could to cover as many applications as possible, without getting rods that don't excel at anything.

 

On canoe trips, I fish for walleye and lake trout in addition to bass, and of course, pike will eat the baits I throw for any of those species. My selection is very slightly biased to allow for better compatibility for these other species - very slightly. I have also adjusted my combos from what I initially bought, to things that I realized would be better for me after fishing for a bit. Namely, I've phased out my 6' Medium Fast casting (short handle for canoe fishing, accurate, but doesn't excel at much) and 7' Medium Heavy Fast casting (heavy rod, replaced with lighter more sensitive rod).

 

6'8" Medium XFast spinning (Shimano Expride) - vertical jigging for walleye/lakers, weightless worms, Ned rig, 3-4" Keitech swimbaits, but throws spinnerbaits, lipless, and small crankbaits like a Scatter Rap just fine, as long as I don't overpower the hookset and rip the hooks out; this could be a Medium Light if it was just for bass, but the added backbone for handling ferocious lakers is very much appreciated and it helps with versatility

 

6'9" Medium Heavy XFast casting (Kistler Helium3) - closer to Fast action - spinnerbaits, lipless, cranks, weightless worms, T-rigs, 3-4" Keitech swimbaits, jigs, swim jigs, frogs, topwater; this is my do-it-all rod that I bring if I just want to bring one rod

 

7' Heavy XFast casting (Kistler Helium3) - closer to Fast action - basically same as the MHXF but I'd use this for jigs and frogs and use the MHXF for lighter baits if I had both rods with me; both rods can still do a ton because of the forgiving blank, and this one is really lightweight for its power which is super nice (1.4oz lighter than my St Croix 7'MHF Premier)

 

I don't throw big heavy swimbaits though I have two 6" glidebaits that I have yet to get wet; I would only throw those on the 7'HXF though I'm sure the MHXF would still handle them in a pinch.

 

If I had an actual boat, or a kayak, I would probably add a dedicated cranking/treble/topwater rod (maybe 7'MHMF), use the 6'8MXF spinning for worms/Ned rig, the 6'9MHXF for single hook moving baits, and the 7'HXF for T-rigs and jigs. I could see adding a redundant MHXF to keep two different types of moving baits tied on for a total of 5 rods, but I think 4 would cover it (and that's with a dedicated treble rod). 3 really covers it all as far as I'm concerned, and even 2 (1 spinning for finesse, 1 casting for everything else) still works pretty well. I use snaps to save time (and leader line) which might seem like blasphemy to some, but I still manage to catch a decent amount of fish. If I'm trying to entice big ones and sticking to one or two techniques, I'll direct tie for sure. If fishing is slow and I have to throw the sink at them, then snaps are a huge time saver.

 

Hopefully this helps! Looking forward to seeing what you go with.

[GTFishing18]

Save up and buy 3 st croixs within the budget

 

6-6 to 7-0 M/F casting 

7-0 to 7-6 MH/F or XF casting

6-8 to 7-0 M/F or XF spinning 

 

All you need with a quality company and great service, upgrades & warranties.

[Mikeltee]

Id rather have 2 endgame rods than 5 decent rods that I would always want to upgrade. All you need is a finesse spinning outfit and a doitall baitcasting in medium heavy. Fish it for a season and if you are hooked get a crank rod and a pitchin stick.