Just 3 Poles, What Do You Take? 2025

Montanaro reply :

You can only take 3 rod/reel combos out on the water with you. What do you take or how are you using them?

I ask this as I'm interested in upgrading my gear but not sure what to focus on. I have a couple of medium action spinning rods with 12# line on that do everything, but nothing well. Also, I have one 7' medium Abu Garcia Vendetta baitcaster that makes a very good spinnerbait/crankbait rod. In fact it's such an upgrade that my spinning gear feels obsolete.

I'm thinking of picking up a heavy jigging/frogging rod, keeping the abu garcia, and keeping one of the spinning rods for soft plastics.

SwampLife reply :

1. 7 ' medium heavy

2. 7' medium heavy

3. 7' medium

All 3 baitcasters

EvanT123 reply :

Spinning reel feels obsolete ? Eh I do 90% of my fishing with a medium action spinning rod and have some decent baitcasters to.

First off if I were to take 3 poles. I would consider the type of water I'm fishing. I normally take 2 anyways. If its a lake with lots of cover and slop I'm taking a mh baitcaster with braid for frogs and such and a medium spinning rod for weightless soft plastics.

If I'm fishing the open river I'm taking a medium heavy baitcaster with mono for spinnerbaits cranks topwater etc. also bring a medium spinner again for weightless plastics, grubs, tubes etc.

If I'm fishing a creek I'm taking two spinners one light and one medium. For small cranks and stuff mentioned in the river section

Your medium abu probably is closer to a medium heavy so I'm sure you won't have any problems with bigger lures. There's a ton of good info on this site. Fish what feels good to you and how you like to fish keep it simple.

Jrob78 reply :

7' Med/Mod baitcaster

7'3" Hvy/Fast baitcaster

7'3" Med/Fast baitcaster

That wouldn't be ideal but I could probably cover my bases with those 3 rods. Definitely no spinning set ups for me.

War Eagle 44 reply :

7'2" to 7'6" H X-Fast action baitcast rod

7' mh fast baitcast rod

7' mh fast spinning rod

Teal reply :

7'2 MH casting- Jigs, worms, spinnerbaits, senkos, flukes, buzz baits, lipless cranks, paddle tails, Square bills.

7'6 H casting- flippin, Punching, football jigs, big worms, carolina rigs, frogs, big cranks, alabama rig,

7'1 M Spinning, lighter finesse jigs, shakey heads, hard and soft jerkbaits, some crank baits, weightless worms, flukes, drop shots, topwater,

It really depends on where im fishing, but not knowing where im hypothetically fishing, thats pretty much what ill take.

kickerfish1 reply :

Specifically if I was limited to only 3 I would take the following rods. Also keep in mind that don't fish reaction baits too often so this I how I would roll...

1. Going to start with a 2 powered rod. Drop shot, flickshake, tubes, shakeyheads, and weighltess plastics.

2. A 3 powered rod. This would handle light Texas rigs, bigger weightless plastics, light jigs, spinnerbaits, traps, small to medium size cranks and topwaters.

3. Either a 4 or 5 powered rod. This rod would handle bigger jigs, Texas rigs, paddle tail swimjigs, frogs, and heavy cover fishing.

*The two powered rod could be casting or spinning depending upon preference.

Raider Nation Fisher reply :

7ft MH Abu Veritas.

6ft 6in M H20 Express Ethos.

All baitcasters.

lmbfisherman reply :

6'8" Fenwick Elite Tech Smallmouth M/XF - Spinning

GLX 853 - BC (7'1 - MH/XF)

7'6" Fenwick Aetos H/F BC

jtesch reply :

7'2" mh/f cumara with a revo mgx pitching jigs, texas rigged craws and creatures spinnerbaits and light topwater

7'7" mh/xf crucial with a zillion heavy jigs, big creatures, frogs, spooks

7'2 m/f cumara spinning rod with a daiwa ballistic wacky rig, drop shot, light texas rigged worms and lizards

Forget it, I can't do just 3 rods

MrSwimJig reply :

7' 3" M/F bait caster

7' 3" MH/F bait caster

7 ' 3" M/F spinning rod

thehooligan reply :

6'8 medium cumara spinning - dropshot/flickshake/senkos/shakeyhead/light cranks/topwater

6'8 medium cumara casting - cranks/topwater

6'8 medium xfast cumara casting - jigs/frogs

roadwarrior reply :

For enthusiasts, technique specific gear is fun
to collect. However, three rigs cover all the
basics:

#1 6 1/2' or 7' MH baitcaster for jigs, some
soft plastics and spinnerbaits

#2 6 1/2' or 7' MM baitcaster for treble hook
lures

#3 7' MF spinning rod for lighter lures and a
variety of techniques

buzzfrog reply :

7'3 frog rod, can double as a T rig

7' shaky spinning

6'10 casting, all around

flyfisher reply :

if i was only taking three it would be

6'8" MXF spinning
6'6" or 7' MH baitcasting
7' MM baitcasting for crankbaits

Those three rods pretty much can handle what i throw. Granted i have more rods but that is as much for lack of wanting to retie when switching baits.

Felix77 reply :

7' MH baitcaster primarily for A jig.

6'6" MH baitcaster primarily for spinnerbait

6'6" MH spinning primarily for my trig worms.

BrianSnat reply :

I'd probably take a two MHs and a ML. Since most of my rods are 6' 6" it would probably be that size though I do have a ML that is 7'.

Khong reply :

Here's what I rounded up to with 3 rods.

1) 7' Medium/Heavy fast action tip with a baitcasting reel filled up with PProSS8 line. This is for Frog, or Punching heavy cover.

2) 7' Medium fast action tip with baitcasting reel filled up with PProSS8 line and FLC leader. This is for spinning and plastic.

3) 7' Medium fast action tip with spinning reel filled up with Mono or FLC. I would use this for cranking/dropshot/finest.

kickerfish1 reply :

I guess my specific three outfits for use in the spring or fall would be :

1. Dobyns champion extreme 703 / curado 50e

2. Cumara spinning 7'2 medium xf drop shot rod / stradic 2500fj

3. Cumulus casting 6'10 medium heavy / core 50mg7

During the summer it would be the following:

1. Dobyns champion extreme 703 / curado 50e

2. Cumara casting 7'2 medium heavy xf / chronarch 50e

3. Dobyns 705 CB with a TDZ

I would beef up the gear during the summer as the cover becomes thicker and the baits i used increase in size. During the cold water times I am down sizing and working more finesse apps.

Of course I would feel comfortable with 10-15 outfits for a longer outing or new waters but if I am going to scale down to three this would be best for the waters I fish and allow me the most versatility. I may have a few spare reels with mono and braid to compliment the floro I use for 90% of my fishing if I could fit them with me in a bag.

Bankbeater reply :

6'6 medium, spinning for drop shot, t-rigged finesse, or small weightless baits.

6'6 medium heavy, bc for jigs.

6'6 heavy, bc for big weightless baits, and for heavy t-rigs.

This is what I take when I fish from the bank. When I'm fishing out of boat I take one or two more.

new2BC4bass reply :

I've tried to answer this question before. Can't. Maybe I could if I was a better fisherman.

BUT........I'll give it another shot.

One rod that went with me every time last year after I received it was a Fenwick Elite Tech Smallmouth 6'10" MF for lighter weights.

Fishing plastics off the bottom has been handled by my 7'2" MHF older Cumara. Several other rods (including a couple picked up over the winter and as yet untried) can also handle this, but don't know if they would be as sensitive.

I like my Fenwick Techna AV MHF for slop, but if distance was critical the Zillion Flip & Pitch (7'6" H) would be called up for duty.

The Smallmouth seems to handle a lot of the smaller crankbaits I use fairly well, but for an all out crankbait rod I would rather use my 7' Cara. Oops. That is 4. Sorry. I suppose I could eliminate the Techna and let the Cumara do double duty, but I would hate to break this rod.

DogBone_384 reply :

Right now I'd take my 2 7' medium baitcasters for soft & hard baits respectively; # 3 would be 6' ultralight spinning set up for weightless worms.

Montanaro reply :

Some good info, thanks

Capt.Bob reply :

1) 7'2" MHM Casting, cranks and fast moving baits

2) 6'10" MXF Casting Spinner, Baits and medium weight single hook rig's

3) 6'3" MXF Spinning weightless rig's and light finesse rigs, This covers most of my needs for most Bass fishing in lakes.

Loop_Dad reply :

On 7/25/2013 at 9:26 AM, Montanaro said:

You can only take 3 rod/reel combos out on the water with you. What do you take or how are you using them?

I ask this as I'm interested in upgrading my gear but not sure what to focus on. I have a couple of medium action spinning rods with 12# line on that do everything, but nothing well. Also, I have one 7' medium Abu Garcia Vendetta baitcaster that makes a very good spinnerbait/crankbait rod. In fact it's such an upgrade that my spinning gear feels obsolete.

I'm thinking of picking up a heavy jigging/frogging rod, keeping the abu garcia, and keeping one of the spinning rods for soft plastics.

Funny you should ask...because I have been doing exactly that for the past month or two to bring back focus to my fishing. I am taking these three the most of the time:

1. M spinning rod 7'6" (for all small baits)

2. MH casting rod 7'4" (my workhouse set up)

3. H casting rod 7'2" (for for heavy vegetation)

All three has pretty wide range and overlap, so often times I have similar baits on more than one rod.

BenB54 reply :

7' m/f spinning

7'3" mh/f casting

7'6" h/f casting

5605

Just 3 Poles, What Do You Take? 2025

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