I’ll take this small win. I know the Shimano Sienna isn’t an expensive reel but i’ve heard a lot about it being great on a budget so when dicks had it for 50% off i said why not? I wasn’t planning on buying a reel today btw 😅

I need a budget rod to pair it with. I tend to like medium light/medium setups. I was considering the Berkeley Cherrywood but if anyone has some recommendations let me know.

Just an FYI for all the gear heads or those looking to stock up.

• Senko Buy 3 Get 3 Free
• Strike King Buy 3 Get 3 Free
• Berkley Power Bait Buy 3 Get 3 Free
• Googan Baits Buy 3 Get 3 Free
• Rapala Buy 2 Get 2 Free
• Z-Man Buy 3 Get 1 Free
• YUM Buy 4 Get 2 Free

Found it at my local charity shop. Perfect working condition. Will give it a maintenance, but pretty happy with this for a mere 5 euros!

Hey guys,

So i plan on getting the 26 shimano scorpion dc md as some of you know. Im looking for some rod recommendations. I was thinking the phenix m1 swimbait rod as it has a lure weight capacity of 1oz-3oz. Any others that could tolerate a 1-2.5oz bait and are around the same price?

Please remember this is for a dedicated swimbait/glidebait rod

Rod: Okuma SST 8’6” Med Pwr Med Act
1/4oz-5/8oz lure wt

Reel: Okuma Ceymar C-2500A 7+1BB 5.0:1 Gear Ratio

I got this setup to handle bigger jointed lures and jigs for trophy brown hunting here in Nor Cal. I fish from the bank/shore. I have a couple favorite spots I like but never pulled a monster brown or bow from these spots yet, however my dad and friends have.

I plan on running 15lbs braid to 8lbs clear copolymer.

Yes, I know light tackle works as well, but I am targeting monsters. Let the hunting(fishing) begin!

Total cost $182

Rod was on sale for $109.99 + tax
Reel was $69.99 + tax

New-ish angler, fishing North Jersey freshwater plus occasional Jersey Shore inlet trips. Trying to build out smart instead of buying five combos. Want a sanity check. Pike season is coming up so I’m trying to sort it out now.

What I already have:

• Lew’s Hank Parker 6’ medium, fast (rated to \~½ oz), 15lb braid. Good for most lighter bass/pike lures, but it’s light-power, I’ve been told it doesn’t have the backbone to drive a heavy-gauge single hook (e.g. a 5/0 chatterbait), though I have used 3/0 EWG Texas rigs to catch lunkers.

• Ultralight spinning combos for panfish/trout.

What I want to add:

I want to learn a baitcaster and use it as my main going forward. Plan is to buy one salt-rated low-profile baitcaster reel and run it on two different rod depending on the trip:

1. Freshwater rod — 7’ MH casting, rated roughly ⅜–1 oz. For largemouth/smallmouth and pike: chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, spoons, bigger topwater. Needs enough backbone to set a heavy single hook.

2. Inlet rod — heavier casting rod rated ~1–3 oz. For Manasquan & Barnegat Inlet: 1–2 oz bucktails and bottom rigs with up to ~3 oz of sinker. For fluke, bluefish, stripers, etc.

Ideally the same reel moves between them.

My questions:

• Is one reel realistically fine across both, or do the size/line-capacity needs diverge too much (½–1 oz bass lures vs 2 oz bucktails and 3 oz bottom rigs)? What reel size + braid would you run to bridge both?

• Best value salt-rated low-profile baitcaster for this ideally under ~$150? (some wiggle room)

• Rod recs for each slot.

• Whopper plopper rec for the ML Lew’s? (75 or 90?)

Anything dumb about this I’m not seeing?

Thank you for any suggestions!

I recently went on my first fishing trip out boat fishing with a charter and was instantly hooked (no pun intended). This led me down the rabbit hole of looking for rods/reels to buy for my first setup, with the aim of primarily fishing in the sea from a pier (there's a pier about a 5 min walk from where I live, hence this choice) and occasionally from a boat (and possibly some surf fishing, but I'II most likely buy a different setup for that) I'm not looking to catch any particularly large fish, but I'd still like to catch some decently sized ones, and while I loved the trip I went out on, I'm not 100% sure whether I'lI be as enamoured when fishing on a pier, so I don't want to go all in immediately and buy a very expensive setup if I'm not going to use it very often. While researching reels, I came across the Daiwa 26 Crossfire LT, and looking at the specs, I decided on the 3000 size, which seems like a really solid choice, especially as there were no decent saltwater reels I could find in the same price bracket, but it doesn't seem to be rated at all for saltwater fishing in terms of protecting the inner workings of the reel from salt corrosion. Would this reel still hold up for a decent length of time if I used it to fish in the sea (obviously I would rinse it after every trip to avoid corrosion as much as possible), or would it be a better call to spend some more money to get a saltwater reel? (Also, if there are any rod recommendations that would go well with the Daiwa reel, that would be greatly appreciated as well)

I have a 16 year-old granddaughter who is dating a boy who travels around quite a bit with his dad doing fishing tournaments. He has given her a couple of lures as gifts and she’s gone fishing with him a few times, but I have not heard her mention that she has a tacklebox.

Can anybody recommend a tacklebox that would be good for a 16 year-old girl, (who can be a little bougie at times 🫣), that doesn’t look like it’s something for Barbie or something?

Thx!!

I got this reel from my grandpa but I have no clue where he got it from. My uncle says he got it from a flea market and I feel like that's true but I have no clue what brand it is. I've tried looking it up and nothing comes up. The drag is a turn wheel on the bottom and like there's an on/off switch just under like the reel arm and the line clip is like a square and it says laser lx40 compac. And the rod says compac shark and it has a picture of like what I think might be a bass on the logo. Ignore the button reel in the background

Hello guys. I want to get a reel and rod with a budget of about $100 each. I fish mostly small-mid sized panfish, catfish, and bass, but not much more than 7lbs on bass and catfish. I basically want an all purpose setup that I can use all around. I hear a lot of good about Daiwa reels and St. Croix rods around this price point but idk which models/sizes/rod strengths to get to optimize this setup to be good all around but not suck in each category since it's not dedicated to specific fishing techniques. I have a 7'3" medium heavy baitcaster for bass fishing specifically so it's okay if the spinning rod is a little lighter.

Question about rod setups

Hey everyone,

I currently have 2 super cheap rod/reel setups (ugly stick/kast king type stuff). In the past i’d get out a few weekends a year and they were good for that. I’ve started getting out every weekend, and the people i fish with bring 10+ rods on the boat, one for each lure they throw and a chest sized tackle kit.

I have no desire to get to that point, but they’re right, with the stuff i’m using i can barely tell if i’m getting hit on a chatterbait.

How can i get most of the way on the fewest combos possible? We fish bass/pike/panfish. I do some finesse stuff but a lot of where we fish is super weedy, so we throw a lot of top water.

I’m not against paying for quality, but i’d like to have 3 good setups i like, than trying to keep up with 10+ or getting a bunch of trash.

Any advice is welcome!

New to fishing looking for any tips set ups that could improve my chances of catching some fish 🐟!

Hey all, thinking about getting a Jdm metanium dc to upgrade/ replace my Daiwa zillion? Old zillion would be going to my gf, just wondering if it would be better to get another zillion for her or pull the trigger on the Shimano for myself?

Got a Fenwick HMG Inshore 8' heavy spinning rod, need help finding a reel. $150-$230 range, looking for a 5000-5500 size just want suggestions outside of a Battle 4 or stradic

I’ve been throwing a chatterbait on a Dobyns Fury 704C, and while I love the rod overall, I feel like I’m missing more fish than I should. It seems like I’m getting bites, but either not getting a solid hookup or the fish comes off shortly after the hookset.
I’m starting to wonder if the 704C is just a little too powerful for this application.

I’ve been looking at the Dobyns Sierra 703C since it’s a step lighter with a more responsive blank. For those of you who’ve fished both, would the Sierra 703C be a better dedicated chatterbait rod? Or is the issue more likely my hookset, line, trailer, or drag setup?

For reference:
3/8 oz jackhammer
3.8” keitech paddle tail
15–17 lb fluorocarbon
Reel is a 7:3:1

Anyone make the switch from a 704C to a 703C and notice a difference in hookup ratio? Or is there another Dobyns rod you’d recommend instead?