Favorite Combo

[Bassinator]

I was just curious what every ones trusty spinning/baitcast combo is for their types of fishing. I'm talking about the rod you never leave home without, or the rod you love the most, etc.

I have a 6' 3" FLW Tour Edition Rod with a Daiwa Regal Reel, and I just love it for bass fishing!Fishing1For Trout, I like my Pflueger Ultralight 4'6'' combo.

[Jackie-T]

for bass a shakespear uglystik and shakespear longcast LX3500 also like it for pickerel and pike. Trout a shakespear underspin ultralight and matching rod same for crappie and for fishing at Forge most times and my backup in the kayak a Mitchell 310 and a silstar ultralight rod. The others stay in the rack 90% of the time but they are there incase I should break something.

[Garrick]

speaking of rigs, I'm wondering what you guys think is a good amount to spend to get a gigh quality rig. I know they've got rods out there for up to 300 bucks or more, but I hope I don't have to spend that kind of money. i find that with most tools, there's a few limits. First, there's cheapo's, then there's good ones, then there's the ones that cost a lot more than the good ones but aren't a whole lot better. What do you guys think is a reasonabe amount to get a good one? any reccomendations on rod and reel companies?

[JeffA]

go check out bass pro shops, they have the best rigs for the money, from cheap to pro.

[fisher16]

I think it really depends on what your type of fishing you do. I've always like Shimano and Diawa reels, baitcasting and spinning. I have three shimano's that I bought when I was in high school. They have taken a serious pounding from saltwater to fresh. But work well, and have caught plenty of fish between 3-15lbers. I think I spent around $70.00 dollars for those reels. Add a quality rod to those and you will probably spend close to $110-$150.00 per setup.

As far as my other reels for saltwater I am just a inshore guy. The most expensive reel I have in my inshore weapons cache is my Penn Slammer I spent around $150.00 for it.

The offshore stuff I use is usually borrowed, or owned by someone else. These setups can go from anywhere from $300.00 up to $2,000.00.

I think we talked about this a little during the crappie tourny as well. Pesonally I believe you get what you pay for in this business. But that is just my opinion.

[JeffA]

i agree on the Diawa reels reels, i have a Diawa baitcaster on a 6.6' Abu Garcia Med/Heavy rod, out of my 5 setups, thats the one i NEVER leave without.

[noresman]

For fishing plastics I use a Quantum Hypercast on a 6 1/2' med action graphite rod. For spinner baits a Diawa or Abu garcia bait caster on 6 1/2 and 7' rods. For throwing a jitterbug you can't beat my old (40+ years) Mitchell 300.

[Crestliner]

My ultra-lite: 7' Sam's Super Sensitive w/Shimano Symetre 750 FI Reel loaded with 2 lb. test mono..

Drop Shot: 6'6" BPS Med.-Lite Action Bionic Blade w/Shakespear Dimension Reel loaded with 6 lb. test Floro main line & 4 lb. test Floro leader.

Jig/Jerkbait/Topwaters: 7' BPS Med. Action Bionic Blade w/Shimano Symetre 2500 loaded with 8 lb. test Vanish "Transition" Floro..

Senkos: 7' BPS Med. Hvy. Act. Bionic Blade w/Shimano 4000 FA loaded with 10 lb. test Floro & 8 lb. test leader.

Spinnerbaits/Crankbaits: 6'6" BPS Med. Hvy. Bionic Blade "PowerHump" Baitcasting Rod w/Abu 5500C Reel loaded with 12 lb. test Trilene XT.

For the methods used above, I love these rigs in particular. Their performance has never let me down and they are relatively cost effective. I also have several others as well (my wife say WAY TOO MANY) - some loaded with Fireline which I love for striper fishing and some topwater applications. But for what's listed above, I never leave home without these Wink1.

[theothereric]

melissa(girlfriend) says why do you need so many rods well actually she says "sticks" i tell he she will never understand. any way my go to rod is 7 foot cabellas XML with a Quantum PT reel and 8 pound test...shes says im nuts, but its worth every penny to me.

[Crestliner]

theothereric - why do golfers have so many clubs in their bag? Ditto for fishing. And, a fishing combo probably cost less than one of those golf club! But then again, I'm not a golfer, what do I know :)

[theothereric]

i dont know what i have spent more money on over the years golf or fishing. both expensive hobbies. to tell you the truth i dont want to know.

[Crazy Joe]

My favorite is the one I catch fish on that day I'm fishing!Beerchug
I have 30 different set ups for fresh and salt water.I can't use them all at once.I have Shakespear,Quantum,Zebco.Mitchell,Penn,and what ever. Its ' the one I'm catching fish on ! LOL Grinning1 Grinning1 Fishing1

[noresman]

I agree with Joe. Sure it is nice to have a top of the line set up but you can catch just as many fish with an average rod and reel combo. My top 3 rod and reel cobos ran about 125.00 to 175.00 and take care of all my needs.

[Crestliner]

That's the best part of fishing! You can have just as much fun with less costly equipment or with the most expensive. Fishing is a very personal sport it seems to me. You can make it into whatever you want. I love it!

[Matt B]

melissa(girlfriend) says why do you need so many rods well actually she says "sticks" i tell he she will never understand. any way my go to rod is 7 foot cabellas XML with a Quantum PT reel and 8 pound test...shes says im nuts, but its worth every penny to me.

Ask her why she buys so many pairs of shoes, hand bags, etc... works everytime...if i see a new shoebox, i buy a new fishing rodChill1