Need some general advice for rods and reels

[pondbassin101]

A little backstory: I got into bass fishing a few years ago when I was far too young to work or drive so I ended up buying some mixed and matched half-decent tackle. Fast forward to me taking a bit of a break from fishing due to work and college, and now I want  to get back into it and am trying to get my tackle situation sorted. I currently have the following rods and reels: a 7:3 daiwa exceler paired with a 7' M abu garcia veritas that I use as my all around, a 6:3 exceler paired with like a $30 rod from Academy that I pretty much don't use due to how bad the blank is, and a pflueger president spinning reel that I currently do not own a rod for as my last one broke and I never replaced it. I fish alot of ponds with soft plastics and topwater with the occasional crankbait, spinner, or jig thrown in. My question is- what type of rod should I get for my second baitcast reel, I was thinking of maybe getting a cranking rod? Also could use some suggestions for a spinning rod and what I should be looking for in that. Don't have the biggest budget so please just throw some suggestions and numbers out there.

Thanks

(I'm not against buying used or refurb)

[MN Fisher]

I've really liked my Aird-X rods, planning on replacing the Ugly Stick my Trion spinner is on with one as well. For $45-$55 depending on where you buy it, it's a really well-built, inexpensive rod.

[LionHeart]

I'd use the $30 rod for an all purpose moving bait rod.  They don't need to be particularly light, balanced, or sensitive.  Use the veritas as a bottom contact kind of rod.  The veritas is light, pretty sensitive, and a medium fishes like a medium heavy

[jimmyjoe]

   ^^^^^ Listen to this man, and save $$$ ^^^^^^ For a spinning rod, go to a big box store and test the rods to see which ones feel right for you. Look for a Med/Fast first, the go from there.    jj

[WRB]

The Daiwa Exceler reels with 7:3 & 6:3 must be baitcasters?

You are looking for 2 rods, 1 spinning and 1 casting? and 1 baitcasting reel?

Tom

[Fishes in trees]

You live in Orlando, Florida.  There are probably several mom & pop tackle shops in town, that's where I'd go for advice first.

[pondbassin101]

On 10/23/2019 at 3:01 PM, WRB said:

The Daiwa Exceler reels with 7:3 & 6:3 must be baitcasters?

You are looking for 2 rods, 1 spinning and 1 casting? and 1 baitcasting reel?

Tom

Yes those are baitcasters, forgot to clarify. I'm looking for a spinning rod and possibly a casting rod.

[pondbassin101]

On 10/22/2019 at 8:23 PM, LionHeart said:

I'd use the $30 rod for an all purpose moving bait rod.  They don't need to be particularly light, balanced, or sensitive.  Use the veritas as a bottom contact kind of rod.  The veritas is light, pretty sensitive, and a medium fishes like a medium heavy

So if I use it as a moving bait rod should I be running mono, fluoro, or braid with a leader? I forgot to mention that the cheap rod is also a 7' M F action, would that work fine for things like squarebills, soft plastic swimbaits, and spinnerbaits? I bought the veritas for the exact reasons you mentioned, so you recommend using it for things like jigs? I usually run lighter soft plastics on a spinning rod.

[WRB]

I use Major Craft spinning rods and finesse bait casting rods because I like them.

The 2 that are most universal; NAS-WJ701MH 7' fast spinning rod, lure weight 3/16-5/8, I use a Stratic reel with 5 lb Maxima Ultra Green Copoly or 7 lb Sunline FC line. Casting is Don Iovino Splash-It rod, 6'8" medium power 1/4-1/2 oz lure weight, Daiwa original TD Feugo casting reel, 11 lb Armillo mono line. Note, recommended line wt for both rods is 6 to 14 lb.

The Major Craft rods are exceptionally well made for $110 -$120 price point. 

I would also recommend Dobyns Fury or Sierra series for $120-$175.

TW Black Friday sales are comming up.

Tom

[LionHeart]

On 10/24/2019 at 2:56 PM, pondbassin101 said:

So if I use it as a moving bait rod should I be running mono, fluoro, or braid with a leader? I forgot to mention that the cheap rod is also a 7' M F action, would that work fine for things like squarebills, soft plastic swimbaits, and spinnerbaits? I bought the veritas for the exact reasons you mentioned, so you recommend using it for things like jigs? I usually run lighter soft plastics on a spinning rod.

The simple answer is that I'd use 30 lb braid with 12lb or so mono leader.  You'll get different answers with all sorts of logical reasons but if I only had 1 rod to handle all my moving baits, that's what I'd use for sure.

 

A cheap medium fast rod is excellent for everything you mentioned generally speaking, as long as you keep the total lure weight around 1/4ish to 1/2ish ounce weight and dont plan to use hooks above 4/0.  Yes, it would be a very good choice IMO.

 

For the Veritas, yes things like Texas rigs 1/4- 3/8 oz bullet weight and jigs.  I am not a big fan of jig fishing personally but any jig heavier than 3/8 plus skirt, plus trailer typically gets thrown on a heavy power rod. 

[scbassin]

To expound on Tom's remark on the Dobyns Rods site & check these out.  http://dobynsrods.com/store/#!/Refurbished-Champion-Series/c/14031090/offset=0&sort=normal  But look under the Fury & Sierra Series. You will find some good deals there. Good Luck.

[Grim_Reaver]

If it were me, I'd put the 7:3 reel on a 7' MH-F rod, and put the spinning reel on a 7' ML-F rod. This will cover all of your bases from 1/8oz to 1oz. A 6:1 ratio reel paired with a 7' M rod was a deadly combo for me when I was first learning. Slow enough for moving baits but still fast enough for bottom contact baits. A good MH will let you fish heavier baits all throughout the water column. If you use mono, the extra stretch in the line will negate the need for a slower action cb rod. I have yet to buy a cb specific rod and I rarely lose fish on treble hooks fishing lipless/squarebill crankbaits.

[Grim_Reaver]

Also, the 7' M rod I mentioned was a Lew's American Hero rod. Another vote for Lew's  quality would be the cheap 7' MH rod that comes in the Mach II combo, I love both of my Lew's rods. I also enjoy using my 7' H AIRD-X for frogs. Being that it's light and well balanced, I'd say the lower power casting and spinning AIRD-X models should be good. For a spinning rod, you want light and balanced. Also, you'll eventually want to go braid to leader so make sure you get a rod with some quality guides.

[FishinBuck07]

On 10/26/2019 at 9:28 PM, scbassin said:

To expound on Tom's remark on the Dobyns Rods site & check these out.  http://dobynsrods.com/store/#!/Refurbished-Champion-Series/c/14031090/offset=0&sort=normal  But look under the Fury & Sierra Series. You will find some good deals there. Good Luck.

I seen where Gary Dobyns himself mentioned the other day if you call there warehouse in Texas they will have a wider selection for the refurbished rods than is listed on their website.  Since they moved from California to Texas in the past couple months, they were focused on the move and the website listings have fell behind.  So give them a call, you may find a great deal.  

[Swamp Yankee]

I’m not sure what size President you have, but I picked up a Dobyns Fury 7 foot spinning rod, FR 703SF, which they describe as being designed for Jigs, Texas-rigs, Senkos, and Shaky Heads. I throw mostly 5” weightless Senkos with it and I love it paired with my Shimano Stradic 2500. Seems to me a good “all around” rod for soft plastics. At $120, it ain’t cheap but it’s not too expensive either. And it’s a decent quality rod.

[new2BC4bass]

Zero experience with an Aird X, but reviews seem to be all good.  Light and pretty sensitive for the money.  The 7' ML should make a good choice for your spinning reel.  Some don't like where the hook keeper is located.

 

If able to spend more, I like WRB's suggestion for a Major Craft.  I only have one (it is not a model sold by TW), and it seems like a very nice rod.  Unfortunately it hasn't seen much use because this year has been a bad one as far as my getting out to fish.

 

Personally I like a MHF or MH-MedFast (or ModFast) casting rod for versatility.  On the low end another Aird X...a 7' or 7'3" MHF.  ww2farmer can give you some advice from actual experience using a few Aird X rods.

 

For a bit more many suggest the Fury.  No experience with them.  I do have a few older Fenwick HMGs.  I like them.  For the weight lures I normally fish, I would go with the 7' MF rated 1/4-3/4 oz.  Or possibly the 7'2" Med-ModFast rated 3/8-1 oz.

[pondbassin101]

Thank you to everyone who posted, gave me some good info to work off of. I kinda forgot about this thread with school finals and all that hubbub being a thing. I'll shop around and see what I can find. I just wanna get back out there, I miss the rush of hooking that big one!

[pondbassin101]

ffo tackle has a spinning lightning rod shock for 20 bucks right now, thoughts on those? They fish pretty well IMO but I've already had 2 of them break simply from falling off a wall rack and I don't know if I want to deal with that again. The price is really tempting, if not, I'll shop around and see if I can find an Aird x cheap somewhere

[JediAmoeba]

26 minutes ago, pondbassin101 said:

ffo tackle has a spinning lightning rod shock for 20 bucks right now, thoughts on those? They fish pretty well IMO but I've already had 2 of them break simply from falling off a wall rack and I don't know if I want to deal with that again. The price is really tempting, if not, I'll shop around and see if I can find an Aird x cheap somewhere

I have seen those rods break a lot.  I have never personally had one but a younger guy I fish with has a few that are missing the eye inserts because they fall out.  Honestly I would stay away from them.

[pondbassin101]

2 hours ago, JediAmoeba said:

I have seen those rods break a lot.  I have never personally had one but a younger guy I fish with has a few that are missing the eye inserts because they fall out.  Honestly I would stay away from them.

Good confirmation to not buy another one. I haven't had any inserts fall out but have had 2 of them snap right above the first guide.

[MN Fisher]

4 minutes ago, pondbassin101 said:

Good confirmation to not buy another one. I haven't had any inserts fall out but have had 2 of them snap right above the first guide.

Too bad you're down south...I just picked up a 6'6" M/F Aird-X spinning rod for $40 at the local Fleet Farm store. Makes four of that model in my arsenal now. I've been impressed with them for a 'budget' rod.

[pondbassin101]

On 12/20/2019 at 6:16 PM, MN Fisher said:

Too bad you're down south...I just picked up a 6'6" M/F Aird-X spinning rod for $40 at the local Fleet Farm store. Makes four of that model in my arsenal now. I've been impressed with them for a 'budget' rod.

how often do they pop up on the flea market here, if at all?

[Plottman1974]

Tacklewarehouse has a sale on ARK rods right now.  You can get a darn good rod for $55 bucks....

 

 

[MN Fisher]

4 minutes ago, pondbassin101 said:

how often do they pop up on the flea market here, if at all?

Rarely, if ever. It's considered a 'budget' rod, like the Lightning or Ugly Stik. People just usually throw them or sell them in a garage sale.