Hey everyone, I’ve been fishing spinning setups since I started bass fishing but I’m looojing into getting a baitcast setup. I’m looking for suggestions on a quality reel (I’ve always used shimano spinner) and a decent MH- fast action rod, I love throwing cranking baits and 1/4-1/2 oz spinners. Any suggestions are welcome! Pretty open to price but I’d like to stay under $250 for the setup. 

Reel: Daiwa Fuego CT or Tatula CT

Rod: a bit more subjective but St Croix Mojo and above, Dobyns fury and above, Fenwick HMG and above, and the new BPS carbonlite rods seem like solid choices. I personally have a strong preference for St Croix rods, but YMMV. 

1 hour ago, Ben Lambert said:

I'm looking for suggestions on a quality reel (I’ve always used shimano spinner) and a decent MH- fast action rod, I love throwing cranking baits and 1/4-1/2 oz spinners. Any suggestions are welcome! Pretty open to price but I’d like to stay under $250 for the s

For a reel, I would go with a Tatula CT, 6.3:1 gear ratio. Personally, I think that's kind of a no brainer given that you can get them on ebay (and I think Amazon) for $100ish.

 

For rods, it's a little tough to find a rod that will work for both cranks and spinners and not do one horribly. I found myself in a situation, twice needing a rod for both.

The other type of rod I would suggest is a true medium/fast rod, maybe a St Croix 6'8" M/F Mojo Bass, which I believe is labeled the soft plastics rod or the Dobyns 703C. Also a rods like the Fenwick Elite Tech Bass or the Major Craft Nanoace are true M/F rods. You can fish weightless soft plastics on these and people use them a lot for squarebills and spinnerbaits up to 3/8oz. This is how I'd go if this is going to be your only casting rod for a while, because they're also good for weighless soft plastics.

 

If you plan on adding a MH/F rod in the forseeable future, then I would go another route. The Tatula class cranking rod I have which can be bought on Amazon atm for $125 (here) would do nicely. It's on the stiffer side, so it can handle a 1/2 spinnerbait with a trailer rather easily, but has enough play where I have yet to lose a fish on a crank as well. If you prefer something lighter, the St. Croix Mojo Bass 7' MH/MF spinnerbait rod isn't half bad. I own both, but prefer the Tatula, but if heavier weight is an issue, go with the St. Croix should you go this route.

IROD 754 Fred's Magic Stick + Citica I or Curado I.

Since you said you've always used a shimano, I would suggest for the reel to go with a Shimano Casistas, it's about 100 bucks retail and a great piece to learn about baitcasting.

 

For the rod, I would go with a Dobyns. And they have different types of series so I would reccomend the Dobyns Furry for you, great rod and performs very well out of its price range, worth every penny! It's about 110 retail.

Dobyns Fury is a great choice for a rod. If you wait till the 4th of July sale at Tackle Warehouse you could get up to a $180 reel to pair with it and after the 15% off you would still be under $250.