Best on a Budget: Rod/Reel Combos Under $200

Video Transcription

What's up everybody? We are back with another best on a budget by request. In fact, our CSRs requested it 'cause they've been getting a lot of questions about spinning rod combos, like so rod and reels together under that $200 price point or around that $200 price point. We don't do a lot of pre-mounted combos here for a lot of different reasons as of right now anyway, but here are some rods and reels you can put together yourself or our CSRs can help you out with that are under that $200 or right at that $200 price point. And we think are great gift ideas or versatile spinning rod setups for the person that doesn't exactly know what they're after. And what I mean by that is a lot of times we ask the questions, what are you fishing for? Where are you fishing? What kind of bait are you gonna throw with this combo? And if you don't know those answers, it's really tough to pick the right rod and reel because nowadays a lot of what we carry here and a lot of what's out there in the market is designed specifically for certain applications. So we can simplify things in the spinning world, agreed upon by most of us here and buy some sales data. It does seem a little long for people who don't maybe have a boat or have a smaller boat, but a seven foot medium power, fast action spinning rod has been the most versatile rod in our lineup for lots of reasons. We think personally that that seven foot medium is the most versatile when you're talking multi-species. Obviously if you go with a lighter power rod, it's a little nicer if you're panfishing or whatever, but if you do fish from shore or you wanna throw moving baits or bigger baits for pike or catfishing or you wanna multi-species fish, it's nice to have that medium power rod. It does a lot more. And you can still reel in a bluegill with a medium power rod, it's just not as fun. But it is versatile and it does everything.

So I'm gonna start off with talking about the St. Croix Triumph. These rods have been a popular rod for, it has to be decades now. I can't exactly tell you how long it's been 'cause it's been a long time since my retail days, big box retail, I should say. And I sold a ton of these things. These are a great option for an angler that doesn't have a specific use for the rod. If you just want a fishing rod to do a whole bunch of stuff, this is a St. Croix rod. So St. Croix, you know, is out of Wisconsin. These rods are manufactured. Still in North America, there's not in there Wisconsin facility to get the price point down. They're manufactured in Mexico, but they're made by St. Croix employees, St. Croix mandrels, St. Croix componentry and the blanks anyway. And you get St. Croix quality out of these. So very popular rods coming in at that like $110 price point, up to $120 price point depending on the models. And then I paired it up with one of the most popular spinning reels on planet Earth. That's the Shimano Sedona. So you put these two rod, this rod and reel together, you get up around that $200 price point and you've got one heck of a combo to last you a very long time and actually to be really fun to fish with on the water. So if you're fishing for walleyes, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, you name it, this rod will get the job done for you and you can do everything from throwing moving baits with it to fishing live bait, power fishing, trolling, all that kind of stuff. So if you're looking for a versatile rod, for yourself that you want to be really nice last you a long time, you kind of can't go wrong with these two options right here, 2500 Sedona, a seven foot medium, fast, St. Croix Triumph.

Now, next one's a little bit wild. And I say wild because look at it, look at the colors. We got some neon green, we got some neon red. This is a Lew's Mach reel, which has been very, very popular with our youth movement going on in the fishing industry, especially the young bass anglers. The Mach stuff's been really, really popular. Then you've got Dobyn's coming in with a really great price point spinning rod at the Dobyn's Fury series. These are really light rods. They feel really alive. They don't feel like 120, $129 rods. They feel really nice, like unsanded, unfinished blanks up top date. So they really crisp, they feel out above their budget, for sure, as far as quality. And then you can match it up with a really cool looking spinning reel like these Lew's Mach's. Or Mach Smash, I should say, spinning reels, the Lew's Mach Smash reels have been really popular for like I said, our youth movement. So if you are buying a rod for a youthful angler out there that likes to get a little bit of color in their life, go ahead and check out the Dobyn's Fury and the Lew's Mach Smash. The Dobyn's Fury rod that we picked is exactly like the St. Croix. It's that seven foot medium, fast action, gets the job done. I think it's a 200 size in the Lew's Mach Smash, plenty big. It's similar to a 2500 size from the Japanese manufacturers that are really popular here. But this would be a really good option for a youth angler out there.

And lastly, this is just pure selfishness from a bunch of the anglers here. This is a real popular bass fishing one for the crew here. Everybody kind of picked this one. This is widely considered one of our most popular bass rods in the price points, 'cause this is a $99 to Tatula XT rod. These things have been really, really, really popular, hard to keep in stock actually. Feature EVA, fore grips on them. They're really light, they're balanced really well. I've got a Daiwa Exceler 3000 on here. As you can see, that's a little bit bigger spinning reel than the other two that we talked about. That's getting into, hey, this is a bass thing. They're gonna run a little bit heavier line, be a little bit more aggressive with it by fishing artificials regularly with it. So that 3000 will aid you not only in casting distance, but it also aids you in line management, 'cause you get a little bit larger spool arbor there. The one, the spool's full. You're wrapping your liner on a wider surface, so the line pick up's a little quicker on them as well. You'll notice that a lot of finesse anglers are running bigger spinning reels, even though it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. You think they'd run smaller ones, but if you are a true blue bass angler, if you got a bass angler that you're purchasing a rod in reel four or you are a bass angler, and you want it to be specifically for a largemouth and smallmouth fishing, this one was picked up by a crew as one of the best on a budget here that's Tatula XT with a Daiwa Exceler 3000.

So there's three rods for you, three combo options. Combo's the way Omnia Fishing does it anyway. For you, for all types of fishing, real versatility, and all sorts of multi-species fishing, look at that St. Croix, Shimano Sedona way, those are real high-end quality products that are gonna last a long, long time. Youthful, fun, go with that Dobyn's Fury, and that Lew's Mach Smash, and if you are just hardcore bass angling, you wanna look at that to Tatula XT with that Exceler 3000, and all three of these will take care of the angler in your life. (upbeat music)