SPINNING FISHING COMBOS

Spinning Rod and Reel Combos

Spinning Rod and Reel Combos are the easiest to use, and the most versatile combo for all types of fishing. No matter if you are fishing in the freshwater, or saltwater, lakes, streams, rivers, or in the surf, a spinning combo is the perfect setup for any type of fishing.

Spinning Rod and Reel Combo Features

1. Fishing Rod Weight 2. Fishing Rod Material 3. Freshwater vs Saltwater

Fishing Rod Weight

The weight of the rod that you need is determined by the type of fish that you want to catch. There are three ratings for different rod types which are Fast Medium and Slow. This rating indicates how much the rod will bend and flex when it is loaded. • A Fast Rod is the stiffest of the three, and will only bend at the tip. • A Medium Rod bends deeper down the backbone of the rod, and has flex to the middle of the rod. • A Slow Rod is the most flexible rod type, and it will bend all the way from the tip to the end of the rod.

Fishing Rod Material

Spinning Combo Rods are typically made out of fiberglass or graphite. A fishing rod can be tubular, which is lighter because the center of the rod is hollow, or it can be solid, which is a little heavier because it is a solid piece of material but because of that it can also handle larger fish with less chance of breaking. Fiberglass Rods require less maintenance, and our resistant to rust and corrosion. They are strong and flexible and great for beginners. Graphite Rods are lighter and stronger than a fiberglass rod, but they can be fragile in the sense that the tips will break easier if hit against a vehicle or boat.

Freshwater vs Saltwater Spinning Combo

Freshwater rods are typically water resistant, but they are not always corrosion resistant. Saltwater can be very hards on the materials of a rod that is not designated as a saltwater rod. A saltwater rod has features built into the rod that will extend the life of the rod in harsher conditions. Freshwater rods typically smaller, and are made for lighter line, because the fish that you are targeting are generally not as big as you will encounter in saltwater. A good rule of thumb for freshwater rod length is that a six to seven foot rod, depending on what you are fishing for, and what you are fishing with. Saltwater rods are much heavier duty, are corrosion resistant to the saltwater elements. They also can hold a heavier line. Freshwater Spinning Rods are water resistant, but not necessarily corrosion resistant from the harsh elements of saltwater fishing Saltwater Spinning Rods are water resistant and will resist corrosion from the harsh saltwater elements Conclusion When choosing a rod and reel you should match the size of the line for both the rod and reel. Buying a perfectly matched combo is the best bet as the manufacturer has thoroughly tested the rod and reel combo for the best features, the best fit, and the best look and feel.

Shakespeare Ugly Stik GX2 Spinning Combo

The Ugly Stik® GX2™ Spinning Combo continues with the strength and durability that Ugly Stiks® rods are known for. These spinning rods give you better balance providing you with a lighter feel, improved components, and a new and improved more modern look versus previous models. They feature Ugly Tech™ construction, Ugly Tuff™ guides and the Ugly Stik® Clear Tip® design. Durable, but also giving you the right level of bend under pressure of a fighting fish without breaking. Topping all that off with a seven year warranty, making this combo one of my favorites.

Johnny Morris Platinum Spinning Combo

The Bass Pro Shops® Johnny Morris® Platinum Signature Spinning Combo is one of the very best spinning rod and reel setups on the market. It was designed to outperform more expensive gear, while keeping the price reasonable. It is strong, durable, and sensitive. The one piece aluminum frame of the spinning reel gives you added strength. The perfectly matched spinning rod is very light, but can handle the heavy lifting like you need. This new model is 15% lighter and 35% stronger than previous models. A great all around high end spinning rod and reel combo, at a great price.

Johnny Morris CarbonLite Spinning Combo

The Johnny Morris® CarbonLite™ 2.0 Spinning Combo offers perfect balance and precision, combined with the strength and speed to handle any presentation. The reel is light but strong, durable, and feels great. It's built on a high performance carbon composite frame, with a double anodized aluminum spool. The advanced Micro Pitched Gearing (MPG) provides for a smooth and seamless operation. This 8 bearing system includes 7 stainless steel ball bearings plus PowerLock™ instant anti reverse. Paired with the Johnny Morris CarbonLite 2.0 Spinning Rod, which is made with RT4 Graphite using advanced Carbon Coil Technology™. This spinning rod is very light, and extremely sensitive.

Abu Garcia MLF Spinning Combo

The Abu Garcia® MLF® Spinning Combo is a rod and reel combo built for excellence. Abu Garcia’s Major League Fishing® reel paired with the MLF rod that is built for comfort, style, and excellent fishability. The MLF Spinning Reel has a durable and tough graphite body, and a machined aluminum spool with Rocket Spool Lip Design™. The 4 bearing system includes 3 ball bearings + 1 roller bearing; quality drag system. The Abu Garcia MLF Spinning Rod is built for comfort, style, and fishibility as well. With its quality 24 ton graphite blank construction, this rod provides sensitivity along with the power needed to handle virtually all bass techniques.

SPINNING FISHING RODS

Qualities of a Good Spinning Fishing Rod

It’s important to use the correct spinning rod, one with the look that you like, the feel that you like, and the features that you want. A spinning rod with the right balance of action, power, length, composition, and construction for the type of fishing and the type of gear that you will be using. It’s important to spend the extra cash on a spinning rod that will last year after year, season after season, that will stand the test of time, and all the abuse that a rod will be subjected to on normal fishing trips. Strength, and durability, are just as important as finesse and sensitivity.

Spinning Rod Features

1. Power 2. Action 3. Length 4. Composition 5. Construction

1. Power

A spinning rod’s power is a measure for strength, referred to as the backbone of the rod. A heavy power rod can handle the larger fish you may target, will enable you to use high pound test line, heaver lures and weights, and is good for pulling in big fish and pulling them out of thick cover.

2. Action

A spinning rod’s action is a measure for how much the rod bends. A Fast Action spinnign rod bends at the tip, a moderate action rod bends closer to the reel. Fast action rods are more sensitive, and the medium and slower action rods will cast farther.

3. Length

A spinning rod’s length is also an important feature to put some thought into. A longer spinning rod will cast further, but a shorter spinning rod is more accurate. Longer rods are more bulk, hard to fit into tighter spaces like walking along a creek or river. A longer rod is a must when want to cast out into the surf, the longer the better, to zoom that bait out to where you need it.

4. Composition

A spinning rod’s composition is another feature to think about. There are many materials to choose from, including fiberglass, graphite and composite materials. Fiberglass is the most indestructible, but you lose some sensitivity. Graphite is very light and very sensitive. Lastly, the composite rods feature various degrees of the features of fiberglass and graphite to give you the best of both worlds.

5. Construction

For a spinning rod’s construction, things to look for are a reinforced reel lockup and SIC rod guides, if you want some good quality. Take a look at the handle of the rid, and make sure it’s the right length for your what you will be fishing for as far as type and style of fishing that you will be doing.

Abu Garcia Fantasista Premier Spin Spinning Rod

The Fantasia Premier Spin Spinning Fishing Rod from Abu Garcia features the 3M Powerlux 500 resin system that allows a thin, ultra light blank construction, while providing superior impact and fracture resistance capabilities. The Tetra axial carbon construction provides for the ultimate in strength and durability. Abu Garcia custom Fuji soft touch reel seats provides great comfort. The premium grade cork handles also adds to the great feel and provides extra comfort. It comes with titanium alloy guides with ultra light Zirconium inserts to give you a lightweight balanced rod. It has the ROCS Robotically Optimized Casting System Guide train for increased casting distance with lighter lures. Has a five year warranty so you know this rod will stand the test of time in the field.

G.Loomis GCX Spinning Fishing Rod

Bass Fishermen know that the details are important when it comes to selecting the best spinning rod that can handle the finesse of flipping out their baits, and the the fight as a lunker bass attacks and destroys that bait and the fight is on. The G.Loomis GCX Bass Spinning Rod is built with the quality and craftsmanship that G.Loomis is known for. These spinning rods are handcrafted in Woodland, Washington. The new G. Loomis GCX Spinning Rod features amazing actions and innovative custom design that bass fishermen have come to expect from the brand that refuses to compromise on quality. The G. Loomis rod blanks are highly durable blanks with powers and actions to boost the effectiveness on the water. The SeaGuide Hero One guides are ultra lightweight, and they help to minimize line tangles and maximize casting efficiency.

SPINNING FISHING REELS

Fishing Spinning Reels

A great spinning reel, also referred to as an open faced reel, is my go to reel for most of my fishing. They are easy to cast, give you less problems with line problems, and if you buy a decent reel they are very durable. One of my favorite things about a spinning reel is that there isn’t much of a learning curve, unlike other types of reels. My kids have each picked up the learning of how to use a spinning reel fairly easy. Spinning reels, by far, are the easiest reels to learn and use, and are the best in performance. Though there are definitely reasons to use other types of reels in different types of fishing, so I do own and use other types of reels as well. The design of the spinning reel helps to lessen the risk of getting tangles in the fishing line. They are mounted on the underside of a fishing rod, which also makes them easier to use and to hold. Let’s take a look into some of the components and features of spinning reels.

Spinning Reel Features

1. Graphite or Aluminum 2. Construction 3. Weight 4. Size 5. Gear Ration 6. Drag System 7. Ball Bearings 8. Anti Reverse Handles

1. Graphite or Aluminum

The reel body of your spinning reel, or housing, can be made of various types of material, which will affect the durability, the weight, and feel of the reel. They can be made of aluminum, graphite. or sometimes a combination of both. An aluminum housing is stronger than graphite , but graphite is lighter. This is where you have to make a personal choice as to whether strength or weight is more important to you. Aluminum reel bodies are typically found on the higher end reels, but if your target fishing area is in saltwater, graphite is probably a better choice because it is resistant to corrosion.

2. Reel Construction

The difference from a cheap reel and a good real will be the solid construction. Cheaper reels strip on the inside gears, especially if you don’t keep them away from sand and gritty soil. It’s important to feel the reel, and make sure that there are no flimsy parts when you are looking for a cheaper but better quality reel. If you buy a good name brand at a little higher prices, they will be built right. What you don’t want is loose or flimsy, cheap feeling parts. If it feels flimsy, it just won’t last. It’s better to spend a little more money, and get a well built reel. The movement of the reel should feel solid, and smooth in performance. There should be no back play, it should lock solid when trying to reel backwards, with the exception being if you unlocked the block that locks the reel from reeling backwards.

3. Weight

The weight of your spinning reel is also important. A good quality, well made reel, will be much lighter than it’s cheaper competitor reels. This is an important quality because a lighter reel will mean less fatigue, and less strain on your wrist and forearm muscle. A heavy reel can also cause joint stress and fatigue with heavy use. It’s important to consider the weight of a reel when making a decision on buying a new fishing reel. Most online stores, and many reel packages will list the weight of the reel to show you a comparison between reels and the different manufacturers and quality levels. When comparing reel weights online, be sure you're comparing similar sized reels for an accurate comparison.

4. Size

Choosing the right size spinning reel is the easiest decision to make. Each reel is rated for the size line that you can line the reel with, and how many yards of each size of line. If you first think about what you are fishing for, and the size of fish you hope to catch, you should be able to easily decide on the size of the fishing line, and you can then select the right size reel to use with the line. The smaller the pound test of the fishing line, the smaller reel you can use. As an example, if you are throwing a rubber worm out for largemouth bass, the average bass you will catch are three to six pounds, so I typically go with an 8 or 10 pound test, just in case I tempt a larger bass. In looking for a reel, I would typically look for a reel that states that it will hold 10 pound test, that way I know if I need to use 8, 10, or even 12 pound test, the reel will be perfect in that scenario.

5. Gear Ratio

There are all kinds of different sizes of reels. The spool on a spinning reel is fixed, and the bail wraps the line onto the spool as you reel, and this is where gear ration comes into play. The larger the gear ratio, the less reeling you have to do to reel your line in. That may not matter much if your casts are short, but casting a long ways, or dropping your line down hundreds of feet deep, it really begins to matter. The gear ration refers to the number of times the bail rotates around the spool with a single turn of the reel handle. So if you have a 5:1 gear ration, the bail rotates around the spool five times for every single full turn of the reel handle.

6. Drag System

The drag system on a spinning reel is another important thing to consider when shopping for a new fishing reel. The drag is what applies pressure to a hooked fish, and it will let line out during the fight to help ensure that your line does not break on a large or super tough fighting fish. If you don’t set your drag right for the weight line you are using, or if your reel does not have a high quality and smooth operating drag system, you will risk losing that big fish due to a line break when you are trying to reel him in. You should look for a reel that has a smooth, non-constrictive drag. The line should pull out steadily, smoothly, and without hesitation, at whatever tension you set the drag. They have front and rear types of drag systems on various reels. This is referring to the location of the drag controls, along with a few other differences between the two styles. For the front drag systems, they have multiple large drag washers that offer higher durability and performance when compared to rear-drag models. The reels with the rear drag controls are easier to access when fighting a fish, but they don’t stand up as well to larger, harder fighting fish. Reels are continuously exposed to the elements, so another thing to look for are the sealed drag systems to protect the drag system and the inner gears from being compromised, which causes premature failure of the reels and drag systems in general.

7. Ball Bearings

Spinning reels have ball bearings or bushings within the body of the reel for improved smoothness and stability of the reel components. Spinning reels typically have a roller bearing within the line roller, and the larger number of bearings within the reel, the smoother the performance of the reel will be. Sealed stainless steel bearings are better than bushings if you are looking for more durability and control within the reel. Typically the more ball bearings that a reel has, the higher the quality and price of the reel. You should look for a minimum of four ball bearings to ensure the reel will perform well and will be smooth on the retrieve.

8. Anti Reverse Handles

Anti Reverse handles are a must when looking for a new reel. The anti-reverse should be immediate when you try to reel backwards. A low quality reel will reverse a little bit and not stop immediately. The problem with this is that it is not good for the hook set when you get a bite. A solid immediate anti-reverse, will set the hook perfectly, while one that allows some back reeling will give a little bit of slack as you start to set instead of setting properly. In Conclusion - The bottom line is to buy a reel that has the look and feel that you want, with as many of the quality features we discussed. I typically set a price range for my reel, and then look for which good name brands that will fit within that price range with as many of the quality features that I can get. Once in a while I splurge on myself, and will review the reels from my favorite brands and pick a reel in the middle of the top tier of their product lineup. If money is no object, buy the best one they offer, like my dream reel below, you won’t be disappointed that you did! But, it is my dream, so I will be super jealous!

Pflueger President Spinning Reel

• Lightweight graphite body • Corrosion resistant stainless steel main shaft and components • 9 stainless steel ball bearings (Model PRESSP20 has 6) • 1 instant anti reverse bearing • Machined, ported, double-anodized aluminum spool • Braid ready spool • Slow oscillation gearing • Smooth multi-disc drag • Solid aluminum bail wire • Soft touch knob • On/off anti reverse • Converts to left or right hand retrieve

PENN Battle III Spinning Reel

• Full Metal Body and sideplate • Superline Spool with line capacity rings • CNC Gear Technology • 5+1 sealed stainless steel ball bearing system • HT 100 Carbon Fiber Drag Washers

About The Author

Mike Mendenhall is the the founder of Mendenhall Outdoors. This website is an extension of the Mendenhall family’s lifestyle and passion for the great outdoors. Everything that they learn, and experience, along the way that they find may be valuable to our website visitors is on the site for you to enjoy. We highlight products and services that you might find interesting. We frequently receive free products from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. If you click a link on this page, then go on to make a purchase, we might receive a commission – at no extra cost to you, and does not impact the purchase price of any products that you may purchase. The Best Spinning Rod and Reel Fishing Awaits!