The ultimate “junk” fishing combos?

We were recently on vacation on a small lake. Of course, I brought the boat loaded to the gills with 20+ rods and oodles of tackle. Much to my dismay, the lake didn’t have a boat ramp so I couldn’t get the boat in the water (the lake map we consulted before booking was apparently outdated and the public ramp got converted to a private beach, *sigh*), what a bummer… So I ended up fishing from the dock with my 7-yo daughter for 3 days… Which obviously led to a much more rationed rod arsenal. I played around with various rods but eventually ended up with 2 “junk” combos, one casting and one spinning. Didn’t want 10 expensive rods sitting on the dock for the kids to step on…

• Evergreen IRSC Super Raven casting rod with Megabass FX73SV reel

• Steez “The One” spinning rod with Exist 2500 reel

The Super Raven is as bougie as it gets for a fishing rod that can do it all - Cranks, top water, jerkbaits, jigs, chatterbaits, etc… It’s a great “jack of all trades, master of none” rod. It has the taper of a spinnerbait / swimjig rod much like the P5 Dark Sleeper (which I tried and didn’t love the rod overall but the taper is super versatile). No wonder Imae calls the Super Raven “a versatile rod for the 2020s”. It wouldn’t be my go-to jig rod, but I could enjoy it for pretty much everything else. I recently read that Imae fished a tournament and had 10 of the Super Ravens on deck… Really simplifies the rod options.

I had also forgotten how great the Daiwa T3 platform is… I could set it up easily with the Magforce 3D brake to cast a country mile whether it was a 1/4 oz jig, a 1/2 oz jerkbait or a 1 oz top water. The 60 different possible settings came in really handy and could easily cover any of the lures I was tossing with max distance and no backlash (ok, maybe a couple bird nests ;-). This is really the first time I tried all 3 of the major settings: “Long Cast”, “All-Around” and “Maxbrake”. Historically, I just left it on “All-Around”… Putting it on “Long Cast” made a huge difference, especially when aiming to maximize distance… I can’t think of another casting reel that can give me the distance I was getting for this wide of a range of lures without needing an experienced thumb…

The Steez “The One” was a great complement, being 7’6” M-ML. Could cast a jerkbait in the wind and sling spybaits, small swimbaits, ned rigs, etc… far into the distance.

Needless to say, my 7-yo daughter outfished me with her $50 6’6” pink spinning rod and reel combo, casting a grub about 10’ from the dock… But hey, is the enjoyment really about catching fish???

This will definitely be my one-two punch next time I’m fishing from shore. The silver lining of not having the boat is a less focus on finding spots / electronics / catching fish and more time focusing on gear setup / capabilities / experimentation / exploration. You gotta roll with what you got.

What are your go-to “junk fishing” combos, one casting and one spinning?