bgaviator

I have seen both Big Game and XL mentioned a lot. What’s the difference between the two and the the advantage one would have over the other in a baitcast setup? Thanks.

I have decided I will in fact get a baitcaster soon. I am going to spend the money on something like the Shimano SLX DC or Curado DC. I’ve scoured many forum posts about which line to use. Recommendations seem to be all over the place! I’ve come across lots of posts recommending just straight Big Game 12-15# test. I’ve seen lots of recommendations for a hybrid like Yo-Zuri or McCoy Mean Green. And of course lots of recommendations for braid to a floro or mono leader depending on the application. I’ve seen a ton of hate for straight fluorocarbon. I’m not sure I would want to mess with tying leaders at first either, so the braid to leader doesn’t sound too appealing right now. is there just a good do-it-all line for someone starting out on a baitcaster, in which I want to try all kinds of techniques including top water, Texas rigs, ned rigs, soft jerk baits, and even frogs? The recommendation doesn’t necessarily have to be the absolute perfect choice for every application, but just looking for most universal and easy to get started with. Thanks.

The looked nice and felt good in the hand

Actually the Yum Dinger was pumpkin green that I caught both bass on. I tried using a silver fluke when I tried that technique

Caught two small largemouth bass in 4 hours today. Both caught using a pumpkin green Yum Dinger weightless Texas rig. The first spot I went fishing I could see all kinds of fish flipping out of the water. I would put my cast right where they were and nothing would bite. Is there a particular technique or lure I should be using when I see this happening? second spot is where I caught my first bass on the Yum Dinger. Eventually moved on to my third spot on the lake. Noticed hundreds of Shad schooling near the shore. Pretty cool sight. I ended up catching my second bass on another Yum Dinger. He had another small fish in his mouth! I thought maybe with all the Shad swimming around I should try a fluke for the first time. I tried a few different retrieves. Twitch twitch pause. Quick jerks up with the rod. Slowly just swimming it back to me. Nothing was taking my fluke. The bass fishing app I have suggested a fluke for this season and today’s conditions, so I’m a little bummed it didn’t catch anything on the fluke. But at least I got something today!

You didn’t find them too light? Or is that something desirable in a rod?

Good to know. Maybe good idea to start with some cheap ones like this to learn with them and see how much I get snagged in my local lake before getting more expensive ones. I learned the hard way when I threw my $5 crankbait into a lake from the shore and got it immediately snagged and lost on the first cast.

I was seriously about to just buy a Zebco Bullet and a Daiwa Aird-x rod online and have it shipped in. But then I saw Academy Sports had them in stock so I figured maybe it would be best to go look at these things in person and get a feel for rods and reels. Well, to my disappointment, the place for the Zebco Bullet was empty. I then went to the Daiwa Rods and played with the Aird-X line and some others. Hmmmm I’m honestly not sure what to think about these Aird-X. They are super light, almost like holding nothing. I didn’t really care for the brown reflective wrap it had around most of the rod. I played with both a 6’6” medium and a 7’ medium heavy. I’ve never had a 7’ rod before and it seemed a little much. I mean granted it’s not THAT much bigger than the 6’6”, but it’s just not something I’m used to and felt a little off. they also had a Daiwa Procyon rod, and I must say it felt a little more substantial and well built than the Aird-x. And no wrap on it either which I liked. Granted, this rod was about $30 more than the Aird-x. It’s just weird because these Aird-x get lots of good reviews. I even had a guy in the store tell me he owned one and that it was a great rod. I’m just not sure it felt great in my own hands and it makes me feel like something is wrong with me for potentially not liking a rod so highly praised and recommended online. next to the Daiwa was a line called Fate V3. These rods came in an all white or black. They felt pretty substantial too and I liked the feel of them just from holding them. These were about $99. I have never heard of this brand before so I wanted to do some more research. I wish they would have had more selections of rods to hold. I get the impression Academy is more of the budget to mid-tier price range. They really didn’t have anything higher end. So maybe I need to go to Bass Pro for that? I decided to look at the baitcasters while I was there too. They had several on display, mostly in the $40-$80 range. I played with a $40 Abu Garcia. Black Max I think it was called. This may be picky, but I didn’t quite like the feel of the drag wheel on that. It had no click and just felt stiff and weird. Overall the construction didn’t feel that great. Next to it was a Daiwa for about $60. Daiwa CC 80. The construction felt much better on this, and I liked the clicks the drag wheel had on it. It just felt like a more substantial reel, which I guess could be expected for the higher price point. there were also some baitcast combos with the rod/reel put together and I held some of these. One was a Shakespeare Ugly stick gx2. The rod certainly felt substantial, but the reel on it felt incredibly cheap. One thing I noticed though about some of these baitcast setups...and keep in mind this is my first time ever holding one...is that the weight of the handle off to the side is really noticeable. It makes the rod want to tip over to that side I noticed if you’re just lightly holding the rod. Are all baitcasters like this or is it just depend on the make/model and the kind of rod it is? anyway overall I don’t think I’ll make the mistake of ordering rods or reels sight unseen. I’ll definitely try to go to stores from now on to see what I like the feel of in my own hands.

Can you use jigs using monofilament? The Zebco Bullet I’m thinking about getting comes prespooled with 10# mono I believe.

Here are some pics I snapped with my phone using Google street view of the type of lake I fish if this helps

Cool. Thanks for that link. Seems like a lot of people on here like their stuff. I’m still new to all of this. Any particular styles/models/weight sizes you like? Tungsten vs lead? Etc etc. The lake I fish is at is an army corps lake. Damned up Forrest area with tons of trees sticking out of the water.

When I was learning about different fishing tackle and I was learning about bass jigs, a style that was mentioned was the Arkie style. It said this was the most universal style head as it could be used as a swim jig, as well as a flipping/pitching jig. If I go to Bass Pro I don’t see anything labeled as Arkie style. I do see these however on Walmart’s web site, and they are labeled as Arkie jigs. Do Arkie style jigs go by a different name for different brands, or is it its own style and brand? The head on the Walmart Arkie jigs doesn’t quite look like anything else I’m seeing on Bass Pro’s website. Thanks.

Can I assume that an ultralight wouldn’t be good for a place like a spillway where there is fast moving current? The current alone tends to pull my light crappie lures and bobber. Would an ultralight just bend too much in that situation? I mean there are times where I just got to still water ponds too.

Yeah I’ve heard lumber has gotten bad. I really need my deck stairs rebuilt too soon. ?

Is it just me, or does it seem like NOTHING is in stock online? Bass Pro and Tackle Warehouse seem to be out of stock on everything I get interested in. Did the pandemic create a severe shortage or something? Can I assume more people took up outdoor activities like I did myself? That’s in fact how I got into fishing. Figured it was a Covid friendly activity.

The Sea Eagle STS10 looks intriguing

So I really really want a boat. Problem is despite having a tow hitch on my Honda Odyssey, I don’t have the logistics for a trailer at my house. A roof rack is a possible option, but realistically I can’t see my wife always helping getting a plastic kayak on and off the roof, and my son is too small to help with those matters. Not to mention I don’t want to accidentally ding and scrape my wife’s 3 year old car! so I came across this line of inflatable kayaks tonight called Sea Eagle. They got me pretty excited. The price point is good, and the 420x model can hold over 800lbs! That’s good because I weight close to 300 myself and my son is 110. I really like the idea of having a lot of overhead room. does anyone have any experiences with these kinds of kayaks? I figured when deflated this would easily fit in my van with the seats down. my only concern of course is durability since I mostly want to take it out on the lake to get into the trees and bushes to target fish. I’m just worried about underwater trees and bushes poking a hole in the thing, despite them making it sound like they are durable enough to withstand that sort of thing. Any thoughts? Thanks

Those Daiwa aird x’s look cool. I guess I just need to come to the realization that I can’t get one rod & reel to do it all. I just want to catch fish. I don’t care what kind. Sometimes I’ll start off on the main lake or the river branches off of the lake hoping to land a bass with a Texas rig soft plastic, but if I’m not having luck I’ll then head to the spillway to try for crappie or smaller white bass, which I can usually get using 1/16-1/8 jig heads and small crappie baits or marabou jigs under a bobber.

Right... so say I went all out on a baitcaster and got like an expensive Shimano DC. Would it just be a waste of its capabilities to pair it with a cheaper rod? Or do you really need to pair it with something more moderately or expensive priced to get the most out of its capabilities?

Thanks to everyone that chimed in for recommendations regarding baitcasters. Now I have a question about rod pairing. If I go on Bass Pro’s web site, I see cheaper rods like the Ugly Sticks get a good overall user score. Is there anything wrong with pairing a good baitcaster to something like these? Or would that be like putting $2,000 rims on a $500 valued car? (Maybe that’s a bad analogy). Would you just be hindering the capabilities of the baitcaster if you have it on a cheap rod? What do you get with a higher priced rod compared to a cheap Ugly Stick? Thanks.

I still want one. But it’s just a shame they don’t seem to be a do-it-all solution. I’m not necessarily opposed to having multiple rod/reel setups for different applications. I’m just the kind of person that tries to find a do-it-all solution whenever possible

I do go fish at the spillway a lot using really light crappie jigs. 1/16-1/8. Seems like baitcasters aren’t good for this from what I’ve been reading. That’s why I was thinking about sticking with spincast. I’m not really into open faced spinning rods. Have never really liked those for some reason.

I’m kinda starting to eye one of these Zebco Bullets for the time being. Seems like the ease of a spincast with the speed of a baitcast. Kinda seems like the best of both worlds.

Ugh... I keep watching videos on baitcasters. They just seem overly complicated for a guy like me. I’m almost just contemplating getting a higher quality Zebco spincast at this point. Like the Omega Pro or Bullet. I’m just not sure what I can’t do with these that I could with a baitcast. Can someone explain better to me what a baitcaster would do for my fishing that I couldn’t get on a good spincast? Seems like the ability to use floro on a baitcast might be a big difference. Is this accurate? Are there applications where you must use floro? The lakes I fish are mostly known for crappie, bass, catfish, and the occasional alligator gar. Currently I just do catch and release. Eventually I may like to try catching crappie to eat. I also think about my 12 year old son who goes with me often. He has finally gotten decent at the spincast. It would be nice to keep the setup with something I can just hand to him if he wants to trade rods with me. I guess maybe I just have baitcast envy cause that’s what all the guys in YouTube videos are using and they make it sound like that’s what you HAVE to use. Not to mention, I just think they look cool ? appreciate further input on the matter. Thanks.

So a baitcast reel is not good when you’re throwing lighter jigs?