LCG

Hello and welcome. If you know what fishing techniques you prefer then definitely focus on a rod specific for that technique. Ie finesse rod and/or jig rod, which would be my two most sensitive rods. If your new to fishing and don't know what techniques you prefer yet, stick to more of an all round rod until you get a better idea. Common ballpark recommendations are 7ft medium fast for spinning rods and a 7ft medium heavy for baitcasting. Rod selection is a very personal thing and best to hold them in store to test comfort. Quality is cheaper in the end

Lots of good rods in the $100 range. St Croix and fenwick are my preferred brands but there are so many good quality rods at that price point. For reference, I recently got into baitcasters. I was going to buy that same black Max combo, then I read some reviews, realized it was so so and probably wouldn't last. Looked for good quality used gear and scored two really good deals, For $160 total (Canadian, so about $125 USD) I was able to purchase a st Croix avid x and a Daiwa tatula reel. Food for thought.

The used avid x was a little bit cheaper than a new Hmg or bass x, so it was hard to say no I figured that my mojo bass 6'8" m-xf spinning and the avid x 6'6" mh-f casting should be a fairly versatile combo for bank fishing. I do prefer shorter rods due to the terrain and trees. Also accuracy is more important to me than distance. I still may have to pick up a new Hmg though... this bait monkey people speak of is real.

Thanks for the help and input from everyone here. I came across a very lightly used St Croix avid x 6'6" mh-f for a very reasonable price so I decided to buy it. I can't wait to see how it performs, so far I am impressed by the quality of the rod and overall feel. Thanks again for everyones feedback

I am looking for a new casting rod for pitching jigs and some topwater Frogs. I am trying to decide between the st Croix bass x mh-f or the newly redesigned fenwick hmg mh-f. Does anyone have experience with either rod? Also torn on length as I usually fish from the bank, trees and bushes can be an issue. Considering 6'6" - 7'1". Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I have a fenwick hmg 6'9 ml-f spinning rod that I am very fond of for finnese techniques. Sensitive, durable, well balanced, and reasonably priced. Had an eagle and hmx, but I wasn't as impressed as with the hmg.

I use 10lb yellow braid, spiderwire, and I have never had a problem with it. I usually tie a 6lb Pline cx premium leader. But recently, I tied straight to the braid using a mepps #4 gold and caught 3 in twenty minutes. So my theory is moving baits braid color doesn't matter, finnese I will still use a leader.

Most of the finnese stuff like neko, ned, shaky head use a small diameter hook that does not require a strong hook set in my experience. A simple reel set or sweeping hook set seems to work best for me. I personally use a ml-f spinning rod and a m-xf spinning rod for finesse and usually don't have any issues with hook sets or bite detection. I also use 10 lb yellow braid (for my own visibility) to 6-8 lb fluorocarbon leaders. I generally fish drop shot, neko, ned, and a Texas rigged worm, with some shakey head but not much.

I have found that fenwick, and some other companies, Rate the power of their rods differently. I had a fenwick hmg 6'6" medium that just wouldn't load up for 1/4 Oz lures, sold it and bought a fenwick hmg 6'9 ml-f that does a much better job, but the tip is soft, good for finnese / drop shotting. I also highly recommend the st Croix mojo spinning rod, 6'8" m-xf. I have no problems at all with 1/4 Oz lures and the action of the rod is perfect. I use it for everything from soft plastics to hard lures with trebles.

gamakatsu and/or VMC drop shot hooks (non-spin shot, normal) size 1 usually.

I use 10lb yellow braid to a flouro leader and usually a 1/0 - 2/0 wacky hook or a drop shot hook size 1 - 1/0. I have fished it on a ml-f and m-xf rod and never had a problem feeling a strike or seeing the line mice from a gentle grab.

I purchased my first st Croix rod earlier this year. It was the 6'8" m-xf wacky style mojo spinning rod. Love the rod so far and have nothing bad to say about it, it is very sensitive. I will probably be picking up a 6'8" or 7'1" mojo baitcaster mh-f in the near future.

X2

So far I have found that as soon as my arm is parallel with my body I release the spool. This put me on target for the most part. If I release after my arm has passes my body it's way off target.

Ugly stick gx2 would be decent for treble lures, crack baits, spoons, in line spinners, etc. I think you need to find what techniques you prefer and then focus on the gear. All around recommendations will probably be a 7 ft (ish) spinning rod, medium power, fast action with a 2500/30 size reel. For a baitcaster probably a 7 ft (ish) medium heavy power, fast action with a 6-7:1 ratio reel.

The timing is certainly different, took a bit of persistence to get a feel for it. I have a lot to learn still but I really like being able to cast low to the water with a soft, controlled entry. Focusing on learning pitching first, side arm secondary, and over hand last. Seems so Wierd to release the spool right above your head How do you guys find switching between baitcasters and spinning? Worried that might be an issue.

I thought I would share my experience using a baitcaster for the first time. I was very hesitant to try it after reading about backlashes and how different it was from spinning equipment, that the learning curve was so steep. Eventually I stepped out of my comfort zone and bought a used shimano compre 6'10" mh-f casting rod rated for 3/8-1oz lures (jig and worm) paired with a tatula 100 7.3:1 left handed reel (which just feels more natural to me) and spooled with 40 lb power pro. Practiced in the driveway for an hour then went out to a pond today for four hours. While there is a learning curve, it's not near as bad as what I anticipated. The accuracy and control is out of this world. I am far from an expert but I am seriously impressed so far. I was able to pitch a jig under an over hanging tree with about six inches of clearance from 20 feet consistently in just a few hours of practice. That is something I have not been able to do in four years of fishing with a spinning rod. Tried side arm and over hand casting as well, there were a few overspools of loose line and a couple of backslashes but all manageable. Distance was decent and I am sure it will improve in time with more practice. I would like to thank the good people on this forum for sharing their knowledge and experience. I read a lot about baitcasters and watched a lot of YouTube videos (Glen). Without that help I surely would have had a horrible experience. Thanks to everyone here.

Yes it's the green blank with Eva foam grips. I will try it out and see how it does. If not I will sell it and look for something else.

Update : I found a shimano compre 6'10" mh-f casting rod rated for 3/8-1oz lures (jig and worm) paired with a tatula 100 7.3:1 left handed reel (which just feels more natural to me) and spooled with 40 lb power pro for $120 used. Here in Canada our prices our much higher. That combo new is $340, so based on everyone's advice here I went ahead and bought it. Not sure about the rod yet, but the reel is very nice. Now to begin the learning process. Thanks to everyone for the help.

Thanks for the helpful direction. I am heading to bass pro next week and will get a feel for what has been mentioned here. Anyone have any experience with the st Croix mojo casting rod 6'8" mh-f?

Would it make sense to get a 6'8" mh-xf/f to complement the spinning set up or is longer better with baitcasters? I love the st Croix mojo spinning rod I have but I can't seem to flip or pitch worth a d**n with a spinning rod so hoping a baitcaster will improve that. Or maybe I just need more practice.

Thanks for the advice. I will look at the tatula in store and get a feel for it. Is a MH strong enough to pull bass out the weeds and Lilly pads?

I am looking to purchase my first baitcaster. I would like to get something that compliments my spinning set up which consists of a fenwick hmg 6'9 ml-f and a st Croix mojo 6'8 m-xf. Most of the time I prefer soft plastics and only occasionally throw traditional lures. I live in Ontario, Canada and only fish freshwater from the bank 95% of the time. What would you recommend for the rod and reel? I was going to use 15-20 lb p-line cx premium. Any suggestions would be appreciated. No experience using a baitcaster yet just thought it would be interesting to try it out.

I have kept practicing this technique and have learned that is best to let the fish take the bait and let it load up the rod, then a reel set or lean back should hook them well. Before I was setting the hook harder and I think pulling the bait from their mouth. Placing hook from bottom up makes more sense to me and seems to be working. I like this technique very much

Does the rod have enough stiffness in the tip for setting the hook through the plastic? My experience is that going through the plastic requires a bit of a powerful hook set. You could also try a weighted wacky rig (neko rig). I find this very similar and surprising weedless. I use a medium light rod with a fast tip and it works well with a trick worm.