Hi, I am new to this forum and this is my first post. I am going to be getting my first baitcasting setup soon, and don't know what power/action rod and what speed reel would cover most of my bases. Thanks for any and all answers! Happy fishing

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ 

 A 7 ft M or MH rod and a 6.3:1 to  6.6:1 reel should work nicely.

A-Jay

 

Howdy and welcome to our fishing family! A 6'6" to 7' MF or MHF rod with a 6.3:1 to 7.1:1 reel should handle most of your fishing needs. I use a 6'6" and a 6'10" MHF rod both with 7.1:1 reels that gets most jobs done for me. I've got a 7' MM(medium power/moderate action) rod with a 6.2:1 reel my boss gave me that I haven't had much time to see how I like it yet. It's specifically for swim jigs, but I fish chatterbaits more than I do swim jigs and the chatterbait felt funny to me with it. ?

get comfortable with what ever you choose, the guys have given you great choices. don't try to be superman, practice on accuracy not distance. good luck. 

Thanks for the fast responses, much appreciated

I don't own either of these but have experience with them both.  If I were new to baitcasters, and looking for a decent setup that would take me far, I'd get a Dobyns Fury 734C for the rod, and a Daiwa Tatula (or Fuego) reel in 6 or 7 gear ratio (around 30ish inch per turn retrieve speed).

 

Pretty tough to beat for a first set up.  There are quite a few other brands but if you have a store that sells the fury close by, go handle it in person.  A rod with a similar stoutness and bend would be very versatile IMO. I was also pretty impressed with the braking on those Diawas.

Can't add anymore than what has already been said other than to say.....

5 hours ago, LionHeart said:

I don't own either of these but have experience with them both.  If I were new to baitcasters, and looking for a decent setup that would take me far, I'd get a Dobyns Fury 734C for the rod, and a Daiwa Tatula (or Fuego) reel in 6 or 7 gear ratio (around 30ish inch per turn retrieve speed).

 

Pretty tough to beat for a first set up.  There are quite a few other brands but if you have a store that sells the fury close by, go handle it in person.  A rod with a similar stoutness and bend would be very versatile IMO. I was also pretty impressed with the braking on those Diawas.

Ha I was going to post the exact same setup suggestion, or maybe a 704c instead.

One nice thing about the Dobyns Fury/Daiwa setup is that you would be spending about $110 for a really good rod and somewhere near the same money ( less if you go with the Fuego since it is on sale most places right now)and getting a combo that you will be happily fishing a decade or more from now.  I fish rods from Dobyns, Irod, and Powell a lot.  Most of my 12 baitcasters have some version of a Daiwa Tatula, Tatula CT and one Exceler which was the previous model to the Fuego CT.  I rely on those reels heavily for bass, catfish and rockfish. I fish on the Chesapeake Bay rivers so you can catch just about anything including big snakeheads and Blue and Channel Cats.