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Since you said that you can wait, I would wait until the Bass Pro Spring Classic and pick up a Pro Qualifier. I think they were around $50 last year. Nothing better at that price. If you live close to a Bass Pro they have a bunch of rods on clearance for 40% off right now.

He is probably referring to the auction site that is named after the big river.

The same store has a GL2 822S DSR for the same price that I was considering since I am looking for a spinning rod for drop shot and other light lures but I am probably going to find a spinning rod that has a better reputation.

I’m looking for a rod to use for spinnerbaits, jerkbaits and topwater(mostly poppers and walking). Is this expecting too much out of one rod? I have read through the topics in the “The Best Rod Thread” sticky and from what I have read most of these types of lures work well with a M/XF rod. My local DSG has the GL2 812C SBR for ~$90 and the local BPS has several Abu Garcia Veracity rods clearanced for $99. I know that the G Loomis GL2 is not a very popular line and the general consensus is that they are heavy and the rod is overpriced at the $200 range based on sensitivity, weight and quality of components(type of guides). The main thing that concerns me with the GL2 is the lure rating of 3/8 to ½ oz which seems pretty narrow. Currently the casting rods that I have: An older G Loomis MBR 843 IMX (made in canada) Powell Endurance 723 CEF Daiwa Procyon 7’ MH Abu Garcia Silvermax Rod 6’6” M/F I am open to any other suggestions and also willing to go with a used rod.

My wife bought me the tackle box for Christmas 2 years ago when I started to fish more often. When I opened it I thought to myself: "she shouldn't have gotten such a big tackle box. I'll never get close to filling it up " Then I found this website and you guys introduced me to the monkey. I couldn't even get close to fitting everything in it now but it is more than enough to store everything that I would need for a trip and organizes everything very well. I do agree that the top fills with plastics pretty quick. I usually have an additional small bag with plastics that I bring. I usually just throw a couple packs in a plastic grocery bag that becomes the trash bag in the boat.

---------I think I have the same tackle box that you describe. It's a Plano 7771. It's great for organizing everything. I put bags of soft plastics in the main top compartment and everything else in trays. Not my pictures but it shows what I am describing.

I went to a couple other Wal-Mart stores in the area and none of the other stores had anything worth picking up. I went back to the original store and bought the rest of the gammy hooks and found that they had put out another 6 packs of tungsten weights and a few more rapalas and a couple of bombers that I grabbed.

There was another 2 bins on the end cap that were full of lures. The rack was more full before I got to it. I didn't think about taking a picture until after I had already grabbed some of the stuff. I put the 2 packs of weights back on the peg for the pic. The rest were already in my basket. I might go back and grab some more.

This is true. I have found the search function on Craig's list to be pretty finicky. I also use searchtempest which will search all of the Craig's list region within a certain radius around the zip code you enter.

I stopped by one of the local WalMarts and they had a bunch of fishing gear on clearance. They had tons of lures and terminal tackle marked down to $1. I picked up 14 packages of tungsten weights. Several rapalas (husky jerks, x-raps, jointed minnows and DT-2), some bomber cranks, 2 Mann Alabama rigs, 2 spooks, 2 spook Jr's, 3 Heddon torpedos. I also picked up more than 50 packages of various sizes of hooks including octopus,spinning dropshot and EWG from Gamakatsu, KVD branded Mustad, VMC, and Trokars. I also grabbed some packs of KVD ball bearing swivels, weighted swimbait hooks and some Arkie weedless stand up jig heads. I swear it was the deal of the year. I only spent $134.19 and probably got at least $600 worth of stuff. I should be set with hooks and weights for a couple of years.

Make sure you use a variety of search terms such as baitcast, bait cast, baitcasting, baitcaster etc.. I also try to use terms or phrasing that may be used by someone that isn't well versed in fishing terminology. Also, don't underestimate how vague people will be. The reel was listed as "casting reel" with no mention of Shimano or Chronarch. I just happened to notice the picture. So I contacted the seller for more info. He said he was trying to sell it for 3 weeks at $100 and I was the first person to contact him so he would sell it for $85. There may also be typos in the listing too. The rod was was listed under "Glomis fishing pole"

I wanted to get another baitcasting setup and didn’t want to spend a lot of money so I started scouring the flea market on this site and craigslist. I ended up getting a RH Shimano Chronarch CI4+ 7.6:1 (CH150CI4HG) for $85 and a G. Loomis MBR 843 IMX for $50. Total cost of $135. The rod and reel were both found on Craiglist from different sellers. Prior to this, my best setup was a BPS Pro Qualifier($80 on sale) on a 1st Gen MH XF Daiwa Procyon casting rod($50 on sale). Total cost after tax of $138.45 The Chronarch Ci4+ doesn’t have a single mark on it and appears to be brand new. The seller said that he never used it and I am inclined to believe him based on the condition. The rod is in great shape without any damaged guides but does have some slight discoloration on the cork from handling but I am pretty sure that it will clean up quite well. I am not normally one to brag, but I had to tell someone that would appreciate how good of a deal it was. No one that I personally know is impressed with how good of a deal I got. Just goes to show everyone that is looking for a budget baitcasting setup that there are some good deals to be had if you shop around and look for used items.

Take a look at the new Lews Mach1 for the gloomis. Another option would be to pick another reel and add some parts from hedgehog to match the rod. Drag star and spool tension knob should be enough and shouldn't be too spendy

I have gone to several Walmarts in NW Ohio in the last 2 weeks and all of them had 300yds of Suffix 832 on the clearance rack for $20. Most stores only had 50 lb left but I did find a place that had a couple of spools of 20lb left

After getting so much feedback I owed it to everyone to pick up one at a minimum. I ended up grabbing the only 2 they had and probably would have bought more if they had them. I will not have time to try them out until next weekend but I'll make sure to give my first impressions

Thank you everyone for the replies! Sorry for not updating sooner. I didn't have time to go back to that Wal-Mart until today.

I will definitely pick up at least one of them and grab the Mitchell 300Xe for $20. They also had a silver max for $20. I just need to decide if I should pick up another Silver Max or get 2 of the Victory's

They are both wrong hand retrieve

I was checking out the clearance section of a local Wal-Mart and saw that they have 2 W&M Skeet Reese Victory 62R baitcaster reels for $20 a piece. I have read several posts indicating that they are not very good and some have had the side cover pop off in use. Currently my only casting reels is a Silver Max that I have been using for the past 2 years. I have an extra rod that I need to get a reel for and was thinking that the Victory would be decent to use until I found a deal on a better quality reel. Is it really that bad that it wouldn't be worth picking up for $20?