In this second blog of my series on how to get started in fishing, I am going to focus on selecting your first fishing pole. Now the information I am going to give you isn’t for all ages. I would not tell you to take this advice and apply it to your five-year old son who has never held a fishing pole in his life. Rather this information would be more for someone trustworthy of handling a spinning rod without destroying it right off the bat.
The fishing set up I recommend for beginners is the Pflueger President spinning combo. This probably won’t surprise many as you’ve possibly heard this combo mentioned on the forum a time or two if you’ve been reading posts long enough. Retail this combo costs around $80-$90 although I recently found a Black Friday deal selling them for just under $70.
As far as size goes, I’d select the 2500 size reel if possible. This will allow you to fish some of the heavier lures while also allowing you to efficiently handle some of the lighter ones. If the 2500 size reel sin't available then the 3000 series will work just fine too. For the rod I’d suggest the 7-foot medium power fast action model. If you are a bit shorter, then the 6.5-foot model would also be a good choice. You can find this rod as either a one piece or a two-piece model. Some may prefer the two-piece as you can break down the rod for easy storage. However, I prefer the one-piece as I believe that you will lose some rod sensitivity due to that break point in the rod blank.
The last piece of the puzzle is line selection. Although there are many line types out in the marketplace, there are three primary types of line to choose from: monofilament, fluorocarbon, and braid. Monofilament (or mono) is the cheapest of the three options and many suggest that beginners start off with this line for that reason. Flourocarbon is expensive, and anglers primarily use it because of its added sensitivity and invisibility in the water. Braid is also expensive, and anglers use it because of its strength, sensitivity, and manageability.
If you want to choose one type of line then I’d go with 10-pound braid because as a beginner there is nothing worse than getting tangles when trying to enjoy a day out on the water. However, my “reel” suggestion (get it?) is to purchase all three types of line for the following reasons: backing, main line, and leader. Instead of going into detail as to why you would do this, I will link you to a video that explains the process while showing you how to spool your reel using this method. One last tip I will give you for braid selection is to pick something with a color that you can easily see. This allows you to easily watch your line looking for any light bites that you wouldn’t feel with your rod. Specifically, I prefer yellow Power Pro braid and then I add a fluorocarbon leader for the invisibility factor on top of that.
I hope this helps you out if you are looking at purchasing your first fishing pole. As long as you take care of your gear, this set up will last you for years providing you with plenty of fish catches and memories to go along with it. Once again, if you have any questions leave them in the comments section or create a new post on the forum and let the Fishexplorer community help you out!