Fishing?

[jc000]

Due to the turn of the seasons (and in conjunction with an interesting and related work project) I am ready to hit the water. I mostly go after crappie/panfish and bass, with some occasional catfishing thrown in, too.

We had our first outing of the year over the weekend. Sure the lake was still nearly completely frozen over, and my rod snapped getting out of the car, but my son got a few casts in on a small stream feeding into the lake and it was nice to be out in the sun on the water.

Now I'm looking at 6-7' Medium / Medium Lt spinning rod to replace the one that broke and I'd be interested to hear anyone's suggestions to that end. I've always used Shimano, but open to suggestions. Budget is definitely under $100, and I'd need a good reason to go above $50. Would prefer US or Japanese made, probably not very likely in my price range.

Any good fish tales out there?

[Paul]

I'm a big fan of TFO rods, I'm also a friend of the owner, so there is some bias there. For the price I think they are hard to beat. They have a very fast action, TFO's fast would be a Shimano extra fast. They have one of the better warranties in the business, if you live near a Shimano service center, some of the mid to higher end rod warranties are good too.

[jc000]

That's interesting – hadn't considered those. They're on the cusp on being too expensive but maybe someone has a deal somewhere.

I think I can wrangle a pretty good deal on an 13 Fishing Omen Black online, which I'm considering. Are you mostly bass fishing or...?

[BobLoblaw]

This is an excellent rod for the money. Great grip and the blanks are exposed for more sensitivity. They are specialized for certain fishing techniques though. Also, Cabela's warranty and CS are pretty good.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Fishi...3Bcat104836680

[Paul]

Mostly carp and buffalo, then catfish, bluegills, gar, crappie.....bass of any variety are fairly low on my list of target species.

I don't know about 13 Fishing's rods, i just googled the company's name and it looks like they have pretty good warranty service.

[Dagga Boy]

I'll just leave this here......this is what an almost 15 pound large mouth bass looks like. Yea, this was obviously back in my flying days where I had to be under 200 pounds.

[MGW]

It's hard to beat All Star rods but they can be a little pricey. They have a lifetime warranty though and that makes it worth the price in my opinion. Once in a great while I'll find them in big box stores near know bass fishing lakes. I bout a 6'6" medium heavy bait caster in a Walmart in Texas several years ago cheap.

[superr.stu]

All star is great but will probably be over top of your price range.

For around $100 you should be able to find a St. Croix, hands down my favorite spinning rod.

For under $50 you should be able to get a. Bass pro tourney series rod. They are great for the money and make for a good all around fishing rod.

[MGW]

I'll second the Bass pro tourney rod. I've never used one of their spinning rods but the bait casters are really good for the money. They usually run some pretty good sales this time of year too.

[orionz06]

All star is great but will probably be over top of your price range.

For around $100 you should be able to find a St. Croix, hands down my favorite spinning rod.

For under $50 you should be able to get a. Bass pro tourney series rod. They are great for the money and make for a good all around fishing rod.

I love my St. Croix stuff. When I worked at a Gander Mountain the discount was near 70% in some cases.