rod,reel,bait

[Jake P]

im still unclear on alot. all the different rods for different baits and what to set your reel to and all that. does heavier bait call for heavier rods? or longer rods? and how do i know what to set my reel to depending on what bait im using? I may be overthinking this, let me know plz

[surfer]

You wish you were over thinking it. You can take it as far as you want to go. And you have come to the right place as some of these guys do. :

Read this other thread for some in-depth about rods.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1141187546

As for what to set (the drag on) your real to... that mostly depends on the strength of the line you are using. The whole point of the drag is so the line won't break when the fish exerts too much force. The drag will give way and let some line out. The fish will tire of pulling against the drag and you can recover the lost line. If you are technical a safe place to start is 30 to 50% of the line strength. This is due to knot strength is always less than line strength.

So for 8 lb line set your drag to about 3 lbs.

[Jake P]

thanks for the link to that page man, that helped TONS. still rereading over and letting it all register but i got the gist of it

[Jake P]

im trying to set the drag on my reel, do i have to have a spring scale in order to get it precise?

[Guest avid]

im trying to set the drag on my reel, do i have to have a spring scale in order to get it precise?

Whoa!! Easy there big fella.

this is bass fishing not rocket science.  It don't gotta be precise..........It just gotta work.

This ain't life and death dude, and your takin all the fun out of it.

I mean how are you gonna tell funny stories about all your backlashes ifn' you don't get none?

Now, go and tie on a bait, set you spool tension and your brakes like it says in the article, go in the backyard (or better yet, the lake)

And start casting.

Many of us here will tell you about the lunker we caught while picking out a backlash with our bait soaking on the bottom.

We call it "dead sticking"  Some times we lie and say we did it on purpose.

See,  ain't this fun  ;D

[roadwarrior]

Well, if you are just getting started, buy yourself a 6 1/2' Medium Power/ Fast Action spinning rod & reel combination. If you have a pricing point in mind, we can be more specific, but to start with, "anything will do." Once you have been fishing for awhile, the comparisons and suggestions will start to make more sense. Fishing can be "rocket science" if you want to make it that complicated, but it doesn't have to be that way.

Here is a thread to start with:

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1182371999

Here's another:

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1180501296

[Jake P]

ive been usin a spinning reel combo for forever even though the times i fished were few and far between, but now that i am really into bassfishin im tryin to learn all the knowledge i can and put it to use quickly. and being the impatient person that i am i went out and bought an abu garcia revo s baitcaster!! so we'l see how that goes lol  :-/

also would a 7' allstar rod be a good choice to go with my baitcast?

[Jake P]

SON OF A &*^%$&, i bought my new reel from bps becuase the internet thing doesnt seem to work right with them. im on bps.com and i look at my reel and see that it is a combo that comes with a bionic blade rod, well when i bought it i remember it having the combo sticker but i never got a rod becuase i forgot about it!!!!!!! do you guys think that i could somehow get the rod still?

[grimlin]

Still have your receipt? Should show you didn't walk out with a rod...I don't think they will give you any problems over it specially if you go in the store.Call em' up and tell them what happened.They'll probably tell you to come right in and pick it up.

[Jake P]

thanks, il do that now