Hello everyone.  I am trying to get into fishing.  My better half bought me a rod and reel for our anniversary.  The lakes I will go to will have  Spotted Bass, Large mouth, striped bass, Black Crappie, and bluegill. The rod and reel are nice but according to the forum threads I have read, my rod isn't ideal.

I have the following:
6'6" Fenwick  Rod.  It is M/L power with fast action.
Pflueger 6930  reel with 8lb Trilene

I am a noob so I don't know what bait to use but I was probably going to use soft plastic worms and frogs, nightcrawlers, crankbait, and spinners.

Will my setup work well for bank lake fishing for these species?  Mostly bank but boat on rare occasions.
I can't return these items without hurting my wifes feeelings so dont want to exchange it.

Thanks

Welcome to the Forum.  There is a wealth of knowledge here.  Just go to each of the forum topics and read the stickies.

 

As far as your setup goes, I would say the rod is to light but it can be fished for most of the species you have listed.  Have you used it much?  Lure wise, just start with what works and grow from their.  Learn a good knot to tie your baits with before you go hog wild.  Plastic worms, such as senkos or yum dingers, rigged with a 4/0 EWG hook is good place to start.

 

Just do some research and watch some videos on this site and you'll be on your way.

Yes, live bait, no to bass frogs, yes to smaller cranks, no to normal bass jigs, read you're rods labeled rating to have a better ideal on lure weights, smaller lead heads/grubs..... Lotsa uses on that rod & reel, and above all... Enjoy!

Yes, live bait, no to bass frogs, yes to smaller cranks, no to normal bass jigs, read you're rods labeled rating to have a better ideal on lure weights, smaller lead heads/grubs..... Lotsa uses on that rod & reel, and above all... Enjoy!

 

 

It looks like the rod line recommendation is 6-10lb.  Lure 1/8-1/2 oz.

 

 

So as long as the lure is in that range, I should be ok?

 

You say no to normal bass jigs.  BPS has many bass jigs in my lure range.  This link below has bass jigs that are within the lure rating I stated above.  Can I use those or still no to those?

 

http://www.basspro.com/Strike-King-KVD-Swim-Jig/product/73171/ 

Try a smaller hook on a jig, 1/4 to 5/16 or so... Lite wire hooks will penetrate easier with that rod, yes you can catch bigger fish on you're rig, but on baits? There are limits to that outfit, it will do many things well, just not everything.. You will ultimately have to use it to see if the rod ratings are accurate, mostly close....but it's not a exact science.

Try 1/4 tubes, drop shot, topwater think gunfish95/spookjr/popr, flukes/senkos, jerkbaits/crankbaits to name a few. That's what I like to fish on medium light rods

If there was such a thing as one ideal rod and reel to cover ALL of those species that you listed, the one you described would be about as close as it comes. Normally, it would be preferred to use a light/ultralight rod for bluegill and crappie and a medium/medium heavy for bass. You are set up nicely to tackle some of the most effective techniques for both worlds: some of the heavier panfish baits and rigs, and then the lighter end of the bass fishing spectrum.

For crappie and bluegill, you would be good to go for live bait and bobber rigs, small crankbaits, in-line spinners, and medium sized grubs or tube jigs. Not ideal for certain micro sized jigs and tiny tubes.

For bass, you have a solid setup for some of what would be considered "finesse" techniques like weightless plastic worms, senkos (my personal favorite bait for catching bass in nearly any situation), small jigs, tubes, wacky rigs, shaky heads, and drop shotting. Also small crankbaits. What you may have difficulty with are heavy jigs, big spinner baits, frogs, large swim baits and "power fishing" techniques. If you are fishing from the bank though, and not a boat, you probably would not be using a whole lot of power techniques anyways. I don't think you would be missing out much.

Go any heavier with your setup, you wouldn't be well equipped for bluegill. Go any lighter, and it may not have the strength to fight or hook bass. When you get more into the sport, you can consider buying more specialized setups to specifically go for the bass OR the bluegill to round out your arsenal.

FYI- you are ideally situated to tie on a 3-3 1/2 inch curly tailed grub on a 1/8oz jig head or a beetlespin. These are not species specific, and will catch just about anything that swims if fished right

Hello everyone.  I am trying to get into fishing.  My better half bought me a rod and reel for our anniversary.  The lakes I will go to will have  Spotted Bass, Large mouth, striped bass, Black Crappie, and bluegill. The rod and reel are nice but according to the forum threads I have read, my rod isn't ideal.

I have the following:

6'6" Fenwick  Rod.  It is M/L power with fast action.

Pflueger 6930  reel with 8lb Trilene

I am a noob so I don't know what bait to use but I was probably going to use soft plastic worms and frogs, nightcrawlers, crankbait, and spinners.

Will my setup work well for bank lake fishing for these species?  Mostly bank but boat on rare occasions.

I can't return these items without hurting my wifes feeelings so dont want to exchange it.

Thanks

 

 

I think your setup is good. But for lighter line techniques.

 

If you want to go jigs, use "micro" "bitsy" style jigs.

 

Me? I'd use it for soft plastics -- wacky rigs, mojo rigs, light Texas rigs, light cranks, etc.

 

Here's an excellent read on catching bass with "light" tackle. Highly recommend it to you.

 

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/light_line.html

 

FWIW, I use Medium rods all the time, and I just "upgraded" one of my casting rods from Medium to ML so I could actually cast lighter lures better. I've not been disappointed whatsoever.

 

And welcome to the forums!

Edited September 9, 201411 yr by DarrenM

I've become a big fan of Fenwick rods.  You didn't mention which model it is (HMX, HMG, Smallmouth, Eagle GT, etc.).  I like what Tony L had to say.  Especially about Inline spinners and Beetle Spins.  I used a similar rod back in the day (tho no where near the quality of the rod you have) to catch anything from sunnies to largemoth, smallmouth, pickerel, bullheads, catfish, perch, etc. etc.  Lots of different fish will hit that Beetle Spin.  Small enough and you can catch sunnies and bluegillls.  Bigger and largemouth and pickerel will nail it.  My biggest ever smallmouth was on a small RoosterTail Inline spinner that a crappie would have had no trouble inhaling.  I've caught plenty of crappie on both.

 

The combo you have is a good place to start   You may eventually own more expensive and more powerful rods, but that rod/reel combo should still be catching fish years from now.

Tie on a beetle spin or an original rapala floater and go catch all those fish you listed in the same day!

You rig is perfect for what you're after and your skill level. Enjoy it!

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and opinions.  

 

New2BC4bass,

The rod is a Cabelas exclusive.  Fenwick Silverhawk

Hello,

That rod and reel is just fine. I use an ultralight rig when conditions call for it.

Regards,

Josh

Nothing I can add other than welcome to the forums and enjoy your new setup!

tony L is pretty much spot on....

and from prior experience, DONT return it!  It will kill the wife's desire to buy one next time!  most importantly, just go fishing and have fun, sounds like you have the wife's blessing if she's buying you gear!

That is actually a decent rod, they have alconite guides and the blank is 30 ton which is the same as a Vendetta but they feel lighter and it probably due to the guides but it is a good rod and reel set up you have. Here is what I would use with 8lb line and that set up: Flukes both regular and Jr. sizes, 3",4", and 5" Senkos, and just about any other 4.5" to 7" worm T-rigged with a 1/8oz to 1/4oz bullet weight but 3/16oz is the magic size.  Basically look up finesse tactics for bass and you'll be fine but the nice thing is you'll be able to use that rod for all around fishing like using bait for crappie and perch, it is a little bit big for those species but it isn't over kill so it will be fine. You can do anything you want with it as long as you stay within the parameters of the rod rating, good luck and have fun.

For multi species fishing from the bank that rod is not bad at all. Just avoid heavy wire hooks as you may not get good hooksets with the lighter rod.