Gear upgrade

[madeincanada780]

Ok, well The boys and I ( wife too) are hooked! So its time to upgrade our gear. We primarily fish for pike but will probably venture off into walleye too as we start to explore some of the different lakes, rivers, and ponds in the area.

As of yet we do not have a boat, but will be purchasing a small boat sometime this summer, so as for now all of our fishing is done from shore.

Our current gear: (1) 6'6" total tackle walleye combo, (3) 5'6" cheap Zebco combos. All reels were re-spooled with 20lbs. mono line, cuz I was tired of losing lures to snags. Since re-spooling we haven't lost anything (knock on wood).

Anyways we are looking for any suggestions on what new gear to get to meet our needs ie: rod & reels (not too fancy, not too cheap. How long? etc.) fishing line (type, color, weight), leaders (length, material).

We are a family of rookies here lol, so any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[Braun]

lol. welcome to the foot of the steep mountain of spending money on fishing. It truely is an addiction. First off, in terms of price what are you looking to spend on rods / reels. Because i or many others could list of a bunch of great rods or reels but what really weeds out the possibilities is the price you are looking to spend. I am sure that you do not want to get all top of the line stuff and I am sure that your not looking at buying everyone the exact same set ups.

In terms of rods I would reccomend to go with something that is still basic and be used for multi-purpose fishing. A friend of mine once told me. "Fishing rods are like shoes. If god intended us to only ever have one pair of shoes, then we would be all walking around in work boots. But you dont wear work boots out on the beach or to a fancy dinner do you?" Different rods are for different styles of fishing. Lucky for you that pike and walleye are similar and that it should be easy to find the right rod that will serve you across a multitude of uses. If I were you I would be looking at something in the 6' - 6'6" range with a medium action. Something with a good back bone but a sensitive enough tip to use for walleye who can be know for an extremely finicky bite. If you list a price range I or others could surely make some recommendations on specific rods

Reels - Here I stress that you get what you pay for. Alot of it comes down to personal preference on how much you like one reel over another. A $20 reel of ANY brand can and will more than likely be crappy. Personally, I am a HUGE quantum fan. Never had a problem and have always been one of the smoothest reels ive used. But like i said if you go with the $20 quantum you will probably find it is crap. There is alot of fans on this forum of the pfluger president reels because they generally are a great quality reel for its price. Personally there are a few out there in that price range that are amazing reels. once again give a price range and we could be more specific. If i were you i would splurge on one rod / reel combo and get a really nice set up so you can truely tell the difference between them.

As far as lines........ once again people will say it is highly subject to personal preference but I will recommend you go with a braided super line. They perform awesome. Much much stronger than mono and flouro. and Alot less stretch. The less stretch gives you alot more feel for what is going on around your hook and under the water. 10lb braid is the thickness of 4lb mono. 50lb braid is the thickness of 12lb mono...... not that I would EVER reccomend anything greater than 16lb braid. 16 is even a little much for our waters but if your a newwer fishermen, Id bet you get pretty exciting bringing in fish and sometimes forget that you need not finesse bigger fish with smaller line. Hell. I still have that problem. Braid is more expensive but in my opinion well worth it. It will also last you a few years before you have to replace it. where with mono and flouro, i was hesitant to keep it more than a year or two.

With braid you can tie directly you your lures and quite often dont need leaders. With pike I still might use a short steel leader just because you never know what you might hook into. Some people say that they never tie braid directly to their jigs for walleye but depending what your using on the end of the line. it wont matter much. However if you ever do want to use a leader, just use 3 feet of your favourite mono / flouro (Pline is awesome)

ENJOY your new addiction. post more information and we will help you out however you can

[Photoplex]

Agree with everything you said Braun, except the braid part. I've been fishing for decades and I still find braid awkward and finicky.

For a group of rookies it could be very frustrating and off-putting.

[hightower]

Your 6'6" walleye combo is probably just fine. For the rest just pick up some Shakespear Ugly Sticks, they are a good bang for your buck and as indestrctable as fishing rods come. Let who ever is using the rod pick out the size that feels comfortable. Any reel with a $40 price tag will last, just try to keep it out of the dirt and sand and you will be fine. For pike lures you really only need two things, #2 Len Thompson Spoons preferably yellow and red five of diamonds other colors work too but in my opinion thats the go too lure for spin casting. The second way is really simple a bag of smelts, some decent sized trebel hooks a long wire leader and some medium to large bobbers. Shove the base of the hook through the gut of the smelt then attach it the leader, cast out there and wait. For walleye fishing from shore just use a pickeral rig with bait (Minnows, Leaches or Worms) dont bother trying to cast stuff for them. If you do get a boat just get some different sizes and colors of bare jigs, figure out a way to estimate how deep of water you are in and an anchor that will hold you. Fish anywhere between 10 - 20 feet of water with a simple jig tipped with bait, sometimes they like the bait moving around sometimes they wont touch it unless its dead still. You just have to figure out what they are doin that day, but if you get on top of some hungry walleye there is nothing better. Anywho there is some people on here that will disagree with my simple aproach but trust me all these techniques are easy, fun and they work.

[Braun]

Originally Posted by Photoplex

Agree with everything you said Braun, except the braid part. I've been fishing for decades and I still find braid awkward and finicky.

For a group of rookies it could be very frustrating and off-putting.

Agreed. Like I said it is highly subject to preference. However. I considered myself a rookie when I switched to braid. It can be really finicky. And to be honest I still have a few issues with it but I think that is more because I spun the stuff on myself. If I were recommending rookies braid, I should also say go with a heavier braid. The reason braid can be finnicky is because it is so thin and light. Ironically that is also the reasons that make it so great. Lighter line comes off the reel nicer, casts nicer and quite often farther. Thin line helps reduce the visibility for fish. But obviously light line can tangle easier in the wind. and braid knots are not at all fun. I dont even bother trying to untangle them for the most part and just cut the line. Id say only about 50% of the time I can untangle a braid knot.

The reason I would tell beginners to go with a heavier braid is to give the line a little bit of weight. you lose some invisibility but you still get the benefits of having a low stretch line. My first braid was 20lb. now the heaviest braid i have on spinning reels is 10. probably soon to be lighter. But the 20 lbs i found great for learning. Its thicker and a little heavier and super strong. Like I said highly dependent on personal opinion but IMO I would go with a braid but of a heavier poundage

[Photoplex]

Originally Posted by hightower

For the rest just pick up some Shakespear Ugly Sticks, they are a good bang for your buck and as indestrctable as fishing rods come.

X2. Great starter rod, and really versatile.

[Braun]

I'll tell you what. I will give you the best piece of advice that you will get on here.......


BUY YOUR GEAR FROM THE FISHING HOLE


they will spend the time to answer any and all your questions. They will show you the physical differences between different rods and different reels. Every rod performs differently in one aspect or another even though they seem similar. The guys at the hole will show you what the differences are and let you decide what you want as opposed to picking their favourite and trying to sell it to you. They have outstanding customer service.

[hightower]

I only use braid as well, keep in mind if you do go with the braid you cant use a regular fishermans knot. I cant remember the name of the knot I use at the moment but im sure one of these guys knows what its called.

[Ryancskor]

Originally Posted by Braun

I'll tell you what. I will give you the best piece of advice that you will get on here.......


BUY YOUR GEAR FROM THE FISHING HOLE


they will spend the time to answer any and all your questions. They will show you the physical differences between different rods and different reels. Every rod performs differently in one aspect or another even though they seem similar. The guys at the hole will show you what the differences are and let you decide what you want as opposed to picking their favourite and trying to sell it to you. They have outstanding customer service.

X2

[FishingFrenzy]

I agree with everything said so far. Price range would help us out alot!

Im assuming since your buying 3 or 4 new rods that you want something good but cheap. If i were in your situation i would pick up at least one of these: https://www.thefishinhole.com/index....ASSG=031&C=031
This was my first upgrade from one of the Zebco spincasters and still probably my favorite combo to date.

The rod is strong and durable, good action for pike and walleye. The reel is smooth enough for most people and has a Quickfire casting lever. The Quickfire makes it alot easier/more fun (In my mind..) than reels without the Quickfire. IMO its a great combo for 50 bucks, especially for someone thats just getting more serious about the sport.


Spool that up with some 20lb power pro and you have a lean, mean, pike and walleye fishing machine! As far as leaders, for pike I always use a steel leader because I find i get bitten off otherwise. But lots of people find just the opposite, so its really personal preference.

Tight lines!!!!!

[chubbdarter]

heres my 2 cents from the info you provided
Your hooked
looking for a multi purpose - multi species rod
want to upgrade from what you have but not go top of the line, keeping in mind top of the line for reels is 800 bucks and for rods 450 for production rods
Your hooked enough to consider a boat in your near future.

First i would recomeend a 7 foot med. rod. The 7 foot rod will be a good multi purpose rod. It has the length and backbone to toss hardware , jig with good sensitivity, rig live bait, set fish and troll.
I personally donot like foam/eva handles. Cork does a much better job of transmitting bites and the workings of your lure. It also doesnt retain fish stink.
If your going to upgrade, go to high content graphite, any composite blank isnt a upgrade in my opinion. Yes some rods claim to be indestructable but no one can honestly say they come close to the sensitivity of high content graphite.Most of those rods are non specified spine and are already loaded with just a lure attached...this is not what you want for distance and accuracy....and certainly a no no for technical fishing for walleye.
Good reel seats and good quality guides come with high content graphite rods also.

My choice without going top of the line.....Quantum tour edition 7 foot medium

Reels
1 thing to keep in mind, some of the middle of the line reels now dont supply a spare spool, which i think would be benificial to you. The spare spool will allow you to multi task the outfit.
My opinion is no gimmicks....front drag,metal guts and stay with 2 brands at this time- Shimano or Quantum
My choice quantum pti 2000 for your application

Line
Just get the new Suffix braid in 10lb on 1 spool and the 20lb for the spare. This stuff is the best ive ever fished with. Casts like a mono, strong , holds a knot, sinks, doesnt sound like a hurricane going thru the guides,no or little stretch and isnt like other braids that are a magnet to debris.

In the end its still personal preference.....go thru the process head to the store make a combo give that stick a shake. Just remember the wet noodle dance isnt good unless your buying a float rod. Most better rods feel stiff but thats because they have no load on them....when your fishing you'll be loading the rod

and ya like others of said.....buy from the fishin hole

good luck to your whole family

[madeincanada780]

ok, thanks for all of the replies so far! And sorry, I should have mentioned a price range.

So lets say no more than $150 for reel/rod keeping in mind I want to replace 2 maybe even 3 rods asap.

thanks for all the help!

[bloopbloob]

Rods - you can get fairly nice rods for $30-40, I'd recommend at least a 6'6, but would suggest going 7' since you are shore fishing, it will add a bit extra to your casting distance. Medium is good for pike and walleye. Rapala, quantum, and shimano rods have all been good to me.

Reels - I think its personal preference, try a few out, you can usually feel the quality pretty easily. Quantum, shimano. Stay away from plastic parts, 2 spools is a very nice feature.

Line - Go braided! Most of the superlines are pretty good (people like to argue a lot about "the best brand" and i'll leave that one be...) , but they really are all far superior to mono for most aspects) and well worth the $20 or so they cost, prevent losing just 3 hooks and it pays for itself right there, or losing a big fish ! You can spool 2 reels off 1 spool of line (so only like $10)

Leaders - I don't use a leader, even for pike. 10lb braid straight to a small snap swivel, can't even remember ever being broken off by a fish since going to braid. I do usually use a fluoro or mono leader when trout fishing just because it is less visible and trout are more picky, but haven't noticed any line shyness with pike or walleye using the braid. its more invisible than a steel leader

[Dak1138]

The fishin hole should have sales for fathers day if you can wait that long .it should make your budget go farther.