basic questions

[Unknownwaters]

Ive been fishing for awhile and know plenty on lures and techniques, but one area ive never known much about is rods and reels, i just fish with what i got.  I was just wondering about the basic rod reel combinations and what makes up a good reel and stuff like that.

[bigfruits]

bearings, brakes, anti-reverse, weight...

stick with shimano, daiwa, pflueger and abu garcia and get what you can afford. 2500 size is good for spinning reels IMO.

there are plenty of good rods out there. post your budget i am sure you will get plenty of suggestions to look into.

6'-7' graphite rods with fast tips are the best all-around rods IMO. good for all applications.

moderate or moderate fast tips are good for treble hook lures.

extrafast tips are good for bottom baits.

the action of the rod depends on the weight of the baits you want to throw and the type of cover youre fishing. (for heavier cover you want a heavier action rod...)

[extreme1018]

if u r diehard u can spend serious money.(or if u have thousands in spare cash lying around) the bps pro qualifier rods are great rods for around the 100 mark. cabelas has an equal house brand. stick with the major manufacturers on reels as quality lessens sometimes with house brands. alot of people that post here will reccomend st croix and other high end rods but around the 100 mark your price and quality dont always increase at the same rate as a 20 dollar rod to a hunderd dollar rod. while a 250 dollar rod might be bada$$ it might not always be worth the extra money for a lot of anglers. if your not a die hard serious or you are but dont have much money to burn the best cheap rod on the market is the berkley lightning rod. reasonable sensitivity, strength and lightweight for about $40.. as far as reels go its the same boat pricewise especially in baitcast equipment. ive have been through several bps branded reels that didnt last as long as their eqally priced major label competitors.. daiwa and shimano have their act together on most equipment when it comes to quality. im sure others do as well bum im not as familiar with them as i am daiwa and shimano. for about 130 the daiwa tierra is a fantastic baitcaster. hope this helps and hope i didnt offend anyone. these are just my opinions with my 21 rod and reel combos. 16 freshwater 5 saltwater