With a $300 budget I'd put $200 towards the rod and $100 to the reel. The rod is the heart and soul of a spinning setup and the more important of the two. Sensitivity is key for finesse and comes from the rod not the reel which is just for line management. 

I’m a falcon rod guy. That said I never found a Falcon spinning rod that I liked. I had Bucoo all the way to Cara.  
I bought a shimano  Expride 2-3 years ago.  I like it but never fell in love with it. 
 

I just got a Dobyns sierra 703 spinning this week for my niece.  I have only thrown it in the yard but I absolutely love it so far. I will fish it tomorrow and if I like it I’ll sell you a lightly used Expride for the price of another sierra for myself!  😂

2 hours ago, jbrew73 said:

I’m a falcon rod guy. That said I never found a Falcon spinning rod that a liked. I had Bucoo all the way to Cara.  
I bought a shimano  Expride 2-3 years ago.  I like it but never fell in love with it. 
 

I just got a Dobyns sierra 703 spinning this week for my niece.  I have only thrown it in the yard but I absolutely love it so far. I will fish it tomorrow and if I like it I’ll sell you a lightly used Expride for the price of another sierra for myself!  😂

Falcon is lacking in the spinning rod department from what I’ve seen. I actually just got home from checking some out. The way the grip is designed is asinine. Terrible idea in my opinion. I also checked out the St Croix Black Bass that was mentioned earlier in this thread. I thank whoever that is for their input, I just can’t figure out how y’all like St Croix rods. They all feel like a giant fiberglass whipping stick 

 

On another note, do any of y’all have a Daiwa Kage? The tackle shop I just got back from had the 2500 Kage LT on sale for $165. Felt like a nice reel, just can’t find much info online about them.

On 3/22/2025 at 11:20 PM, dk2429 said:

With that said, where do I start and what do y’all recommend?

 

The $150 price point offers a gazillion choices.  I recommend visiting your local tackle shop and handling the rods you're interested in.  I find fishing rods have a 'feel' the same way my wife & daughter approach shoe shopping. 

 

Questions to ask yourself: 

• what action do you want?  
• what handle type?
• what weight?
• how light do you want it?

I own Abu, Diawa, Kistler, Douglass, FX Custom, St. Croix, G. Loomis, BPS and Fenwick rod and  prefer a stiffer rod.  Kistler is my #1 and FX Custom quickly becoming my #2. I've got 1st & 2nd generation Abu Veritas rods, which for $99 back then were great, but they're $199+ now and you can get American made rods like Kistler & FX Customs for that if you catch them on sale.

 

Most would recommend a medium-fast rod for Senkos, but I found Kistler's light-medium-heavy (LMH) rods perfect for Senkos, tubes, finesse underspins, etc.  The LMH has a nice, soft tip with a little extra backbone compared to a medium-fast.

 

Good luck choosing your rod.

Phenix Maxim Med.  Daiwa Procyon AL, 2500 was my first setup.  i made personal history on that combo.    i lost it overboard and ordered the exact same stuff once i got home.  

Got it all put together. Daiwa Kage LT 2500 and a Falcon Expert Finesse Jig. 
 

I spooled up with 20# Sufix 832 with an Invizix leader. I have a problem that I’m sure is user error, so I’d just like to know what’s going on 

 

As seen in the second pic, if I cast it kind of short, 80% of the time the line wraps around the outside of the spool. It’ll wrap around 4-5 times before I catch it. If I cast far, no problem. 
 

Did I over-spool by chance? Or what am I doing wrong? 

Yeah that looks over spooled to me.  

Did you put a good amount of tension on the line when you put it on? My spinners are that high, maybe even more! I use the same line.....

Nice rod and reel!

17 minutes ago, little giant said:

Did you put a good amount of tension on the line when you put it on? My spinners are that high, maybe even more! I use the same line.....

Nice rod and reel!

Yeah I did, I did it the same way I spool a baitcaster. I cut about 20-30yds off (unintentionally, don’t even wanna go there) but it seemed to work out for the better because no more issues. 
 

I’ll say, it was a jolly ol time trying to spool this thing up. I probably wasted half the spool of 832 in this whole process as a whole. Got it in a good spot now I think 

Let us know how that set up works for you. I have a fuego and a ballistic on low rider spinners

5 minutes ago, little giant said:

Let us know how that set up works for you. I have a fuego and a ballistic on low rider spinners

Will do! I’ll be out of town fishing Thursday-Sunday. If the senko bite is on, it’ll get some good use and breaking in this week. I’ll report back if that is such 🙂

i think that looks spooled up correctly capacity-wise. 

 

it is muscle memory now for me:  but when i cast out, i flip the bail closed by hand and in a continuation of that motion, i will grab the line and pull away from the reel so it sits in tight on the line roller and then i start to retrieve.    it looks like you had slack in the line and you just started to reel?

Just to give y’all an update; I’ve been using my setup the past few days pretty consistently. I’ve caught a decent amount of fish on it, and I broke off on a giant that I’m still crying about ( junk ass Seaguar Invizix. NEVER AGAIN) 

 

So far I’m loving it!!! The reel is nice. It’s smooth and all but at the end of the day, it’s just line management. I don’t feel like it matters as much as far as a spinning rig goes. I do like the cork knob. 
 

The star of the show is that Falcon Expert. That thing, even with a weightless senko, is unbelievably sensitive. It is a very crisp feeling rod and lightweight. I grew to really like the handle being above the reel seat. 
 

The one problem I’ve noticed; If I hook into a fish and try to fight it while holding the rod solely by the cork grip up top, the reel started beating my knuckles. Non issue when im not hooked up…. when I’m hooked up though, I have to reposition my grip to avoid the reel beating my knuckles up. 
 

I broke off on a giant earlier that I’m still sick over. I was using a white spinner bait on a different rod and missed him. Threw that senko over there on my new rod, and BAM, GOT him. I didn’t even have a chance…. Set the hook, he took off running, broke off before I could even react to what was going on. 
 

I had a problem with that Invizix I was using as my leader before this incident, and this one just sealed the deal for me. NO MORE

of that garbage. Haven’t broke off with Sunline Sniper yet 
 

 

9 hours ago, dk2429 said:

Just to give y’all an update; I’ve been using my setup the past few days pretty consistently. I’ve caught a decent amount of fish on it, and I broke off on a giant that I’m still crying about ( junk ass Seaguar Invizix. NEVER AGAIN) 

 

So far I’m loving it!!! The reel is nice. It’s smooth and all but at the end of the day, it’s just line management. I don’t feel like it matters as much as far as a spinning rig goes. I do like the cork knob. 
 

The star of the show is that Falcon Expert. That thing, even with a weightless senko, is unbelievably sensitive. It is a very crisp feeling rod and lightweight. I grew to really like the handle being above the reel seat. 
 

The one problem I’ve noticed; If I hook into a fish and try to fight it while holding the rod solely by the cork grip up top, the reel started beating my knuckles. Non issue when im not hooked up…. when I’m hooked up though, I have to reposition my grip to avoid the reel beating my knuckles up. 
 

I broke off on a giant earlier that I’m still sick over. I was using a white spinner bait on a different rod and missed him. Threw that senko over there on my new rod, and BAM, GOT him. I didn’t even have a chance…. Set the hook, he took off running, broke off before I could even react to what was going on. 
 

I had a problem with that Invizix I was using as my leader before this incident, and this one just sealed the deal for me. NO MORE

of that garbage. Haven’t broke off with Sunline Sniper yet 
 

 

Cut and re-tie with fluorocarbon line frequently.  The threshold for plastic deformation with fluoro is pretty low compared to mono.  That means that every hook set and even every cast with heavier lures will weaken the line at the knot a little bit.  If you don't cut and re-tie religiously you will experience a break off on a hookset or when fighting a fish.   

Great to read you like the combo, especially the rod!

I use Seagaur Abrazx 12# for my leaders, strong stuff!

Too bad about the big one......