buying my crimbo present

Lot's of choice and I think there will be numerous combos posted. How about a Sakura Shukan (£130 I think) and a Shimano Exage 4000 i paid £52.99 for mine.

My combo is a Bushwhacker £50 and an Shimano Exage £52.99. That would give you plenty left to buy some nice braid and your first plugs.

I am going spinning said:

Lot's of choice and I think there will be numerous combos posted. How about a Sakura Shukan (£130 I think) and a Shimano Exage 4000 i paid £52.99 for mine.

My combo is a Bushwhacker £50 and an Shimano Exage £52.99. That would give you plenty left to buy some nice braid and your first plugs.

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Jason,

I agree with Marc, I have bought the same combo for my son and it is good kit, if you are just starting out this will be a good buy and give you change for the other bits, I have the Shukan but not sure if they are still available :jump:

Steve, my understanding is that the Shukan has been replaced by the Rookie - about the same price I believe? I have the Quantum Energy Bass (about £80) and my son has the Bushwacker in 8'6" and 7' (around £50-60 each) and we both use Shimano Exage reels. Not top end at all, but plenty good enough for the money, and more than adequate for for most fishing leaving some budget for lures. That is where your money will end up going - trust me!

I have to agree with Griff,
For the money the Quantum Energy Bass 8' (£80ish) Is awesome value for money, The Bushwhacker is good too, But the Quantum will give you more options lure wise to use.
Reel wise Either the Shimano Exage (front drag version) 4000 (about £60) has handled everything I have thrown at it this year with ease. The other option would be the Daiwa Exceller Plus (£85) is a very good reel for the money, got one recently and I am very impressed so far.

So a Quantum and either reel, will leave you enough money left over for a spool of braid (14lb fireline crystal-easy to use) and a few clips, so you are pretty much ready for any bass swimming.

Jason,

Good advice from everyone so far and I am sure more will come, I have paired with my Shukan a Cormoran Black Star 3000 purchased for £90 and a very good reel for the money :jump:

Steve,
Where did you get your Black Star from, very nice looking reel spec wise. I gather they "might" be made by Daiwa. So the quality should be good too.

Tunny said:

Steve,
Where did you get your Black Star from, very nice looking reel spec wise. I gather they "might" be made by Daiwa. So the quality should be good too.

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Tunny,

Have a guess :muttley: Will PM you soon, They are made by Daiwa and for the money it is a nice bit of kit, glad I had it :horsesword:

http://www.harrissportsmail.com/Models. ... elID=16477

Link above to the Shimano exage at £52.99

If you are prepared to do the legwork on the internet and also consider one of last year's models Shimano Exage (FA or RA) rather than this year's (FB and RB) then you can do a bit better - £35 plus postage is the best I have managed but £45 is achievable. As it goes I use the rear drag (RA and RB) models and actually quite like them especially the easily changed spool. Other reels will do the job just as well but for the money, you can almost regard them as disposable after a couple of seasons. Mine are in Shimano Felindre for a service just now after one and a half season's hard work. I'll let you know how much that costs when they come back.