If you could only have one baitcasting rod and reel to use for all your bass fishing needs (in the $400-500 range for the combo), which ones would you choose?  What line would you put on it?

I would use the 400-500 budget and buy more than one......

I would buy a Carrot Stik, and Pflueger Summit or Patriarch. Or Johnny Morris Elite rod, and and Revo STX.

If I were forced to spend all the budget I would buy a 7' MH GLX, with a BPS reel that was on sale mounted on it. ;D

The glx would cost you you nearly 400 dollars already lol

I'd get a 7'6 heavy Loomis IMX with a diawa zillion.

Yeah I know.....But I'd put a cheap BPS reel on it.

A rod will help you catch fish much more than a reel.

The glx would cost you you nearly 400 dollars already lol

I'd get a 7'6 heavy Loomis IMX with a diawa zillion.

x2 with a spool of yo-zuri on the side.

mbr783 glx/steez 103.

a tad more than $500 but, what the heck...life is short.

Daiwa zillion reel then I'd go with to the St.Croix factory outlet and spend the rest of the money on a rod. Usually can get there high end stuff for less than 200 with nothing wrong except cosmetic blemishes that don't effect anything alot of times you can't even find the problem. I like a 7 foot medium heavy fast action.

6'6" MH St Croix Legend Elite paired witht a Revo STX. Right around that $500 mark

Dobyns 734 / Daiwa Zillion

500 bucks holy &@#$   if i had that kind of money i would have like 3 or 4 all spooled a high quality mono

Johnny Morris Elite rod, and J/M Elite reel.

Zillion/Zillion combo.

G-Loomis 843 IMX paired with a Zillion

I would get a Loomis GLX BCR854 with a Curado E7. Both can be had for around $500 off Ebay.

Shimano Aldebaran on a Kistler Helium II LTX 6'9 MH

G-Loomis IMX MBR843C and a Shimano Chronarch 50mg spooled with #12 Yozuri Hybrid mono.

If I had to choose only one combo in that price range and could only use that one rod in all tournaments for a year then that's the one I'd choose.

IMX MBR783C and a TD-Z.

I couldn't imagine just having one set up!  What I would do and what I do is find my gear on sale and I mean close out type sales.  For example why spend 278 dollars on a PT Tour reel when you can get it on Ebay for 129 shipped, new and first quality.  When you think about it rods and reels are a lot like computers, the newest technology costs the most and is outdated in a year or so.  However the technology that is a year or two old is more than you will ever need and a whole lot cheaper, seems like a no-brainer to me.  

When I hunted I thought nothing of dropping 2 grand on a gun, but that gun would last me and my children and grandchildren their entire lives.  Now that I fish more than anything else, I purposefully keep my combos under 200 bucks, because they will not last a lifetime or two, one misstep and there goes your four hundred dollar rod.  Example the new Tour Edition rods, have 54 million modulus High Strain graphite, fuji ecs seats and fuji alloy guides, two years ago that rod would have cost 150 bucks, you can buy them now 3 for 100 if you know where to look.  Good luck and I hope you find the set up you are looking for.  

If I had to spend 500 on one set up it would be a Diawa Luna and some rod that I wouldn't even know where to buy.