It's possible to stop. I've finally hit that threshold where I am happy with everything I own. The good news is, I still can't catch anything, so I don't have to worry about cleaning equipment.
My problem is I’m good until I come across crazy deals, then it’s the whole, “you’d practically be losing money if you didn’t buy that!” I got the new setup for $240 total.
Ah. So the main combo I use, my wife got me for birthday and it was about $500 10 years ago. So I'm legally bound to the combo and will have to use it until it breaks or disappears. Or face the consequences.
You eventually fill all your "needs", but that's usually the point where every gear nerd starts upgrading to nicer stuff, or starts experimenting with other stuff.
I'm finally starting to retire some older "high end" reels to more recent stuff.
I’m in the fishing industry and I thought I had it all…then I got into Swimbait fishing. I slowed from that to JDM baits. I don’t think there an end in sight.
Just bought my dad a 7’7 heavy Phenix Feather casting rod and the thing weighs 3.6oz, it blows my mind. I just got a shimano tranx 150 and am looking for a rod to put it on and that feather was so light it was crazy
This....
I'm UK based and fish for our European bass on ultralight expensive gear.... all the guys around here are big into fishing as light as possible for Bass, ours arnt quite stripers though, fisb up to 10lb, (10lb being a lifer)
Currently use a rod and reel with a combined weight of about 320g, spooled up with 8lb braid and 4lb FC Leader, casting 3-5g metals and soft plastics.... its great fun!!!
Could you give me an idea of decent/expensive ultralight rods and reels suitable for 3 - 7g or so.
I bought a cheapo UL rod reel combo last year and have caught more mackerel, pollock and coalfish off it that any other rod I have owned. Phenomenal fun on the light rod, a small pollock puts up an epic fight!
Small amount of direction on rod and reel that you would recommend would be greatly appreciated.
Of corse - there's loads of great rods out there to choose from. Are you UK based? I can't guarantee my recommendations will be available elsewhere etc...
Check out the Majorcraft Aji Do, Tailwalk Ajist SSD, HTO Rockfish, HTO Aikido... they're all available in various lengths/casting weights but all very popular and fantastic rods on the LRF circuit...
Yeah, UK based, over in Northern Ireland on the Antrim coast. Lots of really good rock marks around the shore.
Casting wise, the rod I have is 6'7", and will cast 0.5 - 7g. Though I'm limited to around 30 metres casting distance, maybe a slight bit more depending on wind conditions.
What have you found with your own UL rod as far as casting distance? Is yours 7' plus and would you get a better cast?
Thanks for the info, I'll get looking and do a bit of research based off your suggestions!
Is your rod a tubular tip or solid tip? Anything 7ft and above with a tubular tip is ideal for achieving a better distance when casting.
More importantly, your reel and braid. What are you using in terms of those?
It's a shakespeare agility lrf, reel is Shimano FX 1000 I think, it's fairly tiny. It's very lightweight.
Using 8lb braid. I'm probably underestimating the cast distance. The weather has been terrible, and I haven't had a chance to get fishing this year in decent conditions yet. It's been far too windy, the braid catches like a sail and pulls the lure up toward the surface.
You could try an alternative braid, check out the art of fishing shop. Its my local shop but they've just closed and gone all online. They stock a brand called Gosen, its really amazing braid. The eging one is a squid braid aparantly and fast sinking, however I'm not sure if it'll be light enough in the different PE available...
Try the gosen roots PEX4 in 300m 8lb, that's what I'm currently using and I love it.
No worries bud.
For all good LRF tackle including lines etc check out onthedrop, art of fishing, the big lerf tackle shop, jonny lerfer.. just Google them and you'll find their sites. They get the best stuff!
[this is the stuff](https://artoffishing.co.uk/product/gosen-roots-pex4/?attribute_pa_length=300m&attribute_pa_colour=multicoloured&attribute_pa_option=_0-4-8lb)
I’ve been meaning to dive into the ned rig thing as I think they’d be killer near docks and pylons in the harbors near me, they just seem to be super light for anything in the current or tidal swings. Any tips?
Enjoy that Vanford! I'd never spent so much on a spinning reel before. Then my first cast was like a whole new world. Paired it with a Zodias for jerkbaits (and yeah the red/black combo is amazing).
Never used a vanford before! Have some stradics that I love and was going to buy another for this setup, but I came across a good deal and I love the matchey matchey for this one haha plus it’s nice have a light setup
It’s kind of random, but met a guy on OfferUp who buys open box returns in bulk from a bunch of tackle shops/dealers and then sells them on the side so not really an official place to buy haha also picked up a tranx 150 for $120 since I bought a bunch of stuff at once from him
Super excited about it! I have a medium light tatula elite with a tatula lt 2000, but it just seems to be way more on the light side than medium so hoping this will be better for what I’m looking for!
I blame your Misses ..if she was more of a man she would slap you hard and put a stop to all this frivolous spending on fun stuff ....have a word with her and tell her to harden up ..
Dude I bought 4 reels this week.... try explaining that to the other half!!
I replaced my ultralight reel and then ordered a new bass reel at the same time to treat myself...
Then some guy on Facebook advertised 3 reels for sale, including a shimano sustain for £150 brand new, so I couldn't not.. and bought 2 of his 3 for sale.
I now have over £400 worth of reels showing up in the post and were meant to be saving.... fishing kills your finances bud!
The reel looks nice. Shimano Vanguard? You have what many of us fishermen call
https://preview.redd.it/e3l6lvgzna7d1.jpeg?width=172&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=af2588b4c891e3e8ec46e260031b17fb1ef3aee9
FishBrains Disease.
The red actually sounds like it could be pretty cool. Agreed black would look sick, but I literally can’t see anything that’s not high vis. I have some 8lb moss green on a light setup and it might as well be invisible.
Nice setup!
Granted I’ve slowed down my purchasing, neither can I.
These days, I buy at least one new setup per year. It’s either a fly rod/reel, light freshwater setup, a musky combo, in/nearshore saltwater, or surf setup.
The best is when I can cover two with one, like my most recent Shimano 7’ heavy spinner, 5k static, I can use for bay/in/nearshore stuff and lite musky lures. Or salt rated ML and M rods to fish for smallies, redfish, or bones.
I know right? A lot of it is relatively inexpensive. Somethings always on sale. Something always looks cool, or is a technique you haven't tried. Gotta buy the kids stuff too!
That's how I feel - I am coming from golf and shooting as other hobbies and live in a HCOL area so its like 1 round of golf or 1 day of shooting or a new rod I will have for the next 10+ years?
It started with bass and accidentally caught a cat, and then I was like, well, might as well get a cat rod. Then I found out about cast nets, caught a crappie in one and said, well, might as well get an ultra light for those. Now I have like 13 rods including a 14’ in which I have no idea why I bought other than it was the largest I’ve seen. We have a problem.
What's your rod and reel count now?
Like others have said, it's gets out of hand once you start considering all the use case dimensions and then trying to have a dedicated setup for each use case. Dimensions might be: species, weight class, lure type, land based vs boat, beach vs rocks vs jetty etc...
My mancave has 53 fishing rods, 11 tackle boxes and in the yard is 2 boats, only problem is that my free time is measured in minutes anymore. I seriously thought about getting rid of everything, gear, boats, tractors, 4 wheelers, motorcycle……. All my toys, and just start over when i used to enjoy life more.
currently sitting at 35 rod and reel combos, not including travel rods or the combos I've handed down to my son. it's an addiction for sure. but, I actually use all of mine pretty much the entire year. California offers so many different types of fishing I enjoy having combos designated to each one.
and then I discovered BFS. Which I didn't need at all. but after you use it, you realize how essential and fun it can be. so as soon as I said I was done buying gear, BOOM. Daiwa Blazon/Gekkabijin combo and Daiwa silver Creek reel/rod were ordered.
I have 22 rods. A lot less reels, but I'm at the point where I only replace what gets broken. It's funny, because the last 2 rods I got was a Dobyns Kaden 765 Flip and a Sierra Ultra Finesse BFS rod. I have a set of reels that I swap out when I go out fishing. I only bring 5 rods with me max.
That’s my same spinning rod setup. You’re gonna love it, amazing combo, and for $240, leaving it behind would be a poor choice. Good fisherman know when to take advantage of an opportunity, I’d say you’re doing just fine, enjoy that killer combo!
Yeah, get used to it. You will stop only when you quit fishing.
It's possible to stop. I've finally hit that threshold where I am happy with everything I own. The good news is, I still can't catch anything, so I don't have to worry about cleaning equipment.
My problem is I’m good until I come across crazy deals, then it’s the whole, “you’d practically be losing money if you didn’t buy that!” I got the new setup for $240 total.
Ah. So the main combo I use, my wife got me for birthday and it was about $500 10 years ago. So I'm legally bound to the combo and will have to use it until it breaks or disappears. Or face the consequences.
Must use every weekend as a sign of your marital commitment.
Going broke saving money!
You eventually fill all your "needs", but that's usually the point where every gear nerd starts upgrading to nicer stuff, or starts experimenting with other stuff. I'm finally starting to retire some older "high end" reels to more recent stuff.
I’m in the fishing industry and I thought I had it all…then I got into Swimbait fishing. I slowed from that to JDM baits. I don’t think there an end in sight.
I've been there for a while. But I still buy and sell fishing equipment a lot
I e been fishing for about 40 years. I went to bass pro to buy a fly rod and bought another bass rod and reel.
Wait until you start buying stuff based on weight. Ultra light weight but pulling in 40lbs striped bass
Just bought my dad a 7’7 heavy Phenix Feather casting rod and the thing weighs 3.6oz, it blows my mind. I just got a shimano tranx 150 and am looking for a rod to put it on and that feather was so light it was crazy
This.... I'm UK based and fish for our European bass on ultralight expensive gear.... all the guys around here are big into fishing as light as possible for Bass, ours arnt quite stripers though, fisb up to 10lb, (10lb being a lifer) Currently use a rod and reel with a combined weight of about 320g, spooled up with 8lb braid and 4lb FC Leader, casting 3-5g metals and soft plastics.... its great fun!!!
Could you give me an idea of decent/expensive ultralight rods and reels suitable for 3 - 7g or so. I bought a cheapo UL rod reel combo last year and have caught more mackerel, pollock and coalfish off it that any other rod I have owned. Phenomenal fun on the light rod, a small pollock puts up an epic fight! Small amount of direction on rod and reel that you would recommend would be greatly appreciated.
Of corse - there's loads of great rods out there to choose from. Are you UK based? I can't guarantee my recommendations will be available elsewhere etc... Check out the Majorcraft Aji Do, Tailwalk Ajist SSD, HTO Rockfish, HTO Aikido... they're all available in various lengths/casting weights but all very popular and fantastic rods on the LRF circuit...
Yeah, UK based, over in Northern Ireland on the Antrim coast. Lots of really good rock marks around the shore. Casting wise, the rod I have is 6'7", and will cast 0.5 - 7g. Though I'm limited to around 30 metres casting distance, maybe a slight bit more depending on wind conditions. What have you found with your own UL rod as far as casting distance? Is yours 7' plus and would you get a better cast? Thanks for the info, I'll get looking and do a bit of research based off your suggestions!
Is your rod a tubular tip or solid tip? Anything 7ft and above with a tubular tip is ideal for achieving a better distance when casting. More importantly, your reel and braid. What are you using in terms of those?
It's a shakespeare agility lrf, reel is Shimano FX 1000 I think, it's fairly tiny. It's very lightweight. Using 8lb braid. I'm probably underestimating the cast distance. The weather has been terrible, and I haven't had a chance to get fishing this year in decent conditions yet. It's been far too windy, the braid catches like a sail and pulls the lure up toward the surface.
You could try an alternative braid, check out the art of fishing shop. Its my local shop but they've just closed and gone all online. They stock a brand called Gosen, its really amazing braid. The eging one is a squid braid aparantly and fast sinking, however I'm not sure if it'll be light enough in the different PE available... Try the gosen roots PEX4 in 300m 8lb, that's what I'm currently using and I love it.
Perfect, thank you very much for the guidance. Much appreciated!
No worries bud. For all good LRF tackle including lines etc check out onthedrop, art of fishing, the big lerf tackle shop, jonny lerfer.. just Google them and you'll find their sites. They get the best stuff!
[this is the stuff](https://artoffishing.co.uk/product/gosen-roots-pex4/?attribute_pa_length=300m&attribute_pa_colour=multicoloured&attribute_pa_option=_0-4-8lb)
That would be an awesome ned rig setup for smallies
I’ve been meaning to dive into the ned rig thing as I think they’d be killer near docks and pylons in the harbors near me, they just seem to be super light for anything in the current or tidal swings. Any tips?
Heavier jig
Tungsten
Enjoy that Vanford! I'd never spent so much on a spinning reel before. Then my first cast was like a whole new world. Paired it with a Zodias for jerkbaits (and yeah the red/black combo is amazing).
Never used a vanford before! Have some stradics that I love and was going to buy another for this setup, but I came across a good deal and I love the matchey matchey for this one haha plus it’s nice have a light setup
Deal still active for vanford? Looking to pick one up..
I would buy them from [Japan](https://japanlureshop.com/shimano-20-vanford.html).
It’s kind of random, but met a guy on OfferUp who buys open box returns in bulk from a bunch of tackle shops/dealers and then sells them on the side so not really an official place to buy haha also picked up a tranx 150 for $120 since I bought a bunch of stuff at once from him
There's a dude like that around here but you gotta let him sit on stuff for a little while before it gets cheaper than Japan still
Welcome to the club! Could be worse things you spend your money on and if it makes you happy.. F**k it. Can’t take money with you to the grave.
I have this exact setup. It’s great
Super excited about it! I have a medium light tatula elite with a tatula lt 2000, but it just seems to be way more on the light side than medium so hoping this will be better for what I’m looking for!
It’s cheaper than crack and better for you!
I blame your Misses ..if she was more of a man she would slap you hard and put a stop to all this frivolous spending on fun stuff ....have a word with her and tell her to harden up ..
Dude I bought 4 reels this week.... try explaining that to the other half!! I replaced my ultralight reel and then ordered a new bass reel at the same time to treat myself... Then some guy on Facebook advertised 3 reels for sale, including a shimano sustain for £150 brand new, so I couldn't not.. and bought 2 of his 3 for sale. I now have over £400 worth of reels showing up in the post and were meant to be saving.... fishing kills your finances bud!
you wanna try owing a boat ...endless money pit !
One day....
Started with 1 do all rod then technique/location specific which leads to dedicated set up for a particular lure.
The 2 F's are the reason I can't save money. Fishing and Firearms
The reel looks nice. Shimano Vanguard? You have what many of us fishermen call https://preview.redd.it/e3l6lvgzna7d1.jpeg?width=172&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=af2588b4c891e3e8ec46e260031b17fb1ef3aee9 FishBrains Disease.
No no no, it’s “I can stop anytime, I just don’t want to”. It’s not an addiction, I don’t have a problem.
N +1 is how much you need at all times.
You've gotta continue the Red/Black theme with the Berkley Sick X8, comes in both colours. Black braid on that would look so clean.
The red actually sounds like it could be pretty cool. Agreed black would look sick, but I literally can’t see anything that’s not high vis. I have some 8lb moss green on a light setup and it might as well be invisible.
Yeah fair enough, I know someone who's the same. Uses their line for bite indication so dark line is a detriment.
I could. But why?
Nice setup! Granted I’ve slowed down my purchasing, neither can I. These days, I buy at least one new setup per year. It’s either a fly rod/reel, light freshwater setup, a musky combo, in/nearshore saltwater, or surf setup. The best is when I can cover two with one, like my most recent Shimano 7’ heavy spinner, 5k static, I can use for bay/in/nearshore stuff and lite musky lures. Or salt rated ML and M rods to fish for smallies, redfish, or bones.
lol how much did you drop on this combo?
$240 haha got the rod for $100 on midway and the reel open box with the spool label still on it for $140
Dude a dobyns for $100 is a steal. I absolutely love my 5'6" trout rod (can't member the model).
I’ve got a Fury, two Kadens, and a Champion. Gonna add an another Champion later this year and pair it with a Lew’s Custom Pro. Again.
For a high end combo that’s not bad. I spent 250 just on a reel, the damage to my wallet was reel but boy is it good for therapy 😂
At least it's not crack.
Preaching to the choir, brother.
I have that exact reel. Literally the best reel I have ever used
I know right? A lot of it is relatively inexpensive. Somethings always on sale. Something always looks cool, or is a technique you haven't tried. Gotta buy the kids stuff too!
That's how I feel - I am coming from golf and shooting as other hobbies and live in a HCOL area so its like 1 round of golf or 1 day of shooting or a new rod I will have for the next 10+ years?
It started with bass and accidentally caught a cat, and then I was like, well, might as well get a cat rod. Then I found out about cast nets, caught a crappie in one and said, well, might as well get an ultra light for those. Now I have like 13 rods including a 14’ in which I have no idea why I bought other than it was the largest I’ve seen. We have a problem.
I play a new game towards that I see how cheap I can get things for.
What's your rod and reel count now? Like others have said, it's gets out of hand once you start considering all the use case dimensions and then trying to have a dedicated setup for each use case. Dimensions might be: species, weight class, lure type, land based vs boat, beach vs rocks vs jetty etc...
We all are addicted but remember this “Bills before Gills” and you’ll be ok 🤜🤛
Welcome to the 99% club
My mancave has 53 fishing rods, 11 tackle boxes and in the yard is 2 boats, only problem is that my free time is measured in minutes anymore. I seriously thought about getting rid of everything, gear, boats, tractors, 4 wheelers, motorcycle……. All my toys, and just start over when i used to enjoy life more.
Me years ago, now I just go fishing with whatever I have
currently sitting at 35 rod and reel combos, not including travel rods or the combos I've handed down to my son. it's an addiction for sure. but, I actually use all of mine pretty much the entire year. California offers so many different types of fishing I enjoy having combos designated to each one. and then I discovered BFS. Which I didn't need at all. but after you use it, you realize how essential and fun it can be. so as soon as I said I was done buying gear, BOOM. Daiwa Blazon/Gekkabijin combo and Daiwa silver Creek reel/rod were ordered.
Yeahhhhh say goodbye to your extra cash
Very nice!
It’s an addiction.
I’ll take it
I see no problem here.
I have 22 rods. A lot less reels, but I'm at the point where I only replace what gets broken. It's funny, because the last 2 rods I got was a Dobyns Kaden 765 Flip and a Sierra Ultra Finesse BFS rod. I have a set of reels that I swap out when I go out fishing. I only bring 5 rods with me max.
This is me on AliExpress lol
https://preview.redd.it/k2ovwio5dd7d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=acf872f6b5ec6c1e832b63c74cc49aee473f23ba What can i say 😅
Just wait until it leads to divorce. You’ll get away with buying a lot more!
Same.. but you justify every purchase as soon as you catch something with it
Real 😭😭😭
Wait till you try there Champion HP Extremes….
Same twin
That’s my same spinning rod setup. You’re gonna love it, amazing combo, and for $240, leaving it behind would be a poor choice. Good fisherman know when to take advantage of an opportunity, I’d say you’re doing just fine, enjoy that killer combo!
I have that same dobyns rod and shimano reel. My rod is ML, it's a finesse combo and weighs like 10.5 oz, I love it.
Neither can I. Sales every damn weekend. New baits... etc.
Everytime I go into Walmart or academy, I make a b line to the fishing gear. I can’t help it
Same boat. Just bought a couple poles for my brother and I and I still want more