Currently I have a 6'MH Ugly Stick with a Shimano Syncopate 2500FE. This setup has 10lbs braid. This is the only rod I use. I grew up fishing spincast reels.

I also have a 6'6"MH Shakespeare Axiom rod with a matching Axiom baitcast reel. The setup has 20lbs braid.

After having a look around on this site it looks like I have some cheap and improperly setup rigs. I use to fish growing up and just recently got back into it. 90% of my fishing lately have been throwing a weightless senko.

I have a budget of $200. I am thinking I should put mono line on the baitcaster and start learning how to use it. I would like to use the $200 on a good spincast rod and reel for throwing plastics. What do you think?

Shimano Citica, Shimano Sellus rod, Yozuri 12# line.

Do you want a spincast reel, spinning reel or baitcasting reel? You can wait until the 4th of July sale at BPS and get a Pro Qualifier casting reel for less than 100 dollars and that way you can get a better rod like something from the Abu Garcia V series or the Fenwick Elite Tech smallmouths but I think if you rake your time you can do better than the Sellus rod, I don't like the 24 ton graphite, for 50 bucks you can do better.

I switched from spinning reels for plastcs to baitcasters just this season. I now have three setups. I love them. Its a much more interactive way of fishing for me. I love having the control over everything the way you do when you use a BC. I sold my nice spinning setup to my bro and kept the cheap one just in case I wanna go pan fishing. I would advise not starting out on cheap gear. They are not user friendly and will most likley leave a bad taste in your mouth and make you wonder why everone likes them so well. Plus a good quality BC will last yrs if properly taken care of from what I hear (no doubt)

What else other than senkos do you plan on using? Reason I ask is soft plastics/jigs use one type of rod while treble hooked baits use another type of rod. For $200 you couldn't go wrong with a BPS Pro Qualifier reel at $100 and they are often on sale cheaper. Rod is gonna depend on bait selections. For line 12# Yo-Zuri Hybrid or Sufix Elite.