rod and reel combo.

[fjarhead]

As i have little salt water experience, does anyone have a recommendation for a rod and reel combo. Something that is universal, so that i dont have to buy another rod later on. Any sugestions would be helpful. . I was doing some croaker fishing down in cambridge md with just a baitcaster. that worked out real well........ would i use something a little larger for say stripers and blues.

[MDSmith370]

That's a really broad question. It depends on the fish you are targeting. You would use a much smaller rod for species like croaker and blues than you would for stripers. Flounder is somewhere in between. Also, I troll with baitcasters and use a spinning combo for bait fishing. I have an Ugly Stick SP 1101 with an Okuma Inspira 40 spinning reel which can be used for chunking and casting for stripers and also for flounder. I have 2 medium-heavy All Star rods, one a baitcaster and one a spinning rod. I have an Abu-Garcia Ambassador baitcasting reel and an Abu-Garcia Cardinal spinning reel. My rod collection is approaching 20 and I have a use for all of them but the 3 I mentioned above have enough versatility to fish for most inshore saltwater species found in our area.

[Dallison]

Good question

I don't have 20 rods but I seem to have alot. My favorite is my MH action Tiger Rod with the either Abu 6500 Rocket or the Penn 325? Mag. I know I don't really fish the bay alot yet but I will. So what is a good combo. I like the baitcasters with clickers and like the ugly stiks.

[MDSmith370]

I only use baitcasters with clickers for trolling. I only troll during the spawn so they're good to have but mine won't see the water until next spring. The rest of the year will be chumming and chunking for me. As I mentioned above, if you like ugly stiks then the 1101 is a good size. You can get an appropriate size spinning reel for it that can handle 20-40 test. Your Ugly Stick Tiger may be okay but I believe the MH action on those is pretty beefy. Something like 30-60 lb test.

[Dallison]

different rod

Yeah I need a different rod setup for kayak fishing. My gear is all setup for heavy catfishing. I will retool for sure.
thanks

[Redfish12]

A cheap entry rod that will suffice for summer rock, flounder, blues, perch, spot, and probably a lot more is the Bass Pro Shops Graphite Series rods. I have one 6.5' MH and another in 7' M that I use extensively. I have caught up to 30'' rock on the MH and lots of redfish, specs, and smaller rock on the M.

Best part is, you can find them on special often in the $25 dollar range. Pretty hard to beat for a nice cork handle rod that has good action and you wouldn't miss terribly if you took a swim.

Pair that with an okuma or some other $40-60 dollar reel and you will have a nice set up. Pair it with a nicer penn or something that will hold up to salt and you'll be set for a long time. They also carry a muskie series of the same style rods, but they are too much like broomsticks for me and I like the challenge for summer rock.

[Redfish12]

Another option is to look for gear on Ebay... In the fall/winter you'll find a lot of good deals as guys sell equipment from the year before. With a little google'n you can figure out how to service the reel yourself and sometimes even improve the reel for very little.

For instance, I got a Penn 209 for about $20 bucks shipped this past April. A little google'n found me this how-to- http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=659.0 Now I know way too much about this reel and feel like I can fix it myself. Will that happen? Probably not, but it's also not in need of fixing because it's a workhorse.

Another example - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWNX:IT I got that just yesterday! Seems like a pretty good deal for an all metal Penn that needs a little TLC.

If you get over your head, the rod and reel guy on Lee Highway in Arlington is the man. He's fixed several of my reels over the past two years when there were problems outside of my skill range.

[surfdog]

i got the new cabelas saltwater catalog yesterday and they have a nice selection of rods. i picked up a 12' wuppin stick with an okuma avenger bait feeder for 110 bucks on sale this spring, rated to 8 oz nice rod and reel. i would like to try a 7' whuppn stick MH in the yak. the rods are a blend of e-glass and t-glass and have a 10 year warranty.

[Grilled]

For trolling I use tsunami airwave rods paired up with daiwa saltists. These are also my surf reels but they work great on the kayak considering they are small. For liveling or any other type of fishing I use a quantum cabo and zeebaas. All my rods are aroung 6-7 ft. I like the airwave rods, they are affordable and strong.

[jet]

i personally use the same spinning reels for the bay all year around. what i do is change the rod from heavier (not too heavy though for me) in the spring for trolling to light for summer jiggin and live lining. all in all, i use relatively light rods compared to the stuff other guys are using. i swear some think they are trolling for tuna in the bay.

i think a penn 550ssg combo is great for the money.