Best Gear For River Bream/flathead

[abitfishy]

Hey guys,

Geez, this looking around at gear is confusing.

Anyway, I have some fishing gear in the lower price range as follows:

Rods:

Alvey 500 Series 7' General Purpose

Shimano Technium 6'6" Spinline Weight 2-4kg

Shimano Technium 7'6" Snapper Special 6-8kg

Ugly Stik 3' 10" 1-3kg (fantastic canoe/boat rod)

Reels:

Shimano Aernos 2000 (currently on the 7'6" Shimano rod)

Shimano Sedona 2500FB (currently on the 6'6" Shimano rod)

Shimano Sedona 1500 (on the ugly stik)

Now, although I have a boat, I fish mainly from shore of the river (woronora), and am looking to potentially upgrade my gear to something that will give me better casting distance (but stick to spinning gear). Now, the rods and reels above is department store starting with 'K' gear, which are ok, but I'm wondering if I could get 1 rod and reel suitable for bream/flatties in the river, casting squares of mullet or maybe lures for flatties (not often).

Are there rod and reel combinations no more than say $250, that will give me substantially better casting tan the above gear, or not worth while without spending heaps more?

I read that a slightly longer, light action rod would be better and I have seen Nitro Distance Spin Light 7' 6" ($249, so might have to find one on special) or the Shimano Finesse Bream Spin 762 7' 6" 2 pce 2-4kg. ($109) - are either of these any good (the nitro write up makes them sound hot stuff indeed, but its by the makers!), and what about a reel - do the narrower 'long cast' spools make much difference? I saw a shimano reel somewhere that had the long cast narrower spool and also the top of the spool was 'bent' up so to speak for even better removal of line.....but can't find it again.

Advice appreciated.

Edited May 7, 2006 by abitfishy

[Guest fishrunner]

G'day Abitfishy, and to the site,

For under 250.00 for a combo I would suggest /recommend the raider bream finesse and a symetre2500,

These are a nice smooth combo that you could load with say 6lb fireline, add your leader of choice and not be dissapointed at all as a 1st decent combo. which is very versatile!.

Will throw your llighter 1/16th jig heads , and hardbodies quite well. Will also throw 3/8jigheads if using stickbait type plastics into the distance as well.

The rod has alot of butt and a fair reserve of power and will turn a good fish .

As for the nitro, very good rod but a bit over your 250 combo predicted budget(once you add the reel and fireline).

cheers , hope this helps.

[abitfishy]

G'day Abitfishy, and to the site,

For under 250.00 for a combo I would suggest /recommend the raider bream finesse and a symetre2500,

These are a nice smooth combo that you could load with say 6lb fireline, add your leader of choice and not be dissapointed at all as a 1st decent combo. which is very versatile!.

Will throw your llighter 1/16th jig heads , and hardbodies quite well. Will also throw 3/8jigheads if using stickbait type plastics into the distance as well.

The rod has alot of butt and a fair reserve of power and will turn a good fish .

As for the nitro, very good rod but a bit over your 250 combo predicted budget(once you add the reel and fireline).

cheers , hope this helps.

Thanks for the advice mate, and the welcome. I've been lurking a while but not taking part.

Anyway, is spending more money on that gear actually going to give sufficient casting benefits over the gear I have (ie compared to say my technium 6ft 6, with the sedona 2500 or the aernos 2000) - I don't want to spend another $250 or so for little more benefit.....

Ta

[Guest fishrunner]

IMO,

the main advantage you will find over a glass techium rod is that the move to a "graphite rod" will give you a faster and more responsive tip section in a lighter package.

I have a bream finese with a symetyre 2500, this rod is a great landbased option for a large range of applications and will outcast a techium in the same weight class easily.

I'm sure a few other guy's can offer a bit of feedback as well.

There is a big performance gap between glass and graphite in the lighter rods whiich you are using.

cheers