Bass and walleye experts help

[silvio]

Hey everyone its been awhile i was wondering if some help can be sent my way. This year I want to take my bass and walleye fishing to the next level. I want to start to buy my rods and reels that are best suited for each purpose but since ive never gotten deeply into this type of fishing im sorta lost. Im looking for help on selecting 6-8 outfits that can be used for bass and walleye. I need help with rod lengths, actions, and baitcast or spinning and what purpose the setup is best suited for. Pretty much want these outfits to be able to cover the majority of baits that would be used to fish bass and walleye. Fishing both Smallies and Largies, thanks in advance guys

[Roy]

I haven't a lot of time right now Silvio but I'm thinking, you don't need 6-8 combos to cover bass and walleye.....4-5 MAX. I'll stay with this thread as it progresses...interested in the replies. Good luck to you.

[GBW]

don't forget you need all this too...

 

[Spiel]

A pair of 7' Ugly Sticks should handle every situation.....

 

Kidding of course but I'll bet someone recommends them.

[manitoubass2]

I only use two outfits most of the time for walleye and bass.

 

One is a 6ft. Kuffa blank with alot of backbone(not the best brand out there), and has a good flex in the tip. It's paired with a Quantum Energy PT E30, which works great, but is pretty costly. I use 8 pound mono on this rod and it's mainly used for vertical jigging.

 

My go to rod is a 6'6" Kuffa blank, same as the other but a little less flex in the tip. It's multi versatile for jig retrieves, tossing spinner baits or even cranks, and this rod is paired with a Stradic CI4 2500, very nice reel. Spooled up with 30lb Sufix 832(would normally have 10-15lb, but the wife made a boo boo, lol).

 

I prefer spinning reels to baitcasters, but thats just personal preference and fits my style(s) of fishing.

 

I have plenty of set ups, but I only bring two rods with me usually, sometimes three if Im targeting a few different species throughout the day.

 

Looking forward to seeing what everyone else suggests, but for me, I like to keep it simple. More time fishing, less time fiddling with rods/reels/baits,

[Billy Bob]

I have more "stuff" then most small tackle shops but it's not really needed to catch fish.....and all that stuff was accumulated over MANY years. I suggest you do the same...

[GBW]

I got this set up for tossing crank/jerk baits as well as for trolling for walleye.

 

 

Bass, get anything that you want. it's the style of fishing for the different rods. ie, slop, topwater, flipping...

[bushart]

I use a pretty standard set up to cover most walleye fishing and open water smallies

 

We're pretty much talkin wedline fish or rockpiles--points and such

 

One of my favs is a 6.5 foot St Croix med/soft action with a 1000 maybe a 1500 shimano spinning reel

 

Here's key---spooled with 6 lb Excalibur by silver thread (make sure it's excalibur--silver thread--no good)

 

A good selection of jigs from 1/16 oz to 1/2 oz

 

Terminal tackle of good quality for riggin or slip bobbers

 

Good start

 

pullin cranks--bottom bouncers and heavier weed fishin get a heavier set-up

[lookinforwalleye]

A pair of 7' Ugly Sticks should handle every situation.....

 

Kidding of course but I'll bet someone recommends them.

 

 

My father in law used to have one rod and reel a ugly stik and an equally ugly reel spooled with 25 pound mono, what ever he hooked never stood a chance!!!

 

 

You really don`t need that many try a 6'-6" Compre medium with a Sedona that will handle most of your Walleye and Smallie fishing and if your into baitcasting try a couple of 6'6" rods one medium and one medium heavy with your baitcaster of choice.

[cwpowell]

My old man uses nothing but an ugly stick from the 80's that he payed about $250 bucks for, and a crappy daiwa reel. and when he's not using that he's using an 300 dollar shimano rod and pfleugar reel ultra lite combo. Catches a lot more fish than I do. Don't tell him I said that though.

[silvio]

Hey guys I'm not on an extremely tight budget I need these outfits, I take my fishing very serious and one or two rods will not do. My friend just grabbed a nitro and we will be spending Alot of time on the water. I want a rod dedicated to a tactic or two at most so that i can properly preform these tactics.

[Live2fish85]

I agree that it's all about what type of fishing you are doing. Topwater, flipping, etc. But a great rod that i have had lots of luck with is my St. Croix Mojo bass whacky style with my Pflueger Presidents. I have pulled in a 10.5 lbs walleye and hundreds of smallies some hitting the 5-6 lbs range. It still is in great condition to. that will work for throwing crankbaits and spoons and as the obvious softbaits for finese and then something for throwing into the thicker stuff. I would say a MH to a H 7' + rod with a 7.1 baitcast reel. That's what I would suggest and as you get more into it pick up things slowly. You can get the St. Croix mojo and pflueger for less then $200. Hope it helps.

[Dan668]

6'8 m for dropshotting, 7' mh fast for spinnerbaits, 7 m xfast for light texas rigs, senkos, 7' mod action for crankbaits,jerkbaits,traps and a 7'6 mh for flipping and pitching is what I use. I use these 5 for all my fishing.

Edited April 15, 2011 by danbob

[Drew_10]

Well... If you're really looking at buying 6-8 combo's heres a list with some explanations... may put you in the right direction, but others will be along with their advice.

 

1. (1 or 2) 7' med fast spinning rod - dragging tubes, dropshotting, light jigs, etc

 

2. (1 or 2) 6' 6'' or 7' med hvy fast spinning rod - jerk baits, light cranks, topwater poppers, heavier tubes,jigging spoons, etc

 

3. (1 or 2) 7' med heavy moderate baitcast rod - crank baits, spinnerbaits

 

4. 7' - 7'6'' heavy fast baitcast rod - flipping and pitching

 

5. 7' med heavy fast baitcast rod - misc rod - heavier cranks, spinnerbaits, topwater,carolina rigs, etc...

 

 

Just an idea of what you might want to consider. As for brands, there's lots of good stuff out there. Personally, I mainly use crucial rods with stradic spinning reels and revo baitcast reels and have been happy with them.

Edited April 15, 2011 by Drew_10

[Cudz]

6'8 m for dropshotting, 7' mh fast for spinnerbaits, 7 m xfast for light texas rigs, senkos, 7' mod action for crankbaits,jerkbaits,traps and a 7'6 mh for flipping and pitching is what I use. I use these 5 for all my fishing.

I like these except I go with Heavy in 7.6 for pitching flipping and frogs.

I use spinning reels/rods for dropshotting and tubes and most senko applications. Casting rods and reels fro spinnerbait cranks pitching and frogs.

 

crucial spinning rods and stratic reels 25 or 30 size are good combos, but compres are grea as well.

[Dan668]

The blank I use for pitching and flipping is labeled mh but preforms like a H. I used to use spinning but got used to using baitcast for all applications

[houski]

For walleye I'd go with a Legend Tourney, or Elite 6'3'' M XF (spinning) for vertical jigging, a 6'6' M F for jerkbaits (spinning) and a 7' Legend Tourney MHM (casting) for bottom bouncers/deep cranks.

As for spinning reels anything that will hold about 130 yards of 8 lb. should be fine (2000 size for Abu, and 2500 for Shimano). For baitcasters, I prefer something that's not blazing fast 5.1-5.4 ish is pretty sweet for cranks I think.

Edited April 15, 2011 by Houski

[Harrison]

Great guidance so far. Here's my deal after a few years honing it.

 

1. 7ft Heavy Baitcast - strictly pitching and dunking heavy junk.

2. 8ft Heavy Baitcast - frog(or other plastic topwaters) heavy think junk

3. 7'6 M/H Baitcast - Flipping and/or skipping plastics.

4. 6'6 M/H spin- tube, senko

5. 6'6 Med/Heavy Spin more on the heavy side- jerkabait(may want to go lighter, heavy is just my personal preference.

6. 7 ft M/H spin - topwaters

7. 6ft HEAVY (poolcue) - use for 2oz jigs busting think mats.

8. 6'3 light spin, incase the Misses wants to dropshot.

 

Get a couple of each (bait and spin) until you dail in what style you like to fish... this could take a while.

 

Above it my Bass deal, but use most the same spinning for walleye. The Heavy spin I use for rip jigging as well as jerks for eyes.

 

Good Luck

Edited April 15, 2011 by Harrison

[DRIFTER_016]

Hey guys I'm not on an extremely tight budget I need these outfits, I take my fishing very serious and one or two rods will not do. My friend just grabbed a nitro and we will be spending Alot of time on the water. I want a rod dedicated to a tactic or two at most so that i can properly preform these tactics.

 

Here's few to look into.

 

1/ 7 1/2 or 8' flipping stick heavy action.

2/ Medium moderate action action 6 1/2 - 7' casting crankbait rod.

3/ medium heavy fast action 6-6 1/2' casting rod for tossing spinner baits and buzz baits

4/ medium heavy fast action 6-6 1/2' spinning rod for drop shotting and tossing tubes.

5/ medium action 6-7' spinning rod for rigging and jigging 'eyes.

[Slayingm]

But Phil.... you only own 2 rods?.... good advise though buddy! .. G

[Jackie]

Hey guys I'm not on an extremely tight budget I need these outfits, I take my fishing very serious and one or two rods will not do. My friend just grabbed a nitro and we will be spending Alot of time on the water. I want a rod dedicated to a tactic or two at most so that i can properly preform these tactics.

 

 

If you are not on tight budget...go for G-loomis rods...they are all technique specified. They have flippin rod, top water rod, crank bait, jerk bait, spinner bait, frog rod, swimbait rods, dropshot rods etc...they even have walley series...so just choose the technique that you use the most...such as spinner bait and flippin for bass...probably crank bait rods for both bass and walley...

again...it's mostly personal preferences...you gotta experience it first before you know whether you like it or not...Some might tell you a med-heavy with extra fast tip is good for crankbaits, but others might think a slow action rod is needed to produce better hook set when cranking...

As for the length of the rod, you might have to consider your height and whether you are fishing on the boat or shore. There is no set rules when it comes to choosing actions of the rod...simply personal recommendation and experiences. But pay attention to the lure wt...you are not gonna toss a 1oz Tungsten with an ultra-light setups...

 

For fishing reels, people generally uses high speed ratio for fishing heavy covers such as flipin or frogin because you need to get the fish out of cover as soon as you can. For spinner baits or buzz baits, you might wanna use mid ratio (6.3:1). For crank baits you might wanna use slower ratio (5:1). Those are just recommendations. You may also need to consider the fishing condition of the day. When the fish are inactive, you may wanna use a lower ratio reel to provide a slower presentation. When the fish are really active, you may wanna provide more active presentation with faster cranking speed. But of course you can change the speed by reeling it faster or slower...So again, it all depends on experience and personal preference....

[msp]

Heres a few

 

Everybody has made great recomendations so far.

To get you started, I would suggest

-7.5 ft med/hvy or heavy casting rod with high speed reel- flipping jigs, creature baits and tubes

-7 ft med/hvy casting for spinnerbaits

-6.6ft med casting for topwater,crankbaits,jerkbaits

-7.2ft med or med/hvy spinning rod for dragging tubes and grubs

-6.6 med hvy for skipping, senkos and ripping bucktails

You probably already know to buy quality tackle. good luck.

[dave524]

If you expect to make any trips to Erie for the fanastic pickerel fishing there I'd add a 9 foot dipsy diver rod with a line counter reel loaded with 30 or 50 pound braid and a selection of divers. Not sure but this might be useful on Quinte as well.

[sauce]

For walleye, 90% of your fishing can be done with spinning gear. This doesn't include trolling. Gear for that can get pretty specific. But pick up 4 or 5 medium and medium light rods in fast and extra fast action. these lighter action walleye combos double as finesse bass combos. I picked up a 6'8 mojo bass drop shot rod. Its gonna be nice for drop shot, vertical jigging and even throwing light cranks. If I could afford to do it, id pick up a second one (with another stradic) and have one spooled with braid and the other with mono.

I don't do a whole lot of fishing where I'm throwing heavy lures or using heavy line so I don't use baitcast combos a lot.

[Harrison]

But Phil.... you only own 2 rods?.... good advise though buddy! .. G

 

hahaha, smart arse, two is all I need to bring when I am fishing with someone who can take care of all the other non flippin jig rod stuff! hahah.. Cheers BUD!

 

PS.. where's my coat? We have to get together now for a fish!

Edited April 16, 2011 by Harrison