I've mainly been a Crappie fisherman, especially when we lived in Louisiana. I do fish Bass, Catfish, and saltwater fish of all kinds though. That being said, I want to up my Bass game. The chart shows my Bass rods. These I've picked up over the years, kind of haphazard...whatever was on sale at the time. I may need to "thin the heard" or change line and/or rod and reel combo. I would appreciate some advice from the "ain't nothing but Bass" guys out there...LOL 

 

Carbonlite - BPS reel 6.4:1 - some type of monofilament...no idea which one maybe Trilene of some type

Berkley (haven't used in years) - Could go with Prodigy (I just found in a box) 6.3:1 - Cajun Red line 12#

H2O Xpress - H2O Express 6.3:1 - Cajun Red line 12#

Veritos - Sahara 6.2:1 -  some type of monofilament...no idea which one maybe Trilene of some type

 

I've caught 95% of my bass on a worm...mainly a Speed Worm. I want to learn to catch, often, on jigs, spinners, frogs, maybe even a few crank baits. Also want to get good at Pitching and flipping. I really want to lessen the frequency of "bird nests" too!!

 

So I'm thinking a long rod...heavy...fast tip...7.0:1 or faster reel. 

I will not, and can not afford to spend a bunch on a rod/reel I use for fun. I'm thinking maybe $ 150 (less if possible) for rod and reel! Would kind of like a manufacture I can switch to, if I like the first setup, and cull the present stock. Not sure which brands are the best quality in that price range...Kastking, Lews, Abu Garcia ( didn't know they made the Prodigy...it's stamped in the reel foot), or other. 

 

Also best type of line for each setup...as all my line is several years old. I'll be changing (and buying fresh) line on all my reels. I do this every spring on all my Crappie reels.

Heyo, I’ll give the standard issue advice (with maybe a twist or two based on my experience).

 

General duty bass rod...medium heavy is the way to go. 7’ is definitely good. Myself, I prefer SLIGHTLY shorter medium, fast rods. I just find that, for my purposes, they load up a bit easier on my soft plastics but can still handle a small jig if I need them to. I wouldn’t get crazy hung up on brands. Most are quite good nowadays. 

 

As far as casting reels go, 7:1 is basically the new 6:1...tough to go wrong there. Bps, shimano, daiwa, abu, I’ve used them all and they’re all great. I’m all shimano nowadays but that’s just personal preference.
 

Spinning stuff, I can’t comment on...I’ve been all baitcasting for about 5 years now. Any of my spinning gear is solely dedicated to trout. I can imagine it’s the same, though. Above the $100 mark, they’re probably all good. 
 

Trilene big game is the mono to go for. It’s cheap and it’ll start you off on the right foot. Almost all of my leaders are big game and they’re all rock solid. Even before I went braid to leader, I used mostly big game. A lot of guys do the same. 
 

A good strategy might be to start off with 3 or 4 baits and get good with em. Say, for instance...a 3/8 swim jig (you can do more than just swim them), the senko, a 2” body frog (I like the pad crasher jr) and a weightless fluke. You can work any of these with a medium heavy rod (a dedicated fluke rig should be lighter but you can definitely get the job done).  Get good with those baits and you’ll definitely have the basic tools necessary to tap into bass’ predatory/opportunistic instinct.

You said you lived in Louisiana, do you still live far south.  If you do then first choice would be a heavy power rod with braid 7 foot or a little more.  This will give you the ability to fish in heavy vegetation that is the summer season in the south.  There already wrecking frogs here in Memphis, and punching will be right around the corner.  You also live where the bigger fish are and using the bigger worms 10" ribbon tails and 6" stick worms are heavy.  It also opens up fishing smaller soft swim baits and paddle tails.  Reel speed is a preference but you can do anything on a 6.3 because I do no problem.  If your location is tidal you may seek rods with stainless guides and coastal reels.  If you were north I would go a different direction.

4 hours ago, Angry John said:

You said you lived in Louisiana, do you still live far south.  If you do then first choice would be a heavy power rod with braid 7 foot or a little more.  This will give you the ability to fish in heavy vegetation that is the summer season in the south.  There already wrecking frogs here in Memphis, and punching will be right around the corner.  You also live where the bigger fish are and using the bigger worms 10" ribbon tails and 6" stick worms are heavy.  It also opens up fishing smaller soft swim baits and paddle tails.  Reel speed is a preference but you can do anything on a 6.3 because I do no problem.  If your location is tidal you may seek rods with stainless guides and coastal reels.  If you were north I would go a different direction.

We live in Lamar MO now. Haven't lived in Louisiana for several years, I said when we lived...

The bayou and Atchafalaya are still my favorite places to fish in the world though! When all this COVID crap blows over I'll go back and spend a month or so fishing all my old spots.

 

Setup for Froggin, Pitching, Flipping, larger jigs...? Any type of baits / techniques I would need a longer, heavier duty rod and faster reel than I have listed above. 

OK...after looking some more I've narrowed it down some. What are your thoughts on brand?

Rod : 7'3-4" - Heavy - Fast

Reel : 7.3:1 or 8.1:1 which is better?

 

 

Also... if you were setting up this combo, and trying to stay around $150 or so max, would you spend more on a better reel...or rod...why?

Would you try to match brands of rod & reel or not? Is there an advantage?

 

Some contenders :

Lew's Speed Stick Mach 7'4" H F and Classic Pro SLP 7.5:1

Kastking Perigee II 7'4" H F and Royal Legend 7.3:1 or 8.1:1

Diawa Aird X 7'0" H F (shorter) or 7'3" MH F (lighter) and Fuego CT 7.3:1 or 8.1:1

 

What combos would you add at best quality available and comparable price ?

1 hour ago, Gator_Bait said:

Setup for Froggin, Pitching, Flipping, larger jigs...?

 

Diawa Aird X 7'0" H F and Fuego CT 8.1:1

This is exactly my frog/pitch/flip rig. Only jigs I use on it is 3/4oz or heavier...rest of my jigs I do on the MH.

 

I like the shorter rod mainly because I'm out of a canoe. Faster reel to haul them out of the slop quicker.

1 hour ago, MN Fisher said:

This is exactly my frog/pitch/flip rig. Only jigs I use on it is 3/4oz or heavier...rest of my jigs I do on the MH.

 

I like the shorter rod mainly because I'm out of a canoe. Faster reel to haul them out of the slop quicker.

What are you using for line?

16 minutes ago, Gator_Bait said:

What are you using for line?

50# Power Pro with 12# Yo-Zuri Hybrid leader.

1 hour ago, MN Fisher said:

50# Power Pro with 12# Yo-Zuri Hybrid leader.

Yup...that's what I am going to try. If I like it I'll put that on other reels.

1 minute ago, Gator_Bait said:

Yup...that's what I am going to try. If I like it I'll put that on other reels.

I've got a mix on my rigs

Fuego CT-XS on H/F Aird-X - 50# PP/12# YZH leader

Supreme on MH/F Aird-X - 40# 832/12# YZH leader - main line use to be 30# PP

Fuego CT-H on MH/M Fury - 12# YZH

President XT on MH/F Laguna - 12# YZH

President on M/F Aird-X - 10# Stren

25 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

I've got a mix on my rigs

Fuego CT-XS on H/F Aird-X - 50# PP/12# YZH leader

Supreme on MH/F Aird-X - 40# 832/12# YZH leader - main line use to be 30# PP

Fuego CT-H on MH/M Fury - 12# YZH

President XT on MH/F Laguna - 12# YZH

President on M/F Aird-X - 10# Stren

Interesting collection of rigs you have.

3 Aird-X you must really like them.

How do you like the Dobyns Fury? 

2 Diawa Fuego CT, I think the 8.1:1 would be the hot ticket. Don't have anything like it.

I have a President spinning reel on a crappie setup. Had it for 7-8 yrs, love it. How are the casting reels? 

2 minutes ago, Gator_Bait said:

3 Aird-X you must really like them.

They were affordable when I was building my arsenal...I think they fish well above the price point and I haven't had any complaints about them...I also have an Aird-X spinning rod.

3 minutes ago, Gator_Bait said:

How do you like the Dobyns Fury? 

Only been out once with it (and the ML/F Spinning one too) - but so far I'm liking them. If I do upgrade the Aird-X rods, it'd be to Furys.

4 minutes ago, Gator_Bait said:

2 Diawa Fuego CT, I think the 8.1:1 would be the hot ticket. Don't have anything like it.

Another item that I feel work above it's price point. Smooth, easy to adjust. Only real difference between the Fuego CT and Tatula CT is that the Tat has the T-Wing...otherwise they're practically identical.

5 minutes ago, Gator_Bait said:

I have a President spinning reel on a crappie setup. Had it for 7-8 yrs, love it. How are the casting reels?

I have two President Spinners myself - 20 on my UL (Ned and Panfish), 25 on the Fury ML/F (Finesse)

I've been impressed with the President BC - last year it was on the Aird-X MH/F tossing spinners/chatters/buzzbaits and did quite well. Standard magnetic brakes instead of the Fuego's Magforce, but tuning them in wasn't a big issue and rarely had 'blowups'.

I think I'll try the Diawa Fuego CT  8.1:1 Ordered it this morning.

 

Most places had them for $99.99 - 109.99 but, in a You Tube video I was watching last night the guy said you could find them on sale a lot. He showed a few adds on the screen and I saw one was Walmart! So I checked, being there are a lot of Memorial Day sales, and they had 4 left at 74.99! Well...with a little leftover on an old gift card I ended up getting one of the four for 56 bucks out of pocket! I hope the reel is as good as the deal I got. 

 

 It'll be here Monday...maybe with some luck it'll stop raining. I could have literally run my boat in the ditch behind my house last night. Water in the backyard was about halfway from the fence to the house. And there's a 2+ ft. drop from the house to the back fence!

 

Now for a rod to put it on!!!

20 minutes ago, Gator_Bait said:

Now for a rod to put it on!!!

Well, as I said, I've had good luck with the Aird-X H/F - my wish-list has it being replaced by a Fury 735C.