Fishing rod and reel combos

[Travis Bennett]

I’m just getting into bass fishing and looking for some advice on setting up some rod and bait caster reel combos for different styles of bass fishing. My main question is I’m looking to have 4-5 combos set up to fish different lures and I’m not sure how to pick rod size and reel speed. I’m looking to fish with jigs, crank baits, flukes, worms, top water baits (whopper plopper, frogs) and so on. Can someone give me some set ups? Thanks in advance 

 

[JFlynn97]

I have 5 setups that are able to cover most of my bases when fishing, four casting and one spinning. So far I haven't felt the need to get a new rod for any other lures or presentations.

 

1. 6'9" medium/fast spinning rod, spooled with 8lb braid - used for lightweight lures and more "finesse" approaches (texas rigs 3/16oz and lighter, wacky rigs, shaky heads, ned rigs, etc. Water in my area is generally pretty stained and dirty so I don't do a ton of super finesse fishing, but I'd have no concerns using it for a dropshot in a pinch) [Dobyns Sierra and Daiwa RG-AB 2500]

 

2. 7' medium-heavy/fast, 6:1 reel with 30lb braid - used as a general purpose rod, mostly chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, swim jigs, swimbaits, and buzzbaits. Works in a pinch for texas rigs and jigs too. Tie on a leader and I have no worries using it for treble hook baits, it's super versatile [Abu garcia silver max combo]

 

3. 7' medium/moderate cranking stick, 6:1 reel with I believe 12lb mono - use it for all my cranking and treble hook bait needs from squarebills, diving cranks, lipless, jerkbaits, poppers, whopper ploppers, walking/spook baits, etc [Duckett micro magic and Daiwa fuego]

 

4. 7'1" medium-heavy/fast, 7:1 - 8:1 with 30lb braid or 15-17lb fluorocarbon, used exclusively for jigs and texas rigs up to 1/2oz because of its sensitivity [ALX Zolo deputy and Shimano SLX]

 

5. 7'3" heavy/fast, 8:1 with 50lb braid, used for thick cover flipping/pitching, heavy jigs/t-rigs (over 1/2oz), and frogs [Dobyns fury and Daiwa fuego]

 

This works well for me and my style of fishing, so you may need to experiment a bit to see what works for you, but I think it's a pretty good guideline. Tight lines!

[MN Fisher]

I have 5 rigs as well

 

1) 7' Heavy/Fast rod with 8.1:1 baitcaster loaded with 50# Power Pro - flip, pitch, punch, frog, top-waters to 1.5oz

 

2) 6'6" Medium/Fast rod with 7.5:1 baitcaster loaded with 20# Power Pro - T-Rigs, spinners, chatters, buzzbaits

 

3) 6' Medium/Moderate rod with 6.1:1 baitcaster loaded with 10# Yo-Zuri Hybrid - Crank/Jerkbaits (this is one I just tossed together from a 'cheap' reel and a rod I had hanging around)

 

4) 6' Medium/Fast rod with spinning reel loaded with 10# Yo-Zuri Hybrid - Wacky, Neko, in-line spinners, weightless worms

 

5) 6'6" Medium-Light/Fast rod with spinning reel loaded with 8# Suffix Super 21 mono - Finesse rig: Drop-shots, ned rigs

 

Depending on how #3 works for me, I'll be upgrading that to better equipment and relegating that rig to something else.

Rod on #4 WILL be upgraded from the Ugly Stick it now is.

[Travis Bennett]

Thanks

[jbsoonerfan]

All casting setups

 

1. 6'10 ML Zodias, Shimano Scorpion BFS XG (finesse)

2. 6'10 M Zodias, Shimano Curado DC (jerks, cranks)

3. 6'10 MH Zodias, Shimano Core 50mg7 (spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, lipless)

4. 7'2 MH Zodias, Shimano Scorpion 70 XG (light t-rigs, up to 1/2 oz)

5. 7'2 H Zodias, Shimano Curado K XG (jigs, 1/2 oz + t-rigs)

[wzzyfzzy]

1. 6'8" Med Light/Fast Rod w/6:3:1 reel (finesse)

2. 6'10" Med/Fast Rod w/8:1:1 reel (topwater)

3. 7'1" MH/Fast rod w/7:2:1 reel (Spinner, swim jig, chatterbait)

4. 7'3" MH/Fast rod w/7:5:1 reel (t-rigs & Jigs)

5. 7'3" MH/Mod rod w/7:3:1 reel (Whopper plopper - yes, I have a designated whopper plopper set up)

 

 

[Mikeltee]

Travis don't go out and get 5 decent combos. Get 2 excellent end game combos. It will save you a ton of cash in the end and as a beginner, you don't need 5 combos. Get a M-MH finesse/light jigs/plastics/shallow cranks rod and then get a 4.5 power which is between MH and H for frogs/heavier jigs/slop/everything else thats too heavy for the other rod. Find what techniques you like and add on from there.

 

I hate spinning gear. I went with the Tatula Elite AGS Finesse and fished all the techniques the guys do on spinning gear and loved it. Then I let peer pressure set in and dropped $600 on a spinning setup. I prefer the casting setup much better but I use the spinning just because I wasted so much money on it.

 

If you go this route and decide next year that you don't like bass fishing as much as you thought you would you can easily recoup most of your money back by selling your high end gear. You pretty much will have to give away decent gear. Learn from my mistakes. I have a couple thousand of gear that no longer gets used because it has been upgraded. I won't sell it because I will get back 25% if I am lucky, but I also have 4 kids that can utilize it when the time comes.

[new2BC4bass]

15 hours ago, Mikeltee said:

Travis don't go out and get 5 decent combos. Get 2 excellent end game combos. It will save you a ton of cash in the end and as a beginner, you don't need 5 combos. Get a M-MH finesse/light jigs/plastics/shallow cranks rod and then get a 4.5 power which is between MH and H for frogs/heavier jigs/slop/everything else thats too heavy for the other rod. Find what techniques you like and add on from there.

 

I hate spinning gear. I went with the Tatula Elite AGS Finesse and fished all the techniques the guys do on spinning gear and loved it. Then I let peer pressure set in and dropped $600 on a spinning setup. I prefer the casting setup much better but I use the spinning just because I wasted so much money on it.

 

If you go this route and decide next year that you don't like bass fishing as much as you thought you would you can easily recoup most of your money back by selling your high end gear. You pretty much will have to give away decent gear. Learn from my mistakes. I have a couple thousand of gear that no longer gets used because it has been upgraded. I won't sell it because I will get back 25% if I am lucky, but I also have 4 kids that can utilize it when the time comes.

I imagine there are a few of us in the same predicament.  I could find $500 to spend on 5 rods, but not $500 to spend on two rods. 

[MN Fisher]

3 minutes ago, new2BC4bass said:

I imagine there are a few of us in the same predicament.  I could find $500 to spend on 5 rods, but not $500 to spend on two rods. 

I haven't found a need for expensive gear. Currently I have six combos, One reel was a gift from a generous person here, one rod was an old one I had sitting around. The rest cost me less than $350 total.

 

You don't need to spend bucco bucks to have usable rigs.

[greentrout]

On 7/21/2019 at 4:06 PM, Travis Bennett said:

I’m just getting into bass fishing and looking for some advice on setting up some rod and bait caster reel combos for different styles of bass fishing. My main question is I’m looking to have 4-5 combos set up to fish different lures and I’m not sure how to pick rod size and reel speed. I’m looking to fish with jigs, crank baits, flukes, worms, top water baits (whopper plopper, frogs) and so on. Can someone give me some set ups? Thanks in advance 

 

head over to kastking and take a look before you make any decision ...they have folks there who will answer your questions ... give 'em a call  ... i've spoken to them ... they have the products to take care of your needs at a great price ...

 

good fishing ...

[new2BC4bass]

2 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

I haven't found a need for expensive gear. Currently I have six combos, One reel was a gift from a generous person here, one rod was an old one I had sitting around. The rest cost me less than $350 total.

 

You don't need to spend bucco bucks to have usable rigs.

Since when does 'need' have anything to do with it? 

[Mikeltee]

2 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

I haven't found a need for expensive gear. Currently I have six combos, One reel was a gift from a generous person here, one rod was an old one I had sitting around. The rest cost me less than $350 total.

 

You don't need to spend bucco bucks to have usable rigs.

This is true my friend but trust me you are a member of the 1%ers here. OP never bassed fished and wants to start out with 5 combos. You have 5 combos and probably have been catching bass for 40 years.

[MN Fisher]

3 minutes ago, Mikeltee said:

This is true my friend but trust me you are a member of the 1%ers here. OP never bassed fished and wants to start out with 5 combos. You have 5 combos and probably have been catching bass for 40 years.

Actually - I re-started bass fishing last year after over a decade's hiatus - all my rigs were purchased/acquired in the last 18 months.

[umckibben]

I'd get a good mh/ fast 7'-7'2 with a quality 7:1-8:1 reel, that set up will work with a lot of applications, then figure out what you like to do, if you frog slop alot add a heavy/ex fast w/ high gear reel, if your a deep ds guy add a med spinning set up, if crankbaits are your thing add a med/mh 7-7'6 mod/ fast,  but id start with the quality mh/ fast and a good reel just add what you feel you'll need to fish your strengths, there's no shortage on rods and reels

[new2BC4bass]

3 hours ago, Mikeltee said:

This is true my friend but trust me you are a member of the 1%ers here. OP never bassed fished and wants to start out with 5 combos. You have 5 combos and probably have been catching bass for 40 years.

A few...very few...on this forum are satisfied to spend no more than the cost of an Ugly Stick, Cherrywood or Lightning.  I imagine the others on here that do fish with these rods would probably prefer to be fishing with nicer rods if they could afford them.  Knowing I am using quality gear adds to my fishing experience.

 

Truthfully I caught way more fish back in my youth with a Lightning spinning rod than any of the more expensive...relatively speaking...rods I use today.  In my case area plays a huge part in my lack of fish caught...not gear.  Fishing sucks here.  It was very good back where I am originally from.

 

My two most expensive rods were basically a gift from a fellow member.  He only wanted the shipping cost, but I sent him quite a bit more...and it still wasn't enough to be a fair price for the used rods.

[Mikeltee]

There are some great people here for sure. I have a feeling the gifts you received were equipment that has been upgraded many times over until they landed on an NRX