Need fishing gear recommendation....

[MooseMC48]

Well, it's about time for crappie to spawn down here in TN, and I need a new rod/reel combo since my 12 year old combination decided to fall apart on me when I pulled it out of storage this winter. I'm kindly strapped for money right now (I'm a college student)...can anyone suggest a good combination for under $100? I want a light/ultralight action and a spinning reel.....



P.S. Woohoo! Turkey season opens today!



Thanks guys

[twisted03]

Well, it's about time for crappie to spawn down here in TN, and I need a new rod/reel combo since my 12 year old combination decided to fall apart on me when I pulled it out of storage this winter. I'm kindly strapped for money right now (I'm a college student)...can anyone suggest a good combination for under $100? I want a light/ultralight action and a spinning reel.....



P.S. Woohoo! Turkey season opens today!



Thanks guys

well the shakspeare ultralight i got from wal mart for $19 2 years ago works really well :) but you sound a little more hardcore than that.

[CHIBI]

Some of my handmade lures are go for more than $100. I guess you'll have to go with a wal mart special.

[Nainoa]

Well, it's about time for crappie to spawn down here in TN, and I need a new rod/reel combo since my 12 year old combination decided to fall apart on me when I pulled it out of storage this winter. I'm kindly strapped for money right now (I'm a college student)...can anyone suggest a good combination for under $100? I want a light/ultralight action and a spinning reel.....



P.S. Woohoo! Turkey season opens today!



Thanks guys

Now I'm not one of these guys who believes that you need to throw a ton of money at a Rod and Reel combo... (IMHO the 5% improvement from a $150 to a $400 rig is never worth the money.) But at the same time you can't just buy WalMart Junk. (No offense to Walmart lovers.)

After doing a lot of price comparing last year, I went to Gander Mountain, and bought their Guide Series Reels... For the money, they gave me the best bang for the buck, and I didn't have a single problem... My Medium Action Reel cost me $50

Now I personally put that on an Ugly Stick... But US's aren't for everyone, as you do lose a little sensativity... Regardless a "Normal" or even "Quality" Medium/light rod for Crappies shouldn't cost you more than $30...

Add in line, a few bobbers and some jigs etc... And you should be able to come in with a "Get out on the Water" capable rig for $100...

Good Luck Bro...
From what I understand TN should be on the Hot Crappie Bite right now!

[Copespitter]

If I had $100 to spend on a combo and wanted it to last for several years I would buy an Okuma spinning reel (about $40) and a Fenwick rod (about $50-$60).
Okuma's are great spinning reels for the money and Fenwicks warranty is one of the best in the business.

[MooseMC48]

Some of my handmade lures are go for more than $100. I guess you'll have to go with a wal mart special.

Yeah, I tie my own jigs for the most part. But over 100 bucks for a lure? I wish I had the money to throw around like that...

Nanoia,

Thanks for the advice. I've got all the accessories. I tie my own jigs, got line, etc. I have a decently stocked tackle box already. I spent about 250 on my rod/reel 10 years ago....it's a little different now. I've been looking at the ugly sticks, but I like the extra sensitivity in light/ultralight. I might head over to the new BassPro they built over near here. It's an amazing place. And yeah, crappie are supposedly hitting hard right now. I can't wait to get out to some of my crappie "nests" I put out last winter (downed trees in shallow coves). How's crappie in Minnesota?

[Nainoa]

Yeah, I tie my own jigs for the most part. But over 100 bucks for a lure? I wish I had the money to throw around like that...

Nanoia,

Thanks for the advice. I've got all the accessories. I tie my own jigs, got line, etc. I have a decently stocked tackle box already. I spent about 250 on my rod/reel 10 years ago....it's a little different now. I've been looking at the ugly sticks, but I like the extra sensitivity in light/ultralight. I might head over to the new BassPro they built over near here. It's an amazing place. And yeah, crappie are supposedly hitting hard right now. I can't wait to get out to some of my crappie "nests" I put out last winter (downed trees in shallow coves). How's crappie in Minnesota?


Sounds like you're on track...

As for the MN crappie situation...

Well right now they're hard to get to... We still have Ice on the lakes... But that ice is in too crappy a condition right now to fish on anywhere other than up north... So right now about half the state is holding their breath waiting for Ice out...

Luckily about 10 miles north of me is a lake that has a creek in-flow and a river channel out flow... The current is allowing the lake to open up faster... Right now I've got about a 75% chance that I'll be taking my boat out on it's maiden voyage this weekend, to go after some perch...

In MN the hottest time of year is the month of June...

I've been saving up my entire 3 weeks of vacation this year to spend from May 13th (Walleye Opener) to Early October (Hot time of Turnover)

But in June I'll only be in the office for 13 days total in the entire month!

***
One trip will be a Crappie extravaganza, where I spend an entire day out of my week long cabin vacation targeting slab crappies...

But with MN being the land of 10,000 lakes with so many different species of fish, it's hard to just settle in and have a day of just any one species...

[teriyakisaki]

just dont buy something crappy....

badum *crash*

[skinnyme]

Hey Moose, fellow Tenesseean here! If you want a good low end reel, go with the Abu Garcia 100 series ultralight spinning, which is around 30-35 bucks. As for rods, I swear by Abu there as well, but I haven't found any Abu rods at Bass Pro here in Nashville (at least ultralight). You can find those at Wal-Mart though. I haven't had one break yet, just stolen. It was execellent throwing 1/32 oz jigs for some distance, and it was pretty sensitive too. Right now, I have a cheap ole Berkley Cherrywood in light action until I find another good rod, and it works okay, but sensitivity sucks. I guess that's what you get for a 20 buck rod. BPS does have some pretty good ultralight rods for a decent price to use up that remaining 65 or 70 bucks. Good luck with the search. Where are you planning on hitting the crappie? I hear Priest is a pretty good hole.

[Budweiser]

Now I'm not one of these guys who believes that you need to throw a ton of money at a Rod and Reel combo... (IMHO the 5% improvement from a $150 to a $400 rig is never worth the money.) But at the same time you can't just buy WalMart Junk. (No offense to Walmart lovers.)

After doing a lot of price comparing last year, I went to Gander Mountain, and bought their Guide Series Reels... For the money, they gave me the best bang for the buck, and I didn't have a single problem... My Medium Action Reel cost me $50

Now I personally put that on an Ugly Stick... But US's aren't for everyone, as you do lose a little sensativity... Regardless a "Normal" or even "Quality" Medium/light rod for Crappies shouldn't cost you more than $30...

Add in line, a few bobbers and some jigs etc... And you should be able to come in with a "Get out on the Water" capable rig for $100...

Good Luck Bro...
From what I understand TN should be on the Hot Crappie Bite right now!

Bump,

Gandar mountain guide series are a very good rod for the money. I also really like my ugly stick, though I only use it for Walleye.

[skinnyme]

Gander Mountain sounds like it has a lot of good stuff. I wish they had one around here. I first heard about them from an outdoor show they have on OLN. Maybe I'll just have to make a special trip somewhere so I can check it out. Do they have a website?

[Nainoa]

Gander Mountain sounds like it has a lot of good stuff. I wish they had one around here. I first heard about them from an outdoor show they have on OLN. Maybe I'll just have to make a special trip somewhere so I can check it out. Do they have a website?

http://www.gandermountain.com/storelocator/

Although for the record there are a lot of stores that are comparable...

If you're really looking for selection and price, and want to go on a crazy spending spree... Then nothing can even come close to meeting all those criteria like Fleet Farm.
(At least that's the case in my sportsman popular little corner of Minnesota.)