Good Cheap Rods

[adrianp89]

I know zero about fishing. I would like get four fishing rods.... something reliable and cheap (is there such thing). Please help lol

 

[HangOutdoors]

Depends..... What type of fishing? What type of Fish? Do you have reels already?

 

[adrianp89]

I have nothing. Whatever is best in general for the Gulf of Mexico 10-20 miles out and ICW fishing.

 

[Bruce]

What are you fishing for and fresh or salt water.

For freshwater lakes combos from Walmart are a reasonable option especially since you can exchange them if they go wrong.

For salt water I like Penn. I bought a pair similar to this for Bimini trips. I added extremely clear 25 pound line for catching yellow tail and other large reef fish. After five trips they are like new.

https://www.pennfishing.com/products/fierce-iii-combo-1505245?variant=34036286947468

I also take a pair of older refurbished Penn convential reels with 80 pound braid. They are old but reliable.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I have nothing. Whatever is best in general for the Gulf of Mexico 10-20 miles out and ICW fishing.

If I was going to fish where you are going to go, I’d get a couple of trolling rods with conventional reels, and I’d also get a couple of heavy spinning rods with 6500 class spinning reels. The trolling rods can be used for trolling and for bait fishing. The spin rods can be used for both trolling, jigging and bait fishing. The nice thing about the conventional reels is that they have heavier drags, have bigger spools that can fit a lot of heavier line, and can handle bigger fish.

Cheap? I’m sure you can find some deals at Bass Pro / Cabelas but I don’t think cheap is going to be the operative word. You will have to have tackle as well, you’re probably looking at a grand to get started.

For conventional reels perhaps a Shimano TLD 20-30.

The penn set up Bruce linked looks pretty nice but I’d go with a 8000 series reel..

 

[Bruce]

This is the guy I bough the conventional reels from ak-fish on eBay

He does not have anything listed at the moment but it could be worth contacting him. In 2017 I picked up a pair of Penn 209s full of 80+ pound braided line for $51 shipped from him. They have caught some pretty big 15+ pound pond catfish and a bunch of Bermuda chub.

 

[adrianp89]

thanks for the recommendations everyone.

This will be a 100% salt. I also want to clarify that this will be for people renting the boat, not for personal use (I mean I might eventually fish here and there but rarely).

 

[Bruce]

thanks for the recommendations everyone.

This will be a 100% salt. I also want to clarify that this will be for people renting the boat, not for personal use (I mean I might eventually fish here and there but rarely).

I would be concerned about rods being broken or dropped overboard when renting. I would want to make sure they are stored in rod holders on the boat and have some compensation system both for their usage and any damage.

 

[adrianp89]

I would be concerned about rods being broken or dropped overboard when renting. I would want to make sure they are stored in rod holders on the boat and have some compensation system both for their usage and any damage.

There is a security deposit that covers any damages. It will happen no doubt at some point, but the deposit keeps people at their best behavior.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Oh my goodness I spent decades fishing out in the area you want to let people fish using your boat. My advice is a 5 mile limit . I have been in some serious storms out there where you could not see the front of the boat, wind and waves making it nearly impossible to move forward and navigate. I fought one storm for so long that I nearly ran out of fuel , had a break down once in front of Pass A Grille and had to get rescued by Eckerd college. I would also fish out there all night . I used boats that I personally built for the job and still so many things can happen , nearly got run over by a huge tanker once. And the same night I was nearly run over a tanker hit a sailboat just south of where I was at the Egmont channel and they never reported the collision they just left the scene. I finally decided it was not worth the risk and located areas within the horizon that had reefs and fish and most places are actually in the intercostal or within a few miles of shore.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

There’s a classic set up for a very good price!

https://www.pennfishing.com/products/senator-combo-1151521?variant=34036150993036

 

[Dixemon]

+1 on the Senator Combo, Also the Penn Battle series 4000 combos are a good compromise between inshore and reef fishing for lighter prey. I prefer 2500 series reels for inshore action and 5000 for smaller reef fishing.

 

[Acard7]

So how long before you trade in the 252SE for a 255 FSH then? I feel your rental idea will rake in the cash!

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

+1 on the Senator Combo, Also the Penn Battle series 4000 combos are a good compromise between inshore and reef fishing for lighter prey. I prefer 2500 series reels for inshore action and 5000 for smaller reef fishing.

Im using some 50 year old Penn Jigmaster 500’s and a 25 Monofil that were my Dads… Just cleaned them up and put new drag washers in them for like $8. Super smooth after all these years.

My other reels are Pfluger 35’s with 300 yards of 10# braid, and I have extra spools with roughly 270 yards of 20# braid.

@adrianp89 you might consider the Pflugers as well, super smooth and quiet, and not too expensive.

 

[Chrisbert]

I have a Penn Battle III combo from Bass Pro. It's got 20lb fluorocarbon and works great.