Baitcasting reccomendations

[Ben Lamb]

Hunt Talk Man fishes only dry flies smaller than a 14. He uses Winston rods.

I looked at replacing my 20 year old BIIX after it got stolen.
Nope. Winston's lost their damned mind on pricing. I'll keep an eye on Ebay for used rods. Those are at least somewhat affordable. Shame - Winston makes a killer rod.

 

[brocksw]

Piscifun reels. I have 3 or 4 of their spinning reels. Unbeatable for the price.

 

[Hem]

I'm at the point where I'd rather catch fish than worry about how I look doing it. There's a little lake that my wife's family has some cabins on, and the preferred method of slaying smallies is dragging a worm/frog/minnow across the bottom on a dead drift from a pontoon boat. My FIL's cache of rods & reels are all Goodwill finds - lots of Zebco 33's, etc. You have to hold your tongue just right to reel them in, but hot damn, it's fun.

Funny...never once thought about how I look when I fish.

Back in the day those damn Zebco 202(?)would loose the nut that holds the handle on every time I was riding my bike to fish.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Funny...never once thought about how I look when I fish.

Back in the day those damn Zebco 202(?)would loose the nut that holds the handle on every time I was riding my bike to fish.

For $7.00 you can get one and ride the bike to the fishing hole for old time sakes. I have 2 of the things from my grandpa's garage. Idk how I ever fell in love with fishing using them. Haha

 

[Ben Lamb]

Funny...never once thought about how I look when I fish.

Back in the day those damn Zebco 202(?)would loose the nut that holds the handle on every time I was riding my bike to fish.

We had the same rig & bike, I bet. Panfish in a little stocked gravel pit behind the brake shop on Bryan Stock Trail was my go-to during the summer. You'd just drop a bare hook in and the sunfish were all over it. Urban fisheries are one of the best gateway drugs to the outdoors there is.

 

[Sytes]

Seems you're well on your way to selecting brand and model.

For myself, reels: Shimano, Lews, not sure what I have from memory though they were between $90-150. Not premium nor cheap.

Only other portions I would add:

1.) 6.4:1 ratio is a quality route of the various options.
2.) I've found the best method to minimize bird nesting the line, tap the release and as your "bait" drops into the water the line should stop.
The mechanics of this are why you spend your money, mostly.
Elitist looks factor into the process. I prefer the matte finish though some beam with pearlescent effects. Supposedly you catch bigger fish while looking dashingly.

 

[Hem]

We had the same rig & bike, I bet. Panfish in a little stocked gravel pit behind the brake shop on Bryan Stock Trail was my go-to during the summer. You'd just drop a bare hook in and the sunfish were all over it. Urban fisheries are one of the best gateway drugs to the outdoors there is.

It was demoralizing to get to the fishing spot and realize the handle gone...after shucking nightcrawlers the night before, getting up at daybreak to get to the zone.
Sad kid walking the mile home with his nose to the gravel looking for parts on the side of the road.
I'm afraid I can't get sentimental about those 202's.
Did catch a 5lb brown once, and gobs of warm water species with the cheap set up. Soon after , at about 12 yrs
old I switched to fly.
Long time ago. My friends thought I was a nut.

 

[Ben Lamb]

It was demoralizing to get to the fishing spot and realize the handle gone...after shucking nightcrawlers the night before, getting up at daybreak to get to the zone.
Sad kid walking the mile home with his nose to the gravel looking for parts on the side of the road.
I'm afraid I can't get sentimental about those 202's.
Did catch a 5lb brown once, and gobs of warm water species with the cheap set up. Soon after , at about 12 yrs
old I switched to fly.
Long time ago. My friends thought I was a nut.

I spent so much time on those old reels, cleaning, lubricating & making sure everything was snug. It seemed like it was a 1:1 ratio in upkeep to fishing time. But it was cheap, and so was my father.

 

[Hem]

One might speculate i had more than one loose screw.

 

[Hem]

I spent so much time on those old reels, cleaning, lubricating & making sure everything was snug. It seemed like it was a 1:1 ratio in upkeep to fishing time. But it was cheap, and so was my father.

This^^^

 

[Northwoods Labs]

I'm partial to St Croix for rods. There are models made right in Park Falls, Wisconsin. My baitcasters are Abu Garcia Ambassador and would recommend them. Looking at posts it seems Abu has gone downhill though.........my models are older ones.....

 

[Rainer]

Just take out another mortgage and load up on some Japanese JDM gear lol

 

[Ben Lamb]

This^^^

Then there's the automatic fly reels, and what happens to the coil spring when you try to clean them after sitting in Dad's gear closet for 40 years.

I'll take the 202 over that mess.

 

[Hem]

Anybody remember the Johnson closed face reels?

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

Anybody remember the Johnson closed face reels?

I still have a "Country Mile" somewhere, it slung a "Silver Minnow" like it was it's job....

 

[Sytes]

Getting nostalgic with the Country Mile. My pals and I mapped out a backcountry fishing trek for the latest and greatest, telescopic rod. We thought that was the cat's meow!

Super Duper and Panther Martin was the name of the game along with ye ole rooster tail.

 

[Bulldog0156]

I have an SLX DC that I like but honestly, I prefer a spinning set up for topwater.

Check out Dobyn's rods. Big with the bass guys and they have a phenomenal taper.

 

[BenInMT]

For my gear fishing I’m a Lamiglass fan. Their bass series rods around $100 are a good value and if you sign up for their email list you’ll get offers for 20% off all the time.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Well after dropping the boss off to paddle the Platte, I headed to Sportsman's. Ended up with the Mojo Bass casting rod & the St Croix Triumph for a spinning rod. Both hit the sweet spot between cost & quality. Going to try out the spinning rod this evening and then wait for the Quantum Smoke to show up in the mail.

Thanks for the help folks!

 

[JLS]

Get yourself some Ribbit frogs. Maybe this is blasphemous, but they are arguably more fun than dry flies.