Rod and reel for Bass and Crappie

Hi,

We just bought a cabin on a fishing lake in NE. It came with some older Abu Garcia spinning combos and Zebco 33 classic combos. We would like to upgrade. My wife would like to stick with spincast reels and I like spinning reels.

We would like setups that would work for both crappie and bass if that's possible. I haven't found any posts about fishing for both with the same setup.

Budget is around $100.00 each.

The lake isn't to deep and the fish we've cought so far haven't real big but we've had a lot of fun.

Thanks for all the great info in this forum.

While I don't "fish for both with the same setup" ... I do catch both with them. Largemouth up to around 6lbs, & Smallmouth around 4lbs have all fallen to my UL's and lite action rods. That was when using 4lb test mono, for the most part, and 6lb copoly line in recent years. The two biggest reasons I landed these fish are : playing the fish down & knowing how to "backwind" a spinning reel.

Now, you do have to take into consideration that I was specifically Crappie fishing at those times, and the Bass were just byproducts. I was casting jigs, jig/minnow, or marabou Roadrunners in all but a few instances. All I'm saying is that it "can" be done. I'm not saying that there's any particular brand of rod that would likely be considered as "dual purpose" when talking about Bass & Crappie.

If your lake doesn't have Slab Crappie & Hawg Bass (over 2lbs & over 4lbs respectively) ... then you should be able to successfully use a lot of different brands of rods in the "lite to med" power range ... and lines in the 6-8lb test range. A good long handled net wouldn't hurt, either :Rofl

How you plan on fishing for these two species may also factor in to what length, power, action the rod has.

I do have one outfit that I "could" use for both ... but it has a specific function and therefore not often used as my primary outfit. It's a 7' Bionic Blade rod, and a Shimano Spirex 2000 reel spooled with PowerPro 10/2 hi-vis braid. It's mostly been used to cast Roadrunners & Whirly Bees around heavy cover, for the simple fact that I hate losing them :Doh: .

If you don't mind the extra weight ... you may even consider some of the newer Ugly Stix rods (lite version). A good spinning reel, with a decent drag, and spooled with 6-8lb test line would make a decent "dual purpose" outfit. Or, most any quality brand med action rod and a good quality spinning reel might also work ... if the Ugly's prove to be too heavy in hand. Learning to flip the anti-reverse switch off and controlling the fish by winding the handle backwards during the fish's "runs" can make almost any outfit more compatible as a "dual purpose" outfit. You are "in essence" using the backwinding of the reel handle as a surrogate drag system.

Now ... that's all in regards to "spinning" reels. I don't currently use any of the spincast outfits that I have. But, a Z33 with some quality brand 8lb test mono, on a med action rod, should be sufficient. "Backwinding" a spincast reel "can" be done, but it's a little more cumbersome than when using a spinning reel. Adjusting the drag to be a little less tighter than normal might help.

Smallmouth finnesse presentations and crappie would go together. Ive got a Fenwick HMG (granted above your price range) medium light, but thats about as heavy as Id go for crappie myself. Most of my crappie gear is light power or ultralight. Shakespeare micro series rods are really nice (ive got a few) and they top out at $30 each I think, and up to 7'6" from ultra light to heavy power I think. The leftover $70 can get you a really nice reel.

For smallmouth Id personally be looking at mostly 6' to 6'9" ish medium power, mostly spinning but some baitcasting. For largemouth for me its the opposite, id be looking 6'6" to 7'6" medium to medium heavy or even heavy for frogs and slop fishing, and more baitcasting setups than spinning.

But it all comes down to personal preference.

You might take might take the suggestions from here and do some shopping and compare to what you have. The older reels you mentioned if still in decent shape might be better than anything comparable you could buy today.
IMO new is not always better. And a good zebco 33 on a medium or ML rod is Just a good all around setup.
Now my wife uses a Pflueger lady trion combo. 5'6" ML and has caught up to 3 or 4 lb fish with no problem. So it'll easily handle more. She really likes those. And ugly stick makes a rod with identicle specs.
And for spinning you won't be disappointed with the Pflueger brand either. Economical and can be found most anywhere. Several sizes to choose. I use TR120 on UL rods for trout and crappie and like them a lot.
And that cabin sounds nice! If I lived on a lake i might never leave....
Have a great time and fish a lot

If the spincast rods are functional you might look at the Pfluger president spincast reels. There are several price points so look for the model that costs about $60. Very smooth with a nice drag.


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Thanks for all the excellent advice. I haven't had a chance to check out any stores yet in person but the suggested equipment looks great on-line.

I took apart the 33 Classics and cleaned them up, one looks almost new inside and out and the other one doesn't look like it was used much. They both could use some lube so I'll get that done and probably keep them for my wife for now. The Rhino Rods they are on are short and stiff so I'm going to replace those. From what I can tell the Zebco's are late 1980's and build well but I'll take a look at newer reels

The Abu Garcia is also in good shape, I even found the box, book and extra spool. The rod seems okay. I'll have to compare them to the new equipment. From looking online the Pfluger reels look nice. Most of our fishing will be shore and dock fishing. I have a lot to learn. Fished a lot when I was younger but that was a long time ago. Wife is new and really likes it. She caught a 5lb Cat on a beetle spin in the middle of the afternoon, I couldn't believe it.

Thanks again for the help!

You will find that this group is really good at helping you spending your money.


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Regarding reels, I just bought my first new reel in more than 20 years. I got a President 6925 and really like it. It is on a Cherrywood 6' light action rod so I'm in to it for well under your budget line of $100. The drag system of this reel way outshines my older reels which both have rear drag adjustments. I fully believe that it will land any bass or crappie I might hook in to. Playing the fish properly is where the rubber meets the road in my opinion. I don't seem to be as fussy about my equipment as many others here; basic and serviceable works for me just fine. If I had one complaint about the 6925 it would be that there is NO backing this reel up AT ALL with the anti-reverse in place. My older reels have a self centering gizmo so the line pickup is always in the right place and I'm very used to that system. This new Pflueger reel was worth every penny of the $60 it cost; I may just have to buy another to have on hand in case I want to change out another old one for next spring on a different rod!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hillblazer

The Rhino Rods they are on are short and stiff so I'm going to replace those.
She caught a 5lb Cat on a beetle spin in the middle of the afternoon, I couldn't believe it

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You might put a zebco 33 max or 606 on those heavy rods if your wife likes wrestling cats.
5lbs is a very decent cat !

I think you can get two rigs each with a Shimano Sienna rear drag it sells for about 30 to 40 dollars and match it with a 6' or 6 6" light action rod with a fast action in the 30 dollar range so you're about $240 for four rods. The Sienna use a wrap technology that helps reduce loops and one of the best cheap reels I have used.

You both need two rods rigged beside you...for back up if you have a problem...so you can have two different rigs ready to throw with something different on each one.

Spool one with 6lb mono and one with 20lb power pro braid. Fish with both and when you get into bigger fish use the braid.Having two reels with the two different lines will teach you to like them both and you will use them both and learn why.

Teach your wife to use the spinning gear...I have taught a lot of novice fishermen and women to forgo spincast and go to spinning...once they "get it" they will stay with it.

Keep the twist out of the line...when you get twist stop and spool the line out behind the boat with nothing on it and reel it back in. At home you can pull it out across the yard and reel it back in.Learn to use Reelmagic spray...you won't always use it but you will use it some once you learn what it can do.

When you go by yourself you have four rods to fish with.

We fish for crappie,bass"Smallmouth", with our Bass Pro Crappie max rod's and reel's.Like 9,10,11 and 12 ft rod's .If I had to pick one or 2 rods the 9 and 10'ftGood luck 2 cent's.

Take a serious look at the B n' M Sam Heaton's Super Sensitive 7' spinning rod. This rod will handle any species, as long as you do your job. I've caught a ton of crappie on this rod, along with a northern pike that weighed 12 lbs., and numerous largemouth bass. This is a very sensitive rod, light in weight and not all that expensive. Just this past week I landed this:

Attachment 248250

I can not afford to buy equipment , so I fish with stuff 20+ years older. look at the Zebbco 33 and see if a grove has started to wear at the pick up pin or in the pick up pin .this usually where trouble begins . The older zebbco 33 hold up better than he new ones, they actually have metal guts instead of plastic! same with the spinning reels clean them up,
I there are no line groves use them. I would keep braided line off the Zebbco 33 as I feel it would wear the pick up pin faster , the factory used to spool them with 8 pound test Stren mono. for pan fishing a spinning reel has a better drag system than the Zebbco so you could go with a lighter line or use a 10 pound braid an when your just pan fishing add a four pound test mono or fluorocarbon leader, if bass fishing tie a 8 pound leader on it. go get a Berkley cherry wood rod or a ugly stick , if you must replace the old ones and go fishing. If you want new stuff ,keep the older gear for quest to use ,so when the kids cast it an throw the pole into the lake( it will happen) it won't be your new gear.

Pflueger President reel/Bass Pro Graphite series rod combos are in your budget. They even have a pink one for the wife. I would try to talk the wife into giving up on spincast reels. Trying to keep a good spincast in working order is a headache you won't have with open face spinning reels.

I would go medium on the rod at 7' length. The longer length makes throwing lighter lures easier.

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