Rod and reel

[Hays]

Over the past couple of years I've made the transition from tandem to solo canoe (after having lost my canoeing buddy to retirement and a cross-country move) and now that I'm out on my favorite streams again I want to get back to fishing.  I was an avid fisherman as a kid through my twenties, but my fishing trips became fewer each year.  I haven't put a line in the water for probably 15 years.  All the "rod and reel" gear I have now is a Lew's Speed Stick and Speed Spool, which I bought for lake fishing (Table Rock, Lake of the Ozarks etc.).  I never got really proficient with the speed spool and don't think it's the right rig for Ozark streams.  As a kid I used a variety of spincast reels and, for awhile, a generic spinning reel.

I'm interested in advice on a new rod and reel.  I'm assuming that everyone on this forum has at least two opinions on what to buy, but there is one caveat: I want to spend less than $100. What do you think I should look at?  The range of options at Cabela's is huge compared to what was on the market 30 years ago.

[Gumboot]

2500 stradic, 6'6" ML avid, but that's not what you're looking for  

Do a quick search on bass pro combos, bunch there. They have Pflueger president spinning combo matched with bass pro 5'6" light to 7' mh, and everthing in between, im6 blank (I think), for around $70.

cabelas has a similar combo on "clearance" for $80.  I've only bot 1 of their rods many years ago.  Hopefully they've improved  

 I have an old president that I handed down to one of my boys, it's still in pretty good shape after many years. Lots of options. 

[dtrs5kprs]

We were just discussing a 7' Lew's in a Ned Rig thread over in the TR forum. 

It lists as UL, but I would call it a true light. Fun little stick. I have one, and another on the way. Runs right at $50. Ham bought one for river trips. We've both used them on White River lakes.

http://m.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Lews-Laser-SG-Graphite-Series-Spinning-Rod-60-Ultra-Light&i=924881

It would handle grubs, tubes, small topwater, Ned, little worms, rooster tails, etc. Little soft for TX rigging anything.

Mine has a 3000 size Daiwa. Ham's has some kind of Pflueger. His has nanofil, I'm running 8# soft braid and a leader.

You can get into a perfectly fishable Daiwa Crossfire in the 2500-3000 size for about $30 at Academy or eBay.

http://www.fishusa.com/product/Daiwa-Crossfire-3Bi-Spinning-Reels?utm_source=google_ps&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google_ps&gclid=Cj0KEQjw09C5BRDy972s6q2y4egBEiQA5_guv3uqtVbkcabn5gIdnXr9vdkXqYR139iuatD8TGI5wM0aAtYv8P8HAQ

[Ham]

Pflueger President 6930 size.

[dtrs5kprs]

It would be a very useful stream rod, and leave you with $20 for line and baits.

[Al Agnew]

Actually, depending upon how heavy in power your Speed Stick is, it might be quite serviceable as a stream rod and reel combo. If the rod is a medium power, you should be able to get proficient enough with it to cast many hard baits such as topwaters, crankbaits, and spinnerbaits, with a little practice, and in my opinion a casting reel is better for fishing such lures than spinning tackle.  The others have given you good suggestions on spinning tackle; you should do okay with just about any of the Bass Pro or Cabelas combos, but if you are wanting to fish a lot of soft plastics for bass, I'd look for a medium power rod.  The two outfits together would give you a lot of versatility.  However, if you are more interested in fishing small jigs and ned rigs for whatever you might catch such as sunfish and goggle-eye, you'd be better off with a light power rod.

[Hays]

Great advice, especially the pep talk on the speed spool and the discussion of a different Lew's rod.  Mine is now a stiff 5'6" model.  No harm in having two outfits, a casting and a spinning set up.  Thanks for your responses.

[Map Guy]

On ‎5‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 1:48 PM, dtrs5kprs said:

We were just discussing a 7' Lew's in a Ned Rig thread over in the TR forum. 

It lists as UL, but I would call it a true light. Fun little stick. I have one, and another on the way. Runs right at $50. Ham bought one for river trips. We've both used them on White River lakes.

http://m.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Lews-Laser-SG-Graphite-Series-Spinning-Rod-60-Ultra-Light&i=924881

It would handle grubs, tubes, small topwater, Ned, little worms, rooster tails, etc. Little soft for TX rigging anything.

 

I hear that John has this rod in stock at Fin & Feather in Springfield

[dtrs5kprs]

1 hour ago, Map Guy said:

I hear that John has this rod in stock at Fin & Feather in Springfield

That would be too cool. It's a fun little stick. Throwing road runners and such at whites would be a riot with it, especially for the guys on foot or in kayaks/canoes. Not so expensive you'll go home weeping over it if it breaks, takes a swim, brother on law steps on it...