I've been watching After The Cast which has Ott Defoe, Edwin Evers, and Andy Montgomery on it and I noticed they use a lot of BPS Johnny Morris rods and reels.

 

I've been eyeballing them myself, thinking about getting a casting combo for an all around rig.  Anybody here like them?

BPS sponsors those bass pro’s to use their products. Over priced @ $230 IMO!

Tom

11 minutes ago, WRB-2.0 said:

BPS sponsors those bass pro’s to use their products

This

Okay, how about, whats the best value in BPS' line up for casting rod and reel? I am specifically looking at Bass Pro branded gear.

As far as baitcasters go, the Johnny Morris Platinum rods and reels are all I use. They are excellent rods and reels and contrary to what’s been written they are fairly priced. Had the majority of mine since 2016 when I left BPS. If you can hold off, BPS runs them on sale quite often. If you can hold off until the Spring Fishing Classic next March they really drop the price. I use the BPS Patriot (they’ve been rebranded as Platinum’s now) spinning rods. I have Shimano spinning reels on them. I like Shimano spinning reels. Do have a CarbonLite Technique spinning rod with a Platinum spinning reel. Not had much of a chance to use it, but it seems really nice.

 

Most of the BPS top level pros get a certain amount of rods and reels in their agreement. After that, the pro purchases any needed rod and/or reels at employee pricing. When I was in store level management at BPS, I’ve helped a ton of the BPS sponsored pro’s with their purchases.

 

As far as other BPS product lines, you will be fine using anything from the CarbonLite series on up.

I have a 7’ M combo with 7.5.1 reel. I think they are nice reels. Rods aren’t bad at all. That said I do think they are overpriced for what ya get  At retail price picking them up used they aren’t bad at all. Mine collects dust now. 

 

i sold my 7’ MH combo a couple months ago actually. 

A couple of years ago I had some Carbonlite combos as well as Platinum and Patriot rods. 
 

For the money the Carbonlite combos are pretty good. The new ones however don’t have that dial on the rod butt to remember the line you had on it. That came in handy on the older ones. It’s on par with a Lews combo in the same price range

If you like the look and feel of the J Morris combos...go for it.  If it doesn't hold up or petfotm well...BPS will take care of you.  They put them on sale a couple times a year fyi 

I had the Carbonlite 2.0 casting combo and sold it, not that there was anything wrong with the combo mind you and if I’m not mistaken it’s the same reel as a Lews LFS (older version) but I could be mistaken. As far as the spinning gear I have a Carbonlite 2.0 1500 size reel that I love paired to a Carbonlite 2.0 rod and I love the combo. I also have a JM Platinum spinning reel and I couldn’t be happier. The BPS salesman said Daiwa makes the spinning reels and I can see that for sure. I will agree with @volzfan59 that if you can wait for the spring classic the trade in program is absolutely worth it but if not as @KP Duty pointed out BPS has fabulous customer service in my opinion. As far as best value my opinion is the Carbonlite and I would prefer the technique specific as the reel is more comfortable to me followed by the Pro Qualifier. Best of luck and keep us updated.

It will probably be next year, but I'm researching and window shopping now. I do have 2 Pro Qualifier 2 reels that I use constantly right now that I love. So I am leaning heavily towards BPS.

I have a few Pro Qualifiers that work great. But im really like there Carbonlite rod and reels. I live in Springfield so I always get there sales. There just down the road. Plus they have always backed there product 

It's a Doyo and they have been making legit reels for BPS and Lews for a while.  I've used their dual brake system on a number of their reels and it works great.  I usually run 4 centrifugal brakes on, zero spool tension and adjust the magnets based on wind and bait/line behavior.  

 

I dont have the reel but it seems like a resonable $100 offering as do the rods.  If you can get the combo for under $200 then it looks like a reasonable deal to me.

14 hours ago, Bazoo said:

I've been watching After The Cast which has Ott Defoe, Edwin Evers, and Andy Montgomery on it and I noticed they use a lot of BPS Johnny Morris rods and reels.

 

I've been eyeballing them myself, thinking about getting a casting combo for an all around rig.  Anybody here like them?

 

They are fine.  At the MSRP prices I think they are over priced.  You can do better for that amount of money.  Doyo makes a lot of reels for a lot of people with a lot of common features and specs.  If you look at the features across multiple reels you'll see common technologies, similar designs, etc.  They will all perform similarly.

 

Any reason why you're locked on BPS gear?  And what price point?

The JM Carbon Lite combos looks like a decent value.  Their normal JM reel it's not a good value IMO.  Doyo makes some high end all aluminum low profiles reels like that Coba and Liger that use a metal plate finish.  These are high end versions of their platforms and feature a free floating spool with double pinion support and lighter weight high performance spools.  They throw everything at the reels and top them off with a metal plate or anodized finish. 

 

The JM top tier BPS reels will get the same metal plate finish with a dual aluminum side plate construction (its required for the finish) but internally are the same as a lower offering like the Pro Qualifyer ect.  I have wide spool one based on the 2010s era Lubina/Pro Qualifyer I got years ago for my Extreme rod.  It's a cool finish but the reels aren't special beyond the dual aluminum side plates and finish.

1 hour ago, casts_by_fly said:

Any reason why you're locked on BPS gear?  And what price point?

I wouldn't say I'm locked onto BPS in general. But I do like the brand. It takes me back to my childhood when I would stare at the BPS catalog for hours.

 

I like the two PQ2 reels I have better than all the other reels I've had/have and all the ones my buddies have, which include a couple Diawas. I'm not sure what model Diawa, I think it was a DC that Ryan has.

I have two of BPS, carbonlite 2.0 set ups. I love them. Have a BPS extreme too, was my first bait caster. Have a few more Bass pro stuff too. I don’t see any problems with their stuff

On 6/23/2025 at 7:22 PM, WRB-2.0 said:

BPS sponsors those bass pro’s to use their products. 

On 6/23/2025 at 7:33 PM, gim said:

This

As do Diawa, Shimano, KastKing, Academy Sports and anyone else that has ever manufactured, or had a rod and reel manufactured.

1 hour ago, volzfan59 said:

As do Diawa, Shimano, KastKing, Academy Sports and anyone else that has ever manufactured, or had a rod and reel manufactured.

The OP didn’t ask about those brands. He asked specifically about BPS products.

 

Each brand sponsors their own pros. I don’t think anyone would deny that.

I picked up 2 Carbonlite 2.0 rods and a Carbonlite 2.0 reel this year. I love them for the price point. 

I haven’t had any really recent ones come thru, but I see plenty of PQs and have a couple of my own. They’re nothing fancy, work horse reels that hold up well enough if cared for and perform above their price and what they are on paper. 

I am considering picking up a Pro Qualifier reel. How does the PQ hold up to lots of use, or pro level use?

 

Now I ain't fishing the same amount as a pro, but I do fish nearly daily during warm weather. I'll probably average 2.5 hours each trip.

 

https://www.basspro.com/p/bass-pro-shops-pro-qualifier-light-baitcast-reel

What is the difference between the PQ2 and the new PQ? I know that there was some older PQ reels because I searched ebay and saw them.

 

It appears they are discontinued with the only version avaibale is left handed.

 

Pro Qualifier 2

https://www.basspro.com/p/bass-pro-shops-pro-qualifier-2-baitcast-reel

 

Pro Qualifier

https://www.basspro.com/p/bass-pro-shops-pro-qualifier-light-baitcast-reel

 

So my current reels are PQ2, and I'm wanting a more premium reel, but I might just be happy enough with the PQ. And I'd sure be happier to buy more lures with the difference in cost between the Platiumum or Signature reels vs the PQ.