I have three rods and reels, and I want to know what I should use them for. I have a medium power spinning rod with 8lb test mono, I have a medium heavy power ugly stick bait caster w/ 12 lb mono, and an ultralight spinning combo with either 4 or 6 lb test mono. What should I use these for? What type of lures, like crankbaits for a certain rod  or jigs for another?

We need to know the length of the rods, what weight lures it says on rods, line weight. Do any of the rods have a fast tip?

What size reels do you have on the rods? Also line capacity of reels.

This will help us to know what you have.

The ultra light, I would use for pan fish or trout.

the spinning rod-senkos/flukes/small jerkbaits and crankbaits/small topwaters

the mh ugly stick-crankbaits

the UL-panfish/trout

 

I wouldn't feel comfortable using jigs on any of them. the ugly stick is much too whippy for my personal taste but you can fish anything on anything really.

the medium spinning rod is 6'6" and so is the ugly stick. the ugly stick says 1/4 oz- 3/4 oz . i listed the line weight for them all above. the medium spinning rod and ugly stick both hold about 100-120 yds of line. I also dont think they have fast tips 

If you have $30 to spare do yourself a favor and go to walmart.com type in vendetta and find the rod thats on sale for 29.99 BUY IT then take the reel off your ugly stick casting rod put it on the vendetta. Now you got yourself an nice jig/ texas rig rod. And use your spinning rod for dropshot, shakey head, crankbaits

Most of us start out with a generic rod/reel combination.

Your Ugly Sticks are what I call slower moderate action rods that are easy to cast however loose feed back to what under water lures are doing. The mono line also dampens lure feed back, so the combination makes a poor choice fishing bottom contact lures because you can't determine strike easily.

The ultra lite has little value for bass fishing in general, could be used for tiny crappie jigs.

The medium rod could be used for finesse soft plastics like 1/8 oz dart head jigs with 4" curl tail worms, split shot or drop shot worms, etc.

The med/hvy is your best choice for general use bass fishing. I would consider changing the line to 30 lb super braid and add a 10 lb FC leader about 5' to 6' long joined with a double Uni knot. You can use this set up for most bass lures between 1/8 to 1/2 oz, including shaky jigs, dart head jigs, most soft plastic worm/creature rigs, top water lures, and crankbait or spinnerbaits.

Tom

What brand is the medium spinner? How long is the UL setup? "Medium" action can vary quite significantly depending on manufacturer, but you should be able to cover a number of techniques with the 3 setups you have.

 

You could probably use the UL for a dropshot rig, and fish Tx rigged plastics, light jigs, jerkbaits with the M action spinning setup. 

Ugly stick...it probably has the most backbone+whippy tip of the 3 and I'd fish spinnerbaits, cranks with it...maybe even a carolina rig if you thow them.

 

As long as the mono on your setups isnt too old, it will get the job done. Keep in mind mono has stretch, and is not ideal for all situations.

What brand is the medium spinner? How long is the UL setup? "Medium" action can vary quite significantly depending on manufacturer, but you should be able to cover a number of techniques with the 3 setups you have.

 

You could probably use the UL for a dropshot rig, and fish Tx rigged plastics, light jigs, jerkbaits with the M action spinning setup. 

Ugly stick...it probably has the most backbone+whippy tip of the 3 and I'd fish spinnerbaits, cranks with it...maybe even a carolina rig if you thow them.

 

As long as the mono on your setups isnt too old, it will get the job done. Keep in mind mono has stretch, and is not ideal for all situations.

The spinning rod and reel are Shimano. Which of those would be used for jigging? would any be even good for jigging? The UL is too small for bass fishing.

The medium spinning rod would be fine for lighter stuff, on the rod somewhere it should say how much lure weight the rod can handle. 1/4 to 5/8oz or so would be my guess? If you're comfortable using spinning gear, then keep at it. No reason why you cant fish jigs within its weight specs. 

 

If you need or want to use heavier jigs you're gonna need a heavier rod, if you picked up a cheap graphite MH spinning rod and use the other reel that's on your ugly stick you'd be able to cover a lot of techniques with just those 2 setups.  If the ugly stick is a heavier rod than your medium spinning setup, just use that.

The medium spinning rod would be fine for lighter stuff, on the rod somewhere it should say how much lure weight the rod can handle. 1/4 to 5/8oz or so would be my guess? If you're comfortable using spinning gear, then keep at it. No reason why you cant fish jigs within its weight specs. 

 

If you need or want to use heavier jigs you're gonna need a heavier rod, if you picked up a cheap graphite MH spinning rod and use the other reel that's on your ugly stick you'd be able to cover a lot of techniques with just those 2 setups.  If the ugly stick is a heavier rod than your medium spinning setup, just use that.

My ugly stick is a MH baitcasting rod.

My mistake, if it's not too soft of  a rod it will work for now. I just have no experience with Ugly Stiks, they were always too whippy and soft for anything I doing. Maybe someone with that rod will chime in and help you out further.

I also just got a new rod and reel from a friend, this may open up some more possibilities. It's a 7' Olympic-3070-FG  F.W. Spinning rod. It's hard to find the action, because the site is really hard to understand. I don't think this info helped a lot. If anyone has any info on this rod it would be appreciated. I think it's a saltwater/salmon rod, but it easily throws lures 1/2 oz - 1 oz(1 oz may be pushing, but I don't know).