Using a steelhead rod for large/small mouth bass fishing

by Micah
(Page, Az Lake Powell)

Q. I moved from the Puget Sound area and have a very nice Abu Garcia Ambassadeur C3 6500 and a nice steelhead rod setup that I love, and has caught me many salmon. It's an 8'6" rod, so quite long.

I moved to Page, AZ and have the benefit of being able to fish on Lake Powell now. I'd love to get back into Bass fishing, but I'm not particularly fond of investing into a new rod/reel setup if I don't have to. Would I be fine fishing for large and small mouth using worms with my current setup?

A. Hey Micah,

That setup seems a little too much for bass fishing but it will work. You say "using worms". With a rod that size I can only assume you mean live worms..maybe? If that's the case then you're talking about casting and then waiting. Which should be fine with that setup, although I don't know how many bass you are going to catch like that.

Now if you are talking soft plastic worms, I just don't think that is going to work out for you. That combo is just too big to be casting over and over again as is necessary with artificial lures. I mean you'll be able to get it out there a good ways but it just seems like it would be too cumbersome to fish as needed for bass.

By the way, I'm assuming you're talking about fishing from the shore also. If you're fishing from a boat it's way overkill for that size.

In the end you can use it just fine for shore fishing but for casting lures, I feel it is not the ideal setup and may affect your experience. In other words you may not have a good time and start thinking this isn't your thing.

Downsize at least a foot to a foot and a half. Get a baitcast reel or spinning reel. You should be able to find a more suitable combo for less than a $100 maybe even way less if you head to one of the big box stores. Even a "cheaper" combo may do better for casting and wind up making it a more enjoyable experience.

Have a great one. thanks for the question.

RR