Baitcasting rod recc's

[njsimonson]

Greetings all, long time occasional-checker-inner. First time poster. I fish largemouth a great deal of the summer in and around Detroit Lakes, MN. I have been restricted (for personal reasons) to spinning reels and rods (smallie fisher, is the reason, mostly) but am now looking into getting a baitcaster for largemouth.

Here's the deal, I need a rod in that $100 range that effectively presents soft plastics and spinnerbaits. This rod will not double as a trolling rod for anything, strictly soft plastic bassin, and the occasional water-burner.

1) What should I look for in a baitcasting rod for these purposes.

2) What brands and/or models would you recommend?

Remember, around $100 - plastics and spinnerbaits. Thanks.

[Chev_trucks501]

Nj,

I would look to the Shimano line. For around $100 you can get a Shimano Compre which would serve you well. They have a life time warranty which is pretty much non-existent in the rod industry now. I used to fish with Gloomis and St. Croixs and now mainly fish with Shimano due in large part to the warranty. I feel Shimano rods are every bit as good also. Also if you wanted to spend a little more the Crucial series are excellent, I love them!

As far as a type of rod that will depend on what exactly you will be doing with them. I like a longer rod 6 1/2 to

7 1/2 for throwing plastics and I like them a little lighter say a "med light". For throwing Cranks or Spinners I typically goto a 6 1/2 Med to MH. Well I hope this helps.

Dietz the guru of fishing rods will probably ring in on this one!

Almost forgot. Welcome to the site!

Good Luck

Chev

[gspman]

I have 3 Compre rods. 2 are 7' MH and 1 is 7' M. The 7' M would work for spinnerbaits and plastics. The Compre is a tough rod but it's also a little on the heavy side. I also have a 7' M St. Croix Premier rod. That would work as well but you might have a harder time casting real light plastics with it. It looks like the Premier is being redesigned this year and has a 5 year warranty which is pretty good too. I'm sure the new Premier will be a very nice rod. I think my Premier is a little lighter than the Compre and has it definitely has a faster action which would aid in bite detection. Both will work for you. For performance I'd pick the Premier but the lifetime warranty on the Compre is tough to beat. Whatever rod you buy, put a good, smooth casting reel on it so you can get some distance with the lighter plastics.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Ok.. first off, I am no guru... Just a normal dude with a love for fishing stuff...

Gspman, the Compre was redesigned last year, and is much lighter. I would like to see weights of comparable rods between the compre and the premier.

NJ, your question for me is a little tough to answer. The 2 techniques you are wanting to use this rod for require two different rod actions. You of coarse can throw any lure on any rod and it will work, but I look at rods much like I do tools. For fishing soft plastics a MH rod with an extra fast tip is best. Lenght of the rod depends much on the persons height and confort level. I myself like the 6'10" rod for this application, Some like 6'6" other 7'... The reason for the MH fast tip is because you are the one giving the lure its action. Often times the hook is texas rigged in the plastic and you need a rod with a little more back bone. For spinnerbaits a lighter and slower action rod is best. If you use too stiff a rod you will loose more fish as they will not get hooked as deep and then can use the leverage of the lure to throw it on jumps. If you use a rod with a little more give the fish has a chance to take the lure a little deeper, thus keeping him hooked better.

Just my opinion... IF you were to only pick one rod.. I might go with a 7'MH or 7'M rod...

for the money the Compre is very tough to beat!

[caseymcq]

A good rod for a great price is Cabela's Fish Eagle II. They are excellent rods and they usually go for about $80. If you look in their catalog they usually have pretty good rod 'n' reel combo deals with them.

[njsimonson]

Thanks guys...am looking into the new rods (stopped ogling the new Victoria's secret catalog, and moved on to the Bass Pro Shops catalog) for fishing bass this summer.

Any reels you guys think are particularily good for the above mentioned purposes? Would like a Quantum PTi, but don't know if I could justify the tag (bought the spinning reel in '04...very impressed).

[gspman]

The old style Curado is the most popular low-pro baitcaster ever. If you can find one buy it. Otherwise the new Citica is it's replacement. For $119 the new Citica with the super free spool is going to be the bomb. The new Curado will be the bomb too but for $190 it'll never find it's way into my arsenal. I'm a big Shimano reel fan so I'd say go check them 2 out. Also other brands make very nice reels too. I'm sure others will chime in with their favorites.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Agree on the old Curado. You can usually find them on HSOList. I'm in the same boat as GSPman. The new curados look and feel sweet, but I'm sure the Citica will be much easier to fit into my budget.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Actually, the new Citica is better than the old Curado at the same price point.