Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Trout stream/lake rod and reel

Going fishing this weekend. I've always just used a cheap Ugly Stick combo from Walmart and while they do work, I kinda want something nicer (plus it's a good excuse to spend some money). Budget is $120 for rod and reel. They don't have to be a combo. I've heard good stuff about the Pflueger President reel but am open to any brand - whatever is best for the buck.



I'm heading to Bass Pro today - would love any thoughts from this crew. This is for the Sierras - we are going to June/Silver Lake in Mammoth.


Thanks,

Jeff

I did a trip to Montana several years ago and got the Pflueger Presidential combo with a 30 series spinning reel & 5’6” 1-pc light action rod. I have been VERY happy with both; that reel is my go-to everyday reel.

This combo with a 6’6” 2-pc light action rod & 25 series reel is prolly better balanced and one heckofa deal for $80!

I took my 5’6” light action rod with a 25 series reel to the northern LP brookie fishing this past spring and it was fantastic.

These Presidential combos are real sleepers IMO.

The Pflueger is a pretty good reel. Just pick the size you want.

The Pflueger President is an excellent reel in that price range, I use several of them.

Shakespeare makes several versions of the Ugly Stick.

The Ugly Stick "Elite" is a big upgrade over the regular Ugly Stick, but still almost un breakable.

The rod & reel will run about $60 each.

Don't be afraid to mail order them if Bass Pro does not have exactly what you want.

Shimano Sedona 750 UL and Shimano 5.5 ft. UL Rod
Reel was $60 and rod was $40 Loaded up with Fireline- 10 lb test, 3 lb diameter Another $10

Shimano Sedona/Sahara and a fenwick eagle would probably fit your budget. I have a few old Penn 4300SS I use with St.Croix 6’6” UL rods that serve me well

I’ll be the lone voice of dissent regarding the Pfluger President. I’ve had a couple of them and out of the box they seemed great, but they just didn’t hold up to heavy use for me and wound up falling apart. The same is true about a Lews Mach I spinning reel.

I have Shimano and Daiwa reels that I’ve put through far tougher use and they still work fine. I really like the Daiwa BG 1500 for trout. A 2500 will work too and covers larger fish better, if you plan on using it for more than one purpose. But, the BG is over your combined budget. Maybe take a look at a Daiwa or Shimano combo within your price window. Even the cheaper reels from the big 2 have worked well for me.

At the advice of the BPS employee who fished the Sierras were I was going I ended up with a Daiwa Legalis 1000 reel and a BPS Panfish Elite 7'2" rod. The combo worked perfectly for shore, boat, and even stream fishing. I had a blast. It was my first time fishing with fluorocarbon line and that was a bit interesting.

That's great you found what you needed and had a good trip.

Fluro on spinning reels is a goat rodeo

Sounds like a great combo you scored and a memorable trip!

Post up highlight pics?

Good photos, nice Brook Trout. Looks like that catches them all. Same Panther Martin?

I have several of the Pfleuger Presidents in 20,25,and 30 size. So far they have been fine, 5-6 years of use. The Fenwich Eagle 6.5' light action I use with one of them has worked well for jigging trout on Tanneycomo. It's really limber, makes setting the hook questionable on bass. Really prefer the St. Croix Premier but the pricing on them these days is over your combo price.

Interesting the Pflueger conversation. I finished my northern Canada guiding season Yesterday and in the last group there were two of those new Fluegers that went down.
The knob that you hold to real in threaded off. No biggy but you have to take the end cap off the end of the knob to get a screwdriver down into the core and screw the piece back on then thread the cap piece on. Both cap Pieces were on so hard it took two workman’s to get one off doing nasty damage to those thumb knobs.
First time with that issue, other than that great reels for the money.
Osky

Sorry for the late response. Yes, same PM. In this case all the pics were on the same day...indeed same hour. We have some good fishing here....

I've been using flouro on spinning reels for over 20 years. No goats have been rodeo'd by me. Love the stuff.

I had the same questions. Awesome pictures of some great fish. Thanks for posting.

Ive posted this before but my little stream pocket sized tackle box has a dozen Panther Martins in Black/ Gold. One in Silver/Yellow, and a couple Rainbow patterns. Guess which I use the most....

I'm with ya. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I don’t have luck with fluorocarbon on any kind of reel as a mainline. It spills off my spinning reels and is very unforgiving on baitcasters. I’ve tried several brands and it always ends up in frustration.

I do use it for leader. I spool my spinning reels with 10# braid and tie 15 feet of fluorocarbon to it. When it gets down to about 8 feet, I replace it. On baitcasters I either go straight braid or mono.

There's huge differences between brands of flouro. I only use Seaguar Red, Seaguar Blue and Pline. I only try to cast with 6# and under. I use a ton of Seaguar Red 20# for walleye snells but I'd never try to cast it. I use 80# Seaguar as a tip up leader. Pline is what I use when I cannot find either Seaguar and need something right now.

It was Seaguar - I don't remember which color. I don't think I fish enough and have good enough technique to deal with how easily it tangles. Granted, it was 4# test but I could hardly see it to tie hooks on and I've never had a reel get tangled up so fast in normal fishing. Think I'll go back to mono since I fish a couple times a year right now.

I will say - it sure does disappear in the water. So maybe leaving as a leader makes sense.

It probably does tangle more and faster than mono but I've been using it so long that I have learned to mitigate the issues.

Yeah that’s what I call a goat rodeo.

I went back to trilene blue label green in 4 lb test. Not sure if the fish can tell the difference.