Which rod and reel?

[Patrick Nolan]

Hi Guys

Im quite new to bass fishing i recently bought a couple of second hand rods from a guy and went to the Midlands a few weeks ago and caught some bass. Basically i'm hooked!.. *du dum tsss*

So now i have about R2400 to spend on a decent rod and reel compared to my ELBE and Okuma setup.

What do you guys recommend? Im keen to try a baitcaster,but i know nothing of adjusting it so i dnt get a ''Birds Nest". So either baitcaster or spinning setups.

[coop]

Hey Patrick

Welcome to the forum, and yes hooking one of those green fishies can change your whole life let alone your salary....

You are going to get a 1000 different answers to your question, some will say bait casting and some spinning, due to you still being a "newbie" as myself , a spinning setup would most probably work for you.

But I suggest using the search function on this forum and take some time to read up on tackle and gear, this way you arm yourself with some basic knowledge, which in turn would help you to put one and one together when people do offer you advice...

We have all been down this road and all started with a setup you usually replace because it was either bought in hast or on wrong advice...

power is knowledge in this case, knowledge can spare you a few bucks in buying wisely....

Regards

[Ginja]

Hi Patrick, welcome.

For me a baitcaster is essential, and the sooner you learn the better. Just don't spool it with expensive line as you are going to end up with an overwind a couple of times which damages the line. Normal mono is fine and the thicker the line, the easier to fix the overwinds, i recommend 15lb as a happy medium to learn. The AbuG black max combos are very difficult to beat when it comes to a budget setup, i own two of these reels and they serve me just as well as the more expensive models so it's a good place to start. if you are looking for something above the baseline model i would recommend the AbuG Orra series. You cant go wrong with the Shimano reels either however the base model pretty much comes in at the same price as the Orra's. I know a couple of guys will also vouch for the Lew's reels however I've never used them before so cant comment from personal experience. In regards to a rod, a MH 7ft rod is normally a good all round rod.

Hope that helps a bit.

[Riprap]

Rule of thumb with a baitcaster. If it's a magnetic brake setting on the left (right hand models) then set it to 10 or maximum. If centrifugal, have more activated then de-activated. Tighten up on the cast control knob on the right with the intended bait and weight attached. Freespool the reel and the bait should just run until it touches the ground and stop immediately. Then tighten it a fraction more.

CAST

If you get an overwind in the air - tighten up more on the left. If you get an overwind when the lure lands and stops moving - tighten up on the right cast control knob. As soon as you changed the weight or type of bait or direction of cast, you will have to change the settings to get the same desired effect. Your thumb is your handbrake.......................

Practice, then practice some more and once you think you have mastered it, you are about a third of the way there.

[Patrick Nolan]

Hi Guys

Thanks so much for the advice. I have been doing a lot of research on the different baits and rigs and so on... However the guys that give tips on YouTube are all American and their equipment is quite expensive in R.

Would my Elbe 7.2FT rod do the job for now? and maybe i should just get a better spinning reel?

Thanks again guys for all the advice :eusa_dance: :blue-biggrin:

[Riprap]

Patrick, I'm a budget angler so herewith my 2c.

Shimano is a trusted brand. Have a look at the Sellus range of rods. They are not bad at all and have specific techniques and lengths. See if you can find the old Caenan reel at a good price (well under 1K) or the new one and which shares many of the internal features of the more expensive reels like Curado etc. Trust me.......it's true!

Black Max are nice but they tend to get drag issues.

If you shop around you will get two decent rods and reels for your budget. Good luck.

[Navrik]

The old story of "goedkoop koop is duur koop" is very true when it comes to bass equipment.

Everyone you speak to that buy too cheap and then want to upgrade soon after. What I mean to say is you loose you initial investment if you start upgrading. I decided I wanted 1 cranking rod and 1 worming rod and bought the best I could afford. I slowly but surely upgraded until the point where I felt I had enough rods and reels to cater for my style of fishing.

What I also discovered is that if you keep you eyes open here on BFSA and on "Bass Fishing Junkie - New, Second Hand and Swop" on Facebook and other such pages and forums you can get very high quality and light rods for much cheaper. I have bought very few brand new rods and now have a pretty descent tackle collection.