Basic Rod/Reel Setups for the Bay

[mdmakaira410]

Sorry about all the questions ill be asking over the next few months in advance. How many outfits do most of you carry? When i fished hart miller island this summer i carried a baitcaster for topwater stuff, a very old penn trolling outfit with a tandem parachute rig, a heavy spinning outfit for casting stingsilvers and jigging. I will be completely revamping all of my stuff for the spring however. I figured i'd get two inexpensive trolling outfits and another decent spinning outfit. I do quite a bit of offshore fishing but have no experience with actually setting up my own bay stuff. I was looking at something like the shakespeare arsenal reels and have no clue what type of rods i should be looking at. What should i have everything spooled with, i take it most of you fish braid?

[Redfish12]

This is a tough one... I think everyone's thought about this question at one point or another. It all depends on what you're after. I'm not the expert and I can only tell you what I prefer... but here goes.

I like a 7ft M or MH largemouth rod with 12 mono or 20lb braid. I have several bass pro graphite series rods or extreme series rods that alternate this duty. This set up serves for soft plastics, jigging, casting metal, bottom rigs up to 1 or 1.5 oz. This rod gets the most use when I'm out on the water. I've caught fish up to 18lbs on this setup.

I like live-lining, not everyone's favorite thing though. When I plan on live-lining I bring two ugly stick medium action 7ft rods and conventional reels with clickers. I was using 15 lb mono but it was too light, bumped it up to 20lb and also tried braid upto 40 lbs. I didn't like the braid because it was so much harder to break when I got hung and didn't offer the abrasion resistance I needed to get fish out of the pilings. I'm bumping it up to 30lb mono next year. The second rig is in case of a break off or something fouling so I can get back on the fish quickly, I keep it in my rod pod.

I'm not very skilled at trolling, but I have two MH ugly stick rods that I use with Penn 209s. You could also use the same reel from your live-line set up here, but I prefer a much lighter action for live-lining over trolling. I also have some heavier gear, but I think it's unnecessary unless the big girls are around.

When I expect to be casting lures all day I'll bring a conventional reel for working cranks and two spinners on largemouth gear for the soft plastics. I'm not the most skilled at throwing the baitcaster but I've improved leaps and bounds from last year. I still get the occasional birdsnest when I see breaking fish though.

I hope that helps... might be easier if you tell us your target species? Don't worry about asking questions, we'll need something to do this winter!!!

[mdmakaira410]

thanks redfish. yeah i have a couple bass pro extreme 7' midheavy rods with shimano stradic reels with 12lb fluoro i use for bass fishing so i guess im set as far as that goes. and im gonna be going after schoolie and big girl rock god willing, i pretty much have the light tackle stuff ready for fishing back creeks and tidal rivers.

[Redfish12]

Those are my favorites, low-rider guides work well with braid! They're great for summer/fall rock and still sensitive enough for other applications. In the spring when the big girls show up I'd break out the trolling gear or heavy jigging rods. I haven't caught a big spring fish from the kayak yet, but I plan on trying more this year.

If you're going to kipto or somewhere else to drop eels for big fish then you're going to want some heavy gear to pull fish out of the structure there too. The trolling set up would work here as well I would think.

[DOGFISH]

I build my own rods, so I'm not much help there. There are some nice Shimano and Star rods out there. I like rods with a range of 12 to 25 lb test for the bay, heavier if near snags. This way I can have a few extra spools of line with me. I also use Shimano reels. For the bay, I use Stradic and Sustain reels in the 4000 and 3000 range. I have a 1000 Stradic for catching bait and croakers. I like lighter tackle.

For trolling I use Calcutta TE 400 and 401 casting reels. I like a right and a left hand reel for the kayak. I use Curado 300 E casting reels, for casting metal to breaking fish, mostly Kastmasters. I have also used the Curados for trolling. For trolling I have been using some heavy casting rods. However, over the winter I have a couple flippin blanks that I am building into kayak trolling rods. They should be great for that purpose. I agree with Redfish most bass type M, MH and H rods are good for the bay.

I do have a couple of IGFA 20lb trolling rods, left over from my boating days, which I built years ago. I am going to use them for spring time trolling for the big girls. I may need them for the larger lures.

As I don't fish the bridge alot or near alot of large structure, I use mostly braid, 15 or 20 lb test for spinning and casting and 20 for trolling. I use 10 lb on the 1000 Stradic. Beware, the braid can easily make a huge mess quickly on a kayak. I just like the thin size of the braid for trolling. It gets down quick. I like to troll crankbaits and the braid works great for that purpose.

Many times I will have 5 rods with me out in the kayak. I usually keep them in rod holders on the crate or in the built in rod holders.


Good Luck.

[ictalurus]

I don't live line, so I'm usually casting, jigging, using topwater, or trolling for stripers and blues. I also target flounder and redfish when I can and fish for croakers, spot, and perch for most of the summer. What I target depends on the season and what I want to eat.

I have a 6'6" MH BPS Extreme rod with a Symetre 2500 with 15lb Power Pro on it. This is my primary casting/topwater rod. The rod is pretty awesome because it can cast everything from 1/8oz to 1.5oz. I got the rod for around $60 on sale.

I have a 6'6" M Ugly Stik with a Spheros 4000 on it. I kind of wish I opted for the 3000, but the 4000 balances the rod nicely. This is my trolling and bottom fishing rod. The slower action of the rod lets the fish hook themselves pretty easily. I have either 15 or 20lb Power Pro on it. I also use it for heaving bigger topwater lures, but the action is kind of floppy, which requires more effort to work the lure.

I have two baitcasters that I use if I'm jigging for flounder or stripers. The first is my striper rod that doubles as a flounder rod. It's a 6'6" M Cabelas Prodigy casting rod with a high speed Abu Garcia Revo SX on it. I have 20lb Power Pro on the spool. This combo is good for casting redfish lures, too. My other rod is a 6'6" MH BPS Extreme casting rod. The rod is heavier action than I thought it would be, so I use this for jigging for flounder or jigging heavier weights (1.5oz and up) for stripers. The reel is a high speed Quantum Accurist with a flipping switch. The flipping switch is nice when the depth changes a lot. I have 15lb Power Pro on that one. Next time I respool, I'll put 20lb on Accurist and 10lb on the Revo. Both rods were around $60 on sale.

I usually carry the Extreme, the Ugly Stik, and one of the baitcasters.

I also have a 7' Shimano cheapo spinning rod with a cheapo Quantum reel on it. I don't use it very often, but I use it for pulling big crankbaits like a Stretch 25. I'll be using this weekend, though.

I'd like to get a medium or medium heavy power, fast action spinning rod with an open reel seat like a Carrot Stix or Abu Garcia Veritas for jigging for stripers. That's on my Christmas list.

[mdmakaira410]

so there isnt really any need for a specific trolling rod/reel setup, round baitcasters with good line capacity and a midheavy casting rod work just fine?

[DOGFISH]

For fall fishing yes. Heavier casting or crankbait rods are just fine. Keep in mind, I use mostly deep diving crankbaits. So I don't use much lead. It is just the lip that gets the bait down deeper.

However, in the spring, when using heavy trolling baits and or alot of lead in deep water, you should go with a trolling rod. Some of the trolling rods that I am thinking of building for the spring are with musky type blanks.

Ugly Stick makes some great heavy casting light trolling rods, which would be great for kayak trolling. Don't forget the kayak series rods by Lamiglas. You would need the heavier rods for trolling. Generally, the answer to your question is yes.

[mdmakaira410]

do you guys generally fish all winter? I know im kinda late into the fall season and have probably missed the best fishing. I'd still like to get out there a few times before it gets too brutally cold to fish. I dont know if my wimpy hands can handle it.

[DOGFISH]

Last year I fished until December 5. The only thing that stopped me was the first big snow strom. The only thing that stopped me then was that the marina parking lot was not plowed. I decided that enough was enough and went on to preparing for the next season.

They do make fishing gloves for that problem.

[ictalurus]

I haven't done much saltwater fishing in previous winters because I didn't have a dry suit and didn't have much access to areas where fish were in easy reach. For most of the places I fish, it's quite a haul to deeper water. I usually targeted pickerel and yellow perch instead. Last year, I didn't fish much in the winter because all my spots were frozen, but I fished quite a bit the year before. It sounds like the pickerel fishing in the Severn is pretty good this year, so I'm hoping this winter is less severe than last year's.

[tufnik]

Dogfish,

How's your Calcutta TE? Thinking about getting one, but the B version is about $140 less. Is the TE worth it and that much better than the 400 B? I'm also looking at the Daiwa Luna 300.

[DOGFISH]

I think the Calcutta TE is a great reel. Smooth, solid and all around a great reel. They have a very smooth drag. All one piece aluminum construction. The only complaint that I have is that I wished the clicker was a little louder. I really don't cast that much with the reels. I mostly troll. For me, the TE is worth the money.

I also use a Curado 301E. Thats also a very nice reel. I use that for actual casting work. I also used it for trolling until I got the second Calcutta.

Good luck with that decision.

[Redfish12]

Hey Ictalurus - Is there a reason you prefer the 6.5" rods? I have the same 6.5' bps extreme (mine is the travel version) and I usually grab the 7' instead. I take the 6.5' on my work trips to SC and I've caught some reds, flounder, and trout on it and one of the reds was 29''. Pretty awesome rods, can really handle a lot. I just like the extra 6 inches to help me maneuver on the kayak. My trident has an annoying front handle that is a line grabber, I know I should force the fish where I want it to go, but sometimes with light tackle or moving water, it's not possible so I like the extra few inches to help lift over the bow.

[DOGFISH]

I was at Bass Pro for a quick trip today. I know some of you are looking at new rods for spring trolling. Some of the new Shimano light boat rods or heavy casting rods look really nice. They are not as light as some, but they look like solid rods. There are some in 7' and 7.5', which look good for kayak fishing. A larger casting reel or small trolling reel would make a good match up for those rods. I sometimes wonder why I build my own rods. I don't know how they can build such a quality so inexpensively.

I was there to look at the new Tunnus CI4 reel, 4000 size, but they don't have them at the store yet. Sometimes I wonder about Bass Pro. They don't seem to keep this one stocked like some of the others. Then again, I have only been to others in Florida.