Just started this fishing journey

Hi all,

My youngest son had the itch to learn fishing. We are originally from Mexico so really we don’t have a fishing culture so I never had the opportunity to go fishing. We saw that our next door neighbors had some fishing rods for sale so asked them for overall tips about fishing. Turns out they are super deep into it, have their boat, several rods, tons of equipment, etc. So they invited us to some quick shore fishing at a local pond. I bought a small <5 ft Shakespeare Ultralight rod/reel/line combo from Walmart for my son and they ended up loaning one for me. I paid for my fishing license and off we went.

I ended up LOVING it and it was super fun to share time with my son hooking worms and enjoying the outdoors. So next time I went to Scheels I picked up a cheap Quantum Optix 6.6 ft rod/reel combo for me. We went fishing one more time to the same pond just my son and me, along with my wife, who didn’t fish. We had again a ton of fun. He kept getting tons of fish and I kept getting bites but my worms stolen. I loved it still.

Then I took a half day off work to go fishing by myself. This time I was doing really well and caught 5 small fish. Since the beginning we are doing catch and release. It was a lot of fun. By now I have been consuming fishing YouTube videos like crazy, learning how to do knots, spool line, different types of rigs, etc. I remember the day I bought my rig at Scheels I saw another one that I said if I liked this I would get that next. This day fishing my reel starting grinding after about more than an hour, so I noticed that definitely I was now starting to realize cheaping out was not such a good idea. The rod seems pretty nice in fact, the reel is what definitely doesn’t hold up. Kept working but was getting a bit harder and harder to retrieve.

So I ordered a 13 Fishing 7.1 rod and a Daiwa Fuego LT 3000 reel. I was originally contemplating the Penn Fierce III but I saw a Daiwa Regal at Bass Pro Shops and I loved the quality looks of it and the smoothness. I still plan to buy a Fierce III to replace the Quantum reel and keep the same rod. The Quantum I plan to use for small fish with live worm bait and the new one for bass and other similar size fish with plastic worms and lures.

So I wanted to share my story and also ask if you think these are good equipment choices. To be honest I have another main hobby but it has gotten too expensive for me for now. With my current plan I don’t see myself spending a ton of money on fishing, and my neighbors already have a boat so I can avoid that expense hehe. They are awesome people and I would love to go fishing with them again.

Bye for now,

Javier

Welcome to the sport Javier. Where do you live?

Welcome to the sport. Fishing is a fun hobby. Its also a great way to spend time with your family. You don’t need a lot of equipment and can get a decent setup for relatively cheap. I would stay away from the real low end rods and reels but don’t think at this point I would pay for high end ones. if you find yourself getting more involved with the sport you may see the need to upgrade to slightly more expensive equipment later on. For now just enjoy learning the sport.

Welcome to the fishing world. It is a great sport/hobby.
In regards to your reel grinding. Never ever set it on dirt or sand. The grit eats up the insides of reels.

Welcome to the addiction and IDO!!

Welcome you will love the 13 rod and Daiwa Fuego reels same set ups I use and I fish a lot. Welcome lot’s of good info on here.

Welcome Javier! I’m glad you and your son have gotten into fishing.

As far as budget-friendly gear goes, you can’t beat a Pflueger president spinning reel for the price. You can either get that reel in a combo (rod and reel together) or buy the reel seperately. One rod I would recommend is either the Fenwick Eagle or Fenwick HMX. Both are great rods for the price.

Hope you continue to learn and enjoy everything fishing has to offer.
Tight lines!

Welcome to IDO and fishing.
I’m just going to say it’s a great hobby but you will soon find out it’s not cheap.It’s an addiction and we know how you have to feed an addiction-lot’s of money.Enjoy.

You will love that Daiwa Fuego reel. Good choice! I have three of them. Also even at a cheaper price the Daiwa Legalis is a steal at $70.

Congrats on discovering a new and rewarding hobby!

For a lower end spinning rod that is actually pretty decent quality, I would recommend looking into Berkley Lightning rods. They are about $40 and I like the one I have and have had no issues with it. I like it for shore fishing the river because I don’t need to worry too much about breaking it!

LabDaddy1 wrote:

Congrats on discovering a new and rewarding hobby!

For a lower end spinning rod that is actually pretty decent quality, I would recommend looking into Berkley Lightning rods. They are about $40 and I like the one I have and have had no issues with it. I like it for shore fishing the river because I don’t need to worry too much about breaking it!

My kid caught his 58 inch sturgeon on a lightning rod. It held up to a awesome rainy river trip and a few accidental sturgeons including that big one.

Nice, bear! Just another testament to their quality.

I have the 7’0 medium power, moderate-fast. Is light and sensitive enough for casting and pitching 1/8 oz jigs, has a good backbone, and being mod-fast it is actually really nice for long line trolling cranks.

I have it paired with a daiwa revros LT 2500, which is somewhat cheap- around $50- but the drag isn’t too smooth. Otherwise it’s held up well. I use 8-10 lb braid on it.

I also have a 7’0 medium-light fast action fenwick hmg that feels more like a medium power that I also use for pitching jigs/cranks, but they’re about $100 but can find them on sale for $80 sometimes. Really nice Rod. Have it paired with a 2500 size daiwa legalis LT, which is one step up from the revros and about $60 or so. Much smoother drag. Also use 8-10 lb braid with that.

You also can’t go wrong with a pfleuger president reel. Cheap and decent quality. I had issues with my last one getting pretty stiff in colder weather though. Could’ve been a fluke. I don’t know if they still make them but for one step up and 10-20 bucks more, I have a pfleuger arbor reel that was and still is great after 6 years of use with minimal maintenance.

Good luck with whatever you decide on, Javier! You’re in a good community here.

Welcome to IDO and the sport. Fishing can be a great low-cost activity and a way to make memories with your family and friends. Some of us have went to the extreme and invested some coin. To start off, keep it simple and have fun.

If you live by a Scheel’s check out their rods, they are very solid for the price and have a 3 year warranty if you break one, you get 50% off the replacement.

WELCOME JAVIER! Plenty of great people and advice on here. You don’t need a ton of investment to fish. And I’m living proof of that. I’m still using rod/reel combos I bought 10-15 yrs ago. I also have a few nicer/newer ones that I should be able to hand down to my kids with the frequency I fish. Just take care of what you have, keep reels out of the sand like a previous poster said. Get some good terminal tackle and a few basic lures and you’re set.