I got into bass fishing with trout fishing equipment. Yup i was using a 5' med action rod with a cheap zebco spinning reel(very cheap, like flea market cheap) about 7 years ago. I knew after a while i needed heavier stuff for sure.

Now my very first rod purchase was a Black Beauty 6' rod.

I caught so many decent sized fish the foam handle finally cracked from bending or flexing. This rod took a beating in a little over 2 years. I only used one rod at this time.

My point is when were first starting out we kind of weed or way thru tackle till we find something we like that holds up and works.

What was your first bass rod?

I bought two at the same time. Both were 6'6"Shimano Clarus's. One was

a M 6-12 lb test, and the other one was a MH 8-17 lb test. By most other manufactures standards they would be classified as a ML & a M. Both were fast action tips. I still have the 6'6" ML rod and use it as my dedicated drop shot rod.

i always had misc spinning rods from trout fishing in the gulf, so when the bass bug finally sunk his teeth in me, i was working at a major retailer that used to sell fishing gear, and had a very liberal return policy, so when people would buy something they couldnt use or didnt know how to use, it always got brought back....good for me   i got a like new calcutta b/c reel for $20 and matched it to a nice abu garcia rod- the whole thing maybe cost me $60

It was about 3 years ago that I started to buy new equipment to replace my first bass fishing arsenal which would be 17 years old.   My setups included a Daiwa spinning reel (might have been something similar to the BaitRunner) and a matching rod that was used so much the paint was gone, a Zebco 33 (not sure of the rod), and a Ryobi spinning reel with a plastic spool with a Empire Surf rod.

What was your first bass rod?

Silstar BX56BCM,  if I hadn 't break it out of pure stupidity I would still fish with it.

Then I got a Berkley Lightning Rod LR16 5 '6", I still fish with it and her sister a LR 15, both are over 20 years old, but back in those days when I purchased them they weren 't 30 bucks a pop.