Newbie Fishing gear and fishing line question

[Morello87]

Hello,

I am new to the fishing world, it is a hobby I am trying to pick up that I hope to share with my 4 year daughter. 
 

I currently have a small spinning  5’4 ML trout rod I got from turners and plan on getting some new rods during these holiday sales. I am fishing in Southern California  in local parks (El dorado, don knobe) and sometimes go fishing up the mountain in lake Gregory.

 

my plan is to pick up a spinning 7’ medium tatula xt to pair with a 2500 diawa fuego. My birthday is also coming up so I am planning on trying a casting rod, thinking the diawa aird-x 7’ MH and pair it with diawa CC80 (staying around $100 for this combo)

 

my first question would be if I can use the same fishing line for both rods or if each rod should have their own? I believe these local parks/lakes get stocked with catfish, trout and bass and I was thinking of getting 15lb seagurd Smackdown for both the casting and spinning combos.

 

i have mainly picked up terminal gear and plastics for shaky heads, ned/neko, drop shots, wacky rigs, Texas and c-rigs based on information I have gathered on these forums. I’ve tried them all and have yet to catch a fish on the few times I’ve gone out this year but I am determined to take my daughter more often next year 🤗.

 

i welcome any suggestions on my planned rods selections  and any insight as to the line configurations for casting and spinning. I figure that these finesse techniques pertain to the spinning rod but I am eager to learn about casting rods as well.

 

thank you in advance!

[Eric 26]

I’ll go first in saying don’t put 15 pound line on that spinning reel. Stick with something no higher than 10 pound maybe Trilene XL and I would opt for 8 pound personally and just use the drag properly. Also great combos but again after handling all 3 “C” series Daiwa reels I would strongly suggest the CA80 with the aluminum frame and yes I own one and love it. Keep your eyes open on Amazon and all sales for all the gear and follow the latest sales thread on here.

[LonnieP]

The 15 lb Smackdown braid is fine for the spinning reel, but it’s way too small for the casting reel. You want at least 40 lb for that.

[Morello87]

Ok thank you, I have limited experience with my spinning rod and zero info on casting, I’ve seen multiple posts and videos about trying to have one of each! So casting rods require thicker and thus higher pound test Ty for the input.

 

also thanks for input on the casting reel. I think I was originally going to get a lews classic pro or something like that but saw on tactical basins recent budget video for the holidays that they listed the diawa cc80 and figured it would pair with the rod

[LonnieP]

15lb SmackDown has the same diameter as 6lb mono. 40 lb has the same as 12 lb mono.

[GreenPig]

15 lb SmackDown is fine for Spinning, too light for casting. If its your first casting rig, I suggest starting with 12 or 14lb Mono, you will blow it up a time or two.

[Sota]

If you’re checking sales. You might want to check out Sportsman’s warehouse. They have a good sale going on right now. You might be able to find a higher end rod around the price you’re looking at. 

[Eric 26]

Sorry I didn’t realize you had said braid 😬 Forget what I said about the line and listen to everyone else on that. But I’ll stick with what I said about the reel.

[Darren.]

Welcome aboard! Rod and reel selection can border on a

religious argument. Find what will work for you, the bait

monkey will have his way with you regardless . 

 

I'm one who prefers rods 6'6" and under. I also fish 1000

size Stradics for fresh and salt. Caught plenty of bass over

6 pounds (the one in my avatar is 6 pounds 6 oz) on them.

 

Avatar was caught on a 5'9" Shimano Compre rod and a

Stradic 1000 FI. No problemo, and was in sticks, too. I use

braid for mainline and always tie on a leader of fluoro, or

a copoly which saves cutting into the mainline. Daiwa makes

some mighty fine gear, hard to go wrong there. I think

your selections are fine. 

[Morello87]

Thank you everyone for the responses! I am indeed tying braid to floro (I think I have 20lb addicted enforcer to 8lb leader on my turners combo).

 

so I’m a little confused, do casting reals require 40lb braid?

 

I’ll pick up 10-15 lb braided smackdown for the spinning. What’s the good word on casting then 🤯?

 

[Glenn]

• Leaders are not required for bass fishing. 
• Braid is not an all-purpose line.  It's best for fishing heavy vegetation.
• Ergo, baitcasters can use fluorocarbon, mono, and co-polymer just fine.  In fact, most of my reels are spooled with all fluorocarbon.

These vids will help:

 

 

 

 

 

[softwateronly]

@Morello87 If you throw 15lb braid on a "normal" baitcaster, you often end up with line dig.  Line dig will blow up your casting stroke and make fishing unpleasant and possibly slow your thumb education.  I agree 40lb braid is about as low as you wanna go while learning, but 30lb is pretty much hassle free for me on my reels a few years in.  There's not many of us on here, but I think braid to leader is a viable system that has more advantages than drawbacks in my book.  Line choices are hotly debated on here, and over time I can see the logic behind all the differing views.

 

scott

[GRiver]

8 hours ago, Darren. said:

Welcome aboard! Rod and reel selection can border on a

religious argument. Find what will work for you, the bait

monkey will have his way with you regardless

Yep, x2

[bulldog1935]

The trick with fishing threadline braid is filling your spool (see BFS).  

One way to fish 20-lb braid on normal deep-spool baitcaster is backing the braid with 20 to 25 yds of 20- to 25-lb mono (not fluoro).  You mostly fill the spool with the backing, giving you working braid capacity of about 100 yds.  The large-dia. backing stacks inefficiently, keeps loaded spool mass down, makes casting reliable, and prevents line dig.  

That said, I wouldn't consider braid on baitcaster until backlash is a distant memory.  For your learning curve, I would begin with 10- to 12-lb mono/fluoro.  

[Tarpon Hunter]

This is heresy ito the majority of anglers today but I stopped using braid awhile ago. Pros: you can get a little more distance .Sensitivity when line is tight. Cons: Wasting time tying on a new leader after you get snagged. It sails away when you cast on windy day, The wind carries it away resting on the water. You can still get wind knots on a spinning reel. 

I use mono for top water , flouro for everything else. I don't think I'm sacrificing much in sensitivity. Check out this video about flouro's sensitivity on a slack line. I can feel light takes when a bait is falling. 

 

[Smirak]

If you have a dicks local, see if they have any Lews Speed Spool LFS in stock. That’s a $100 reel, some argue that it and the SLX are the best $100 reels around. I have about 4 of them. The reason I say dicks is because they are $30. Also just noticed they have a combo with that reel for stupid price too.  Nothing local to me, so no dice. If they had them in stock at $30, I’d probably buy 5 or 6 just to have in the boxes!