Bankside tools / Free
Shore Setup Selector
Four questions about the water you are standing in front of. You get one rig rather than a range, and a line explaining every part of it. Nothing is sent anywhere and nothing is stored.
Your setup
Link to this setup Every answer is in the address, so this link opens the same rig on any phone.
The seven things this list needs
Every rig above comes out of the same seven purchases. Sizes and colour change with your answers; the list does not. We run no physical tests, so we do not tell you which rod is good. We tell you the specification the evidence argues for, and each line links to the page that makes the argument.
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Spinning rod: 7 foot, medium power, fast or extra-fast action
Check the printed lure rating covers 1/8 to 5/8 oz and the line rating covers 6 to 12 lb.
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Spinning reel: 3000 size
The size that balances a seven-foot rod and holds enough line to fight a fish away from cover.
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Main line: 10 lb braid
Stays on the spool. Only the leader changes with the water.
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Leader: 8, 10 and 12 lb fluorocarbon
10 lb is the default. 8 in clear open water, 12 near wood and rock.
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Hooks: 4/0 extra wide gap worm hook, with a bait keeper on the shank
The keeper is the part people skip, and it is what stops the bait sliding and tearing.
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Soft plastic: 5 inch stick bait, green pumpkin
Black and blue second, for muddy water. Watermelon red third.
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Bullet weights: 1/16 and 1/8 oz
Unpegged. Only needed when wind or depth stops you feeling the bait.
What this does not know
It has never seen your lake. It does not know water temperature, season, time of day, or how hard the bank gets fished, and each of those can outweigh everything above. The rules come from named practitioners and manufacturer specifications rather than from tests we ran, because we run none. Treat the output as a defensible starting point that saves you an afternoon of guessing.