How does my equipment stack up??

[The Rooster]

I have a few rods and reels I use a lot, picked out mostly because of smoothness of the reel's operation and comfort of the rod, within a certain price range of course. Just was wondering how I can expect some of this to perform if and when I ever do hook a fish in the 5 pounds and up class. I'd settle for 3 pounds actually. I'm usually catching 1 - 2 pounders though. Hoping to improve that this year.

First of all, I use Stren 8 lb. test mono on my spinning gear, sometimes 10 lb. The clear/blue fluorescent mostly. Was thinking of switching to a fluorocarbon though. I use 12 lb. in the same line for baitcasters.

And for equipment, I have.....

Quest (Dick's Sporting Goods brand) 6'0" 1 pc. graphite medium spinning rod with a Shimano Sedona SE2500FB spinning reel on it. 8 lb. test mono.

Shakespeare Ugly Stik Lite Pro 6'0" 2 pc. fiberglass/graphite medium spinning rod with a Mitchell Avocet S2000R spinning reel. 10 lb. test mono.

Quantum Dance Class 6'6" 1 pc. graphite medium spinning rod with another Mitchell Avocet S2000R spinning reel. 10 lb. test mono.

Quantum Torsion 6'0" 1 pc. graphite medium casting rod with a Bass Pro Shops Extreme baitcaster on it (2006 model, 5 bearings, aluminum frame), 6.4:1 ratio. 12 lb. test mono.

Quest 6'0" 2 pc. graphite medium casting rod with an old Quantum EX250 (1996 model, 2 bearings, graphite frame) baitcaster on it, 5.1:1 ratio. 12 lb. test mono.

These are the five rods I use the most of all of them. They feel comfortable, and I've tried to select quality stuff within the price range I shop in. Some of the reels having graphite frames has got me wondering how they will hold up in a fight with a very nice fish.

[.dsaavedra.]

you have nothing to worry about. no bass will do any harm to any of that gear.

[Ballpark Frank]

If you are happy with it and catch fish with it, then it is the best in the world. I have caught 5#s on ultralight tackle before, but that's not saying I want to. The only things I would recommend is getting a casting rod in the Medium-Heavy to Heavy range, and stepping up to some heavier line(say 15#). I know Dick's has some good deals on combos right now(Lightning Rod and Silver Max reel combo is one inparticular).

[islandbass]

Hopefully you aren't asking because you suspect your gear is something others wouldn't want to use.

I think your gear is fine if it serves you well. You mention that you are comfortable with it and that there is the key. Hope you don't worry too much about what others are using. Some folks here have reels whose price alone is more than a monthly car payment, but as previously mentioned, the fish don't know nor do they care.

If you like what you are using, then stick with it and if you are curious to try pricier gear, it couldn't hurt. Be forewarned about awakening your currently dormant baitmonkey. Once unleashed, he can never be permanenly caged. ;D

To your main question, your gear should hold up if you take care of it.  I've know some folks who target steelhead with barbie and snoopy poles with success on an annual fishing excursion.  If a snoopy pole can do that, I imagine your rigs can also.

[cart7t]

Thread title   ;D

[Micro]

Regarding line:  I've tried braid and fluoro, and some higher end mono, and always seem to go back to Stren Original or Trilene XL.   I've never fond anything that works as well in as many different situations.  

[Grey Wolf]

If your happy with your gear , why would you care what we think ?

[Catt]

If you can hit the target you're casting at, feel the bass bite, & hookup/land ratio is in the 90 percentile range then all is good.

[The Rooster]

I'm happy with it.  I just wondered if a larger fish would likely bend the graphite bodied reels out of proportion and allow gears to be unaligned and do damage.  The rods I really don't think are bad, just wondered about some of the reels.  They make such a big deal about aluminum frames on casters in the catalogs that I wondered if a graphite frame was really all that bad after all.  All of my spinning reels are graphite bodied.  I figured a large fish could do damage to one maybe.  I once used an Abu Garcia 303R spinning reel to land a fish under keeping size and it caused the gears to grind afterwards.  Admittedly I horsed the fish in with the crank instead of playing it with the rod, but UNDER keeping size, and brand new reel to boot (used for 3 trips at the time)??  It grinded so bad that I sold it in a yard sale that summer for $5 after paying $40 for it a couple months before.

[Grey Wolf]

I hope you catch a BIG bass so you can see for yourself if your reels are going to hold up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[flechero]

I just wondered if a larger fish would likely bend the graphite bodied reels out of proportion and allow gears to be unaligned and do damage.

You should be more concerned about a fish wrapping you up in cover and breaking your line than worrying about the reels getting broken.

As long as your drag is set, you have nothing to fear as far as reel failure.  With drag set to  1/3 - 1/4 of line rating, you are never over 3 lbs. of pressure on your spinning reels and never over 4 lbs. of pressure on the baitcast... even if the graphite was cheap plastic, it would be ok with such light pressure.  The recent thread about graphite bodies was more of a cry wolf thread than a graphite reel thread, IMO.  

Set your drag properly and go have fun!

[ba7ss3in]

I think your gear is fine, just remeber people use cane poles to catch big fish.

[Redsyn]

I think your gear will hold up just fine. You have gear that you are comfortable with and you catch bass. You are good to go.

You've landed fish on them already and its worked for you. Dont worry about it and go fish them.

Why are you worried about the reels not able to hold up on the bigger fishes when you should worry about hooking them?  

[Mike-in-WV]

This reminds me of a true story I would like to share with you guys.

When I was just a kid (about 10-12 ) my Dad taught me to use a Fly Rod and we spent many vacations fishing WV, Kentucky, PA and Mich for Rainbows and Brook trout.

One time we were camping and fishing way back in the hills for Brockie's . My Dad had the best split bamboo flyrod and the best reel you could buy back then (He saved his pennies forever to buy that outfit) Any way we did not catch anything in two days and as we were heading back to camp one evening we came across 3 local kids about 12 years old fishing with sticks with a line tied to them and a bear hook with with small worms on it. They had about 15 big trout between them! ;D.

It's not the equipment it's how you use it, Mike

[Sam]

It's all bad and wrong.

The Bait Monkey is working hard to get the economy going so you need five new Shimano CORE reels; three Shimano Stradic MgFB spinning reels; five new G. Loomis baitcasting rods for five different presenations; five new G. Loomis spinning rods for the Stradic's; lots and lots of the new Trileen Extra MAXX line in tests of 4, 6, 8,10, 12, 14 and 17; lots of tungston weights; and all the Eagle Claw, Gamakatsu and Owner hooks you can stuff in your tackle box and pockets.

Actually, what you have is very good and it should give you many hours of fun fishing.

I was just thinking about jump-starting the economy and making the Bait Monkey happy. ;D

[.dsaavedra.]

This reminds me of a true story I would like to share with you guys.

When I was just a kid (about 10-12 ) my Dad taught me to use a Fly Rod and we spent many vacations fishing WV, Kentucky, PA and Mich for Rainbows and Brook trout.

One time we were camping and fishing way back in the hills for Brockie's . My Dad had the best split bamboo flyrod and the best reel you could buy back then (He saved his pennies forever to buy that outfit) Any way we did not catch anything in two days and as we were heading back to camp one evening we came across 3 local kids about 12 years old fishing with sticks with a line tied to them and a bear hook with with small worms on it. They had about 15 big trout between them! ;D.

It's not the equipment it's how you use it, Mike

great story mike! ;D

just goes to show, the fish really couldnt give a crap what gear you use, just as long as they like the bait youre throwing.

reminds me of when i was in pennsylvania, i brought bass gear but the bass werent biting and there were loads of panfish around us, so i just borrowed about 5 feet of line and a tiny hook from my sisters boyfriend and i was fishing only by holding onto a piece of line! it was nifty cuz i had an artificial hair jig on one end and a hook w/ a nightcrawler on the other, so i could switch baits real fast. i brought in tons of pumpkinseed and yellow perch without even using a rod.

i also saw a lady at a local park had a night crawler on a hook and about a 3/4oz weight under the nightcrawler tied directly to the filler spool of line. she just sat the filler spool on the ground and was whirling her weight/hook and then flung it out there and caught a catfish.

[bugman]

Hi, my name is gary and I have not bought a fishing lure in two days.

Beware of the Bait Monkey if you don't want to be standing up in front of a group of people and muttering these same words. :'(

Your gear is just fine, go fishing and have fun!

[The Rooster]

Regarding line: I've tried braid and fluoro, and some higher end mono, and always seem to go back to Stren Original or Trilene XL. I've never fond anything that works as well in as many different situations.

You're making me want to stick with what I know.  I've used both of those lines and like them about equally.  Trilene in the red box, Stren in the purple.  Maybe I'll stick with those.

[The Rooster]

Hopefully you aren't asking because you suspect your gear is something others wouldn't want to use.

I think your gear is fine if it serves you well. You mention that you are comfortable with it and that there is the key. Hope you don't worry too much about what others are using. Some folks here have reels whose price alone is more than a monthly car payment, but as previously mentioned, the fish don't know nor do they care.

If you like what you are using, then stick with it and if you are curious to try pricier gear, it couldn't hurt. Be forewarned about awakening your currently dormant baitmonkey. Once unleashed, he can never be permanenly caged. ;D

To your main question, your gear should hold up if you take care of it. I've know some folks who target steelhead with barbie and snoopy poles with success on an annual fishing excursion. If a snoopy pole can do that, I imagine your rigs can also.

My bait monkey has been unleashed before, but he thinks smaller than most others.  And also I don't suspect that it's gear noone else would want.  I just wondered if I had made good choices.  Seems by all the replies that I have apparently done so.  Thanks guys.

[Red]

Regarding line:  I've tried braid and fluoro, and some higher end mono, and always seem to go back to Stren Original or Trilene XL.   I've never fond anything that works as well in as many different situations.  

You're making me want to stick with what I know.  I've used both of those lines and like them about equally.  Trilene in the red box, Stren in the purple.  Maybe I'll stick with those.

when it comes to line...STICK TO WHAT YOU KNOW IS GOOD!!!  i have been unsing trilene XL and XT for a long time, mainly XL until i moved to texas then i started using XT...anyway i never had problems with either...none.  last week i bought a spool of PLine Floroclear...CRAP!  lost a bunch of jigs and hooks and weights and worms due to this junk.  stick to what you know works....if it aint broke, dont fix it

Cliff