Best round baitcaster combos.

[sculpinman]

Any really good round bait caster combos for largemouth? 

Like conventional looking reels.

Does not have to be same brands.

[new2BC4bass]

I like my Black Max 1600C and Daiwa Smallmouth VIP.

 

Or are you asking about new?

[FishTank]

2 hours ago, sculpinman said:

Any really good round bait caster combos for largemouth? 

Like conventional looking reels.

Does not have to be same brands.

 

Might be good to let us know your budget and what you intend to use it for.   I don't know of any off the rack combos if that is what you are looking for.  My personal favorite is a Shimano Calcutta 101 TE GT and a Megabass P5 Super Destroyer.  

[Raul]

You asked: really good

Really good: Shimano Calcutta/Conquest

But of course, when you shell out 550 bux for a reel it must be purty darn good !

[sculpinman]

2 hours ago, FishTank said:

 

Might be good to let us know your budget and what you intend to use it for.   I don't know of any off the rack combos if that is what you are looking for.  My personal favorite is a Shimano Calcutta 101 TE GT and a Megabass P5 Super Destroyer.  

My budget is anything pretty cheap. Like $100 - $300 for largemouth bass jigging. Even some large catfish or carp if its possible.

[jimmyjoe]

4 minutes ago, sculpinman said:

My budget is anything pretty cheap. Like $100 - $300 for largemouth bass jigging. Even some large catfish or carp if its possible.

 

   Shimano Cardiff reels. They make 200, 300 and 400 sizes. The 400 size is kinda clumsy, but the 200 and 300 are good, solid bass reels. They're used for catfish and musky, too.

   They ain't no shrinking violets.  ?         jj

[FishTank]

20 minutes ago, sculpinman said:

My budget is anything pretty cheap. Like $100 - $300 for largemouth bass jigging. Even some large catfish or carp if its possible.

 

Is this for both rod and reel?  Also, you can do it but a round reel for jigs is usually not ideal and would not be my first choice.  

[sculpinman]

2 hours ago, FishTank said:

 

Is this for both rod and reel?  Also, you can do it but a round reel for jigs is usually not ideal and would not be my first choice.  

Good if its for both, alright if its not.

 

2 hours ago, jimmyjoe said:

 

   Shimano Cardiff reels. They make 200, 300 and 400 sizes. The 400 size is kinda clumsy, but the 200 and 300 are good, solid bass reels. They're used for catfish and musky, too.

   They ain't no shrinking violets.  ?         jj

That's a very good reel! Just might buy it.

[Deephaven]

For budget a used Abu Garcia is probably right up your alley.  That being said, no way I'd use a big round reel for jigs.  Best thing you could do for that situation is retrain yourself to hold your rod differently and grab a low profile reel.

[Phil77]

The 5600 C3's or C4's from abu make great bass reels if you upgrade them with parts from dadsoletackle.com. It's an easy reel to take apart and upgrades are fairly cheap. I still use an upgraded C3 for big swim baits and glide baits. You can pick up the stock reels dirt cheap on ebay.

[ATA]

Guys I can say if its not the best, But one of the top round baitcaster combos is my BFS set up.

Reel, Calcutta Conquest BFS

Rod: M-Aire 5'6" ML

Here some pictures to enjoy her beauty.

 

[redmeansdistortion]

1 hour ago, Phil77 said:

The 5600 C3's or C4's from abu make great bass reels if you upgrade them with parts from dadsoletackle.com. It's an easy reel to take apart and upgrades are fairly cheap. I still use an upgraded C3 for big swim baits and glide baits. You can pick up the stock reels dirt cheap on ebay.

Those reels don't even really need to be upgraded outside of the drag.  A little elbow grease goes a very long way.  Polish the friction points such as the idler gear post, worm bushing, brake ring, and the portion of the axle that makes contact with the spool pinion.  Put some low viscosity oil in those locations and it will seriously move really well.  90% the performance of upgrading the bearings for just an hour of your time or less.  I've been through the whole rigmarole of upgrading these things with multiple bearings and feel the costs outweigh the benefits when a Dremel and some blue jeweler's rouge will get almost the same results.

[Catt]

A 200 series reel is not necessary, look for a 100 or even 50 series Calcutta or Cardiff.

 

 

[Mobasser]

I've used ABU 4600C reels on various rods over the years. They've worked well

[FishTank]

I agree with Catt above.  For jigs, 100 size reel would be better if you are wanting to palm the reel.  Now what about retreive speed.  Is a round reel going to pick up line fast enough?   

 

My thoughts on a set up..... Outside of the original budget but a 100 Calcutta B (if you can find one) and a St. Croix Avid 7' MH Fast.  This set up should last a lifetime.

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, Mobasser said:

I've used ABU 4600C reels on various rods over the years. They've worked well

That’s what I use, along with a couple 5000s

[JustJames]

16 hours ago, jimmyjoe said:

 

   Shimano Cardiff reels. They make 200, 300 and 400 sizes. The 400 size is kinda clumsy, but the 200 and 300 are good, solid bass reels. They're used for catfish and musky, too.

   They ain't no shrinking violets.  ?         jj

Believe it or not, Cardiff 200 was the first reel I started when bass fishing. That was 20 years ago.  I still have the reel and use it until this day.

[bulldog1935]

I'm not quite done with the reel - maybe next week

but this is going to be a trick combo

Custom 4600C, Express 6.3 gears, 6' Falcon Glass rod

 

[sculpinman]

9 hours ago, Catt said:

A 200 series reel is not necessary, look for a 100 or even 50 series Calcutta or Cardiff.

 

 

What rod would you recommend to go with the 100?

[Catt]

19 minutes ago, sculpinman said:

What rod would you recommend to go with the 100?

 

What techniques? ?

[Big Hands]

nvm

[sculpinman]

28 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

What techniques? ?

Like baitcasting and jigging, and lures

I wanna go for salmon, bass, trout, carp, catfish, and muskies

[Catt]

31 minutes ago, sculpinman said:

I wanna go for salmon, bass, trout, carp, catfish, and muskies

 

Don't know nuthin bout Trout, Salmon, or Muskie.

 

I have two Daiwa Tatula rod that I'm extremely satisfied with & would probably fit you needs.

[redmeansdistortion]

1 hour ago, sculpinman said:

Like baitcasting and jigging, and lures

I wanna go for salmon, bass, trout, carp, catfish, and muskies

The 100 size would do it for you.  Your lower limit will be ~1/4 give or take, but it'll winch in a feisty king or coho no problem.  It's too big for resident stream trout, but it'll do just fine with the much larger migratory steelhead.  If you're fishing resident (smaller) trout, you'll want to go with light spinning tackle or bait finesse.

[Phil77]

15 hours ago, redmeansdistortion said:

Those reels don't even really need to be upgraded outside of the drag.  A little elbow grease goes a very long way.  Polish the friction points such as the idler gear post, worm bushing, brake ring, and the portion of the axle that makes contact with the spool pinion.  Put some low viscosity oil in those locations and it will seriously move really well.  90% the performance of upgrading the bearings for just an hour of your time or less.  I've been through the whole rigmarole of upgrading these things with multiple bearings and feel the costs outweigh the benefits when a Dremel and some blue jeweler's rouge will get almost the same results.

Just upgrading the stock cog wheel to a bearing supported one will do far more than a polish. I can almost spool mine with the flick of the wrist. I've been fiddling with them for over a decade and all of mine will outperform any modern low profile reel. You can get a complete upgrade kit for $55-$65 with drags and bearing supported cog and worm gear. Not to mention you can pick up most reels at auction for under $50.