Xyndifor

The rod size depends on where you plan to fish. If you will be fishing the shorelines around a lot of trees I'd go with the 6'6". Otherwise I'd go with the 7'0". I have 2 Shimano Sellus rods. They are very good for the money. You can get them shipped site to store at Walmart for $40-$45 vs. the 49.99 to 59.99 regular price. I'd probably go with a MH fast action for your first baitcaster since they are a little more versatile for example you can get a medium heavy fast action regardless which application the rod says its for and use it for plastic worms jigs and spinnerbaits. As far as the reel goes I own 3 pro qualifiers an they are the reel that got me into baitcasting. The centrifugal break is what helped me learn how to cast the reel. That being said I've heard nothing but good things about the Lews Speed Spool as well (make sure it's not the lazer speed spool) and am planning on getting a Lews Tournament Pro for my next reel. I just got a Abu Garcia Revo S and with limited testing on the water I like that one as well. Either way you're going to get a good reel. I'm just leery of the magnetic brake systems on cheaper reels since my first experiences when I first started out weren't that good. The only time I have ever backlashed my pro qualifier was when I was making a cast and my lure hit a tree near the shoreline. It came preset with 4 centrifugal brakes on from the factory but as you learn how to use it you can turn them off. I only use 1 brake now most times even when it's windy have no issues.

At some point you may want to experiment with other actions to see what works best for you. I use a medium fast action for weightless senko and other general purpose fishing on my spinning rig. You may play around and decide you like a moderate or moderate fast. It's all about what works best and feels best to you for your type of fishing. The faster the action generally the more hook setting power you'll have but also the more likely you'll pull the hook out of a bass's mouth. For soft plastics texas rigged you usually want to go for a little bit more of a faster action so you can drive the hook through the plastic into the bass's mouth. For action lures like spinnerbaits or crankbaits where the hooks are exposed a slower action such as moderate or moderate fast is usually more desirable because you don't have to worry so much about driving the hook and it is usually more comfortable fishing those techniques because you don't feel as much resistance on the rod when cranking the lures all day long.

Try waiting an extra second or two before setting the hook. The bass will pick up the line you'll see it. You can reel in slack and wait til the bass pulls you then set the hook.

Is it really possible to do that and get good distance? I've been watching the informative fisherman's video trying to teach myself this technique and haven't had a lot of success as of yet. It's probably the best video I've seen on the topic.

I've been wondering about this myself. I was out in the backyard practicing pitching in the snow a couple days ago and I wasn't able to get my jig to go more than 20-25 feet. I had all the brakes in my revo 3 s turned off and the spool tension a few clicks backed off from normal so the bait fell pretty fast and if I let my bait just free fall to the ground my reel would birds nest.

Welcome to the forums. Like he said you don't need a thing but if you're planning on fishing heavy thick cover you'll probably want to get a heavier power baitcaster at some point. The medium heavy is perfect for most of the stuff you listed. Cranks on the medium rod, senkos on the medium light, frogs and jig and worm through thick cover on a heavy pole at some point. I have one medium heavy at the moment that I use for spinnerbaits, lipless cranks, and square bills. I'm going to get another medium heavy next year in a mf that ill use for shallow/medium heavuer crankbaits and topwater lures.

What he said. The medium heavy baitcasting rod reads MHF fast which means medium heavy power with a fast action. Some rods will give you the action and some will not. The action is the amount of bend on the pole. If it bends closer to the tip it has a fast action if it bends in the middle it is a moderate action. So fast for mh baitcaster, moderate action for the treble hook lures, and fast for the spinning model for light jigs and plastic worms. The most important thing when starting out is to get good at fishing a couple of type of lures at a time.Fish areas with shallow water near drop-offs with some kind of structure. If you're not getting bit after a while move to another area. As you master different techniques you'll be able to add more tools to your toolbox. You can do many different things with any particular bait whether it be adding a twitch or slowing down or speeding up your retrieve or modifying the presentation on your lure maybe by adding a trailer for example to help increase your fishing success. There are so many things you can do so it's easy to see how overwhelming everything can be. Keep it simple and play around with different things and you'll soon find what works best for you. When I started out I used the spinning combo for senkos which are fun and easy to use and the baitcaster in the mh fast for spinnerbaits. You should try to pick baits if you do this to cover different levels of water top middle bottom and should make those decisions based on the water you fish on. Bass will strike baits above them more often than baits that are below. As far as the reels for the mh baitcaster a gear ratio of 6.4:1ish and and up will work fine for most applications. Line capacity not a big factor on this one. A good all around ratio for different baits. For the med moderate baitcaster a ratio of 5.4ish:1 that holds about 150 yards of 12 lb line is good for crankbaits. The spinning reel doesn't matter so much but should look at your different options and go with something middle of the road.

The main thing with the baitcasting reel is the braking system. If it has a good braking system it will be a good beginner reel (especially centrifugal braking system since beginners will have a tendency to try to throw it too hard and don't know how to properly thumb the spool when casting which leads to backlashes). The reel you had trouble casting for distance may have had all the brakes on or maybe it had something wrong with it. There are other lower end reels even going down to the tourney special which do have a centrifugal braking system but I can't speak for those since I have not used them. The tourney special is 49.99 regular price but may be on sale now. It has fairly good ratings so it must be a pretty good beginner reel also.

That's happened to me a lot when fishing senkos with cheap cabelas fishing line which would twist and make a mess coming off my spinning reel. I'd fix the mess then next thing I know I'd have a bass pulling my line before I could start reeling in line.

The Cabelas Tourney Trail rods are actually pretty good. I own one which I don't use anymore but it's only because it's a 6'0" baitcasting rod. I would buy another especially at the sale price of 32.49. I like the split grips for mst of my stuff but it's all about how comfortable you are with the rod in your hands.

Depends what you want to do but generally you would be fine with lighter stuff on a spinning combo rigged with 10 lb test and a littler heavier stuff such as for example 1/2 oz spinnerbaits or jigs on 12 lb test on a medium heavy baitcasting combo. If you plan on fishing in heavy weeds or brush you're going to want to go much heavier obviously. Depends how much heavy thick stuff you plan on fishing in.

I would highly recommend the bass pro shops pro qualifier for a beginner if you want to try baitcasting. It's on sale for 80 dollars right now. It just depends if you want to try a baitcasting combo for one of your selections. The reason I say this is because that reel is what got me into baitcasting. If you buy a cheaper reel you may not get as much enjoyment out of it because you may backlash so much you may get frustrated and just give it up. The rod doesn't matter so much to start you could go with the Berkley Cherrywood and be fine. I'd say go with a 6'6 or 7 rod in medium heavy for a baitcaster and for the spinning rod you could go for the same length in a medium power. Again the spinning combo cherrywood would be fine and actually a cheap spinning reel I like is the Abu Garcia Cardinal SX although there are others on sale right now. I have a Cardinal SX on my ugly stick right now for fishing worms and shiners etc.

I was looking at those but opted to use duo-lock snaps since those are more readily available close by at the local Walmart. I didn't really want to drive 35 miles to Cabelas to pick those up.

ditto. I like being able to change lures without retying also.

My biggest bass came last year on a black/red jig on august 1st. 6 lb 4 oz

You can use jigs at any time of day. If it's nighttime you may want to use a darker color because bass see those better at night like black/blue for example and if you may want to use one with a rattle for added attention getting power since it'll be dark and their vision is really limited at night. They rely more on their other senses where during the day it's usually a sight thing that triggers the strike.

Plastic worms will probably catch more fish than anything else but a jig will get you the big ones. Be patient and stick with it. Sorry for the multiquotes. Internet exploder was freezing on the cabelas website.

How much does size matter on these crankbaits? I know everyone is talking about the kvd 1.5s. I have a bunch of KVD 2.5s at the moment in varying sexy shad variations and bluegill patterns. I'm trying to get into crankbait fishing more this year to put another tool in my box for searching water more efficiently.

I own the shimano sellus 7' Med Crankbait rod and the 7'2 MH XF worm rods. Very good poles for less than 60 bucks. Some you can get on walmart.com for 40 or 45 bucks.

Are there only 3 brakes on that reel? It looks strange.

Welcome. I'm sure it'll be over before we know it. I'm looking forward to the snow disappearing from the ground so I can practice flipping and pitching into trash barrels. Got to do something while waiting for the ponds the thaw out.

Also is that red plastic supposed to be there? It just looks out of place.

I don't think I've ever heard of that one. Usually on a reel with centrifugal breaks there will be little spring loaded pins inside you have to push up or down with your fingernail to turn them on or shut them off. When you push them up youre turning the breaks on.

Honestly by looking at it I don't see any either so you're not a fool. They were easy to find in my pro qualifiers. Which reel is that?

Agreed. I got more serious into bass fishing last year including giving jigs a serious try and it got me 4 of my top 5 (the third biggest was on a spinnerbait in the fall) the biggest bass I caught in my entire life. Don't give up on jigs. This year it's nastering flipping and pitching and giving crankbaits of all types a real go.