Soft Plastic Arsenal!

[diver1]

gday, wats your soft plastic rod collection consist of? in lake macquarie im usen a pflueger 6\6 graphite rod with a shimano sahara 1500 reel and 4 pound braid, but im thinken i mite need a bigger reel n stronger braid 4 flicken in the ocean and off shore in swansea channel. wat do use think and wat have use got?

[slinkymalinky]

hmmm... I know there'll be some tournament tragics who make this look pathetic but....

Silstar HG Graphite 7' 1-3kg, Stradic 1000 - 4lb Fireline

Berkley Drop Shot 7'2" 2-4kg, Stradic 2500 - 6lb Platypus Super Braid

Strudwick SicStick 7' 4-6kg, Stradic 2500 - 10lb Platypus Super Braid

Berkley Drop Shot 7'6" 4-8kg, Stradic 4000 - 20lb Bionic Braid

Daiwa TDSol 8' 4-8kg, Fireblood 4000 - 20lb Bionic Braid

Shimano TCurve 6'8" 5-10kg, Stradic 5000 - 30lb Bionic Braid

Then I've got about 4 or 5 'spare' outfits that I bring along when my family are with me.

Cheers, Slinky

Edited June 15, 2008 by slinkymalinky

[diver1]

im guna start building up my graphite rod collection, any preference between 1 and 2 piece? i have no idea, is 1 beter than the other?

[diver1]

ive got heaps of other rods, a custom rock rod 4 big drummer and groper, cple a ugly sticks and a stack of fibreglass lake rods but im really enjoying these soft plastics, GRAPHITE is the go isnt it ? 4 plastics.

[slinkymalinky]

ive got heaps of other rods, a custom rock rod 4 big drummer and groper, cple a ugly sticks and a stack of fibreglass lake rods but im really enjoying these soft plastics, GRAPHITE is the go isnt it ? 4 plastics.

Definitely graphite rods for plastics Diver. Fishing plastics is a lot about feel, control and being in direct touch with what your lure is doing. The sensitivity of graphite rods matched with braid lines is the only way to go if you want to get the best from your plastics fishing. That way you'll cast long and accurately, feel every little bump, tap and wriggle, and your plastics will do exactly what you want them to immediately.

1 or 2 piece rods don't matter. the graphite to graphite ferrules on modern rods mean that the rods action is not effected in any way you can detect... not like in the days of metal ferrules when rods had 2 separate curves. Some of the rods I listed are 1 piece, some are 2 piece and I can't tell the difference in performance. The 1 piece rods are a bit of a pain to store and transport sometimes though.

The Nitro rods Musty uses are really classy sticks and they pretty much only make 2 piece spin rods (except for the travel versions which are 4 or even 5 pieces).

You'll get great off the rack rods from Daiwa, Shimano, Loomis, Innovator (Nitro) etc, etc. The common features are sensitive high quality graphite blanks, relatively light tips, good grunt in the butt section, high quality guides and fittings, somewhere between 6'6" and 8' long, very little weight, and a few other technical bits and bobs like a butt section that's not too long.

The best thing to do if you're looking to get a couple of new rods is to get out fishing with someone who can give you a try of the sort of outfit we're on about... just to satisfy you of the difference they make. Then get in touch with Go Fish or Fishfinder and get them to give you some guidance on exactly what outfit best suits what you want to do.

Cheers mate and welcome to the addiction!

Slinky