Line and rods vs applications
Can I get a general idea of what line and rod you use for different lures? I mainly throw spinner baits , soft plastics and crank baits. Sometimes top water frogs and spooks. I fish on a budget so I just have three rods. Also I generally use straight braid. Do you think line visibility could be effecting my success?
One of the pros will probably have better answers to this shortly. I've personally never thrown a diving crankbait on braid, it floats, so I don't think it's usually a top choice. I think lots of anglers like it for topwater and soft plastics. I know a lot of anglers use a fluorocarbon leader when fishing more finesse soft plastics. I personally keep a 100yd spool of spiderwire fluoro for making leaders, it's pretty cost-effective. Berkley also has a new 100% fluorocarbon at an affordable price, which would probably last all year or more, if you're making leaders with it.
When it comes to rod selection, there are a ton of options. To keep it simple I recommend a few all around rods that can help you be successful until you are ready to make the leap into lure specific rods. I recommend using a 7' casting rod in medium heavy action. This can be used for spinnerbaits, texas rigged plastics, jigs, carolina rigs and spinnerbaits. I recommend this rod - Cashion M8437 Elite. The spinning rod I use for Senko's, shakey head, and for a drop shot is the Cashion P8437s elite. I use both of these rods a lot.
As far as line goes. I use braid a lot too. I almost always use a fluorocarbon leader on my braid. I really believe line visibility matters.
Jason is right about cranking. Its weird how with all those hooks, crankbaits are the hardest lure to keep a fish hooked. Cashion has a great series of cranking rods. I use flourocarbon only when cranking.
Thanks for the help!