Hello everyone, caught my first topwater fish today and I want to get into it more and was wondering what everyones preferred setup was? Rod power and action and what gear ratio reel should I be looking for? Thanks for the help and happy thanksgiving!

I like 7ft. M power F action rod for most topwaters. If im throwing a heavy topwater like a super spook which is rare i'll just use one of my cranking rods. I like a high speed reel so i can take up the slack in the line fairly quickly. And heavy mono line 15 or 17lb.   8-)

St. Croix Avid AVC62MXF

Megabass/Daiwa Alphas Ito Ai, 23"/turn (5.8:1)

P-Line CXX 8 lb. or 10#

Im looking for a decent rod around 150 or less

Bought my Avid for $50, slightly used.

Bought my Avid for $50, slightly used.

Very nice deal 

Rod is H&H HX3 m/fast 7'.   Reel is Daiwa exceler 7:1

Revo STX w/ St Croix Avid AC66MF.

Long enough to make long casts, short enough to work "tip down" lures, and soft enough tip to not rip treble hooks out.

Also a great combo for jerkbaits and shallow crankbaits, in my opinion.

Seems like a few people here are using medium rods with fast tips.  This is good to know.  I was wondering if my 6'6" Compre baitcast rod would work for topwaters having a soft enough tip or not.  Guess I'll try it and see, but seems like it might after reading this.

I was using a 6' M spinning rod, but St Croix recommended their Avid 6'6" ML F rod for topwaters, jerkbaits, and small lipless cranks, so thats what Im going with next year.

For Giant Dog-X's, large Sammy's, etc, I use a Kistler LTA 5'9", MH, XF. This is teamed with a tuned Fuego.

For small poppers and other topwater baits in the 1/8-1/4oz size, I use a LTA 6'9" M, F. This is teamed with a Chronarch 51MG.

The last set-up is going to used for finesse moving baits next year, as I have my eye on the 6' Daiwa Steez rod for my small topwater duties.

For any topwater work, I prefer a rod between 5'3" and 6'...tops.

I use a 6'6" M BPS Crankin' Stick with a 7:1 Burner Quantum TE rigged with 12# Trilene XL.

I have a 7' M berkely amp ($30 at Dick's) paired on a Abu Garcia Cardinal reel (same price) and i love the combo..  the Medium action makes walking the dog or any other topwater technique so easy.... and for 30 bucks i dont think you can beat the Amp!

I use a 6'6' MF BPS Extreme rod with a high speed Extreme reel. This combo is on sale now for $99.

for topwater i have the 7'3"  MH kistler mag small swimbait rod and it blows my mind.it has a really nice limber action tip that insures dexterity and finesseability. also wont rip a bait out a bass mouth. but also has an excellent backbone to hoist the escaping bass outta whatever kinda cover. maybe like twenty bucks more than u wanna spend but more than worth it man

6'6" M XF Quantum Tencity rod and a 6.3:1 gear ratio Quantum Tencity casting reel.

For line, I prefer 12 lb. Sufix Elite.

St Croix Avid AVC66MF paired with a Daiwa Sol, 10# mono/copoly. I use the same combo for jerkbaits and sometimes for shallow cranks and "power" dropshot rigs

G Loomis MBR782 GLX

Daiwa Alphas 103

Sunline Super Natural 10 lb.

You could find a new or slightly used MBR782 IMX online for around $150. Both the IMX and GLX versions of the MBR782 are perfect for topwaters.

I'm looking for a decent rod around 150 or less

I would grab one of those Fenwick HMG's on sale at Cabela's for $60 right now. I use 7' M for toads and and a 6'6' MH for hard topwaters like spooks and buzzbaits. Both are mod-fast action HMGs.

Then put the money you save on the rod into a nicer reel! The HMG is sweet. You wouldn't be "settling" in any way. It's a great topwater rod actually.

Revo STX w/ St Croix Avid AC66MF.

Long enough to make long casts, short enough to work "tip down" lures, and soft enough tip to not rip treble hooks out.

Also a great combo for jerkbaits and shallow crankbaits, in my opinion.

Agreed!

My AVC66MF is matched up with the Core.

8-)