RustInPiece

Well for the rod I'm looking to get a custom one from Rod Dynamics, have seen his stuff and it's nice. Reel is still undecided but may end up getting it pimped to match the rod (soothes the OCD). Line (has been a lot of agonising) after a few discussions and talking to someone who throws a lot of swimbaits it's a toss up between 25-30lb copolymer or 40-50lb braid and 50-60lb mono leader, would hate to snap a $80 Gigantarel off mid cast! any input welcome!

Had a read of the article and the main thing that stuck was the use of mono or fluro over braid! a part of me feels I was lucky with some of the dodgy casts I threw with my Chibitarel or bullshad last week and not to snap them off!! so have scratches the 50lb braid main, mono leader and thinking of going straight 15kg Platypus Lo Stretch mono, pretty thick at 0.41mm...

So after my recent trip to Copeton and catching some nice cod on swimbaits I'm wanting to invest in a swimbait setup. For the trip I was using my new Abu Garcia Salty Stage 4-8kg which has a casting weight rating of 15-40g and handled the 5" bull shad and Jackall Chibitarel well but wouldn't mind being able to throw big wake baits and bigger swimbaits. currently considering 13 Fishing Omen swimbait rod and Concept A3 reel or Samaki Zing Xtreme but unsure of what reel to pick for that as I'm a little OCD with matching brands. i like with the Samaki that it has a 2 piece join at the handle which would shave some length of for transport. I really like the 13 Omen and Concept A3 but get mixed reports as far as quality goes. plan to use 50lbs Platypus braid and mono as it's what I've been using and like.

So ended up going to Copeton which is what I wanted. first off, it's so freaking huge!!! A really nice place and keen to make the trip again! my mate managed 1 on a wake bait going 91cm and I managed 3 going 89, 79 and 78cm on 130mm swimbaits. Certainly want to get into swimbaits more now. plenty of nice fish caught by others during our stay.

Thanks mate, we are fishing from a boat and I'll look into a few more surface lures as it gets closer... yeah i think he may of been expecting a bit much, I couldn't understand as I'd be happy with a 75+cm cod for a first!

My mates changed his mind to Glenlyon now, I really wanted to check out Copeton but my mate was put off because he only caught 2 cod in 3 days. I said that's just fishing... In my arsenal I have 3x 1oz Assassin chatterbaits 3x 1oz Assassin spinnerbaits 2x Oar-gee 100mm plows 2x Westin Swim 100 2x Westin Hypo Teez Buzz n Blade 1x Jackall Mikey 140mm wake bait any other suggestions for lures under 40g?

Thanks for the heads up on possible dam conditions and places to target. i found purple to work well for me at Boondoomba for bass and yellas, always thought it was strange that they smash purple lures.

So first off I'll be going to Pindari Dam this time next month and looking for lure suggestions. so far I have 3 large spinner baits and 3 large chatterbaits... I'm looking at getting 2 100mm 15ft Oargee plows and a Jackall Mikey 140mm wake bait, any other suggestions for lures or colours? will be my first time checking out this Dam and first time actively targeting Murray cod so tips are welcome. thanks!

Originally thought I'd never spend more than $150 on a rod... looks the goods though. Keen to catch some fish with it!

Oh mate I'm having serious withdrawals being that my last decent fish was the Boondoomba comp in Feb.... hopefully get to get out and do a lot more over the new few months.

So just an update here is what I ended up doing... for my new bass/yells rod I went with a Diawa Gen black wicked weasel spin rod (2-6kg) and paired that with a Diawa Gen Black 2500 reel... and.... thought why the hell not and got a Abu Garcia Salty Stage 4-8kg 1pc baitcaster and the Revo 3 Inshore, plan to use this for cod/Barra even though I bought a shimano raider and stradic for that and haven't used it yet... lucky the missus wont won't see the bill!

As mentioned above I'm looking at the $450ish mark for rod and reel. thanks for the replies.

Hello, new to this forum. Been fishing since I was a kid and really getting into it. I tend to over think and then stress when purchasing new gear and I hope this forum can help me with that as well as teach me a few things along the way. thanks, RIP

Hey guys new to the forum and am looking at setting up a new rod and reel. originally I wanted to go a NS Black Hole Amped C602L (2-8lb) or C602M (6-12lb) with either a 13 Fishing Concept A or Abu Garcia Revo 3 Inshore with 10lb braid as main line but after googling apparently fine braid isn't good to run on baitcasters? This would be my first baitcaster and have always wanted to try one... so now I'm looking at the good old spin gear and thinking the Amped 7' 2-6 2pc rod and a Diawa Gen black 2000 size reel with 8-10lb braid... any other suggestions (rod & reel)for around that $450 mark give or take? this will be mainly used for chasing bass and yellas in Dams from boats and kayaks with the occasional small-medium Toga. primally cast 3/8 oz spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and 50-60mm hard bodies although I wouldn't mind playing with soft plastics and blades/vibes more often. i like 2pc rods for ease of transporting. Rod I am replacing is a shimano Jungle Stix 3-6kg with a Daiwa Arid spin reel loaded with 10lb braid, has worked well and will be put on back up/bait duties. sorry about all the words, looking to solve my over thinking and learn a few things on the forum. thanks, RIP.