When I was a wee one, maybe 6 or 7 I was given my first fishing rod. It was a cheap fiberglass spincaster (matt-grey). Maybe 5 ft but decent. I would go fishing with my oldest brother most weekend, where I would catch as many fish as he would (he was an avid fisherman). Anyway, I have been out of the fishing scene for the better part of 15 years and now that I have kids, they have peaked my interest in it again by asking me to take them fishing. I took my 5 year old to the local Big Bass Pro Shop (Cabella's opens in the fall and is closer...YAY!!) and man am I out of the loop. There were only a few brands I recognized, and the wall of line...I felt completely lost! Living in Alberta (close to the mountains) I will be doing mostly trout fishing, there is lots of rainbow and cutthroat trout around here, so I want to get a rod appropriate for smaller fish. From what I can tell the spinning reel would be better than a baitcaster (baitcaster is the 'style' I am used to from my rod as a kid) and I am thinking of a medium-light power rod with a fast action. The only issue is trying to read online...man...the forums I found had a bunch of people refusing to give any input and merely stated "If you want to fish for "X" then you have to get the correct rod". I just want something decent, I think I know what I want. I have a price point that I can easily fall under (for buying a rod/reel combo), I jut want to know what others here would use. As a side note, I cant stand eating store bought fish...so I never eat fish period. This will get me to eat them as I will be keeping some of my catch. Thanks friends! Luke
i fish quite a bit, and all i fish for is trout (similar to you, streams/rivers).... i can catch/fish just as well with ANY rod and reel (including my daughters "princess" pole)...what im saying is this, dont waste your money on some "big brand", when you can get a shakespeare combo for about $30....now i just started fly fishing a few years ago and that is a different story...i promise it wont be the rod or reel as the reason you do or dont catch fish.
Hey thanks! I was looking at the Shakespeare combo today and it was labelled as the best trout rod for that price (lots of high ratings).
I've taken ugly sticks into just about every kind of water people fish in. they always performed nicely, not to wildly priced.
+1 - ugly sticks work great and are really tuff. Also they have a model for just about any kind of fishing.
