Casting rods

[John Neves]

Hey guys!

I need some advice. So far I've only used spinning tackle and I'd like to start using casting rods and reels. Since we don't have many bass speciality shops on this side of the pond we don't usually have much choice. But I found a shop about 80 miles from here that imports Bass Pro Shops stuff.

Do any of you have BPS casting gear? I have one of those cheap spinning rods and it's great bang for the buck, but I don't know what to make of their reviews.

I was looking to spend $ 200 tops, so I was looking into these:

www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_98402_100003001_100000000_100003000_100-3-1

Or something a little cheaper... Since it'll have to be imported and that can cost a bit.

What do you guys think?

Thanks!

John

[Fishooked]

Sept 14, 2009 16:06:02 GMT -4 John Neves said:

Hey guys!

I need some advice. So far I've only used spinning tackle and I'd like to start using casting rods and reels. Since we don't have many bass speciality shops on this side of the pond we don't usually have much choice. But I found a shop about 80 miles from here that imports Bass Pro Shops stuff.

Do any of you have BPS casting gear? I have one of those cheap spinning rods and it's great bang for the buck, but I don't know what to make of their reviews.

I was looking to spend $ 200 tops, so I was looking into these:

www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_98402_100003001_100000000_100003000_100-3-1

Or something a little cheaper... Since it'll have to be imported and that can cost a bit.

What do you guys think?

Thanks!

John

Well sir, I wish you luck on your journey into the world of baitcasting!

I for one got off that road a lone time ago - I tried it for awhile but never got the hang of it so I abandoned it. I am not trying to steer you away from it, just my opinion.

My line of thinking is to spend more money on the reel than the rod itself; its a shame you are located internationally - I have a Cabelas casting rod just sitting here.

I would give it to you for free, but it would probably be a fortune to ship overseas - anyone have any experience shipping rods overseas?

Its a one-piece too - all casting rods are I beleive.

Regardless, that doesnt look like a bad combo to start with.

[fishfingers007]

hi guys,
ive never used pro casting rods but i do think any rod you buy needs to feel right to you, and you can only do that if your there with the rod, all my rods are hand made using the normark blanks that we managed to get some 15-20 yr ago, i have several but if i had to get another it would be hell ,maybe it sounds stupid but its a bit like buying cloths ,

[bacon]

hey, i own alot of baitcasting combos, and this is what i can tell you. the reel is most important. the better the reel, the easier to cast, however, the easier to cast it is, the more trouble it can be if you are new to a baitcaster. i dont know much about the quantums, i refuse to by quantum anymore, i had terrible luck with there rods, the ends would twist. you could look down the eyelets and the last two would be 90 degrees off, and they they would snap off. i have used bass pro rods and reels, and there Extreme series of combos are not too bad. i had good luck with the Bionic Blade rods, but dont know about the reels. as far as reels go, i really prefer shimano and abu garcia. good starter reels might be a shimano cruzar or an Abu Silver Max or low end Toro. if you want easy casting reels(higher end reels) the shimano Citca is great, i would tell anyone to buy two of them and forget the castiac, the citcas are just as good, and much less expensive. I bought a Abu Revo SX this year, and i dont think i will buy anything but these again for a long time. it is amazing, i have it on a carrot stix rod tied to it, its about as light weight as you can make a combo. you can cast forever and never have the fatigue like you will using a larger, heavier combo.
rods are tough to figure, it has more to do with prefrences. but the new st croix mojo rods sound good, i like st croix, and have heard good things about the mojo, but havnt tried one yet. IMO i have just as good of luck with the $40-$70 price range rods as i do with the $125-$150 rods. my carrot stix cost me $150, and i think it was worth it, as was my $200+ gloomis and St Croix legands rods. real high dollar rods are better, but it seems like if you go much less then about $150, you might as well buy a $40 Ugly Stick, which really is an exellent rod. the BPS rods are pretty good to like i said before.
hope i didnt confuse you too much, and good luck with your venture into baitcasting. there will be backlashes and ratsnests, but you will get over it. if you want any help, let me know, i have a few easy tips that will make setting up your rod a peice of cake, and a secret to fixing a backlash.
Bacon

[John Neves]

Hey guys!

First of all, thanks for taking the time to help. ;D

I want to start using baitcasting techniques, but I'll always take both rods with me. It's just to see what it is like, hence not wanting to spend more than 200 dollars on it.

After reading bacon's post, instead of looking at combos I'll start looking for the best reel I can afford, and then a nice enough rod.

Hopefully I'll have it next time I go fishing, and we'll see how it goes!

Again, thanks!

[muskiehunter]

Another thing to consider when choosing a rod is what style of fishing will you do the most with it.

Example would be say:

Crankbaits your not really using them in heavy cover so you can get away with a Medium action rod.Where as with soft plastics which are usually fished in heavy cover you will want a MH Medium/Heavy or a H Heavy action rod with the backbone to rip the lips off them when setting the hook and to get them out of the cover as fast as possible.

Also you can almost avoid all backlash by making sure your reel's magnetic brakes are set properly to the lure you are using at the time.Until you get used to a baitcasting reel you will more then likely have quite a few RATs NEST'S.When you get them and say WTF did I buy this for just stick with them and in no time you'll have it under control.

I very rarely use spinning reels anymore.IMO the baitcasting setup is much faster & comfortable.

I think you will like them quite a bit.

[John Neves]

Well muskiehunter, I'll be using crankbaits mostly - but not on heavy cover. Our lakes here in Portugal are artificial, so there's not much cover. And I'll be honest with you... Maybe it's because Rapala doesn't make them, or maybe it's because I'm rubbish with them, but I don't really like to fish with soft plastics But I will have to learn to use them properly.

I've been warned about the nests, but as you said, I'll have to stick with it.

Thanks!

[casey10]

Hey Bacon, Whats the secrets for avoiding backlashes. My new abu 6500TC is currently a jumbled up nightmare with 80lb braid. I will probably have to cut the line out!!

[bacon]

the biggest part of avoiding backlash is setting the brake for every lure you tie on, set the brake so your lure can bairly pull line out when you open the bail. the higher you set the brake, the shorter your casts will be, but then you can start to let off the brake slowly with every cast until you can cast farther but you should be able to tell when its just about to start free wheeling and backlash. i really hate heavy braid, it can cause all sorts of problems, i am not sure if this little trick will work for braid, but it works pretty good for mono line, when you get a backlash, start pulling line out and down the pole gently unitl it either stops, or comes completly out and you can apply weight and reel it back in. if it stops and still has a rats nest, put your thumbnail against the spool tightly, usually as tight as you can, or as tight as you can and still reel in without the drag slipping. once your thumbnail is agianst it good and firm, give it about 5 or 6 cranks, release the bail and pull it out, alot of the time, the whole thing will just pull out and you can go back to fishing. sometimes you have to do it a few times to get it to work, other times, you need to get a pair of sissors and get busy.

i do use several spinning reels, mostly for lighter soft plastics, especially if im skipping under piers. a friend of mine, this guy fishes alot, can skip light plastics like ika's and tubes using high end baitcasters, ive tried it, bad bad things man.
hope this helps out some of you fellow baitcasters, unless you already knew about these little tweaks, then i guess, too bad, i got nothin for ya.

bacon

[muskiehunter]

[quote author=bacon board=allfishing thread=5569 post=23746 time=1253068450
i do use several spinning reels, mostly for lighter soft plastics, especially if im skipping under piers. a friend of mine, this guy fishes alot, can skip light plastics like ika's and tubes using high end baitcasters, ive tried it, bad bad things man.


bacon
[/quote]

AMEN Bacon

[gbass1951]

I found a video on Utube on how to get a backlash out simply.
But i'm not smart enough to add the link to my post. You might try searching utube for it or if sonone smarter than me will tell me how to include the link, I'll post it.

[John Neves]

Well guys, I went to the fishing store yesterday and got myself an Okuma NS-200 LX reel, recommended by Rui - the store owner and a good guy.

I'm now looking for a rod, and I'll probably go with a Bionic Blade or something...

We're planning on going fishing two weeks from now, I'll tell you all about it! ;D

[casey10]

Gbass1951, I saw that video on utube for clearing backlashes, but i am computer challenged also and have no idea how to post a link. I had to cut the 80# braid to pieces to get it out of my reel. It seems pretty close to what Bacon said in his post.