Getting a new pole/ reel

LittleBigBass · 01-11-12, 06:33 PM

My high school recently started a "Bass Fishing Club", which i think is pretty awesome, and the club is getting a discount/ free items with BPS for all of the kids in the club. We are supposed to pick out a list of items we need, or would like to have from the BPS catalog. I have a crank bait/rattle trap pole and reel, but what other poles should i get? For example, should i get a seperate pole for spinner baits, carolina rig, or a pole for swimbaits? I just dont know if i need different poles for different setups and which setups i need specific poles/reels for. I have only been bass fishing for about 4 months now, and i know this is a "beginner" question, but I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could help me! Thanks!

MississippiBoy · 01-11-12, 06:44 PM

Let's narrow it down a little...what do you like to fish with? What kind of cover does your lake have? Trees, laydowns, rocks, gravel, lily pads, grass, etc?
For general, jack-of-all-trades use, a 6'6" or 7' medium heavy power rod with a 6.x:1 gear ratio reel is a good all-around rig. It's very easy to get caught up in the baitmonkey mentality, so try not to go crazy.

bamabassman · 01-11-12, 06:44 PM

ya'll need to check into getting in on the high school fishing tournaments. they are popping up EVERYWHERE. ask oyur coaches to check em out.

LittleBigBass · 01-11-12, 06:48 PM

yea, i have seen them on tv. We just started the club this year with some freshmen, and were trying to gain sponsors, etc. so we can eventually enter the tournaments, that would be awesome. Mainly i will be fishing in muddy/ grass bottoms, with trees around the lake, some laydowns. I just dont know what different poles u need for different setups. Does the structure matter when it comes to the pole, and gear ratio?

MississippiBoy · 01-11-12, 07:02 PM

Different structure/cover often means different lures, which can (not will, but CAN) mean different rigs.
Muddy water with laydowns means spinnerbaits and worming, to me. So the 6'6" or 7' MH rod I mentioned would be perfect for that.
I'm a fan of fairly long rods, 6'6" minimum, usually 7'. The only shorter rod I have is a 6' I use for walking topwaters like Spooks....I get a better walking-the-dog cadence with the shorter rod.
Quick breakdown: for lures with single hooks, like spinnerbaits, worms, buzzbaits, etc, use a more powerful rod....medium heavy at least, sometimes heavy power. For treble hooked baits like crankbaits, lipless cranks, jerkbaits, poppers, etc, I go with a medium power to get a little more flex. This helps in casting the often lighter jerkbaits and smaller crankbaits, and also helps to keep from tearing the smaller hooks out of the fish's mouth.
I'd say 3 rods would be a good start. medium power rod for cranks, MH power for worms, spinnerbaits, etc, and one other for the technique of your choice.
Keep gear ratios simple...6.x:1 is fine for virtually everything.

LittleBigBass · 01-11-12, 07:09 PM

Ok, i like poles in the 6'6 7' range as well. So i should probably get 2 main poles...1 for Treble hooked baits, and 1 for single hooked? or are there other possible poles/ reels for different setups. The rod you described above for single hook lures, would that work for jigs and the drop shot as well? or should i get a seperate pole for the drop shot. I know its a lot to ask lol but to a new fisherman, its complex.

LittleBigBass · 01-11-12, 08:09 PM

Does anyone know what the best gear ratios would be for jigs, spinnerbaits, topwater, worms, the drop shot, etc?

Scott the fishman · 01-11-12, 08:54 PM

Thats awesome wish my high school did that, well i would go with getting a broad set up first like a sedona with like a tourney special from bass pro until you find what your best lure is. Like i love brush hogs and jigs i have a jig rod which is skeete reese heavy cover with an abu garcia silver max. i Havent got enough money for a brush hog set up just feel around with a good set up that can later be devoted to a specific lure type

LittleBigBass · 01-11-12, 09:17 PM

i am comfortable with crankbaits, and traps but i got a pole for that already. i want one for spinner baits/ jigs/worms/drop shot. but idk what gear ratios to go with that and which setup i can use the same pole for

Bassboss · 01-11-12, 09:57 PM

If you're gonna wanna bass fish avidly, you're gonna wanna get some technique specific rods. Depending on what's good on your lakes.. this would be a pretty basic set of rods:

Jigs and worms:
A bass fishing stand-by for most anglers I think. You're probably gonna wanna spend a good amount of money in this combo. 7' - 7'4" MH fast, with a 7:1 reel (baitcaster). A good length rod for this kinda fishing. You can get the fish away from the cover and power em out, and it's plenty stiff so you can set the hook good into em. You're gonna want a GOOD baitcasting rod.. I'd spend a bare minimum of 80 dollars on just the rod. I'd look at the the new offerings from shimano, abu garcia vendetta, and veritas, the falcon BuCoo, and BPS carbon lite, in the lower end price bracket. (80 - 110.) In the higher end bracket (120 - 180), the new shimano rods again, Dobyns savvy, and St.Croix Avid are rods I'd take a look at.

Crankbaits
Length depends on where you do your crankin, and how deep of cranks. If it's more deep, long casts, open water, 15 + feel of water, kinda crankin, then a longer 7'6" MH might be better for you. If it's the shallower, close to cover, kinda crankin, then I think a 7' M would be best. Regardless of rod, go with 5:1 or 4:1 reel (deeper crankin the slower the reel), and line no more then 14lb test.

Spinnerbaits
I personally like a 6'6" - 7" MH rod for this. For me spinnerbaits are close to cover, or IN cover. The shorter rod is great for pin point accurate casts, and it's stiff enough so you horse the fish out of cover. 6:1 bait casting reel and 15lb minim mono. This combo will also work well for your bigger top water plugs and buzzbaits.

Top water plugs.
Again it depends where you fish em. I think they're most commonly fished around the shore near cover. But top waters can also be very useful in for schooling fish in open water, and longer rod will give you longer casts. I personally think a 6'6" M would be best! It could double as a rip bait rod in the spring. I'd put 10-14 pound mono on it depending if you'll use it for rip baits. Short for accurate casts, and limber enough to allow the fish to get ahold of the bait before you sink the hook in. Gear ration is your choice. I think a 7:1 reel is best just because you can get the bait from the strike zone back to the boat as fast as you can.

Slop rod
IMO an essential part to any bass anglers arsenal. 7'6" H fast. Nice long, and stiff, so you can get a hook the fish, and get em out of the slop. Use it for frogs, flippin and pitchin, big jigs, Carolina rigs, and swimbaits. 7:1 reel with a minimum of 50lb braid.

Finesse rod:
7' M spinning rod with a 2500 size reel and 8lb fluorocarbon, or 20lb braid with a fluorocarbon leader. Use it for shaky heads, drop shots, split shot rods, and anything else to light for your baitcasters.

Hope this helps you, let us know if you have any other questions!

LittleBigBass · 01-11-12, 10:16 PM

Thanks everyone for your help on the topic...Bassboss what you said was helpful because i didnt know which differnet setups i could use on different poles. I have a crankbait set up on 1 baitcaster, and with what u said, i think i have a spinnerbait reel/rod too. So i am going to probably going to get either a jig/worm rod, or a swimbait rod. Would a baitcaster or a spinning reel work better for swimbaits? I like using the storm wild eye shad for my swimbaits, but im wondering if the spinning reel would be better because of farther casting.

wallywallace · 01-12-12, 12:30 AM

you lucky sob, i wanted a club sooooo bad in school, reading in the flw bout em.. learn alot man, those above ideas are great, goodluck

LittleBigBass · 01-12-12, 05:17 PM

Yea. were supposedly the only ones in the state so far. (VA) Our club is not that big yet, because it is very hard to fit a large amount of people onto boats to fish. So we just have 8 people right now. And we just started it a few months ago. Hopefully some day it will be bigger, and our school will have boats. But for now, we just fish on this kids boat who started the club. What we really need is support. Like sponsorships, because bass fishing isn't cheap, and we need to become a more popular. I have no idea how a high school club could get sponsored though. Money is the main thing with this high school club, without the funds we cant fish

wallywallace · 01-12-12, 05:39 PM

ill pull a drew barymore movie, cant think of name, were she sneaks back th highschool, i will join lol.. really man a fishing club, that is winning the lottery to me, plus BP getting you what you want, is nice of them

also maybe hold cook outs or if you do a teach a kid to fish day to rasie money idk

wallywallace · 01-12-12, 05:40 PM

lol get kevin to sponser ya, or get it to atleast put the bassfishin logo on the boat lol

LittleBigBass · 01-12-12, 06:04 PM

haha that would be cool. kevins logo on the boat. I think the club is a good thing to because it gets kids into bass fishing. Speaking of kevin, do you know if he is making any more videos? i like them a lot lol when i started its all i would watch. tomorrow, were having the first fishing day. The club didnt seem to care about fishing in winter together, but i know for a fact you can fish in winter and catch fish still so i convinced them to come gar fishing and give the kids a chance to catch their first fish. And to show off to the "Good Fishing Kids" haha. I just hope BPS is really going to give us equipment and help. Im going to make a website for the club, and try to gain some attention. High school fishing clubs are becoming very popular now and from what i heard from bamabass they are even on tv. I would love to get to that level

kennethdaysale · 01-13-12, 01:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallywallace

ill pull a drew barymore movie, cant think of name, were she sneaks back th highschool, i will join lol.

"Never been kissed"

wallywallace · 01-13-12, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennethdaysale

"Never been kissed"

should i be scared you know that lol..

bamabassman · 01-13-12, 06:31 PM

well i am..........lol!

01-11-12, 06:33 PM	#1
LittleBigBass BassFishin.Com Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 70	Getting a new pole/ reel My high school recently started a "Bass Fishing Club", which i think is pretty awesome, and the club is getting a discount/ free items with BPS for all of the kids in the club. We are supposed to pick out a list of items we need, or would like to have from the BPS catalog. I have a crank bait/rattle trap pole and reel, but what other poles should i get? For example, should i get a seperate pole for spinner baits, carolina rig, or a pole for swimbaits? I just dont know if i need different poles for different setups and which setups i need specific poles/reels for. I have only been bass fishing for about 4 months now, and i know this is a "beginner" question, but I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could help me! Thanks!

01-11-12, 06:44 PM	#2
MississippiBoy BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: May 2007 Location: Ridgeland MS Posts: 3,923	Let's narrow it down a little...what do you like to fish with? What kind of cover does your lake have? Trees, laydowns, rocks, gravel, lily pads, grass, etc? For general, jack-of-all-trades use, a 6'6" or 7' medium heavy power rod with a 6.x:1 gear ratio reel is a good all-around rig. It's very easy to get caught up in the baitmonkey mentality, so try not to go crazy. __________________ I smell smoke, and I hear sirens. Do you think that's a problem?

01-11-12, 06:44 PM	#3
bamabassman BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: cedar bluff, alabama Posts: 15,292	ya'll need to check into getting in on the high school fishing tournaments. they are popping up EVERYWHERE. ask oyur coaches to check em out. __________________ so many lures, so little time.

01-11-12, 07:02 PM	#5
MississippiBoy BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: May 2007 Location: Ridgeland MS Posts: 3,923	Different structure/cover often means different lures, which can (not will, but CAN) mean different rigs. Muddy water with laydowns means spinnerbaits and worming, to me. So the 6'6" or 7' MH rod I mentioned would be perfect for that. I'm a fan of fairly long rods, 6'6" minimum, usually 7'. The only shorter rod I have is a 6' I use for walking topwaters like Spooks....I get a better walking-the-dog cadence with the shorter rod. Quick breakdown: for lures with single hooks, like spinnerbaits, worms, buzzbaits, etc, use a more powerful rod....medium heavy at least, sometimes heavy power. For treble hooked baits like crankbaits, lipless cranks, jerkbaits, poppers, etc, I go with a medium power to get a little more flex. This helps in casting the often lighter jerkbaits and smaller crankbaits, and also helps to keep from tearing the smaller hooks out of the fish's mouth. I'd say 3 rods would be a good start. medium power rod for cranks, MH power for worms, spinnerbaits, etc, and one other for the technique of your choice. Keep gear ratios simple...6.x:1 is fine for virtually everything. __________________ I smell smoke, and I hear sirens. Do you think that's a problem?

01-11-12, 08:54 PM	#8
Scott the fishman BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Central, New Jersey Posts: 221	Thats awesome wish my high school did that, well i would go with getting a broad set up first like a sedona with like a tourney special from bass pro until you find what your best lure is. Like i love brush hogs and jigs i have a jig rod which is skeete reese heavy cover with an abu garcia silver max. i Havent got enough money for a brush hog set up just feel around with a good set up that can later be devoted to a specific lure type __________________ MA CAN I GO FISHING!!!!

01-11-12, 06:48 PM	#4
LittleBigBass BassFishin.Com Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 70	yea, i have seen them on tv. We just started the club this year with some freshmen, and were trying to gain sponsors, etc. so we can eventually enter the tournaments, that would be awesome. Mainly i will be fishing in muddy/ grass bottoms, with trees around the lake, some laydowns. I just dont know what different poles u need for different setups. Does the structure matter when it comes to the pole, and gear ratio?

01-11-12, 07:09 PM	#6
LittleBigBass BassFishin.Com Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 70	Ok, i like poles in the 6'6 7' range as well. So i should probably get 2 main poles...1 for Treble hooked baits, and 1 for single hooked? or are there other possible poles/ reels for different setups. The rod you described above for single hook lures, would that work for jigs and the drop shot as well? or should i get a seperate pole for the drop shot. I know its a lot to ask lol but to a new fisherman, its complex.

01-11-12, 08:09 PM	#7
LittleBigBass BassFishin.Com Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 70	Does anyone know what the best gear ratios would be for jigs, spinnerbaits, topwater, worms, the drop shot, etc?

01-11-12, 09:17 PM	#9
LittleBigBass BassFishin.Com Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 70	i am comfortable with crankbaits, and traps but i got a pole for that already. i want one for spinner baits/ jigs/worms/drop shot. but idk what gear ratios to go with that and which setup i can use the same pole for

01-11-12, 09:57 PM	#10
Bassboss BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Shawano, WI Posts: 7,761	If you're gonna wanna bass fish avidly, you're gonna wanna get some technique specific rods. Depending on what's good on your lakes.. this would be a pretty basic set of rods: Jigs and worms: A bass fishing stand-by for most anglers I think. You're probably gonna wanna spend a good amount of money in this combo. 7' - 7'4" MH fast, with a 7:1 reel (baitcaster). A good length rod for this kinda fishing. You can get the fish away from the cover and power em out, and it's plenty stiff so you can set the hook good into em. You're gonna want a GOOD baitcasting rod.. I'd spend a bare minimum of 80 dollars on just the rod. I'd look at the the new offerings from shimano, abu garcia vendetta, and veritas, the falcon BuCoo, and BPS carbon lite, in the lower end price bracket. (80 - 110.) In the higher end bracket (120 - 180), the new shimano rods again, Dobyns savvy, and St.Croix Avid are rods I'd take a look at. Crankbaits Length depends on where you do your crankin, and how deep of cranks. If it's more deep, long casts, open water, 15 + feel of water, kinda crankin, then a longer 7'6" MH might be better for you. If it's the shallower, close to cover, kinda crankin, then I think a 7' M would be best. Regardless of rod, go with 5:1 or 4:1 reel (deeper crankin the slower the reel), and line no more then 14lb test. Spinnerbaits I personally like a 6'6" - 7" MH rod for this. For me spinnerbaits are close to cover, or IN cover. The shorter rod is great for pin point accurate casts, and it's stiff enough so you horse the fish out of cover. 6:1 bait casting reel and 15lb minim mono. This combo will also work well for your bigger top water plugs and buzzbaits. Top water plugs. Again it depends where you fish em. I think they're most commonly fished around the shore near cover. But top waters can also be very useful in for schooling fish in open water, and longer rod will give you longer casts. I personally think a 6'6" M would be best! It could double as a rip bait rod in the spring. I'd put 10-14 pound mono on it depending if you'll use it for rip baits. Short for accurate casts, and limber enough to allow the fish to get ahold of the bait before you sink the hook in. Gear ration is your choice. I think a 7:1 reel is best just because you can get the bait from the strike zone back to the boat as fast as you can. Slop rod IMO an essential part to any bass anglers arsenal. 7'6" H fast. Nice long, and stiff, so you can get a hook the fish, and get em out of the slop. Use it for frogs, flippin and pitchin, big jigs, Carolina rigs, and swimbaits. 7:1 reel with a minimum of 50lb braid. Finesse rod: 7' M spinning rod with a 2500 size reel and 8lb fluorocarbon, or 20lb braid with a fluorocarbon leader. Use it for shaky heads, drop shots, split shot rods, and anything else to light for your baitcasters. Hope this helps you, let us know if you have any other questions! __________________ If you can't fix it with heavy squats or fish oil, you're probably going to die.

01-11-12, 10:16 PM	#11
LittleBigBass BassFishin.Com Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 70	Thanks everyone for your help on the topic...Bassboss what you said was helpful because i didnt know which differnet setups i could use on different poles. I have a crankbait set up on 1 baitcaster, and with what u said, i think i have a spinnerbait reel/rod too. So i am going to probably going to get either a jig/worm rod, or a swimbait rod. Would a baitcaster or a spinning reel work better for swimbaits? I like using the storm wild eye shad for my swimbaits, but im wondering if the spinning reel would be better because of farther casting.

01-12-12, 12:30 AM	#12
wallywallace BassFishin.Com Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 849	you lucky sob, i wanted a club sooooo bad in school, reading in the flw bout em.. learn alot man, those above ideas are great, goodluck

01-12-12, 05:17 PM	#13
LittleBigBass BassFishin.Com Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 70	Yea. were supposedly the only ones in the state so far. (VA) Our club is not that big yet, because it is very hard to fit a large amount of people onto boats to fish. So we just have 8 people right now. And we just started it a few months ago. Hopefully some day it will be bigger, and our school will have boats. But for now, we just fish on this kids boat who started the club. What we really need is support. Like sponsorships, because bass fishing isn't cheap, and we need to become a more popular. I have no idea how a high school club could get sponsored though. Money is the main thing with this high school club, without the funds we cant fish

01-12-12, 05:39 PM	#14
wallywallace BassFishin.Com Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 849	ill pull a drew barymore movie, cant think of name, were she sneaks back th highschool, i will join lol.. really man a fishing club, that is winning the lottery to me, plus BP getting you what you want, is nice of them also maybe hold cook outs or if you do a teach a kid to fish day to rasie money idk

01-12-12, 05:40 PM	#15
wallywallace BassFishin.Com Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 849	lol get kevin to sponser ya, or get it to atleast put the bassfishin logo on the boat lol

01-12-12, 06:04 PM	#16
LittleBigBass BassFishin.Com Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 70	haha that would be cool. kevins logo on the boat. I think the club is a good thing to because it gets kids into bass fishing. Speaking of kevin, do you know if he is making any more videos? i like them a lot lol when i started its all i would watch. tomorrow, were having the first fishing day. The club didnt seem to care about fishing in winter together, but i know for a fact you can fish in winter and catch fish still so i convinced them to come gar fishing and give the kids a chance to catch their first fish. And to show off to the "Good Fishing Kids" haha. I just hope BPS is really going to give us equipment and help. Im going to make a website for the club, and try to gain some attention. High school fishing clubs are becoming very popular now and from what i heard from bamabass they are even on tv. I would love to get to that level

01-13-12, 06:31 PM	#19
bamabassman BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: cedar bluff, alabama Posts: 15,292	well i am..........lol! __________________ so many lures, so little time.

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