Looking for recommendations

[Sota]

I am looking to get into bass fishing. I have moved this year from Washington state to Tennessee. My fishing has been salmon and steelhead. 
 I’m looking at a budget of 200-250 for rod and reel. My thinking is a 7’ ish MH fast action spinning rod and a 2500-3000 reel. 
 Given a budget of 200-250. What do y’all recommend and why? Tia 

[TNBankFishing]

Greetings, I lived in TN for the last 15 years before moving to Maryland. My first question is where are you located? If you’re east TN near the mother load of reservoirs like Watts Bar/Chick/Douglas I’d have different recommendations compared to west or central TN. Are you fishing from the bank or do you have access to something that floats? Will you be walking any rivers?

[Sota]

2 minutes ago, TNBankFishing said:

Greetings, I lived in TN for the last 15 years before moving to Maryland. My first question is where are you located? If you’re east TN near the mother load of reservoirs like Watts Bar/Chick/Douglas I’d have different recommendations compared to west or central TN. Are you fishing from the bank or do you have access to something that floats? Will you be walking any rivers?

I am located just outside of Nashville. I am going to be fishing from the bank. I have no problem walking rivers. That is where I spent most of my time fishing in Washington. 

[TNBankFishing]

I’d suggest something in the medium+ range on casting or medium on spinning. Some options would be a 1/4 to 5/8 spinning rod like the following:

 

Evergreen Brett Hite Combat Stick Spinning Rod 7'4" Medium | RCTS-74M
 

Megabass Levante "Shakyhead" 7'0" Medium Light Spinning Rod | F3.5-70LVS Or Megabass Levante "Enforcer" 7'4" Medium Spinning Rod | F4.5-74LVS depending on whether you like going heavy vs light. 

St Croix 7’3” MXF in the Victory line. 
 

If I had to choose one my personal preference would be the combat stick or the enforcer. If you can only bring one rod, and it’s spinning, I’d like the option to throw 1/4 oz jigs and heavier free rigs. The St Croix and Shakyhead are traditional medium spinning rods. They are both fantastic at their price points as well. 

 

 

 

[Randy Price]

You will get a lot of different opinions on this but for a budget of $ 250.00 for a combo I would look at getting a St. Croix Mojo Bass spinning rod in MF and a Shimano Sahara or Maravel.  Another good option would be a Shimano SLX spinning rod and a Daiwa Fuego. 

[Eric 26]

Although I don’t use the rod I would say look into the Daiwa Tatula XT rod and a Daiwa Fuego reel which again I don’t own simply due to the fact I find the spools on the Fuego are too deep and I have no need for the amount of line they hold. I do however own the Daiwa BG spinning reel in 1500 size and if you’re ok with a bit of weight the reel is as solid as you’re going to find for the price imho. 

[Sota]

I have heard good things about St. Croix mojo rods. I have not heard of Evergreen or Megabass. Though that doesn’t mean much.  Being a newb to bass fishing. Didn’t Shimano buy out G Loomis awhile ago? 
 I noticed you all are suggesting Med/ fast rods. Why go to Med/ fast? Would heavy/ fast be a good choice or no? 

[WRB]

Gary Loomis did sell his rod company to Shimano and Shimano operates the Loomis Woodland WA facility but Shimano rods are not manufactured there.

$250 budget for rod & reel is a challenge to find quality with good customer service and warranty.

Reel Shimano Miraval;  MIR2500HG

Rod Shimano Intenza A; NTZS73MHA, 7’3”, 1/4-3/4 oz, MHF.

Tom

PS, JDM sites saves your money however warrant is ?

Tom 

[Sota]

How does the Shimano Intenza, Diawa Tatula XT compare to the St. Croix Bass X, Triumph?  

[Sota]

How are the Donna rods? I am referring to the Maverick, Fury, and Colt rods. 

Dobyns not Donna. Siri doesn’t like me 

[Recurve1]

I'm loving my Tatula XT medium rod with Shimano Sahara 2500 reel for smallmouth wading.  Get the reel from Japan and save yourself $20 or 30 (Digitaka).  You'll come in well under budget.

 

The reel is very nice but looking to upgrade the reel to an Ultegra or Stradic when the dollar/yen becomes more favorable, only because those reels will likely last longer.

I built a couple NFC (Gary Loomis current company) spinning rods and the Tatula fishes as well as the NFC.  Using 10 or 15 lb braid with a mono or copoly leader.  Fishing 1/8 - 1/2 oz lures.

[PhishLI]

11 minutes ago, Recurve1 said:

I'm loving my Tatula XT medium rod

I've had the 6' 1/2" and 7' Mediums for the past 6 years. They're durable and feel great in my hand. Love the hook keeper. Good sensitivity too for $100.

[MiceNReets]

On 8/19/2024 at 8:41 AM, TNBankFishing said:

I’d suggest something in the medium+ range on casting or medium on spinning. Some options would be a 1/4 to 5/8 spinning rod like the following:

 

Evergreen Brett Hite Combat Stick Spinning Rod 7'4" Medium | RCTS-74M
 

Megabass Levante "Shakyhead" 7'0" Medium Light Spinning Rod | F3.5-70LVS Or Megabass Levante "Enforcer" 7'4" Medium Spinning Rod | F4.5-74LVS depending on whether you like going heavy vs light. 

St Croix 7’3” MXF in the Victory line. 
 

If I had to choose one my personal preference would be the combat stick or the enforcer. If you can only bring one rod, and it’s spinning, I’d like the option to throw 1/4 oz jigs and heavier free rigs. The St Croix and Shakyhead are traditional medium spinning rods. They are both fantastic at their price points as well. 

 

 

 

I second the evergreen combat stick 7’4 Medium.   

[ABU is overpriced]

For $250 i'd grab an Alphas SV TW from Japan ($150) and some $100 rod locally, there are a few decent options for the price.

[TNBankFishing]

2 hours ago, ABU is overpriced said:

For $250 i'd grab an Alphas SV TW from Japan ($150) and some $100 rod locally, there are a few decent options for the price.

The reel is significantly less important than a quality sensitive rod in my experience. 

[ABU is overpriced]

1 hour ago, TNBankFishing said:

The reel is significantly less important than a quality sensitive rod in my experience. 

Depends on the technique. And if you invest less on a reel, what exactly are your options? There's only the tatula and the slx, both of which are so far behind an alphas sv tw, that they shouldn't be compared. But lets say that you do get the $100 tat/slx instead, what kind of a big upgrade are you expecting to get from a fishing rod for that $150 you have left instead of the $100? All and all, for a reel and rod combo, you'd need about $350 to get something that is balanced, as in a good rod and a good reel. For $250 you have a choice of getting an okay reel (slx/tat) and a meh rod in the $150 range, or an amazing reel (alphas) and a meh rod in the $100 range. In this case i would go with an awesome reel, not like you're gonna get a great rod for $150.

[TNBankFishing]

1 hour ago, ABU is overpriced said:

Depends on the technique. And if you invest less on a reel, what exactly are your options? There's only the tatula and the slx, both of which are so far behind an alphas sv tw, that they shouldn't be compared. But lets say that you do get the $100 tat/slx instead, what kind of a big upgrade are you expecting to get from a fishing rod for that $150 you have left instead of the $100? All and all, for a reel and rod combo, you'd need about $350 to get something that is balanced, as in a good rod and a good reel. For $250 you have a choice of getting an okay reel (slx/tat) and a meh rod in the $150 range, or an amazing reel (alphas) and a meh rod in the $100 range. In this case i would go with an awesome reel, not like you're gonna get a great rod for $150.

Tatula elite on sale, Zodias, Levante. It’s worth it getting into solid rods. 

[PhishLI]

6 hours ago, ABU is overpriced said:

For $250 i'd grab an Alphas SV TW from Japan ($150) and some $100 rod locally, there are a few decent options for the price.

The OP is looking for a spinning rig, ABU.

[Rockhopper]

Fenwick HMX 7' MF is a pretty decent rod for $100. I have a two piece that I keep in the truck at all times.  Pair that up with a Shimano Nasci for $100 and you have a pretty decent setup for $200. 

[ABU is overpriced]

2 hours ago, PhishLI said:

The OP is looking for a spinning rig, ABU.

ooooups, forget what i said then, i know nothing about spinning reels when it comes to best for the money.

4 hours ago, TNBankFishing said:

Tatula elite on sale, Zodias, Levante. It’s worth it getting into solid rods. 

Personally cannot stand the Zodias line, and Levante break way too easily.

[PBBrandon]

I’ve found that you don’t need to spend an arm and a leg for a good spinning reel. Daiwa makes great spinning reels for 40-50 bucks and up. I’ve owned a Regal that has been beat to death and stayed butter smooth. I took it fishing off the coast of Florida and caught a bunch of Pompano with it before the sand and salt finally killed it. Was 50 bucks and gave me 3-4 good years of fishing. Also liked my Exceler and Pflueger President reels.

 

With that being said, I’d get a 50-100 dollar Daiwa reel, really no wrong answer with their spinning reels, and pair it with a 150-200 dollar rod. Plenty of excellent sticks in that price range. A few that come to mind are

 

Dobyns Champion XP

Daiwa Tatula/Tatula Elite

Shimano Zodias

Megabass Levante

St. Croix Victory

 

one of those paired with a 3000 size reel would be great

[TNBankFishing]

36 minutes ago, ABU is overpriced said:

ooooups, forget what i said then, i know nothing about spinning reels when it comes to best for the money.

Personally cannot stand the Zodias line, and Levante break way too easily.

Zodias isn’t my cup of tea either but many really enjoy using them. Levantes broke before the recall, I don’t have any issue recommending them today. 
 

It’s easy to say just buy an NRX 852s but when you dig into spinning lines there are serious gems. When I was fishing TN reservoirs I wasn’t in tune with them. Up here in the northeast I use a spin much more often on the river systems. 

[Sota]

I’m taking all this in. Thanks with yall giving advice on a rig. 
 I’m wondering what the difference is between Tatula and Tatula Elite? 

[PBBrandon]

43 minutes ago, Sota said:

I’m taking all this in. Thanks with yall giving advice on a rig. 
 I’m wondering what the difference is between Tatula and Tatula Elite? 

The regular Tatula has an “SVF” blank and Fuji Fazlite guides with a cork handle. the Tatula Elite has an “SVF Nanoplus” blank which I assume is a little better, alconite guides which are better, and an EVA foam handle on most models.

 

Daiwa also has an AGS version of Tatula Elite rods which are the Elite blanks but with carbon fiber guides. They make the rods lighter, more sensitive and more balanced. Can feel a fish fart with those things.

 

imo the regular Tatula rods are already outstanding as is, so if you want to save a bit and get the regular one, you aren’t missing anything major. All great rods

[GetFishorDieTryin]

It sounds like you want a do it all blank.  I would start with a 7' (ish) M F.  You could throw anything from neds to senkos. There are a lot of good rods on the market at the price point you're working with.  Tatula is the first one to come to mind.  The actions/powers are great and they're fairly light.  A daiwa rep told me that there is virtually no difference between the Tatula and Tatula elite blank wise.  Daiwa knowing that doesnt making comparing them comparing them easy, as they dont offer the same rod in both lines.  The length, action and even weight range is different.  What you do get with the Elite is marginally upgraded guides rings, from fazlite to alconite.  Honestly I prefer the K frame guides on Tatula and functionaly there is no difference between fazlite and alconite.  You do get an additional guide on some Elite models which disperses load a little better.  What it comes down to is finding the model that fits what you need and depending which line has it is the line you go with.

I would suggest the Tatula 7' M F for a do it all rod.  Its rated to 3/4, but that's wishful thinking on Daiwas part IMO, I wouldn't fish much over 1/2.

The Megabass Levante is another great do it all rod.  Its 200$, but in terms of refinement and quality its well worth it. 

For a reel, I would go for a Daiwa Exceler or Shimano Miravel, depending on the budget, both in 3k.  If you wait until Labor Day sale, you can get a really good discount and stay within or very close to your budget.