A lot of places that I fish are loaded with heavy cover ... and I can't for the life of me get in and out of there with out getting snagged and breaking or cutting my line.  I currenly have 1 6'6" medium light ugly stick spinning reel combo, and a 6'0 custom made medium heavy spinning combo ... both with 8 lb. test line ... neither of which work well.

I'm thinking of going with a heavy rod with braided line and mono/fluro leader heavily weighted to get in and out of there.  What do you guys think my best option is?

7 foot heavy action rod. Some may suggest a fast tip on rod.

Strong baitcaster that can handle the loads.

65 pound braid line.

Fish jig or plastic weedless Texas Style.

Fish frogs and trickworms over cover and along edge of cover, if possible.

Read what others suggest and go and get 'em.

Heavy rod, straight braided line, at least 30lb NO leader, you only need a leader if fishing clear water IMO if at all, and a good powerful reel that you can crank the drag down on and it wont slip so you can pull a fish out of it. Are you sticking to spinning  setup or going to baitcaster as most will suggest

7 foot heavy action rod. Some may suggest a fast tip on rod.

Strong baitcaster that can handle the loads.

65 pound braid line.

Fish jig or plastic weedless Texas Style.

Fish frogs and trickworms over cover and along edge of cover, if possible.

Read what others suggest and go and get 'em.

Should the plastics be Carolina Rigged, or drop shotted?  Or is that really just a matter of personal preference?

NOT Carolina rigged for heavy cover. The sinker will get caught up in the cover and drive you crazy.

Texas rigged with a pegged bullet sinker fished weedless.

You want to be able to drop your bait in the openings and have it go straight down to the bottom where you flick it a few times and then recast if you do not get bit.

A drop shot could work depending on the cover.  But remember, your drop shot hook is exposed so you will have to use a weedless 1/0 hook or secure the hook inside the plastic.

Goal is to drop bait into cover where bass are resting to get a reaction strike.

If the bass are hungery, then fish the edge of the cover with your same cover rig or the topwaters or spinnerbaits or buzzbaits or even crankbaits (if possible) and Rat-L-Traps and Rapalas, etc. that you like.

Just be ready to remove the slop off your bait and have some fun.

And wash your hands before you eat your lunch.

Okay, you asked for a rug beater, so I'll give you a rug beater!

Shimano Compre IM-8 Graphite - CPC-M66H

Length: 6' 6"

Power:       Heavy

Action:       Fast

Line Weight: 17 to 40 lb

Lure Weight: 1 to 3 oz

Shimano Cardiff 401 CDF401A (30 lb Round Casting)

Available in Left-Hand

Spool Clicker (handy for live bait)

11.9 oz

5.2 Ratio

40-lb PowerPro Braid

With this outfit you can horse a 12-lb bass plus 15 lbs of salad, through bulrushes and over lily pads 8-)

http://64.226.208.65/scans/compre-cardiff.jpg

Roger

Thanks for the quick responses guys.  I was hoping to stay with a spin casting reel, just because I'm not really used to a baitcaster, yet ... but if that's what it takes, I can learn.  All last summer I fished mostly weighless senkos and crankbaits, neither of which work AT ALL in heavy cover.  This summer I need to master drop-shotting and c-rigging.

I think I'm going to head over to Bass Pro this weekend and pick something out ... I'd like to keep the combo under $250 if possible.

Where you from? You can great great setup for that money. I would hate to see you spend it on a baitcaster if you end up hating it though. Although I believe it is a better setup for that type of fishing than spinning gear. Lots of great reels in the $100-$150 range which should leave you with $100-$150 for a rod. A Citica on Crucial rod should be able to fit your budget. I have a Citica and and its awesome!!! Great begginers reel. And the Crucial rods are supposed to be great as well

Get a shimano crucial with an Abu Garcia Revo S, and some 50 lb braid.  Make sure you get a heavy action rod with a fast tip.  Length is debatable, I like 6'6" rods.  Rolo had a pretty good setup listed too, I just prefer low profile reels.

Where you from? You can great great setup for that money. I would hate to see you spend it on a baitcaster if you end up hating it though. Although I believe it is a better setup for that type of fishing than spinning gear. Lots of great reels in the $100-$150 range which should leave you with $100-$150 for a rod. A Citica on Crucial rod should be able to fit your budget. I have a Citica and and its awesome!!! Great begginers reel. And the Crucial rods are supposed to be great as well

I live in Rehoboth and work in North Attleboro ... about 4 miles from Bass Pro.  My only issue with the baitcaster is making the adjustments with those tab things on the inside of the reel, I can never seem to get it right ... and I can only cast it less than half the distance I can cast my spinning.

I do not think casting distance should be an issue in heavy cover because you rarely will be making or needing to make really long casts. plus it is hard to keep your bait clean and to track it through the cover when its real faraway. weightless senkos rigged weedless are good to throw in pockets of heavy cover but cannot bust through mats if that is what your talking about. and the adjustment for a begining with a baitcaster is easy Tighten  the casting adjuster i believe it is the tab things your talking about as taight as possible til you get comfortable with the weight of that bait

Where you from? You can great great setup for that money. I would hate to see you spend it on a baitcaster if you end up hating it though. Although I believe it is a better setup for that type of fishing than spinning gear. Lots of great reels in the $100-$150 range which should leave you with $100-$150 for a rod. A Citica on Crucial rod should be able to fit your budget. I have a Citica and and its awesome!!! Great begginers reel. And the Crucial rods are supposed to be great as well

I live in Rehoboth and work in North Attleboro ... about 4 miles from Bass Pro. My only issue with the baitcaster is making the adjustments with those tab things on the inside of the reel, I can never seem to get it right ... and I can only cast it less than half the distance I can cast my spinning.

I am in Brockton. I just started using baitcaster again this past year  and it will take some practice but you will be better off. And like someone said when fishing the heavy cover you dont want long cast anyways. You can certainly get a spinning setup that will fit your needs if you feel you dont want to move up to  casting gear. BUt theres a reason you see all the pros using them  

Just what are you calling heavy cover ? You keep saying you have to learn c-rig and drop-shot. You don't normally do these techniques in heavy cover.

Again please define what you call heavy cover. Are you talking about surface or below surface ?

Just what are you calling heavy cover ? You keep saying you have to learn c-rig and drop-shot. You don't normally do these techniques in heavy cover.

Again please define what you call heavy cover. Are you talking about surface or below surface ?

This weeds on the surface.  

I thought you drop shotted or C-rigged to get threw the weeds?   :-/

I know it's all personal preference, but for casting a worm in heavy cover, a 6' MH Berkley lightening rod will catch fish just fine. If you want 6' 6", then get that size. Whatever feels good to you. For worming or topwater, get MH action to give you more "hook set power". For crankin' or spinnerbaits, go for M action, which allows the bait to have some "cushion" on the retrieve. Oh, and the price of Berkley Lightening rods? About $30. I don't see any reason why others here have quoted $100-$150 for a rod. Geesh. Berkley Lightening rods are very lightweight, very strong, very sensitive, and very reliable. You'll never get more 'bang for the buck'.

^ try a 150 dollar rod and see if the lightning sensitive  : :-X

^ $150 rod, such as?

^ $150 rod, such as?

St Croix Avid, Shimano Crucial, are a couple in that range.

I would go with 30 - 40 pound power pro line, a medium heavy or heavy action casting rod, and a good quality baitcaster.

Bass pro shops new nitro series big bass set ups look great.

Oh and if the water isn't murky, use a 20 pound fluoro leader.

^ $150 rod, such as?

Also carrot stick, g blanks , dobyns championship series , daiwa light and tuf and i could go on and on.

I would say the outfit would depend on WHAT you want to put in there too.  If you want to stick to the spinning stuff go with a 4000 size or bigger reel and a Extra Fast MH or Heavy rod.  I like a 7" Rod for this. For the line I would go with a Something abrasion resistant. Your cast should be short as possible too.  Not because you cant pull the fish but because of controlling the lure.  This is the same setup that I use to thow a weightless Texas rigged worm into a pond with reeds and beaverdams.  I know it works.  The worm mimics the lizards the bass are feeding on to  perfection. Watch the line. Very important.  If it moves and you didn't do it.  Set the hook. BASS ON!!!

Daiwa TD-V701MHRB Team Daiwa-V

Length: 7' 0

Power: Heavy

Action: Fast

Lure Weight: ¼-1 oz

Shimano Cardiff CDF100A

Gear Ratio: 5.8:1

Weight: 8.1 oz

Bearings: 4+1

Line: 40# PowerPro Braid

Lure: Oldham's Lures Trailer Hitch Jig, 1/2 oz Black/Blue, Gene Larew Salty Hawg Craws in 6 with 1 ½ cut off the tail

dont worry you will get the hang of it but just dont have your first cast be into that heavy cover b/c most lilkly you will get a backlash and a birdsnest cuz has happened to me and caught a bass was a big hassle but still got the fish and untaggled the mess.  

i would agree that baitcaster is the way to go and would probly get a 7' + baitcast rod with a cardiff reel. and try throwing frogs and weedless baits such as worms. have had large success with a popper around the edges of the cover @ the pond near my house could give it a try ;D

G Loomis makes an awesome spinning rod that's really powerful the IMX SJR 724S they say it's their most powerful spinning rod.