New to Baitcasting

[Jayd0976]

I’m a beginner all around. Have used only Spinning reels in the past. Mainly just bass fish in the large pond in my backyard and occasional boat trip to the nearby lakes. 
 

Looking for a good beginner baitcaster/rod combo. Not really looking to go over the $150-200 range combined.

 

Was looking at the lew’s Mach 2 but a neighbor who is a pretty avid baitcaster says that was his first rod/reel and wasn’t very forgiving for him when he was a newbie trying to learn. 

[Jig Man]

I’m not sure you can get a setup for that money that will be easy for a beginner.  Good luck.

[RAM3139]

Everyone will have a different idea of what "good enough" is, but I think a shimano SLX is a solid lower cost reel with a simple and reliable braking system.  Set it with 3-4 blocks on, dial in the cast control knob for the lure weight and start casting.  This will be over-braked by a bit and limit your distance some, but good to learn on.  It wont be idiot proof as something like a DC, but I there is a reason a quality brand like shimano has been using that style of brake for decades.

 

You can sometimes find an SLX combo on sale <$150.  For that matter, I would say its a safe bet to buy any reel from shimano or daiwa thats 100-150 and spend the rest on whatever rod you like.

[WRB]

Look close out sales on Tackle

Warehouse rods and reels that originally in $100+ price range you can put together a decent combo for $150.

Take a look and let us know you found.

American Legacy Fishing also sells discounted rods and reels plus offers 10% discount.

Tom

[ABU is overpriced]

SV spools are very beginner friendly, so i'd suggest you buy a reel from Daiwa that has an SV spool. For your first reel, something like the Alphas SV TW would be amazing, but they're $150 from Japan. I would suggest you look at the used market, there are plenty of very good deals.

[Jayd0976]

I’ve been looking at and leaning towards a Daiwa Tatula SV (left hand retrieve) as I’m a righty and I hear it’s just easier to retrieve with your weak hand with baitcasters. Anyway there’s so many models in the Tatula SV TW/TWS I don’t even know where to start…. 100, 150, 103 then the different gear ratios. Just looking  for best for beginner to learn on for bass primarily that won’t break the bank. 

[Jayd0976]

Found this for $100 

 

https://www.hammondsfishing.com/products/diawa-tatula-sv-casting-reel?variant=20230094061641

[WRB]

Left hand reel don’t know if that is what you need?

Tom

[Eric 26]

@Jayd0976 I’m not sure if this is the reel in question but if so the attached photo is directly from the US Daiwa website along with the original MSRP so it’s a good deal. As it’s been said it’s a great reel as are all Daiwa’s imho with the only drawback being that reel is not as compact as some of the newer versions but I would not let that scare you away. As far as rods if you’re looking to keep the combo on the lower end the Daiwa Aird X receives a ton of praise both here and elsewhere, although I don’t own one I’ve handled them a good handful of times enough so that I would recommend the 7’-0” medium powered rod vs the 7’-0” med. hvy. that will no doubt be recommended for the reason that I generally fish smaller retention ponds which require lighter/smaller lures that generally speaking load better on a 7’ med. powered rod, again imho.

[Jayd0976]

4 minutes ago, Eric 26 said:

@Jayd0976 I’m not sure if this is the reel in question but if so the attached photo is directly from the US Daiwa website along with the original MSRP so it’s a good deal. As it’s been said it’s a great reel as are all Daiwa’s imho with the only drawback being that reel is not as compact as some of the newer versions but I would not let that scare you away. As far as rods if you’re looking to keep the combo on the lower end the Daiwa Aird X receives a ton of praise both here and elsewhere, although I don’t own one I’ve handled them a good handful of times enough so that I would recommend the 7’-0” medium powered rod vs the 7’-0” med. hvy. that will no doubt be recommended for the reason that I generally fish smaller retention ponds which require lighter/smaller lures that generally speaking load better on a 7’ med. powered rod, again imho.

 

this is the model # TASV103HL

[ABU is overpriced]

A Tat SV for $100 is a good deal, and a good option for your first baitcaster.

[Jayd0976]

17 minutes ago, WRB said:

Left hand reel don’t know if that is what you need?

Tom

Yes I would be going left hand to avoid switching hands after the cast.

[Jayd0976]

19 minutes ago, ABU is overpriced said:

A Tat SV for $100 is a good deal, and a good option for your first baitcaster.

Im a little skeptical as I do t see that same reel anywhere else for less than $155. 

[Backroad Angler]

I started out with a Shimano Casitas, don't believe they make them anymore, I believe the comparable is the Shimano SLX. For the rod, I used a Dobyns fury. This set up treated me pretty good.

[Jayd0976]

Of these two which would

you choose?  The cheaper one doesn’t give much of a description. Looks like main difference is it doesn’t have the “Zero Adjust”
 

TASV103HL is the $100 model

https://daiwa.us/products/tatula-sv-tw?_pos=1&_sid=68cff465a&_ss=r&variant=41080054644873

 

TTUSV103HL L is the $146 model

https://daiwa.us/products/tatula-sv-tw103?_pos=1&_sid=824dfecf0&_ss=r&variant=34582153920649

[PhishLI]

12 minutes ago, Jayd0976 said:

Of these two which would

you choose?

For $100, just grab the '17 Tat SV from the link you posted. Not going to beat that price. Just set the spool tension for zero play and you're good.

[MediumMouthBass]

13 hours ago, Jayd0976 said:

I’m a beginner all around. Have used only Spinning reels in the past. Mainly just bass fish in the large pond in my backyard and occasional boat trip to the nearby lakes. 
 

Looking for a good beginner baitcaster/rod combo. Not really looking to go over the $150-200 range combined.

 

Was looking at the lew’s Mach 2 but a neighbor who is a pretty avid baitcaster says that was his first rod/reel and wasn’t very forgiving for him when he was a newbie trying to learn. 

Stay away from those types of Lews products, while Lews makes some great rods and reels the Mach series is awful for the price. Its subpar parts but somehow the same price if not more than their actual good quality rods and reels. I call it their "youtube" marketing series of gear.

 

If going with lews the base LFS goes on sale alot for $75, great reel but its not going to be the easiest to use for beginners.

 

The old gen Shimano SLX MGL 70 or newer SLX 70 uses a MGL spool thats very beginner friendly, very hard to backlash with it, casts very far too. Handles very lighter and heavy lures excellent.

And as you improve just turn the brakes down. MSRP is around $150.

I have the old gen MGL 70 and a Tatula SV TW 103, and as a Daiwa guy (85% of my rods are Daiwas and i love them) the SV TW is in no way of even coming close to the severely under priced SLX with the MGL spool. But both are still great reels, just quite a bit different.

[ABU is overpriced]

Zero adjuster is the most pointless and dumbest "feature" Daiwa has ever made.

[Jayd0976]

Alright pulled the trigger with the $100 tatula SV TWS 103 reel and paired it with a Daiwa Aird-X Rod not bad for $160 total.

[Bazoo]

I'm not familiar with the reels mentioned.

 

Abu Garcia Black Max combo is about $70 or so from Walmart and is a decent rig. I use both the reel and rod, but separately currently.

 

The rod is as much or more important than the reel in my opinion. The way the rod loads with the lure weight is very important.

 

A reel with dual brakes is better because it allows you to dial in the help where you need it in the casting cycle. The Black Max only has magnetic brakes, but is easy to work with regardless.

[WRB]

The Daiwa reel you found is a good deal and reel. Compare resale value.

Now find yourself a good rod👍

Tom

[PhishLI]

1 hour ago, ABU is overpriced said:

Zero adjuster is the most pointless and dumbest "feature" Daiwa has ever made.

Not necessarily. It's aimed at newbies armed with bad info about juicing the spool tension for a slow drop. I just went through this with a local who was too impatient to wait until I met up with him for a lesson. He's alright now.

47 minutes ago, Jayd0976 said:

Alright pulled the trigger with the $100 tatula SV TWS 103 reel and paired it with a Daiwa Aird-X Rod not bad for $160 total.

Cool. Which Aird X did you grab?

[Jayd0976]

23 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

Not necessarily. It's aimed at newbies armed with bad info about juicing the spool tension for a slow drop. I just went through this with a local who was too impatient to wait until I met up with him for a lesson. He's alright now.

Cool. Which Aird X did you grab?

7’ MH/F. Where on Long Island you from? Just moved to South Carolina a year ago but originally from LI. 

[ABU is overpriced]

2 hours ago, PhishLI said:

Not necessarily. It's aimed at newbies armed with bad info about juicing the spool tension for a slow drop. I just went through this with a local who was too impatient to wait until I met up with him for a lesson. He's alright now.

Cool. Which Aird X did you grab?

Then why would you have that on a Steez? It doesn't make any sense to me, and even if this was the case, why not just let them adjust it if they want? No reason to completely change the whole thing. And the funny part is, this so called zero adjuster is being adjusted by the same newbies, so their strategy didn't work at all. To me, as i see it, it was changed because there's way less things going into a zero adjuster cap than what we used to have on a reel like the steez 103 for example. The detail on the cap, the clicking, all of it took more time and effort, so they stripped it all down, and gave us whatever the ugly, and pointless feature we currently have. Every single reel on the market that has a zero adjuster would look superior with older clicking caps, all of them with no exceptions.

[PhishLI]

7 hours ago, Jayd0976 said:

Where on Long Island you from? Just moved to South Carolina a year ago but originally from LI. 

Grew up in Ronk, but now live in Nassau. Parents live in Summerville now. My brother's down there now for the week. Says he's melting in the heat and humidity and that the bite is super tough.🤣