Can you recommend a rod and reel set-up?

[Nidafarian]

Hello, i'm not new to fishing but have been doing mainly only cat fishing for some time and actually haven't fished in several years. Well, now that i'm older and have gotten the itch to bass fish again, i'm trying to put the pieces back together. So, if someone could help refresh my memory and recommend me a efficient and cost-wise set-up i'd really appreciate it. 

I fish mainly in West Virginia in lakes and some streams.

1)So what rod and reel?
2)Test?
3)Lures,what colors etc and what conditions to use them?
4) Good site to tell me what techniques to use with lures etc?

I hope this is not too much, but i just need s simple answer. It seems there is so much to read that it all blends together. Thank you so much

[Mike Noble]

Hello Nidafarian and welcome to Ultimate Bass.  Click on the link below to read an article we just published today on the main site.  I think it will give you some assistance.  And I'm sure you will get more answers here.

http://www.ultimatebass.com/content/view/251/1/

[Nidafarian]

Thanks, but i was looking for more specific answer. Thanks for the quick reply

[Mike Cork]

Nidafarian We can narrow it down and get pretty specific for you but we need a lot more detail.

As far as a rod do you like a spinning rod or bait caster better? I would recommend a bait caster as it will handle the light line open water situations as well as heavy line brush filled waters. When it comes to bait caster's I would recommend a mid range All Star, you can get them at a good price and they are a very quality rod.

As far as reels go I am a die hard shimano fan, and highly recommend the Curados but they are a little pricey for some and yet cheap compaired to others. It will run you about $120.

When it comes to line weight, I would off the top of my head recommend 12-14 pound test. This of course will very greatly as to what kind of fishing you are going to be doing. If it is in open clear water you could go as low as 8-10 but if you are fishing in trees and a lot of vegetation then you need to move up to 17-20.

Lures and colors is a GIGANTIC area, and it varies greatly depending on the hundreds of different fishing conditions you might encounter. There is no easy straight forward answer for this one, but if you spend a little time in the Tips and Techniques section of the forum here you will find a enormous amount of information to get you going in the right direction. And if you know more of what your water conditions are we can help narrow a good selection of baits down for you.

As far as a site to find all this information, I might be a little bias but you have found the friendliest site on the net with hundreds of folks that will help you out. I hope this helps some and feel free to give us a little more info if you can.

[BIG PAPA]

Partner you did indeed come to the right place .
First give us these details..... How much are you willing to spend?
Do you plan on fishing lots of clear water?
Do you plan on fishing lakes with brush , trees, and grass?
Do you prefer spinning or baitcasting reels?                                                What is your level of expertice with each?
I beleive with this info we can put you own the right track.

papa

[Nidafarian]

Thanks everyone you guys are a lot of help 

Hopefully this will help:


How much are you willing to spend? $150
Do you plan on fishing lots of clear water? Hardly much clear water in WV
Do you plan on fishing lakes with brush , trees, and grass? Lakes with brush some grass hardly ever any trees(in the water)
Do you prefer spinning or baitcasting reels? spinning but am open to both                                               
Partner you did indeed come to the right place .
First give us these details..... How much are you willing to spend?
Do you plan on fishing lots of clear water?
Do you plan on fishing lakes with brush , trees, and grass?
Do you prefer spinning or baitcasting reels?                                                     What is your level of expertice with each? Lots of experience with  spining(currentyl have a Shimano Solstace) the experience i've had with baitcasting was bad, apparently wasn't using correctly because i kept getting tangled up after casting. I was though a young teenager and have a lot more coordination and patience so i'm open to anything

This is great!!  Thanks for your help and i'll continue to navigate this site for more inof. Sometimes though there so many theories that they all mesh together. Thanks again

[Mike Cork]

Nidafarian First, using a spinning rod is not a bad thing, I know a lot of folks that do and they love them. I always recommend the bait casting set ups but by no means is it mandatory to be successful 

With $150 to spend and if you want to go brand new I would look into the BPS series of reels or the Rick Clunn series which is by BPS as well (BPS=Bass Pro Shops). You can find very high quality reels in the 70-90 dollar range. That would leave you with 60-80 dollars to by a quality rod, again BPS makes some great rods, but if you are like me you don't want to by something you can't feel first, so unless you have a BPS close to you, I would recommend a All Star rod. Now be careful here because you can spend over 150 dollars on a rod with this brand but you don't need to. They have some really great mid range rods as well. I would suggest you go with a medium heavy action in a 6ft 6 inch model. This will be a good all around set up that you can use from Texas rigged worm fishing to spinner baits.

As far as a line, I highly recommend the Excel brand again by BPS , I know I sound like a broken record here but they have some great equipment and tackle at good prices. For the conditions you describe, some cover and vegetation and not very clear water, go with the 14 pound. No matter which brand you like the 14 pound should be about perfect and will work well with the rod and reel combo I mentioned above.

I hope this helped a little bit, I know what you mean about to much information and it all blending together, but if you get confused in a thread post and ask someone will clear it up for you and we don't tolerate rude comments so if anyone is every rude with you just let one of the Community Diplomats know and they will handle it. The only dumb question is the one not asked

[Nidafarian]

Thanks alot.. I'll definately look into this and let you know how it's going :0

[BIG PAPA]

Mike is right , we love questions here and someone will generally have a good answer for you so be sure to ask again if you need more help.

papa

[conniek]

mike knows about those reels and I totally agree. I don't know much about rods, but I can safely tell you from my experience and oggles of reels, the Curados are the best for your money .... they are built sound, great tolerance, and gives great all around performance for your money. Very little ever goes wrong with them. And most shops will repair them, lots of times, Off brand or inexpensivereels may be good bargain, but then when something breaks on them, grrrr! price just increased. Sticking with name brand reels like Daiwa, ABU's , Shimanos and Zebco's can hardly be beat, IMHO!

[Kal-Kevin]

If you like spinning reels you can look at Mitchell 300x. They got the speed of baitcasters and I've never had a problem with them. Have one now for three years and it is working just great. I'm not much on the baitcasters, I can place my bait better with spinning reels and find nothing any better for me. They are priced around $40.00 a reel and never see them on sale for much lower. as for rods right now Sqworm has a great rod that I tried and like.

[Pferox]

I like the Mitchell reels too, I have a couple and they are great. But I am really a penn kind of guy, I just ran across a penn capita 4000 combo at Sports Athority which sells for about 80 bucks, for 55, at that price you could actually buy two and be pretty set.
This is a very strong reel, no whistles and bells,but is kind of small for 14 mono, I use 30 lb braid on it and have used it a few times and it has become my favorite set up.

[Pferox]

Nidiafarain, I didn't really get into bass fishin until I moved down here to Florida, and my buddy at work got me into it, I asked the same question you did.

His answer was 20lb line, a bait caster and a 7 foot meduim heavy rod that you are comfortable with. I used that suggestion with great success, and caught many fish.

Unfortunatly I  have had to give up the baitcaster and go to spinning reels.
Well, I modified that idea and went with a spinning reel and 7 foot medium heavy rod, and never looked back. I feel I am better with a spinner than a baitcaster and with practice can do things I could never think of trying with a baitcaster.

You have to realize that line strength is more dependent on what you are throwing your lure into and pulling your fish out of than the weight of the fish you will be catching. Down here, 20lb is the minimum for someone beginning to fish bass cause of all the obstacles and hangups. 14lb is probably a good starting point, if you don't have many sunken trees, as you gain in experience and knowledge of the terrain you are working with you can get a bigger challange with lighter lines.
Good luck, hope our input will not overwhelm you too much and will get you on the right track.

[Nidafarian]

Thanks guys I believe this should be enough to get me on my way.

[Mike Cork]

I don't know if you seen it yet but here is a great thread that was started with some really good info about which rod to get.

http://ultimatebass.com/lbf/index.php/topic,4301.0.html

Hope this helps

[bassmaster_mercury]

hey fellow fishing buddy.  try out any of the new Rapala gear depending on the type of fish that you are using.  My dad gave me some rods and reels as well as line to try last summer and told me to use them and abuse them.  reason being is that he is sponsored by Rapala here in Canada. i noticed in stores that they are a great price, and believe me, i have abused them a great deal with bass up here in Canada to see if they stand the test of time, and so far, no problems at all.  if you do try them, please write me back and let me know how you made out.  thanks buddy
steve