I’m just getting back into bass fishing after quite a few years of being a crappie and bream fisherman and wow has a lot changed (and gotten expensive!).  So I dug all my old equipment out of the closet and I’m trying to get set up. I have 2 bait casters and a few spinning rods but I’m concentrating on the bait casters for now. I’ve always fished spinnerbaits and cranks (mostly lipless) and my equipment never was the best. It’s time to learn new techniques and upgrade my rods. 
 

so right now I’ve got 2 bait casters. An Abu Garcia 5000 (3.75:1) on a 6’ medium action rod and an Abu Garcia 4600C3 (5.3:1) on a 5’6” medium rod. 
 

I'm Working on getting a 3 rod setup to start with so I just ordered a St Croix bass X 7’4” HF to use as a pitching rod.  I am also ordering a St Croix Avid X 7’ MHF to use for casting jigs and spinner baits. I will repurpose the 6’ medium rod I have for now as my Crankbait rod. Sound good so far?

 

For reels I’m at a loss as trying to learn ratios and what’s best for each is getting me ran around in circles. So I plan on buying 1 new reel for now. My Abu’s are old but still work great. I’m looking at buying a Shimano SLX...I’ve read great reviews on them and they don’t break the bank with all the other money I’ve been spending. So it comes in a choice of 8.2:1, 7.2:1, and 6.3:1 ratios. Which ratio would I get the most use out of and which rod would you put the Garcia’s on?  I’m thinking of using the Abu 5000(3.75:1) on the avid x that I plan on using for casting jigs and spinners. The Abu 4600C3(5.3:1) on the bass x pitching rod, and doing a 7.2:1 Shimano on one of my old medium cranking rods.

Am I missing anything or what changes would you make to this setup?  Thanks in advance for all the help!

I am no expert but if it was me I would use the 5.3:1 for cranking, and get the 8.2:1 for the pitching.  My reasoning is the faster gear ratio you can get the bait in and out of cover quicker and get more casts in.  Just my opinion

In general you get the most mechanical advantage using lower ratio reels for deep diving and high resistance lures. A 7:1 is plenty fast for a jig rod but it’s more preference than mechanical advantage. I’ve done some math and not sold on the more casts theory but a fast reel takes up slack quickly when needed and makes burning a bait easier if need be. 

Sell it all.

Buy 11 foot cane poles.

Take up all the available lanes at the boat ramp for the 14ft Jon.

Take a minimum of 7 pulls to start the motor.

Use 5 gallon buckets as live wells. Do Not put water or ice in those live wells. 
Smoke heaters for the duration of the process. 
Also, do not, under any circumstance place life vests on the children. 
Don’t do it.

Your 3.75:1 reel is designed for crankbaits, but may be a bit slow for lipless cranks. Generally speaking, anything in the neighborhood of 5 to 1 is classic crankbait speed. Spool diameter has a lot to do with IPT, and the ambassadeurs have larger spools than the average low profile reels so that will pick up the speed some. An 8 to 1 reel is a great addition to an existing arsenal, but if I was limited to only 3 rods I would go with something more versatile. Im not sure a 6.3 to 1 low profile reel would be much faster than your 5000, so 7 to 1 would be the way to go in my opinion.

1 hour ago, bogfrog said:

Your 3.75:1 reel is designed for crankbaits, but may be a bit slow for lipless cranks. Generally speaking, anything in the neighborhood of 5 to 1 is classic crankbait speed. Spool diameter has a lot to do with IPT, and the ambassadeurs have larger spools than the average low profile reels so that will pick up the speed some. An 8 to 1 reel is a great addition to an existing arsenal, but if I was limited to only 3 rods I would go with something more versatile. Im not sure a 6.3 to 1 low profile reel would be much faster than your 5000, so 7 to 1 would be the way to go in my opinion.

My thoughts were to use my slowest reel to cast the jigs and spinnerbaits since those are usually presented the slowest. The medium speed on my flipping stick since people want higher speeds to yank them out of the bushes before they get tangled. And then the new higher speed 7:1 on the old rod that I plan on pulling cranks with. Sounds like we are on somewhat of the same page here, appreciate it. 

5 hours ago, 813basstard said:

Sell it all.

Buy 11 foot cane poles.

Take up all the available lanes at the boat ramp for the 14ft Jon.

Take a minimum of 7 pulls to start the motor.

Use 5 gallon buckets as live wells. Do Not put water or ice in those live wells. 
Smoke heaters for the duration of the process. 
Also, do not, under any circumstance place life vests on the children. 
Don’t do it.

I don’t need 11’ cane poles, I already have fiberglass jig poles that length. 
I do fish from a 14’ Jon boat. It has a terrova 80, a garmin 9sv, and a striker 4, a bulge pump, AND running lights. It’s small but gets the job done and yes, I’m working on something bigger but this gets me out for now. 
It will usually crank on the first 3 pulls. 
Livewell is in the front bench. 
Water and ice belong in a livewell don’t they?

I don’t smoke, sorry. 
my boys are my fishing buddies, they are 16 and 18. Any time my gas motor is running they have their vests on...I’m not gonna make them sweat in the summer wearing them while I have mine off when we are just using the trolling motor though. 
Thanks for the helpful input. Lol

9 hours ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

In general you get the most mechanical advantage using lower ratio reels for deep diving and high resistance lures. A 7:1 is plenty fast for a jig rod but it’s more preference than mechanical advantage. I’ve done some math and not sold on the more casts theory but a fast reel takes up slack quickly when needed and makes burning a bait easier if need be. 

Interesting food for thought and the opposite of the way I was leaning. I was thinking faster reels for the cranks to burn then when needed and  slower for my casting jig and spinnerbaits pole since those are usually the slower presentations. Shoot, Ill probably swap them around to see what works best but the plan is to replace them all with modern equipment as I can. I just figured since the reels were in good shape the rods were a more important investment. 

9 hours ago, FishinBuck07 said:

I am no expert but if it was me I would use the 5.3:1 for cranking, and get the 8.2:1 for the pitching.  My reasoning is the faster gear ratio you can get the bait in and out of cover quicker and get more casts in.  Just my opinion

Definitely makes sense and I can see the advantage to the super fast ratio on the pitching rod...it is hard to convince myself to spend money on new equipment and put it on one of the lesser used rods...I know that is the wrong way of thinking though. All the reels will be replaced with job specific reels and speeds as money allows for sure, this is just for the initial buy-in. 

It can definitely be overwhelming for sure!  

Thank you for the input everyone. I ended up ordering a St Croix bass x 74HF and a Shimano SLX in 8:1. This will be my pitching and flipping setup. Next paycheck I plan to order a St Croix Avid X 70MHF and pairing it with a Curado K 7:1. I’ll use this for spinners, casting jigs, chatterbaits, and maybe lipless cranks. I’ll keep my 2 medium cheap rods with the Abu reels set up for cranks...and I’ll have my spinning reels for soft plastics. This should get me a pretty good selection going and let me figure out what I’ve been missing with a better quality rod and reel...let’s see how this looks a year from now. Lol

You did good!

Nice to see someone get good advice and actually follow it. No one should blindly follow anyone else but this forum is a wealth of knowledge and more importantly class. 

Thank you, I usually try to hear what others are saying and specially when I’m trying to learn more. I’ll be 43 this year and I’m ready to start going slower and enjoying life more. Growing up all I did was bass fish any lake, river, pond, or ditch I could get to on my old Honda 3 wheeler...I’m really looking forward to learning some new techniques and go catching and not fishing now though. Hahaha