good baitcasting setup

Looking to try a new type of setup. Trying to figure out what type of pole and reel to learn how to use a bait caster. Idealy i would like to end up with a good arrangement for stripers and pike, which should be good for fresh and salt, mostly boat action. Is a medium or heavy setup good to learn on or should i be looking at a bass setup to learn the ropes. Also wondering what type of line is good to learn with. Sufix braid is the latest line that people are raving about but is it good for a learner or is good ole mono the way to get ones feet wet. Seems that some people think a bait caster is the only way, so tell me why?

Where to begin Angry John? All my bass set ups are baitcasting. The poles are all med-heavy. I use 6 1/2- to 7' rods. I learned how to use them when I was 14 from my dad. He gave me an old crappy set up, tied on a 1/2 weight, and told me if I could master casting it in the back yard, he'd get me an Abu 5000. I practiced my butt off, learned to cast the thing a country mile with no backlash, and he got me a good set up. Which at the time was pretty sweet, still is I own 4, 2 newer, and 2 older ones. I'd actually start out with a medium action 6 1/2', with a decent reel. I also own an Abu Black Max, awesome spinnerbait reel. The lesser expensive Abu's are around 60-80$. You can go to Dicks and pick up a less expensive combo set up for 60-80$ total. Quantam makes a good one, plus many more there. Cabelas has some also. That's the way to go from my perspective. I have a bunch of mix match rods right now, but will be converting over to all Abu soon. Hope this helps.

The first bait caster I had was a really cheap pistol grip setup. Can't recall the maker, but I learned how to whip a small Pheobe on 6-8 lb test a mile without backlash. Rod was only 5.5' long and had a tip that whipped. Had a lot of fun with spawning bass near shore. Solid hook set and better feel with retrieve of action lures. Love em on surface frogs over weeds. Most of my current setups are 7" single piece med rods for clear water and 7" med/heavy for heavy weeds. My Black Max reel started malfunctioning and caused heavy backlash. Would go to hook set and spool would spin instead of lock in place. Pissed me off and I could not fix. May be a rare defect, since everyone I hear from loved em. Threw it away. Use Quantum reels at 7:1 ratio on all rods now, which I LOVE. Next bait caster will be low gear ratio 5.2:1 for cranks. Hate changing lures. Would rather grab a fresh set up when ever possible.

http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=740570&categoryId=0&parentCategoryId=0&subCategoryId=0&indexId=0&productVariantId=1300749&quantity=1&itemGUID=1006c0afac1084556ff8fdf00817ad60&WTz_l=SBC%3BBRprd740404%3Bcat104822280&destination=%2Fcheckout%2Fitem_added_to_cart.jsp%3Fresult%3Dsuccess%26categoryIds%3D104793480%7C104762880%7C104822280%26productId%3D740570%26backToPreviousUrl%3D%252Fcatalog%252Fproduct.jsp%253FproductId%253D740570

this looks like a nice setup that would allow me to catch stripers and large pike. If it is in the stars and i am in an area that have muskey i might try for one of those as well. I only want to do this once so let me know if there is a better choice or deal out there!!!!!

forgot to mention, i want to use the rapala mag f18 i have and some suicks with this rod so it needs to be able to throw some heavy lures...

A setup like that will serve you well for either trolling or casting big baits and livelining pike and stripers. With all the options out there, who knows what the best deal is, or the perfect setup. I don't know how the Fish Eagle rods compare to the Salt Strikers. However, a good bait caster is pretty versitile for heavy fresh water species up to nearshore stripers and blues. Way more fun to fight them on lighter tackle than with the broomsticks and winches commonly used in the LIS.

i have an ugly stick lite medium action pole with a pfluger presidential 35 which has 20 lb briad, but i dont know if that will get the job done on larger pike and stripers.

Pole may lack some backbone. The reel will handle the fish, though the drag locked down is still really light. It's considered an ultralight saltwater reel. That said, I love catching schoolies up to 10lb. bass and blues on my 7 ft. MH St. Croix with a Cabo 20 spinning reel. Similar specs to the President 35. I've used that reel on everything from steelhead to stripers. You will eventually wear down the drag and I think my anti-reverse bearing may be about to go. Will you will lose some fish that you may land on a heavier setup? Yep. That's the fun of ultra-light fishing. As long as you've got enough to land the fish in a few minutes if you catch and release, go light. Definately keep it in the arsenal. A baitcaster like you were looking at provides another option. I take 6-8 outfits with me per trip.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/220907980170?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

this looks like a nice pole if i could get it cheap any thoughts
if i did win it then i would need to find a good reel, but i figured it might be a good place to start

Hey John, the Cabelas add you posted is a very good set up for the money. Of course I'm partial to Abu anyways, but the C4s are a nice set up. Thinking about one for my next set up. The St Croix on e-bay is sweet also. Good luck.