New to bassing, and looking for some general advice on how to "assign" which rod to what techniques.

I own three rods:

- Shimano 7' MH/F baitcaster

- Fenwick 7' MH/F baitcaster (this one has a noticeably stouter action than the Shimano)

- Shimano 6' 6" M/F spinning rod

My two baitcasting reels are a Daiwa Trillionaire 6.3:1 and a yet-to-be-named 7:1.

I'm guessing I should spool one baitcaster with braid and one with either fluoro or mono. My goal is to be as flexible as possible with these rods. So my questions are what lines (not specific brands, but type and test please) should I put on each reel? Which rod should I pair with each baitcaster? And what techniques should I concentrate on for each of the three?

I'm fishing NorCal reservoirs and small ponds.

TIA!

- D

40lb braid on your fenwick use it for frogs, T-rigged stuff, jigs, 10 or 12 lb mono on the shimano baitcaster you can use this as your crankbait, topwater, spinnerbait rod, 15 lb braid on your spinning rod with a flouro leader, you can use this for any finesse techniques dropshot,weightless senkos. I started with the same rods except I had a medium for cranking and it worked well enough for me. If you have end up getting the higher speed reel use it on the braid rod.

 

Good Luck.

40lb braid on your fenwick use it for frogs, T-rigged stuff, jigs, 10 or 12 lb mono on the shimano baitcaster you can use this as your crankbait, topwater, spinnerbait rod, 15 lb braid on your spinning rod with a flouro leader, you can use this for any finesse techniques dropshot,weightless senkos. I started with the same rods except I had a medium for cranking and it worked well enough for me. If you have end up getting the higher speed reel use it on the braid rod.

 

Good Luck.

Exactly the sort of advice I'm looking for. Thanks Ned. Oh, and Go Pack! :-)

Open to other thoughts too folks.

- D

I would put the 7.1 reel on the Fenwick 7' MH and put 50lb braid on it for frogs and fishing around grass. You could also use it for T rigs and jigs or topwater.

 

The 6.2 on the 7' MH Shimano somewhere around 12-15 pound either copolymer or fluorocarbon. You could use this one for T rigs and jigs along with crankbaits, jerkbaits, and spinnerbaits.

 

The spinning rod I'd spool with 20lb braid and add about a 3-4' leader of 8-10 pound fluorocarbon leader to fish shakyheads, grubs, tubes, wacky rigs, or weightless plastics. 

I would put the 7.1 reel on the Fenwick 7' MH and put 50lb braid on it for frogs and fishing around grass. You could also use it for T rigs and jigs or topwater.

 

The 6.2 on the 7' MH Shimano somewhere around 12-15 pound either copolymer or fluorocarbon. You could use this one for T rigs and jigs along with crankbaits, jerkbaits, and spinnerbaits.

 

The spinning rod I'd spool with 20lb braid and add about a 3-4' leader of 8-10 pound fluorocarbon leader to fish shakyheads, grubs, tubes, wacky rigs, or weightless plastics. 

Good advice here.

Depending on the situation, i would go-

YZ hybrid

17#

15#

8#

Or

15#

12#

6#

If you're not around alot of matted vegetation, then IMHO, you're better off without the braid. If you ARE going to throw frogs and punch baits into slop, then braid can't be beat. Jmho.

Id use the 7 ratio reel on the fenwick for bottom contact with 12 lb yo zuri hybrid or 30-50 lb braid, the 6 ratio reel on the other mh with 12 lb big game or other mono, and 8-10lb trilene xl or 20 lb braid on the spinning rod

Spinning rod gets braid with FC leader, just make sure that the diameters of the two lines are similar. 

Fenwick could be braid or FC (maybe a leader too.) If you ever fish frogs, get 50# braid, if you not, go 14# FC. I'd also pair this with the 7:1.

The Shimano is gonna be a reaction baits rod, so put some 14# co-poly on the 6:1.