Im new to bass fishing but not fishing in general as I have catfished for about 25 years. I am looking for a new species of fish to fish for and all my local lakes are bass or muskie. I have been buying tackle already like lipless crankbaits, shallow and deep crankbaits, frogs, spinner & buzz baits, jigs, and soft plastics. But my biggest confusion is what gear ratio reel to match with what action rod. But this is the idea that I am thinking Im trying to stay with atleast 4 rod and reel combo's until I get more experience

7'3 + MH or H rod with 7.1:1 or faster bait caster with 50+ lb braid for my frog and hollow body sunfish

7'0 MH with 6.3:1 bait caster with 20lb flourcarbon for my lipless and shallow/deep crankbaits plus my spinner baits 

7'0 M with 6.3:1 bait caster with 50lb + braid for my jig

6'6 M with 5.4:1 baitcaster with 20 lb flourcarbon for my soft plastics 

Thanks for your time and stay safe out on the water.

 

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ and Bass fishing in general.

I have two suggestions for you:

1) In regards to the 6'6 M with 5.4:1 baitcaster with 20 lb flourcarbon for my soft plastics ~ you may find that reel a little slow for bottom contact baits.  It's a good deep crankbait reels speed though.  The 6.3:1 or the 7.1:1 would be better.

2) A Medium rod for soft plastics is fine in light cover but you may find a MH better if you're fishing in heavier weeds and what not.

Good Luck

A-Jay 

 

IMO, you need a light-line spinning set-up for finesse techniques.  Those techniques catch fish when nothing else does.

Also, that 20# FC may be tough to cast.

You may want to to switch to 8 to 12lb test fluoro for your reaction bait rod

Thanks everyone for the replys. I have learned so much by searching on these forums. I just purchased me 4 rods now time to figure out what reels I wanna use on them. I bought 4 kistler rods at a great deal on there website I bought the carbon steel rods.

7'3 carbon steel heavy going to pair it with a 8.0:1 reel with 50lb braid for my frogs, top water baits

7'0 Carbon Steel MH thinking about pairing it with a 6.4:1 with fluorocarbon 12lb for my worms, jigs, carolina rig

7'0 Carbon Steel Medium thinking about pairing it with either a 5.4:1 or 6.4:1 reel with 12lb fluorocarbon for cranking

6'10" Classic Med Heavy fast tip and I have no clue with it thinking a 6.4:1 for my spinnerbaits and buzz baits ANY ONE HAVE INPUT ON THIS OR ANYTHING ABOVE.

That all sounds fine. Maybe add a finesse setup and you're set. 

ML spinning with medium to fast tip, 6 pound yo zuri or p line cx. Or just go plain flouro. 

Thanks DumBassFishin ill at that to my list. I am totally new to this bass fishing. Like I said I am use to catfishing and using 2-3 same outfits not use to all this different stuff lol

All the recs here sound good. Not sure what type of topwater baits you intend to throw on the 7'3"H but if you're thinking heavier baits 3/4 oz and up it would be fine. The lighter baits would work better on the 7"M or 6'10"MH. Once you start using different techniques and weights on the rods in various conditions, you will figure out what you like.

oh and you dont need all those different combos. i have one at the moment and still caught 200+ bass last summer. will be getting another combo too though. Do you fish from a boat?

Yes I will be fishing from a boat

 

ok then. i fish from the bank so i always travel light. sometimes i wish i could have the luxury of 6+ different rods all ready to pick up and fish (: