Bass Fishing: Power & Finesse Two Must-Have Rod & Reel Combos That Do It All!
2 minutes ago by Chris Munchow
Modified Jan 14th, 2026 at 1:04 PM
Bass Fishing: Power & Finesse
Two must-have rod & reel combos that do it all
Dawson Wisner grew up in Westminster, Maryland. “I started bass fishing when I was pretty young,” the 27-year-old Okeechobee fishing guide recalls. “I’d go around with my dad and just hop farm and golf course ponds… stuff like that. It definitely hooked me, so I worked hard and saved up enough money to buy a boat and move to Florida.”
Wisner worked at a couple different tackle shops, familiarizing himself with the best available gear while he learned the South-Florida waters. He also began fishing a variety of bass tournaments. About six years ago, he earned his captain’s license and started a guide service so he could share his fishing passions and expertise with others.
“My clients range anywhere from the complete beginner who’s never casted a rod before all the way to the advanced guy who just wants to come out and scope a ten-pounder,” Wisner says. “Anywhere in between that. It’s a really diverse group.”
Wisner treats his clients to some truly exceptional trophy waters and unique fishing experiences, from the Kissimmee River and Okeechobee headwaters to the big lake itself, as well as some tucked-away jewels.
“Okeechobee is the big one for bass, but I do a lot of exotic trips, too… peacock bass, clown knives… that sort of thing,” he says. “Florida is a really unique place to fish, and these exotic species really appeal to anglers, and rightly so. You just can’t find them too many other places.”
Two of Wisner’s go-to rod-and-reel combos that cover a wide range of his presentations come from St. Croix’s GXR Bass lineup.
“I use the GXR74HF FROG & FLIP casting combo and the GXR71MF STICKBAIT spinning combo a lot, both personally and for my clients,” he says. “There’s nothing not to like. You get a premium SCII-carbon St. Croix rod which is basically a BASS X… I love those rods, too… paired with a super-smooth high-performance SEVIIN GXR reel that holds a lot of line and casts a mile. You get the whole deal for like $200 and my clients get to fish with premium-quality gear that adds to their enjoyment and overall experience. You’d be surprised how many of my repeat clients have their own GXR Bass Combos when they come back to fish with me. They’re extremely durable. I’ve never broken one, which is pretty remarkable for a guide rod. They’re lightweight, sensitive, and the reels cast a mile. The GXR baitcaster is one of the furthest-casting reels I have in my boat.”
Wisner dives deeper on the GXR74HF FROG & FLIP. “It’s my all-time favorite, especially here in Florida, because it does so many of our most productive presentations really well,” he says. “It frogs, flips reeds, punches mats, and we can also fish a big worm on it. It handles 65-pound braid easily, and fishes anywhere from 3/8 to an ounce and a half of weight no problem. They’re plenty sensitive and that slightly softer SCII carbon delivers the perfect amount of forgiveness you want when dragging a worm or punching. I just love it.”
Just because Florida is big-bass country with tons of cover doesn’t mean Wisner doesn’t use spinning rods. “Like almost everywhere, our bass love a wacky-rigged stickbait,” he says. “The GXR71M spinning combo was designed for this. We use it on Okeechobee in open water and around sparse cover a lot, with great success. I also tap this combo for an eighth-to-three-eighths-ounce Dirty Jigs jighead with a Missile Baits 3.5” Shockwave paddletail swimbait. But where this combo also shines is on places like Lake Ida down in West Palm for peacock bass and clown knifefish. We use the same small swimbaits for those exotics but also pitch a fair amount of live shiners on this rod and reel, too. It’s just a great, dialed-in setup to fish with… light, crisp, and sensitive in the hand with no-nonsense cork grips, plus a smooth and equally light 3000-size SEVIIN GXR spinning reel that handles line exceptionally well and does everything you need it to… over and over and over again.”
Wisner thinks St. Croix’s GXR Bass combos are unique in today’s market. “A lot of experienced anglers shy away from combos,” he says. I think the reason for that is because, even with a lot of the more premium ones, you end up getting a reel that doesn’t perform at the same level as the rod, or vice-versa. But these GXRs are different. They’re premium-quality high-performance St. Croix rods and smooth and ultra-reliable SEVIIN reels that are precision-matched… designed to work together and be sold together at a price that’s attractive to a lot of anglers. I’m on the water doing this all the time, so when gear makes me happy, I know it will make almost any other bass fisherman happy, too.
Contact Captain Dawson through his Facebook or Instagram pages, or at [email protected].
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