One of my main goals for this is site is to save you time and money, and to make sure that you don’t experience as much buyer’s remorse as I have as I have gotten more and more into bass fishing. With that in mind I’ve decided to show you how you can manage to throw every lure mentioned on this site with just four fishing rods. Please keep in mind I do own more than four rods and if you really get into bass fishing you probably will at some point, but even if that happens I still believe it’s good to start out small and then slowly grow into more equipment rather than buy a bunch of stuff at once only to find out that some of it might not end up getting used that much.
The first rod you should buy is a medium or medium heavy fast action spinning rod. Ideally the max lure rating on this rod should be 5/8-3/4oz and this rod will start out as an all purpose spinning rod, but only until you get another one and at that point you and just focus on the heavier spinning rod lures with this rod. Hopefully you saw my first article and my suggestion about paying attention to the type of rod handle on the rod. If not you might want to back and read that article first.
Ok so I’m going to try and suggest two rods in the low to mid price point and then two more in the mid price point. I haven’t used all of these rods and probably won’t ever use the ones with foregrips, but I have used some of them and have at least heard good things from multiple sources about the ones that I haven’t used. Keep in mind this isn’t going to be an in depth review on any of these rods and is just intended to give you a starting point as there since there are so many different rods out there to choose from.
Let’s start with the the low to mid price point first. If you like foregrips then I’d suggest taking a look at the Daiwa Tatula XT 7′ medium heavy fast rod. On the other hand if you are like me and prefer split grips I’d take a look at the Cashion Element Z2 Series 7′ medium heavy fast rod. Both of these rods are from reputable companies and while I do think that it’s worth stepping up a level in price personally, I also understand that not everyone is able to do that and these rods should be a good option if you are looking for an option that isn’t going to break the bank. One thing I will point out is the warranty is not going to be as good as what I’m about to suggest next.
If you can afford a bit more then I would suggest taking a look at the St. Croix Victory 7’1 medium fast model if you like foregrips. I actually owned a Victory spinning rod for a while and even though I held it with my hand behind the reel I was able to make use of the foam locking nut and it worked out ok and I caught a fair amount of fish on it. I eventually sold it but only because of the grip. The rod itself was amazing and they also have a great warranty program on this series so I would completely recommend it to anyone that likes foregrips. On the other hand if you prefer a split grip I’d suggest taking a look at the Dobyns Sierra 7′ medium fast rod. I’ve also used this rod and in terms of bang for the buck it’s right up there with the best of them. It also balances very nicely if you happen to use it with one of the Shimano spinning reels I’d recommend (more on that later) and also comes with a very nice warranty.
Please keep in mind there are other rods out there and if you happen to see one that you really like or is on sale at a really good price then go for it. I am by no means suggesting that you should not consider other rods as well, but if you aren’t sure about what to go with and want a couple of suggestions then these are the rods I’d suggest starting out with based on your budget and what type of handle you prefer. You should also be able to throw every single lure that the lure selector suggests (assuming it’s a spinning rod lure) with this rod so once you’ve got one you will have a lot of different lures available to you that you can go out and catch bass with. The next rod I’m going to recommend is going to be a casting rod, but baitcasters can take a little getting used to so it would probably be best to start with a spinning rod.
For line I would suggest 20lb Sufix 832 braid to a 12lb Sunline FC leader. I’m also around a lot of grass and cover where I’m at so if you don’t have as much of that to worry about then you can also consider lower pound test, but I’ve tested a lot of different options out and this combination has worked out great for me.
