Best rod/reel setup for beach fishing

[Mr_clownface]

Hi,

I am interested to know what rod and reel size(spinning reel) most people use for beach fishing,thanks in advance for your input.[emoji3]

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[Tag117]

Really depends what you are going for, bread and butter whiting, flathead etc or jewfish and small sharks.

[fisholb]

I use 12ft rod with my penn 760 for bait targeting the big fish using 50lb main 50lb trace

I use my penn 560 with 10ft for lures and small fish using 20lb main 20/30lb trace

Usually catch salmon tailor flathead off the beach

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[Mr_clownface]

I use 12ft rod with my penn 760 for bait targeting the big fish using 50lb main 50lb trace

I use my penn 560 with 10ft for lures and small fish using 20lb main 20/30lb trace

Usually catch salmon tailor flathead off the beach

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What your preferred bait when targeting big fish of the beach?

Is squid a good bait in the surf

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[JonD]

I find most 4-6000 sized spin reels will stand up to most tasks. These days I tend to only use rods in the 10 ft size as this size ticks many boxes for me.

Flicking small lures in the 40-60g size for salmon and trailor is easy to do for a couple of hours on the shorter rod and when I want to cast a big bait the shorter leverage helps on bigger stubborn fish.

I target most species using 20 lb braid with 20-50 lb leeders, the lighter braid gives me more line holding capacity on smaller reels. I've caught both jews and gummies well over 20 kg on the above gear. Even my kids ultra cheapy angler pro rod costing around $70 has landed fish in excess of 20 kg using just 15 lb braid. Saying that my daughter seems to of made claim to my jigging master shore game rod and left me with the cheapy these days!!

I had a couple of friends who were desperate to catch a fish over 2kgs join me on the beach. I wasn't to keen to let them use my JM outfit so let them use the cheapy one instead with a 4000 Shimano spheres, can't remember if they landed 8 or 9 sharks without loosing a single fish.

Jon

Edited September 13, 2016 by JonD

[fisholb]

What your preferred bait when targeting big fish of the beach?

Is squid a good bait in the surf

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I use whole pillys on ganged hooks mostly

Also use tailor for live bait or a slab of salmon

Havent had much success on squid off the beach

Caught most fish on whole pillys off the beach using a big ball or star sinker

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[Mr_clownface]

I use whole pillys on ganged hooks mostly

Also use tailor for live bait or a slab of salmon

Havent had much success on squid off the beach

Caught most fish on whole pillys off the beach using a big ball or star sinker

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Cheers,thanks for your advice

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[JonD]

Just be carefull if using gang hooks if you hook anything big, they are very soft around the eyelets. I never use gang hooks but often catch fish with sets of gangs around their faces that have opened during the fight.

The thicker and heavier lines you use from the shore ( or boat )the harder it will be to feel bites, as well as in strong rips and surf the thicker diameter lines make holding baits out there much tougher.

Do a little test and see how much weight you can lift off the ground using a long rod, you may find anything above 5 lb quite difficult. If you can only apply 5-7lb of force then lines greater than 20lb are just overkill reducing your line capacity.

If I had to pick one all round bait it would be striped tuna, with this you can catch most species. Once you've caught salmon or tailor, fresh fillets from those make excellent bait.

Jon

[Mr_clownface]

I find most 4-6000 sized spin reels will stand up to most tasks. These days I tend to only use rods in the 10 ft size as this size ticks many boxes for me.

Flicking small lures in the 40-60g size for salmon and trailor is easy to do for a couple of hours on the shorter rod and when I want to cast a big bait the shorter leverage helps on bigger stubborn fish.

I target most species using 20 lb braid with 20-50 lb leeders, the lighter braid gives me more line holding capacity on smaller reels. I've caught both jews and gummies well over 20 kg on the above gear. Even my kids ultra cheapy angler pro rod costing around $70 has landed fish in excess of 20 kg using just 15 lb braid. Saying that my daughter seems to of made claim to my jigging master shore game rod and left me with the cheapy these days!!

I had a couple of friends who were desperate to catch a fish over 2kgs join me on the beach. I wasn't to keen to let them use my JM outfit so let them use the cheapy one instead with a 4000 Shimano spheres, can't remember if they landed 8 or 9 sharks without loosing a single fish.

Jon

Thanks JonD,

Your advice is much appreciated

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[sam bros]

If you doing bait fishing you will need a 12-14ft rod and a reel around the 6000-8000

If you are going to be doing lure fishing, use something lighter. A rod around 8-10ft and a 2500-4000 reel.

My advice is to use a gang hooks on a paternoster rig with a whole pilchard. This will pretty much get you tailor and salmon off the beaches.

Use the tailor or salmon as a fillet bait and use 2 snelled 7/0 hooks.

This is what I use when targeting jews/sharks in the surf

[Sea Ranger]

Alvey 650 (your flavor) matched to a 12 to 14 foot Alvey compatible rod and your set. I like the Wilson Live Fibre models

[Mr_clownface]

If you doing bait fishing you will need a 12-14ft rod and a reel around the 6000-8000

If you are going to be doing lure fishing, use something lighter. A rod around 8-10ft and a 2500-4000 reel.

My advice is to use a gang hooks on a paternoster rig with a whole pilchard. This will pretty much get you tailor and salmon off the beaches.

Use the tailor or salmon as a fillet bait and use 2 snelled 7/0 hooks.

This is what I use when targeting jews/sharks in the surf

I have a good 12ft graphite (medium action)silstar with a 6000 series reel and a 10ft fibreglass with a 4000 shimano reel,

Do you think purchasing a 14ft Daiwa laguna rod would be an advantage for casting heavier sinker weight in more rough conditions?

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[JonD]

The longer rod will have an advantage of being able to keep your line higher out of the water missing some of the breaking white water close to the shore line. Depending on your casting ability you should also be able to gane more distance.

The thing is with our beaches in NSW that get hit by surf these tend to have deep gutters that can hold very big fish very close to shore. A big cast will often put you past the fish. When I lived in Sydney and chased Jews from he shore a cast of 40 m was more than enough for not only jews but also for several shark species after dark.

By the way if you intend using a couple of rods at the same time I would recommend a very good rod holder or take the wife to grab the second rod if you need to take off up the beach fighting something good. I had a 24 kg Jew in the surf that took me 500m from where it was first hooked, I've also had double hook ups at night on jews and sharks (they often travel in groups).

I use beachmaster rod holders which have never let me down. http://www.beachmasterfishing.com.au

Jon

Edited September 14, 2016 by JonD

[guimaras]

I use 2 setups.

My larger one is a daiwa sensor surf 13ft heavy with a ultegra 15000. Spooled with 50lbs PP. I pulled in small sharks with these.

The smaller one is a shimano starlo 12ft with 40lbs braid on a 8000 stradic fj. Good for salmon, tailor...even jewies.

Agree with what others say. You don't need to cast far to catch fish here in Sydney. The biggest jewie I got was caught 20m from the waterline. More important skill would be to learn how to read the gutter and current.

[DMG]

My beach rod and reel cost me $30 from Kmart.

I dont care if it only lasts me a year I will just go buy another one for $30.

Works fine.

Edited September 18, 2016 by D.G