Have you ever happily surprised by an inexpensive combo

[MAN]

I am actually surprised I have not been able to destroy this thing yet. ~10 white bass, 15 catfish, ~20 black bass, ~50 perch, 3 drum. But to be honest I have been babying it just to see how far I can push it at this point.  

[Skunkmaster-k]

These are wimpy as a dish rag , but they work pretty good for crappie or bluegill. Trout too. The reels are trash though. I got mine on sale for 10$ and have actually got my money’s worth and then some. 

[bulldog1935]

@Skunkmaster-k - also doesn't sting if you do what my buddy did.  He left his Daiwa-BBB telescope with his Son-IL's Shimano Ultegra on the back seat of a rental car in Albany - now owned by a car-vacuum technician.  

[Skunkmaster-k]

9 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

@Skunkmaster-k - also doesn't sting if you do what my buddy did.  He left his Daiwa-BBB telescope with his Son-IL's Shimano Ultegra on the back seat of a rental car in Albany - now owned by a car-vacuum technician.  

Ouch! 

[GRiver]

Wow everyone has me beat by a country mile as far  buying an inexpensive set up. I get a lot of my gear from yard sales. 

[Fishing_Rod]

Greetings All,

@MAN I have had a go at that Ozark Trail combo with very good results. I've had it for about a year or so and during that time it has connected on tilapia, bass, trout, and catfish with good results. The reel is a bit worn (noticeable gear grind, with increasing free play) as I've put it through the paces, it is ready to be examined closely and possibly serviced. The rod is in great shape, much like new. No issues with the line guides or such.

 

The line that the rig comes with is usable, it is not all that supple and may be a concern for some. It did prove to be reasonably tough and resistant to some abrasion. I usually use lighter 1/16 oz - 1/8 oz baits with this rig and I'm sure with different line the handling and casting qualities would be different. Still, at $10 price point, it remains a great value. Especially if the ambition is to go fishing for a small investment.

 

I bought several of these rigs as I was curious about them and they are a bargain too. Initially I intended to buy them for the just the fishing rod. My initial impression of the reel is just not what I'm accustomed to. The polymer spool, the quality of the drag, and the gear grind along with gracious internal tolerances. I figured it would be fun to give them a go. 

 

After purchasing them, I did decided to simply use it just as is. So for the better part of a full year, I simply used it where I could.

 

Now in retrospect, they are a good value at a modest price with availability too for general purpose angling. I've managed to see them at pretty much all the stores in the region.

 

It is a bit heavier overall than I generally use with my typical angling. The rod has a slower action than with the lighter weight graphite alternatives. It has been great for those canal angling adventures where you never quite know what you'll connect with. Be it small or very strong, this rig has handled it well. I managed to experience tilapia strength and endurance when canal angling using this rig. Between the tilapia and catfish I was not sure which would be the first to spool me as I needed to walk along the canals to manage the struggle. The reel's drag is better suited to that type of larger fish on heavier line. Probably not so good if you need a smoother drag when using lighter line. That is better suited by another reel at a higher quality build level.

 

It was also rather nice for trout during the cold weather months when used with spoons and lures. The slow rod action worked well for those dramatic and dynamic trout strikes with in-line spinners. The rod flex helped keep things on-line.

 

Glad you brought it up. I figured I'd add about $0.02 worth of experience with it to share with others. Be well and Cheers!

[The Maestro]

The old green Basspro Extreme rods were decent. I have an Abu Ike delay rod which is good for the ~$100 I paid for it.

[softwateronly]

It's not dirt cheap, but the Major Craft Days in the 2 piece models at $140 shipped no taxes from digitaka is the best bang for the buck series I've ever tried.  It's like a half price expride that gets small to fit in the car.  The newer Days 360 fishes just under but similar to the Steez AGS in my opinion.  I've even found 2 different salt models that excel for me. 

 

scott 

[MAN]

On 5/7/2024 at 11:47 AM, Fishing_Rod said:

Greetings All,

@MAN I have had a go at that Ozark Trail combo with very good results. I've had it for about a year or so and during that time it has connected on tilapia, bass, trout, and catfish with good results. The reel is a bit worn (noticeable gear grind, with increasing free play) as I've put it through the paces, it is ready to be examined closely and possibly serviced. The rod is in great shape, much like new. No issues with the line guides or such.

 

The line that the rig comes with is usable, it is not all that supple and may be a concern for some. It did prove to be reasonably tough and resistant to some abrasion. I usually use lighter 1/16 oz - 1/8 oz baits with this rig and I'm sure with different line the handling and casting qualities would be different. Still, at $10 price point, it remains a great value. Especially if the ambition is to go fishing for a small investment.

 

I bought several of these rigs as I was curious about them and they are a bargain too. Initially I intended to buy them for the just the fishing rod. My initial impression of the reel is just not what I'm accustomed to. The polymer spool, the quality of the drag, and the gear grind along with gracious internal tolerances. I figured it would be fun to give them a go. 

 

After purchasing them, I did decided to simply use it just as is. So for the better part of a full year, I simply used it where I could.

 

Now in retrospect, they are a good value at a modest price with availability too for general purpose angling. I've managed to see them at pretty much all the stores in the region.

 

It is a bit heavier overall than I generally use with my typical angling. The rod has a slower action than with the lighter weight graphite alternatives. It has been great for those canal angling adventures where you never quite know what you'll connect with. Be it small or very strong, this rig has handled it well. I managed to experience tilapia strength and endurance when canal angling using this rig. Between the tilapia and catfish I was not sure which would be the first to spool me as I needed to walk along the canals to manage the struggle. The reel's drag is better suited to that type of larger fish on heavier line. Probably not so good if you need a smoother drag when using lighter line. That is better suited by another reel at a higher quality build level.

 

It was also rather nice for trout during the cold weather months when used with spoons and lures. The slow rod action worked well for those dramatic and dynamic trout strikes with in-line spinners. The rod flex helped keep things on-line.

 

Glad you brought it up. I figured I'd add about $0.02 worth of experience with it to share with others. Be well and Cheers!

That may be the most detailed review I have ever read on a $9.99 combo!  😮  Great job!

[new2BC4bass]

On 5/7/2024 at 5:23 AM, GRiver said:

Wow everyone has me beat by a country mile as far  buying an inexpensive set up. I get a lot of my gear from yard sales. 

My B-I-L's most used spinning rod came from a yard sale.  I'm sure he's told me the price he paid but I don't remember.  He's caught a ton of bass on it including an 11.8 pound Largemouth about 2 years ago.  Don't believe there is even a name on the rod.  If there was, it wore off long ago.

 

My least expensive combo is a $30 Procaster 100HN on closeout ($69.99 regular price) on a $17 6' MH Lightning ($18.02 with tax).  Initially a gift for my oldest grandson to learn how to use a baitcast reel, but he refuses to use anything other than a spinning reel.

[waymont]

Nope, every inexpensive anything in regards to rods and reels aren’t fun to fish with, and more importantly fall apart. For me it’s a total waste of money.

[KP Duty]

Yes.  I have an Academy brand h20 Ethos (gen 1) 7' MH (1/4-1oz) casting rod that features a 30T blank, Fuji ECS seat, and fuji stainless steel guides w/ Alconite rings.  It's 'light and right' imo...probably a 4.2oz stick.  Retailed for $59 in 2012.  Just can't find a reason to get rid of it.

[Brian11719]

On 5/4/2024 at 12:10 PM, A-Jay said:

Nope.

A-Jay

LOL this is pretty much how I feel. I got a Lew's carbon fire MH F spinning rod and reel when they were going for $40 each and it's a pretty good rod and at the time I thought it was a steal of a setup for $80 but I ultimately ended up seeing a need for a MH spinning rod in my lineup and ended up getting one of the new Custom Lite Rods paired up with a HyperMag spinning reel and needless to say I prefer the (somewhat) expensive stuff. The carbon fire is still a good option for friends that visit and want to go fishing and a good backup rod...

[Randy Price]

Years ago (almost 30) I bought a Berkley Lightning Rod (spinning) at K-Mart and a Shimano Sierra (I believe) reel for about $ 60.00.  That was one of the best combo's I've ever had.  Caught a ton of fish with it.

[Choporoz]

Couple very good spinning rods came in cheap combos: Cabelas branded many years ago (came with entry level Mitchell reel, I think), and Abu Garcia Max from a couple years ago.  The reels were crap, but both rods were surprisingly good.

[KP Duty]

1 hour ago, Randy Price said:

Years ago (almost 30) I bought a Berkley Lightning Rod (spinning) at K-Mart and a Shimano Sierra (I believe) reel for about $ 60.00.  That was one of the best combo's I've ever had.  Caught a ton of fish with it.

I remember the Berkley Lightning rods being $38.96 at Walmart in 1991.  They were considered good rods.  

[Randy Price]

@KP Duty, it was a great rod.  I have no idea how many fish I caught with that Lightning Rod and Sierra reel.

[Fishing_Rod]

Greetings All,

I appreciate all the information shared on this thread. I just wanted to add that I recently stopped in at Sportsman's Warehouse just to look at their newest Tucson store. Nice that it is a bit closer to me than the older one on the far west side.

 

While there I happened to find an Okuma ultra lite combo for about $60. It is their Cellio rod with an Aria A spinning reel. A quick addition of some 4 pound mono and we tried it out at the local park lake with good results. The little 1000 sized reel is a nice light weight pairing to the very light weight rod. Using it for several hours was not an issue and very pleasant. The reel is not sophisticated but it does have an outstanding drag. It has very nice adjustment qualities and even better release characteristics, especially for Ultra Lite application where a quality drag is very helpful.

 

The drag is very consistent in operation with a good startup, meaning it doesn't take a huge amount of effort to get things moving and when they do move it remains predictable with a consistent level of slipping. Lower quality drag components take a huge effort to get moving then slip like crazy once things are moving, where they no longer maintain that predicable level of resistance.

 

The little reel does have some amount of movement before the anti-reverse grabs. This is not an issue for me but it may be important for some. The few bass (roughly 1.5 lbs) and catfish (approx 2.5 lbs) that were caught on it did not provide any negative feedback regarding the quality of the rig. It put a good bend on the rod with some healthy tension on the reel.

 

So far so good. Continuing with the evaluation. Best wishes to each of you, be well, and Cheers!