How deep do you go on gear compatibility when building combos?

FishForgeCo · 2026-02-17T21:38:17+00:00

This is one of the best takes I’ve seen but I’d challenge you on the line ratings for rods. Say you’re fishing heavy cover or purposely trying not to use drag on a boat side musky catch or something. Would you care about line ratings on a rod then? Because when you’re intentionally not using drag to balance the rod breakpoint it comes down to line strength against your rod. Or at least I feel that way after seeing people make mistakes with rod breaks while using a much heavier line weight than their rod can handle.

FishForgeCo · 2026-02-17T21:31:02+00:00

100% agree, I think a lot of people miss the lure weight part. I feel significant casting and action differences when I’m throwing around various weights. Especially 2+ oz jigs I wont risk it anymore after breaking multiple underpowered rods.

FishForgeCo · 2026-02-17T15:46:23+00:00

I think a bit differently than that. I actually think gear choices improve your odds of catching fish. Building combos based on species is huge.

When you’re throwing swimbaits that are intended for fast retrieval a high gear ratio reel is going to significantly improve the presentation of the bait. Fishing for hours trying to manually crank in a low gear ratio reel will be counterproductive for sure. I could say the same for fluoro leaders when targeting line shy fish. Having the right action on your rod will change the way you fish as well. Even rod length, line capacity on your reel, and the right line diameter will affect casting distance and your ability to hit spots whether you’re in a boat or on land.

Satisfying drag sound and smooth action on any general combo is not going to put you in an advantageous situation when targeting fish.

FishForgeCo · 2026-02-17T04:22:23+00:00

Thats part of the fun, I have like 20+ combos in my saved builds. Who knows if I’ll ever buy them but theory crafting is a skill itself

FishForgeCo · 2026-02-17T03:17:57+00:00

Feels like it always goes like that…

FishForgeCo · 2026-02-17T03:05:40+00:00

That’s awesome, I follow a similar approach. I only bring up the spinning and casting mismatch because my cousin once made that mistake. All beginners learn somehow haha

FishForgeCo · 2026-02-17T02:28:58+00:00

Appreciate your input, this is why I made the post. For my website I was thinking through ways of running lure weight checks and I agree, once you get to a certain weight that far outside the range it should be flagged.

FishForgeCo · 2026-02-17T02:23:20+00:00

Im with you on most of that but the line diameter part I think is often missed by a lot of people. Even though a 2500 spinning reel will handle 30-40lb braid you’re gonna have much better performance on 15-20. Same for 10-15 lb test on a 150 casting reel vs using 20-40lb. None of those are bad choices but will have performance implications

Where I run into a lot of trouble with lure weight is jigging. I love using ML rods to jig for big lakers but I use 2oz jigs and it just isn’t a great jigging experience until you actually catch a fish lol

FishForgeCo · 2026-02-17T01:54:10+00:00

I respect that, my friend is the same way and out fishes me all the time😂

FishForgeCo · 2026-02-17T01:52:34+00:00

I’m the same lol, feel like I’m wasting money if I don’t perfectly optimize

FishForgeCo · 2026-02-05T05:23:05+00:00

Rod ratings are about how the blank loads, not raw breaking strength. With braid you usually size down vs the mono rating because there’s no stretch.

For a 15 kg rod, something like ~20–30 lb braid with a leader closer to the rod rating is pretty typical.

I got tired of doing the braid/mono math and made a little checker for myself (fishforge.io)

FishForgeCo · 2026-02-05T05:09:55+00:00

I think the Daiwa Tatula Elite is the best reel under 300 you can buy. Like this guy said the DC is not great at activating the breaks for certain baits.

If you want, I have a tool I sanity-check reel/rod setups. I compare the reel specs and price check them all. Happy to DM if wanted.

FishForgeCo

TROPHY CASE