Starting To Fish Again!

[jeckt]

Hey all!

First off I want to say this is a great site with a load of information that I'm continually reading. I use to fish about 8 years ago but recently picked it up again and now I'm hooked! So the time has come to get my own rod and reel to start me off, as from reading this forum an effective setup will make it more enjoyable.

My ideas come the suggested Bream/Light Setup from stylo in the thread: http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.php?showtopic=45063, many thanks.

So what I'm looking at is:

Rod: Shimano Raider II - Finesse Bream 721 1pc, Spin, 2.18m, 1-4kg

OR

Rod: Shimano Starlo Stix - Squidgy Spin LT 721 1pc, Spin, 2.18m, 2-4kg

Reel: Shimano Sedona - SE 2500FD, 6.2-1, 200yds/6lb

Cost: ~$200

Purpose:

• Flicking Soft Plastics
  
• Flicking Metals and Hard bodies
  
• Bait Fishing
  

Target Species:

• Whiting
  
• Flathead
  
• Bream
  
• Ocassionally Tailor and Salmon
  

I'll be fishing mainly estuaries, landbased.

Any opinions or suggestions are appreciated!

[snooze]

Hi,

The thread that you provided is a good place to start.

One rule i live by is keep your bait combo as a bait combo and a spin/plastics combo as that. If you have the dough to spend then a 2-4kgs fast tapper plastic rod reel will do all of the fish spieces you intend to catch, a 4-8kgs bait combo should be suficant for the beach/rocks. The most critical facter here would be to match the line rating to the reel and rod. As you may have noticed i fish very light, i use to fish heavy but iv'e found that i fish better lighter and making sure the drag settings are correct. By my experiance i find the harder you pull against a fish the harder the fish pulls so a good drag setting is also critical. Every fisherman fishe's differently, they have there own style and one that you will develop in time.

Cheers

Snooze

[cut_loose]

Hey mate .. I was in the same boat as you a few weeks ago looking for a plastics rod..

Have a look at a few rods and pick which one feels best to you .. Thats how i did it .. Have a look at berkley drop shots ( around $100 ),fluger trion (around $120)(its the rod i liked the most ) and theres heeps of others..

Goodluck

[jeckt]

One rule i live by is keep your bait combo as a bait combo and a spin/plastics combo as that. If you have the dough to spend then a 2-4kgs fast tapper plastic rod reel will do all of the fish spieces you intend to catch,

Yeah, I was thinking of doing that later down the track as I don't really have the dough to spend. I'm just wondering would it be any harm if i use the 2-4kg fast tapper rod/reel combo with some light bait fishing off jetties, wharves and sandflats. I'll turn it into a full time plastics/lure rod/reel combo when I can afford another setup.

The most critical facter here would be to match the line rating to the reel and rod. As you may have noticed i fish very light, i use to fish heavy but iv'e found that i fish better lighter and making sure the drag settings are correct.

If I my ask how would I go about matching the line rating to the reel and the rod. Plus how do i make sure the drag settings are correct, when I use to fish I never set the drag and it was always tight.

Thanks for replies! Any more suggestions and opinions would be great!

[Jewhunter]

G'day jeckt & to Fishraider.

If you are after a new combo & how to fish it then give Go Fish a call.

They are having a massive sale atm & Pete will give you all the advice you need.

You can find them HERE!

Cheers,

Grant.

[snooze]

Yeah, I was thinking of doing that later down the track as I don't really have the dough to spend. I'm just wondering would it be any harm if i use the 2-4kg fast tapper rod/reel combo with some light bait fishing off jetties, wharves and sandflats. I'll turn it into a full time plastics/lure rod/reel combo when I can afford another setup.

If I my ask how would I go about matching the line rating to the reel and the rod. Plus how do i make sure the drag settings are correct, when I use to fish I never set the drag and it was always tight.

Thanks for replies! Any more suggestions and opinions would be great!

Hi Jeckt

It shouldent be a problem so as long you dont overweight the rod with to heavy sinkers, Usually the rod should provide you with max casting weight. If not then commen sense should be used.

Matching the line to the reel is not a problem as the reel has the line ratings on it. For example a 2500 reel would have a line rating like 6lb-200m/8lb-140m/10lb-120m, all you have to do is choose which line.

Also the rod tells you the KG's that its rated like 2-4kg, If we convert kg to lb then a 2-4kg rod is 5lb-9lb but the tackle companies use 6lb-10lb which is just a little over. So know we can say that a 2-4kg rod should be matches to 2500 type reel or a reel of 6lb-10lb. This should bring the best performance from your reel and rod.

Setting drag to reels is a little tricky and debatable but the comen rule is 1/3 of the breaking strain of the line, so 10lb line would be set at 3.5-4lb drag.

Hope i havent confused you even more.

Cheers

Snooze

[jeckt]

Thanks JewHunter for the tackle site! I'll have a look and compare prices with the tackle shop I'm currently looking at.

Snooze: Everything makes perfect sense! Thank you for the explanation, I most likely going to go for the combo in the opening post as you've pretty much confirmed that it's a suitable combo for my application.