What Rod to pair with a Curado reel

[EMSer]

Hey all,

I have a fly fishing history and and just venturing into kayak fishing / trolling open water. I am looking for a second rig to troll and cast with. I have a Penn Battle II combo already and I am wondering what else to get. I am zeroing in on a Curado 200 reel (on sale) and wondering what rod to pair it with. $$ is definitely an issue as the outfitting the new kayak is already surpassing my wife's tolerances... Any suggestions?

I will primarily be fishing between the Magothy and the Bay Bridge while paddling a Wilderness Systems Thresher 155.

Any help would be appreciated!

[Cowpokey]

I have become a fan of the Ugly Stik gx2, medium to medium-heavy 6'6" to 7' long. Good rod for trolling, and reasonably priced...I probably wouldn't put a $150 reel on a $50 rod though.

[EMSer]

I'm not married to the reel. Just looking for what will serve my needs best. The Curado keeps popping up as a solid reel but I am definitely open to other suggestions for rod / reel combo's.

[Cowpokey]

I like the Penn Fierce spinning reels, I have a couple of them and they have served me well on the bay. Saltwater resistance and plenty of line capacity on the 3000 for everything I've encountered so far.

I really want to get out and do some blue water fishing on my kayak; that will be enough to justify better equipment to handle stronger fish...but that is still just a bucket list dream. It will happen though, hopefully this season.

[EMSer]

Nothing wrong with dreaming! A month ago my new kayak was a dream. Now I am just waiting for delivery. Thanks for the suggestions. I will check them out.

[Mark]

Bruce,

I have two older Curdaos. Both are fine trouble free reels that cast very well.

I placed one on a 7 foot St. Croix Premier one piece medium action rod.

The other is on a one piece 6.5 foot Classic All Star "Worm" rod.

Both are bass rods but I troll for stripers with them and use them for casting in the Bay and freshwater.

[Mbae]

i just picked up a curado 201 last week. i love it!! i will be pairing it with a st croix mojo bass rod

[JohnE]

I hear the curados are great and I would not mind an older e series myself if I needed another baitcaster, but I heard the newer ones are not as good. I would say go for one of the revos. I have the revo s and sx, they are not super expensive but very nice. A revo inshore would be sweet to have but the other revos are fine for the salt if you rinse with fresh water each time you fish.

On the other hand, you don't need a baitcaster for trolling. If you want another spinning reel, I would suggest throwing down the cash for the Penn spinfisher. I like my spinfisher for trolling. The situations where I prefer baitcasters are when I need to drop bait straight down repeatedly--such as fishing bridge pilings and rocks around the bridge islands, which I do very frequently. Ability to thumb the spool comes in handy in the current and waves. They are great for casting if you are accustomed to it.

As far as rods, I am not an expensive rod guy. I like my ugly stik tiger lites. They are extremely durable and have pretty nice action for the money. I have several of those. I have also caught lots of fish on my ugly stik striper spinning rods, which is another very durable inexpensive rod.

[EMSer]

Thanks for the feedback folks! All I have been doing is reading about everything while I wait for my boat to be delivered (Next week?). It is a bit overwhelming. Great food for thought here. I will follow up on it all while I Wait..... I just want to go fishing!!