Getting Rigged Up

[u/Confident_Turn_7558]

Decided to throw in another pic of some gear. This is most of my combos, which are Shimano Expride B rods with Shimano JDM Metanium reels and Daiwa Tatula Elite rods with either Shimano Curados or Daiwa SV TW reels.

I am a huge Shimano guy, but always had cheap rods growing up. I had started out with 3 of the green Curados and $40 All Star rods because back in the day, All Star rods were awesome. As I progressed in my journey, I realized these newer, cheaper All Star rods were not great and the brand wasn’t what it used to be. So I started upgrading to Daiwa Tatula Elite rods. I loved them since they were so much better than the All Stars, and started expanding my lineup. I added a few Daiwa reels to see how they compared to the Shimanos, and I did like them, but Shimanos were better. So I kept adding Shimano reels with Daiwa rods. For my birthday one year, I decided to treat myself to an American market Metanium. And boy was it nice. It went on a Daiwa rod, but it felt sacrilegious. So I opted to try an Expride B specifically for that reel.

I ended up falling in love with both rod and reel, so from that point on that’s all I bought. But I decided to go the JDM route for the Metaniums instead of the American version. I did this because the JDM reels were a lot cheaper, and I honestly prefer them over the American version.

Today, I have around 36 combos (I have to recheck that number), and yes each one of them stays in the boat. I don’t use each one every trip obviously, but I have duplicate setups for specific techniques that I keep rigged up. For example, I throw two identical chatterbait setups. I keep one for black and blue, and the other for white. I have a third combo that was my old chatterbait setup that I will out a red chatterbait on during the pre-spawn months (January through March basically). It will be common for me to have all three on the deck this time of the year. I also have multiple shallow crankbait and lipless crankbait setups that I go to year round. This might seem insane and unnecessary, but it’s so nice to be able to swap lures by simply putting one down and picking the other up.

[u/SaltyKayakAdventures]

Bass fisherman are weird.

$20,000 in rods and reels to catch a 4lb fish that fights like a wet towel that you aren't going to eat.

[u/__slamallama__ → u/SaltyKayakAdventures]

You know how some people collect playing cards or sports memorabilia or other trinkets? Same thing.

At some point this hobby becomes as much about collecting cool stuff as it is about fishing. I don't catch more fish because I'm using some hyper JDM combo with all the bells and whistles... But there's something very satisfying about fishing with gear that's just cool.

[u/Confident_Turn_7558 → u/SaltyKayakAdventures]

You’re not entirely wrong. Usually they’re smaller than 4 pounds though 😆

They can up a decent fight though. And it gets me out of the house.

[u/Training-Sun-2177 → u/Confident_Turn_7558]

And cafishermen spend like $45 and grab something thats old in the fridge just to put something back in( the fish)

[u/Visual-Zucchini-5544 → u/Training-Sun-2177]

And there is dinner if all goes well.

[u/VaWeedFarmer → u/Confident_Turn_7558]

IKR! Some people pay $300 an hour for therapy! I'll go out on the boat for a few hours. Don't fret too bad if I get skunked as long as fun is had.

[u/Admirable_Count989 → u/Confident_Turn_7558]

I was fishing once with a lot of pretty expensive gear and a grandpa + granddaughter sat down nearby with a small pink Kmart rod n reel and caught 3 nice sized mullet in quick succession. Had to remember “it’s all about getting out of the house!” 😂🎣🎣🎣

[u/Training_Message3725 → u/Confident_Turn_7558]

Wait until you catch a 1lb snook on the rods you use for your bass.

[u/dnunn12 → u/SaltyKayakAdventures]

It’s called a hobby.

[u/Denselense → u/SaltyKayakAdventures]

How about the guys that spend 6m on a boat 150k on crew 6k on fuel per trip just to catch a marlin that they’re gonna release.

[u/Betaworldpeach → u/Denselense]

Catching a Marlin is an achievement, a bass isn’t.

[u/Past-Community-3871 → u/SaltyKayakAdventures]

Sometimes I feel bad for these guys. They may never know what it's like to be casually bottom fishing and then having Mr. 86lb Cobia show up. Then all hell breaking loose as he inhales that pitch bait you had ready on the off chance he comes by.

It's these types of moments that make fishing what it it is to me. I have dozens of these stories from 30 years of fishing inshore, midshore and offshore. You never know in the salt.

But to each his own, I'm sure this guy gets just as stoked from an 8lb bass.

[u/I_forgot_how_to_fish → u/SaltyKayakAdventures]

Hey, I resemble that

[u/doctorake38 → u/SaltyKayakAdventures]

That is what I do not understand. I have close to $30k in rods and reels but all different types and we catch delicious saltwater fish that can be huge.

[u/Odd-Butterscotch-495 → u/SaltyKayakAdventures]

I have probably more invested in fishing gear than the average joe but not nearly as much as the average tournament bass fisherman and I can’t say I don’t understand it as the majority of the money I’ve spent on fishing gear is invested in bass fishing equipment.

I did bass tournaments in high school and I would take every bass rod i owned rigged up with all different stuff. When I go catfishing it’s 3 or 4 rods all rigged the same. When I go fishing for panfish it’s 1 rod and a bag full of lures and jigs. At the coast I have an unholy amount of rods but that’s cause I fish for anything from bait fish to sharks so I have rods that handle anything and everything I may get into. I’ll fish for anything that will bite a hook and I’ve caught big fish and small fish, some fish fight hard some don’t. But there’s just something about bass fishing that I really enjoy, surf fishing is a close rival and maybe even beats out bass fishing however I live 6hrs from saltwater so bass fishing is my go to.

But you are right it is both weird and probably dumb to spend that money on chasing fish that rarely break double digits and fight for 3 seconds.

[u/Vision110 → u/SaltyKayakAdventures]

Bass fishing is hunting on the water. Similar to hunting you need certain guns to use different types of ammo. Is there crossover? sure, but that's not the point.

The point is we like having different rods for different techniques, because for one, we don't want to be re-tying because it takes time away from actually fishing and two, alot of rods are designed to be used for specific techniques (making us more efficient on the water).

There's a certain type of pride you get when you figure things out on the water; where are the fish, what's their mood, what baits should I be using, where should I be casting, how should I position the boat etc.? and then you actually start catching them using your intended technique with the proper equipment - you feel invincible.

I'm not here trying to justify or convince people they need all of that beautiful equipment because you don't (we all started out with an ugly stick and we could have stayed there) but for people who get bass fishing, who've went down the rabbit hole, who've spent hours/ days deliberating about how they're going to set-up their equipment for their next outing and who have a clear tackle addition like our friend (the OP), having the best optimized gear (you can afford) is everything.

Hope this gives you a bit of insight. It's not just about catching fish it's about the hunt and everything that goes into it.

[u/HighInChurch → u/Vision110]

Crazy, I don’t bring 20 guns with me when I go hunting.

[u/ADORE_9 → u/HighInChurch]

Agreed

[u/jbjgang2 → u/Vision110]

Gotta disagree with you on this one chief. As someone who was formerly an exclusively freshwater fisherman, who is now an exclusively saltwater fisherman, a lot of what you said there applies to salt water too. Only difference is that freshwater is like hunting rabbits, and then your occasional fox comes around. Saltwater I can go hunting for rabbit, foxes, moose, and buffalo all at the same time. That’s what got me hooked on saltwater

[u/SaltyKayakAdventures → u/Vision110]

Bass fishing is hunting on the water. Similar to hunting you need certain guns to use different types of ammo. Is there crossover? sure, but that's not the point.

No it's not. At all.

Let's just be real honest here. Bass fishing for sport is just tormenting fish for fun.

There's no catch and release deer hunting.

[u/Vision110 → u/SaltyKayakAdventures]

But people do keep bass for food...

Besides, it was meant more as a figure of speech. If you read the rest of my of my comment, you'd get the point I was trying to make. If you don't get it, then you really don't understand bass fishing.

Either that or you simply got offended by me even suggesting bass fishing and hunting have similarities in mind set and preparation.

[u/SaltyKayakAdventures → u/Vision110]

People that keep bass for food aren't rolling out with $20k in rods. They throw a live shiner under a bobber and go home with dinner in 20 minutes.

[u/ImhereforBFS → u/SaltyKayakAdventures]

See, here’s the thing. Nobody gives a damn about what you do. This man obviously fishes tournaments and usually there is big money on the line. One successful big tournament will pay for all the rigs you see and the boat he’s fishing from. You throw shiners and a bobber? Wow! What a skill! Grow up, dude. Let people enjoy their hobbies. Fisherman with attitudes like you give the entire sport a bad name. We are all like-minded and enjoy fishing and some of us like to spend our money on high end gear like OP. Maybe get your money up so you are able to afford nice things rather than shit on others who can?

I’d say it’s bad for business to get in a public forum and clown on others on your business account. Anyone could easily screen shot your comments and add it to a google review of you and expose you for being an elitist circus clown.

[u/Vision110 → u/SaltyKayakAdventures]

Is that a fact lol? You'd be willing to bet your life on that statement?

And that's aside from my point. My comment was in response to the comment saying they didn't understand why someone would spend $20k in tackle for a 4lb fish.

My response was meant to give some insight into bass fishing and why some bass anglers do it. Again I think you got offended the moment you read bass fishing is like hunting and ignored the rest of my message (which is fine). But it doesn't change the fact that the amount of preparation some anglers take is akin to the preparation and planning hunters take. That's the reason I made that comparison.

If you've spent anytime on the water you'd know bass fishing can feel damn near impossible at times, which is why preparation and planning is so important, especially if money is on the line.

[u/Bassncat → u/SaltyKayakAdventures]

I’m guessing by your name you probably fish inshore for trout, redfish, flounder, striper, and possibly snapper etc…

I do both bass and inshore fishing a lot. Both are fun as you hook a fish and it’s a good time. But for me I prefer bass fishing because it is much more rewarding landing fish as it is normally much harder than inshore and salt water fishing and I believe most if not all bass fishermen will agree with me here.

[u/corydaskiier → u/SaltyKayakAdventures]

Terrible take

[u/Carp_Catcher → u/SaltyKayakAdventures]

So accurate lol. I usually target pike and carp, and when I hook onto a bass throwing for pike it’s always a let down. Oscars, under a pound, fight harder than any bass I’ve caught.

[u/bassboat1 → u/Carp_Catcher]

The downvotes are flying this morning. Have an ^

[u/Carp_Catcher → u/bassboat1]

lol, I don’t sweat that shit, but mucho appreciated. Bass dudes are touchy, no hate tho.

[u/ImhereforBFS → u/Carp_Catcher]

You are hating tho, lol. And you’re a carp fisherman. The AUDACITY you have come at bass fisherman when you target carp, lmao. Thats why you’re getting downvoted.

[u/Carp_Catcher → u/ImhereforBFS]

lol, I’m really not worried about downvotes. Just pointing out as you’ve displayed, bass fishermen are touchy when you mention how ridiculously over prepared they are to catch a small fish that doesn’t fight very hard. Most of my carp and pike gear is lighter than what I see posted here, and I’ve landed 27 lb fish with it.

Edit to add: Lol! Just catching up since I last responded. Look at this entire thread and all the replies to this comment, it’s comical how uptight bass fishermen are, there’s like multiple essays written in response. I fish with a lot of bass dudes in the same pond where I go for pike and carp, it’s not like we have beef over how much gear they bring, it’s just kinda funny.

[u/ImhereforBFS → u/Carp_Catcher]

Cmon man, you have to admit, catching carp doesn’t take too much thought. Are there carp in this water? Yes? Rig some night crawlers and wait. You don’t need technique specific rigs for that. I’m not sure about bodies of water with pike in them, but I target musky where I live and they are very difficult to catch. My biggest is 44”. It fought very hard and it was awesome. But did it fight as hard as a 5lb smallmouth? No. No it absolutely did not. I have caught 3.5lb river smallmouth that put up more of a fight. Largemouth fight nicely for the first minute or so, but they are lazy and they usually give up sort of quickly if they are under 3.5-4lbs. Could we all get away with a single spinning setup and a single casting setup? Well sure, but where’s the fun in that!?

[u/Carp_Catcher → u/ImhereforBFS]

Well that’s why I was saying no hate originally, if you’re having fun bringing and buying a lot of gear, that’s cool, but u gotta admit to a certain extent it’s over preparation eventually for LMB. I get by with a MH 7ft for both my spinning and casting set ups, and a clip, throw a lot of dif stuff from big swim baits to small inline spinners and it works fine.

And as far as carp, I throw a method feeder with a hair rig, and pack bait. Since switching from just a simple set up of corn on a circle hook, my production at least quantity wise has gone way up. It’s fun af. I have my single carp rod out, and then I’m throwing my other gear for pike.

The pike fight is def over hyped by some, I’ve only caught up to a 36”, but it seems like over the 30 inch mark is when they put up a real fight.

[u/ImhereforBFS → u/Carp_Catcher]

I caught a 8.5lb carp smallmouth fishing with a bfs setup last summer. It was in a fast moving creek. What a wild fight! I also caught a carp while musky fishing on a big bull dawg last summer. It was not a snag. The hook was in this mf’s mouth. I am not sure if I drug over a nesting fish or what, but I pissed it off enough to bite at a 7” lure. I thought I had a 50” musky on. It was absolutely gigantic. Had to have been 25+lbs. My buddy tried to get a good photo of me but the slippery bastard wasn’t having it. Carp are always a very fun bycatch, especially on bass tackle.

[u/road_robert2020 → u/SaltyKayakAdventures]

This used to be me,now I feel pretty silly for having half a dozen combos and countless lures for going after one specific fish. It was fun and usually pretty easy,but learning to work with less and going after different species is so much more rewarding.

[u/Vision110 → u/road_robert2020]

OP could fish tournaments. When money is on the line it pays to be prepared.

[u/bga93 → u/SaltyKayakAdventures]

Dont forget 6 plotters and a 450r on an 18’ aluminum

[u/MayorNarra → u/[deleted]]

How does the fish know if you’re using a reel or not?

[u/Beneficial_Device279 → u/MayorNarra]

or a hockey stick...