Bass gear questions

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jshow89
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Bass gear questions

Post by jshow89 »

I'm looking to once again pick the brains of the group on here, I've fished my whole life more recently getting a little more serious about bass fishing, I am doing the pro-am this summer with hopes to learn lots, but before that I'm starting to set my rods up for the bass season, this year I am going to try and set up 4 rods for specific styles

1 - medium/heavy bait caster with 40lb braid for Texas rig and flipping jigs
2 - medium baitcaster for wacky rig (not sure what type of line or weight)
3 - spinning rod for crank baits/ spinners 12lb mono currently
4 - spinning rod for top water (not sure what line)

I'm sure 4 rods is hardly any for some of you lol but I'm trying to master what I have and grow as I learn, do there's set ups make sense or am I way off on lure and rod selection or line and weight, I'm looking to learn so very open to opinion
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toobinator
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Re: Bass gear questions

Post by toobinator »

Jshow: It's hard to say without knowing the brands of the rods. There is no standard as to what is a medium or medium heavy. The backbone of a rod in the same power, ie MH, varies greatly from brand to brand, or even from series to series within the same brand. Having said that, the one change I would make in your setups is switching the wacky rig from the medium baitcaster to the spinning rod for cranks and spinners, and the crank/spinners to the wacky rod. The wacky rod I would spool up with 15lb braid and use a fluro leader, and straight 12 lb fluorocarbon on the spinner/crank rod.

Ed
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lape0019
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Re: Bass gear questions

Post by lape0019 »

4 combos is a good starting point no matter how you look at it. I started with one and gradually worked my way up to ten. I suppose I could get more but at the moment, I do not see a reason to.

Ed is spot on in that the rods you have (make and model) could make a huge difference in how a rod feels. A medium rod even within the same brand can act different depending on the model. But for general purposes I will try to answer your questions.

I will also state that I am one of those that prefer to use baitcasters and the only real place I use spinning rods is for wacky rigs, dragging tubes (could be done on a baitcaster) and drop shotting.

1. That setup will be pretty good for texas rigs in average cover. It may be a little light for jigs in heavier cover though. I use basically what you are describing for texas rigs but my jig rod is a heavy or mag heavy rod with 65lb braid.

2. For wacky rigs, I use a medium light spinning rod (acts more like a medium once that tip is bent over) with 10-20lb braid. If I was to use a baitcaster, I would use a medium with 30lb braid but any line type will work for this.

3. You don't specify much here but a spinning rod would be fine for spinnerbaits and would work for cranks but I prefer a baitcasting rod for cranks. 12lb mono will work for spinnerbaits as well (I use 15) . Just know that when a fish hits, there will be some added stretch in the line that you will have to set the hook through. This is by no means a bad thing though. For cranks, I prefer flouro on account that it sinks (crank should dive a little deeper) but I do have 12lb mono on one of my crankbait rods as it serves double duty for some walk the dog/topwater baits (Think Jackal Pompadour, Deps Buzzjet, mann's 1 minus sort of this) but also needs to be able to handle large deep diviers... (I know, weird combo)

4. Again, not much to go on here but topwater is also quite broad in what you are looking for. I use my spinnerbait rod for buzzbaits and popping baits (Mono) my jerkbait rod for walk the dog baits (30lb Braid) and a heavy power baitcaster for frogs (65lb braid). So a little more info would be beneficial. All of my rods for these techniques are baitcasting setups.
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jshow89
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Re: Bass gear questions

Post by jshow89 »

Wow thanks for taking the time to answer me, I've never been quite sure on what lines to use in certain situations, when your attaching the Fluro leader to braid are you using a micro swivel or direct tie?
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Re: Bass gear questions

Post by curls »

jshow89 wrote:Wow thanks for taking the time to answer me, I've never been quite sure on what lines to use in certain situations, when your attaching the Fluro leader to braid are you using a micro swivel or direct tie?
For braid to fluoro connections, I always use the Alberto knot. (Youtube/google it - I can't do that from work). Simple, effective, and strong. And no metal to chip up the guides on your rods.

The topwater question still remains - are you talking frogs/toads in cover/slop, or are you talking about poppers and zara spooks in open water? The former requires stout gear and heavy braid. The latter requires less stout gear and mono or braid/mono.
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lape0019
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Re: Bass gear questions

Post by lape0019 »

I typically tie a double uni knot anytime I am attaching two lines together. This is out of shear laziness of learning a new know but it has not failed me so I do not see a reason to change. If you want a knot that will pass through the guides with less racket, the FG knot (which seems complicated to me but everyone who has it down raves about it) or the Alberto knot seem to work for others I know.
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Re: Bass gear questions

Post by orrsey »

My advice to you is take your rods and use them all in different applications. Find out what feels good to you, what you personally like. Its good to try new things but don't get caught up thinking you have to use a specific rod, certain type of reel with a specific gear ratio with only one kind of line. If you do that sooner or later your going to start thinking yourself out of fish. Nothing can replace experience and if you find something that works for you use it. If it works its not wrong.
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TheMaverick
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Re: Bass gear questions

Post by TheMaverick »

orrsey wrote:My advice to you is take your rods and use them all in different applications. Find out what feels good to you, what you personally like. Its good to try new things but don't get caught up thinking you have to use a specific rod, certain type of reel with a specific gear ratio with only one kind of line. If you do that sooner or later your going to start thinking yourself out of fish. Nothing can replace experience and if you find something that works for you use it. If it works its not wrong.
Hence, spinning gear/6lbs mono...I'm going frog fishing! :D
If fishin ain't your mission, then you can kiss my Bass!
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CNs
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Re: Bass gear questions

Post by CNs »

TheMaverick wrote:
orrsey wrote:My advice to you is take your rods and use them all in different applications. Find out what feels good to you, what you personally like. Its good to try new things but don't get caught up thinking you have to use a specific rod, certain type of reel with a specific gear ratio with only one kind of line. If you do that sooner or later your going to start thinking yourself out of fish. Nothing can replace experience and if you find something that works for you use it. If it works its not wrong.
Hence, spinning gear/6lbs mono...I'm going frog fishing! :D
MAV everyone knows that you have to use a technique specific FROG rod with a top of the line Shimano.Daiwa/Megabass/Abu BAITCASTING reel, spooled with no less than 80lb braid....... ;)
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Re: Bass gear questions

Post by TheMaverick »

CN wrote:
TheMaverick wrote:
orrsey wrote:My advice to you is take your rods and use them all in different applications. Find out what feels good to you, what you personally like. Its good to try new things but don't get caught up thinking you have to use a specific rod, certain type of reel with a specific gear ratio with only one kind of line. If you do that sooner or later your going to start thinking yourself out of fish. Nothing can replace experience and if you find something that works for you use it. If it works its not wrong.
Hence, spinning gear/6lbs mono...I'm going frog fishing! :D
MAV everyone knows that you have to use a technique specific FROG rod with a top of the line Shimano.Daiwa/Megabass/Abu BAITCASTING reel, spooled with no less than 80lb braid....... ;)
You’re doing it wrong good sir! ;)

To the OP,
First and foremost, the Pro-Am is a great event and you’ll be very happy you signed on!
As for rods, reels and line….these past few years, I’ve geared my arsenal more towards combos that will pull double duty if needed and it’s serving me well up to now.

With combo # Uno, you’d probably be comfortable working a Frog, jigs and texas rigs, I’d opt for 50lb braid, but 40lb will work as well.
Bigger gauge hooks usually equate to hefty hooksets in order to penetrate said buckett’s mouth, the thinner the diameter, the more dig-ins you’ll have. They’re just a pain.

Combo # Dos, contingent to a softer tapered rod, that should be your medium, I’d be spooling my reel with mono, 17lbs or 14lbs.
I’d be working topwaters, jerkbaits, crankbaits and to an extent, spinerbaits.
I’m a firm believer that treble hooks are glorified by both the proper rod tapper, stretch in your line, and a properly set drag.
You could always go braid to leader, but I don’t see a need to complicate things for now.

Spinning outfits are foreign to me, I still don’t own one lol

Hope this helps.
If fishin ain't your mission, then you can kiss my Bass!
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Re: Bass gear questions

Post by River Monster »

I have been trying to think of a way to respond to this without giving you too many conflicting bits of info. The more you fish the more of a style you will develop. What works for you may not work for someone else. For example my recommendations could be different from the Maverick...and i seek his advice quite often. (not on spinning gear) Eventually you develop confidence in the gear and presentations and adjust as times goes on. I think i have my combos figured out and by the end of the season i'm making adjustments and upgrading. different lines, gear ratios and rod power, tapers and lengths.

A few years ago I used these articles below to get me started
http://www.scout.com/outdoors/wired2fis ... ystem-rods
http://www.scout.com/outdoors/wired2fis ... stem-reels
http://www.scout.com/outdoors/wired2fis ... ratio-reel

I made adjustments because I personally don't throw treble hook lures very often. So my combos are mainly set up for Jigs, plastics, Swimbaits. - it just suits my style of fishing. And because of my style of fishing i use braid for everything. its what i have the most confidence in. I use mono or fluoro leaders for different situations. I'll tie direct line to line.

if our looking for more specific help based on the current combos you have list the make, model and gear ratio's.

Finally a great starter series is ottawa valley bassmasters. you can register as a non-boater. And get paired up with a different boater every tourney. They have seminars and you learn a lot. its a great group of guys. it's full this year but worth checking out in the fall when the meetings start up again in the fall. And if you are a little shy, reach out to someone on the site or even go with a friend.

http://www.ottawabassmasters.com/

let us know how you are making out with your combos. lots of people are willing to offer advice. I think all of us were in the same boat as you at one point. and many including myself had help through this site or through people i met on this site.
- Rick Ozga
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