For The Budget Guy?

[Team9nine]

Pretty certain I could take my MBR783c with a baitcaster of choice and some 12 or 15 lb Big Game and fish darn near everything - worms, jigs, spinners, chatters, buzzers, cranks of all sorts, buzzers, poppers, jerkbaits, blade baits, jigging spoons…just stay weight appropriate. Pretty sure I’ve done most all of them at some point over the years - lol

[islandbass]

4 hours ago, JoeDeal55 said:

I hear great things about BG and Yozuri hybrid. They are both affordable so I will probably try them both out. Very little vegetation in my fisheries so I will go with 15lb. Thanks guys.

They’re both good. Speaking from experience. BG is more readily available to me so I go with it. 

[PhishLI]

7 hours ago, JoeDeal55 said:

Very little vegetation in my fisheries so I will go with 15lb.

BG is amazingly strong line. For the amount you get for the price you pay it's fantastic.

 

I have a slew of gear, and I like to take 6-8 dedicated combos with me for bank fishing or for lake/pond wades. Recently I wrote the truth is that all the fish I've caught and that am likely to catch going forward could've been bagged using 3 combos.

 

When I'm going to fish a lake I'm not familiar with, or just want to do a quick hop out to a familiar spot, I'll mostly take these 3 combos during the weedier months:

 

Tatula XT 7' MF spinning rod 1/8-3/4 oz/ Tatula LT3000cxh/15lb Power Pro SS to whichever leader, or none.

 

13 Omen Black 2 7'3" MHF casting rod 3/8-1 oz/2020 Lew's TP Pro LFS/30lb J-Braid. Sometimes a leader, but usually none.

 

Tatula XT 7'3" HF casting Rod 3/8-1 1/2 oz. Daiwa JDM Catalina TW100/20lb Big Game.

 

Although I wouldn't mind a moderate action mixed in, none of these rods are moderate action. They're crisp, fast action sticks which is workable for me.

 

The spinning setup covers a lot of ground. Anything from neds, finesse jigs, small crankbaits, and jerkbaits to spooks, etc. If it's in the rods workable range I'll throw it. The fish in my avatar photo was caught using this rod. $100 and it's stood up well for how I've treated it. Same for the following two rods.

 

 The 7'3"MHF fast casting combo covers a ton of ground, and is in my hands more than anything else, especially if I wade way out and don't feel like slogging back to shore to swap rigs.  Because the reel's spool is so light I can throw baits well into the wheelhouse of the spinning setup, then baits up to a Beast Coast Miyagi swimmer with a standard superline hook weighing in right at an ounce, which it handles nicely. I've thrown baits you're not supposed to throw with this setup including 1/4 oz Yozuri jerkbaits and caught plenty of quality fish in choked out water.  It's fashionable on fishing forums to look down at this particular brand, but I really like this rod for how I use it and have had zero issues with it and several other sticks that I own in the series. They were $140 retail, but at $159 the Daiwa Tatula Casting Rod 7'3" MHF is quite similar in feel, action, and power. I haven't busted either of my two 7'3" Omens in four years, but if I do the Tatulas will replace them. 

 

The 7'3" HF casting setup also covers a lot of ground bait-wise. No problem sailing out an unweighted 5" senko in a pinch, but I reserve this setup for heavier baits like chatter baits and soft plastic swimbaits like Magdrafts. What makes this setup very flexible is the 20 lb Big Game. It has good stretch, but its strength is mind boggling. When combined with this rod I can throw treble baits like S-Waver 168s, Black Dog Shellcracker G2s, Jackall Ganteral Jrs, 5" Bucca Bull Shads, etc. Basically many glides and wake baits up to the rod's rating of 1 1/2ozs. It can even handle a 5" Bucca Bull Gill, but that's a bit of a push. The rod has the backbone to set larger trebles and the line's stretch keeps them pinned. My landing ratio has been quite good with this rig when throwing those baits. Same with chatterbaits. For $100 retail combined with inexpensive BG it has been a winner for me. Initially I put this combo together out of necessity. I couldn't bring my longer swimbait rods to a particular spot because it got too deep too fast, so catching trees on the back cast was an issue. Its shorter length solved my problem in the short term, but I came to love this setup for so much more than what I initially expected to use it for. This rod at $100 has taken everything I could throw at it and laughed.

 

While it would be ideal to use technically ideal rods, in the real world you make choices for different reasons. My more expensive sticks are for the boat where they can be treated kindly. I'm not throwing 6-8 pricey rods over my shoulder like a stack of 2x4s and trudging through the woods. Sometimes I catch a root and do a Captain Kirk roll. It happens. My G.Loomis freak buddy has snapped so many rods while we're out. Falling. Sliding. Catching branches and chain link fencing. It's crazy, but he just chalks it up. I don't need that type of anxiety, so I chose these rods for this duty and they've been up to the task, and I've caught a fish or two.

 

You don't need a $179 Tatula LT. A Fuego LT at $100 is really nice. You don't Need a $359 Catalina TW, but it's dreamy. You can easily get by spending much less and hit your target budget and get very good performance. A $159 Tatula 150 is a stout reel that can deliver a good measure of the Catalina's ultimate performance. The Quantum Vapor PT comes in at $139, and competes nicely with the $200 Lew's I mentioned as it also has a super light standard sized spool. My Loomis buddy is also an Aldebaran freak, but he liked my Vapor PT so much that he bought 4 of them. It's one of his and his son's favorite reels now and he can afford to buy anything he wants and does. These days there are options that'll give you very competitive actual fishing performance with the better, pricier gear, and if you can find fish you'll catch 'em up just fine.

 

[CrashVector]

56 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

BG is amazingly strong line. For the amount you get for the price you pay it's fantastic.

 

I have a slew of gear, and I like to take 6-8 dedicated combos with me for bank fishing or for lake/pond wades. Recently I wrote the truth is that all the fish I've caught and that am likely to catch going forward could've been bagged using 3 combos.

 

When I'm going to fish a lake I'm not familiar with, or just want to do a quick hop out to a familiar spot, I'll mostly take these 3 combos during the weedier months:

 

Tatula XT 7' MF spinning rod 1/8-3/4 oz/ Tatula LT3000cxh/15lb Power Pro SS to whichever leader, or none.

 

13 Omen Black 2 7'3" MHF casting rod 3/8-1 oz/2020 Lew's TP Pro LFS/30lb J-Braid. Sometimes a leader, but usually none.

 

Tatula XT 7'3" HF casting Rod 3/8-1 1/2 oz. Daiwa JDM Catalina TW100/20lb Big Game.

 

Although I wouldn't mind a moderate action mixed in, none of these rods are moderate action. They're crisp, fast action sticks which is workable for me.

 

The spinning setup covers a lot of ground. Anything from neds, finesse jigs, small crankbaits, and jerkbaits to spooks, etc. If it's in the rods workable range I'll throw it. The fish in my avatar photo was caught using this rod. $100 and it's stood up well for how I've treated it. Same for the following two rods.

 

 The 7'3"MHF fast casting combo covers a ton of ground, and is in my hands more than anything else, especially if I wade way out and don't feel like slogging back to shore to swap rigs.  Because the reel's spool is so light I can throw baits well into the wheelhouse of the spinning setup, then baits up to a Beast Coast Miyagi swimmer with a standard superline hook weighing in right at an ounce, which it handles nicely. I've thrown baits you're not supposed to throw with this setup including 1/4 oz Yozuri jerkbaits and caught plenty of quality fish in choked out water.  It's fashionable on fishing forums to look down at this particular brand, but I really like this rod for how I use it and have had zero issues with it and several other sticks that I own in the series. They were $140 retail, but at $159 the Daiwa Tatula Casting Rod 7'3" MHF is quite similar in feel, action, and power. I haven't busted either of my two 7'3" Omens in four years, but if I do the Tatulas will replace them. 

 

The 7'3" HF casting setup also covers a lot of ground bait-wise. No problem sailing out an unweighted 5" senko in a pinch, but I reserve this setup for heavier baits like chatter baits and soft plastic swimbaits like Magdrafts. What makes this setup very flexible is the 20 lb Big Game. It has good stretch, but is strength is mind boggling. When combined with this rod I can throw treble baits like S-Waver 168s, Black Dog Shellcracker G2s, Jackall Ganteral Jrs, 5" Bucca Bull Shads, etc. Basically many glides and wake baits up to the rod's rating of 1 1/2ozs. It can even handle a 5" Bucca Bull Gill, but that's a bit of a push. The rod has the backbone to set larger trebles and the line's stretch keeps them pinned. My landing ratio has been quite good with this rig when throwing those baits. Same with chatterbaits. For $100 retail combined with inexpensive BG it has been a winner for me. Initially I put this combo together out of necessity. I couldn't bring my longer swimbait rods to a particular spot because it got too deep to fast, so catching trees on the back cast was an issue. Its shorter length solved my problem in the short term, but I came to love this setup for so much more than what I initially expected to use it for. This rod at $100 has taken everything I could throw at it and laughed.

 

While it would be ideal to use technically ideal rods, in the real world you make choices for different reasons. My more expensive sticks are for the boat where they can be treated kindly. I'm not throwing 6-8 pricey rods over my shoulder like a stack of 2x4s and trudging through the woods. Sometimes I catch a root and do a Captain Kirk roll. It happens. My G.Loomis freak buddy has snapped so many rods while we're out. Falling. Sliding. Catching branches and chain link fencing. It's crazy, but he just chalks it up. I don't need that type of anxiety, so I chose these rods for this duty and they've been up to the task, and I've caught a fish or two.

 

You don't need a $179 Tatula LT. A Fuego LT at $100 is really nice. You don't Need a $359 Catalina TW, but it's dreamy. You can easily get by spending much less and hit your target budget and get very good performance. A $159 Tatula 150 is a stout reel that can deliver a good measure of the Catalina's ultimate performance. The Quantum Vapor PT comes in at $139, and competes nicely with the $200 Lew's I mentioned as it also has a super light standard sized spool. My Loomis buddy is also an Aldebaran freak, but he liked my Vapor PT so much that he bought 4 of them. It's one of his and his son's favorite reels now and he can afford to buy anything he wants and does. These days there are options that'll give you very competitive actual fishing performance with the better, pricier gear, and if you can find fish you'll catch 'em up just fine.

 

Yep.  Not like even 20-30 years ago when you had to decide between basically junk or top of the line.

 

I fished for YEARS with a Shakespeare supreme combo that I bought at a Kmart that was closing.  It costs me a grand total of $10 lmao!

 

I still have it for nostalgia purposes