Hey guys I am looking for some advice on a rod/reel combo for my father. I have been taking him out with me lately and he's really got the bug and I want to get him set up right.

I'd like to stay under $200. We mainly fish Lewisville creeks and bridges with the occasional deepwater brush piles when the wind isn't crazy. I do a lot of vertical jigging.

Any suggestions for Rod/reel and type of braid.

Thanks and Merry Christmas everyone!

My personal favs, Bonehead tackle 8' spinning rod, shimano spinning reel, any of their 1000 series, and Power Pro Super Slick braid in 15lb hi-viz yellow. I use an 8 lb. mono leader.

Get him a 6.5' proangler, an 8' proangler, and a Pflueger President 6930 spooled with 15 pound power pro...he will have a great setup for casting and a great rod for vertical jigging!

all that, including the line, should be right about $200, with enough left over to get a couple jigs!

Proangler or a Triumph 7' ML (made by St Croix)rod. Either will make a good rod. Any of the 500 series Shimano reels are very nice.

You can get set up with 2 good rod/reels for $200. Like Naggler mentioned above I would get one for brush piles (I prefer 10ft. for a little extra reach) and one for fishing under bridges. Don't know how high Lewisville bridges are but around here a 5ft 6in is long enough and I have busted a few of those under low bridges. I bet he will be happy with any set-up you get for him.

^^^^^^^ This ^^^^^^^^^^ It does not take primo tackle to catch a crappie. They are not tackle busters but I would suggest you spend more money on the rod than the reel. I like Shimano 1000 series reel and a 7t rod. A shorter rod is a god send if you fish under low lying bridges like I do. I could get two nice setups for $200.

You will get many varied opinions to this. I would personally get him 2 Pro Angler rods and the two smallest Pflueger President reels you can find. I would go with a 7' and a 10' rod. The 10' is nice when he is not fishing out of the front of the boat and he can still fish the same brush pile as the person on the front deck. I prefer 10 lb Sufix 832 braid in HiViz yellow.

I think Pro Angler only makes a 6.5' or 8' but no 7'. But I really like the Pro Anglers.

On their website it said they would have 7' around February

I'd get a 6.5' and 8' ProAngler rods and Quantum Optix10 reels, $19.95 at Academy. Those two rods will cost less than $100, so he'll be set up for about $150. If he likes a 10' rod, then go for the 10' in place of the 8'.

for jigging, Mitchell 310 SPINNING REEL RANGE FROM 69.00 TO 89.00 DEPENDS ON MODEL , SUFFIX 10# SIZE OF 4#,BERKLEY CHEERY OR LIGHTNING ROD 6" OR 6.6, THE 6.0 A LITTLE EASIER TO WORK WITH UNDER BRIDGES. GOOD LUCK W/ WHATEVER CHOOSE . I THINK JUST GREAT SPEND FISHING W/ YOUR DAD!I HAVE 3 MITCHELL REELS & BERKLEY ROD COMBO'S FOR SEVERAL YEARS NOW!

8' ProAngler with H20 Mettle reel and Bonehead braid.

Man...when those 7' Proanglers come out I am getting some. I prefer 7' for a "universal" rod!

Based on the experience I had, I would suggest beginners learn spinning reels first. Easy to handle. Dont have to worry about bird nest too much, and no backlash. Basically a spinning reel around $50 would do. Nonetheless, that would depend on which kind of fish you wanna fight. Reels might come into your view in a dazzling array. But IMO, you need to focus on several aspects: material, ball bearings, main shaft, smoothness, durability, etc. Generally speaking, gear ratio of spinning reels is lower than 6.5:1. Ours, mostly ranging 5 to 6. One thing for sure, make sure a reel meets your basic demands.
If starting learning baitcasting reels first, choose a gear ratio rang 6':1, so you can easily master both 5' and 7' when u r familiar with 6'. But backlash/birdnest is upsetting

As for rods, St. Croix is not a bad choice.