What would be the best overall rod and reel, purchased seperately, to make a Spinning combo for under $200?

 

Pair a Pflueger President with a Fenwick HMG or ETS and you will have a great combo.

Pair a Pflueger President with a Fenwick HMG or ETS and you will have a great combo.

 

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Pflueger Pres and a *** *** Black is also a great combo.

Daiwa Tatula from Ron at Valley Sports and whichever Shimano you can afford to fill the gap (probably a Sahara.)

Lews tournament high speed spin and *** black or even better an elite tech smallmouth if you can find one. That reel and the ets will put you a little over your budget but not if you can wait til the black friday sales. I have that combo and love mine. Also if you arent worried about rod warranties and are careful with how you treat your rod you can get that reel or the lews team gold speed spin and a powell deisel spinning rod. The team gold is a touch smoother and lighter than the tournament reel and the deisel rod is a great value for the 60 or so bucks i paid for it. I have 5 different combos with both lews reels and those 3 rods and i am very happy with all of them. I use them all for various techniques from jerkbaits and jigs for stripers to fishing finesse baits for monster tennessee smallmouth and they all perform well above their price range. Ive owned daiwa, shimano and pfleuger reels and i like my lews better than all of them. The daiwas are solid but too heavy, the shimanos ive owned had frame flex and were too heavy, and the pleugers were nice but didnt hold enough line unless i went to a large size reel which i didnt care for. If you use smaller size reels id reccomend the daiwas but i use reels that hold 130 yards of 10 lb mono or more because i fish for stripers a lot and dont want to get spooled, and the 300 size lews are perfect for me. Both lews reels i recommended hold 140 yards of 10 lb, both are light(the tournament hs weighs around 8 oz and the team weighs around 7), and both are smooth with very smooth drags. Everyone on bass resource is probably getting tired of me plugging the lews spinning reels as i have the same answer for every spinning reel thread, but i urge anyone who hasnt tried one to do so. Ive owned daiwa advantage, tournament ss, sols, tierras, ballistics, procyons, and a few others. Ive tried shimano saharas, the old ci4, siennas, and bought a sustain and took it back and got 2 lews team golds and line to put on them. Ive also tried pfleuger supremes, sumpreme xt, and patriatcj, but sold them all after issues or getting spooled. Try the lews reels and i promise you will be happy. Im not affiliated with lews in any way but i like to give props and promote great products. Another sleeper reel is the okuma rtx. They get awesome reviews, even on saltwater forums, are super light with strong drags, and can be found for under 70 bucks. Good luck and if possible try what you are thinking of buying if at all possible before you purchase. Ive ordered many rods and reels sight unseen based on others recommendations and ended up selling at a loss because they werent for me

A pflueger with a veritas spinning. You can also buy a president/black *** combo or president/quantum smoke combo for under $200 too. Great reels and rods.

There is no best, it's just a matter of whether you like what you are using.  I use 3 set ups for bass that I'm perfectly content with.  Light redbone with a 25 supreme, ml clarus with 30 supreme, and med calico jack with 35 supreme.  Any of the these reels have more than enough line capacity and drag to handle bass.  I don't recommend anything, just because I like it, doesn't make it right for some else.