Newbie help ~ Building my arsenal....

[Bigdaddy74jj]

I am trying to build my arsenal to fish all the local lakes in SoCal. I will be doing all types of fishing in the lakes. From a boat, shore, and hopefully float tubing. I'll be targeting several species.

My question is this....

How many rods and reels will I need to cover all of this?
What would you suggest on the lengths and lure weights and such?

I know very little about what rod would be best for trolling and which is best from the shore. Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

[Eddiem]

i don't know much either but i like to use short rods for trout and little bit of jigging, also ultra-lights are great for trout, smaller species. for trolling you would pry ned a little bit longer of a rod like a 6-7 foot, and much stiffer. Like i said i don;t know much but that is it. Good Luck !!

[Thisfool]

wow man even if yo buy the cheaper gear if you are really looking to have a set up for all the different kinda ways to fish for the the different fish your going to be spending a whole LOT OF CASH.

but if that's not a problem for you.

for bass your going to want at least
- a set up for jigging
- a set up for crank baits
- a set up for plastics
- a set up for swim baits

for trout your going to want
- a set up for lures
- a set up for jiggs and worms
- a set up for trolling
- a bait and wait set up.

for catfish your only going to really need one kinda set up
- of course bait and wait but just a nice 6.5-7' medium to medium have with at least 8-10lb test line

for pan fish (crappie, blue gill and red ear)
- you can reuse your trout jigging setup.

as for a rod for trolling for trout i use a 6.5 and a 6 foot rod both are medium rod with a medium action. both have spinning reels on them they are two different reels one is a Pflueger 6-10lb with a gear ratio of 5.2:1 and the other is a Diwia Dshock. im not sure if these rod and reel combos are even close to what some one would want for trolling for trout but trolling for trout seems to be so far the only form of fishing i have had any consistent success so i don't think im to far off with this gear.

[wackyrigged]

I would say a cheap setup like a dshock for $20 is a real good place to start.If you have the money though get a good shimano spinning reel and a 7 foot medium or ml rod.You can do a lot with this setup.If your going to go bigger like half ounce spinnerbaits for bass then get baicasters.These arent set in stone or anything is just what works good for me.

[ANGLER-IN-TRAINING]

BigDaddy74jj,
I've got quite a few rods for sale on the classifeds. Some would fit your needs. Check it out. I've got a 5'6' shimano stimula UL that's great for trout/panfish, especially, from a float tube. Only, used once and is in excellent condition. Your in Whittier, we could meet halfway.

[Bigdaddy74jj]

Wow thanks for the quick replies.

I do have quite a bit of gear already and probably don't need to but too much. Just want to make sure I don't buy something at the Fred Hall show that I don't need.

I need to take inventory of what I have and see what gaps I need to fill. It would be nice to just keep like 5 or 6 rod/reel combos to achieve all types of fishing. Do you think 5 or 6 is a fair amount?

[Bigdaddy74jj]

BigDaddy74jj,
I've got quite a few rods for sale on the classifeds. Some would fit your needs. Check it out. I've got a 5'6' shimano stimula UL that's great for trout/panfish, especially, from a float tube. Only, used once and is in excellent condition. Your in Whittier, we could meet halfway.

Just checked out your ad. What could I use the 7" rod for? I might be interested in both.

[Thisfool]

Wow thanks for the quick replies.

I do have quite a bit of gear already and probably don't need to but too much. Just want to make sure I don't buy something at the Fred Hall show that I don't need.

I need to take inventory of what I have and see what gaps I need to fill. It would be nice to just keep like 5 or 6 rod/reel combos to achieve all types of fishing. Do you think 5 or 6 is a fair amount?

you can use bass rods for catfishing, trolling for trout and bait and wait for trout

[ANGLER-IN-TRAINING]

A whole lot of things, I used it, primarily for jerkbaits.
You could use it for cranks, jigs, spoons, dropshotting, any worm or creature baits, and a whole lot of different things upto 1/2 oz. Spinning is, usually, used for light lining, finesse fishing. 6-8 lb line. The rod is rated for 6-14. The, only, presentation I wouldn't use it is swimbaits. Swimbbaits need heavier line and a bastcasting setup because its hell on your thumb trying to cast a swimbait. Plus, the length of seven feet of rod increases the length of your cast.
If you wanted a presentation specific for this rod, it would, probably, be jerkbaits or dropshotting.