Lure fishing off the beach - equipment advice?

[LightninLopez]

G'day guys,

So a mate and I went down to the beach near Altona on the weekend armed with bait and lures. Pulled in two Flathead - about 50 and 55cm respectively and a little Aussie salmon. The bigger flattie and the salmon were taken on lures. Really top morning, but it got me thinking about beach fishing on lures.

I was using a pretty light setup - bout an 8ft rod with a shimano sienna 4000, braid and soft plastics with a 1/12oz jig head. Like I said, I had some success, but casting distance was a problem, as were weeds. It's got me thinking about trying to put together a great setup specifically for lure fishing off the beach (and maybe rocks).

You guys got any tips on this one? Obviously I'll use a range of lures, not just SPs, so tips on that would be great too.

[ingeer]

sienna 4000 on light gear lure? wow man you must have big arms lol :D

seriously i think if you want to lure with an 8" rod for a sort of lenghty session you'll probably need a CI4+ series reel from shimano, i'd say 2500-3000 size would be big enough.

[LightninLopez]

yeeeah there's a long story behind using that reel which involves a broken rod, a lack of other reels/rods and some last minute improvisation.

Was thinking of shelling out on a new rod though, something with more power and possible one designed to throw lures a long way.

[ingeer]

yeeeah there's a long story behind using that reel which involves a broken rod, a lack of other reels/rods and some last minute improvisation.

Was thinking of shelling out on a new rod though, something with more power and possible one designed to throw lures a long way.

upgrading rod & reel to throw the same lure would only made a further 10% cast at most, and it cost you a fortune.
the most effective and cheapest way, is to use a heavier lure :a_goodjob:

[bowl]

How heavy line you using braid,mono ect

[LightninLopez]

Was using 8lb braid and a 10lb fluoro leader.

So I guess with the SPs, the trick is gonna be to use a heavier jig head... 12oz is pretty big as it is but then again, I'm guessing that in surf and with a fairly quick retrieve that might not matter as much. And with hard lures, problem solved. Any tips on dealing with weed? I wasn't getting snagged so much as I'm pretty sure the weed cut down the effectiveness of my lure by a fair bit.

Gonna need to get a new rod though one way or another cause the one I was using was borrowed (see above re: broken rod :-/ ). Given that I gotta spend the money anyway, I reckon minimum 10ft?

[DougieK]

You 'can' do this with almost any gear that will cast for you.

In the surf I usually recommend a 9 foot rod that casts 50g lures and a 4000/5000 sized reel, but that might be overkill for you. A standard 7 foot 2-4kg or 3-6kg spin rod with a 2500 sized reel might suit you better.

Thin, high quality braid that is well spooled is going to give you a bigger advantage casting light weights than a longer rod will.

If you're intending to fish in the surf then go a 902 6-10ish kg rod, like a Shimano Catana or a T curve coastal with a 4000 reel. If you're more in the bay then consider investing in high quality 8 weave braid and sticking with a 7ish foot graphite spin rod.

Was using 8lb braid and a 10lb fluoro leader.

So I guess with the SPs, the trick is gonna be to use a heavier jig head... 12oz is pretty big as it is but then again, I'm guessing that in surf and with a fairly quick retrieve that might not matter as much.

I''m assuming you mean 1.12th oz jighead. Fishing XL for bream it might be an issue, *most* flathead won't even notice if you use a 1/6 or a 1/4. In the surf even at 1/4 it's going to be hard to get the range you're looking for.

Gonna need to get a new rod though one way or another cause the one I was using was borrowed (see above re: broken rod :-/ ). Given that I gotta spend the money anyway, I reckon minimum 10ft?

10 is completely unnecessary for what you're doing.


Honestly, if you want to fish both in the bay and surf / rocks, a 702 2-4kg and a 902 6-10kg is a better bet than trying to find something in the middle and ultimately being unhappy with both.

[DougieK]

sienna 4000 on light gear lure? wow man you must have big arms lol :D

seriously i think if you want to lure with an 8" rod for a sort of lenghty session you'll probably need a CI4+ series reel from shimano, i'd say 2500-3000 size would be big enough.

There are literally dozens of us on here that spin with 9-10 foot rods and 4000-5000 reels for hours at a time at Gunnamatta.

[mazman]

As doug said for the surf a 902 is definitely the go. For beaches like altona I have recently started using my egi rod, it can cast 1/8oz + jigheads well and casts a 20g slug a mile it's getting the job done for the moment but it isn't the greatest when it comes to setting the hook when hopping plastics (fine on a straight retrieve). if you are looking for a dedicated rod for fishing off these ppb beaches I would look at something 8-9 foot long with a max cast weight of about 15-20g, however if you want an all rounder for landbased ppb something around 7'6 with a lighter cast weight will do the job better. Finally if you intend to boat or kayak fish it's forth going shorter again for the all rounder so a basic 702 2-4kg rod.

[4liters]

Any tips on dealing with weed? I wasn't getting snagged so much as I'm pretty sure the weed cut down the effectiveness of my lure by a fair bit.

Do a Google search for weedless jig heads and watch a few videos on YouTube on how to rig them. I've heard you have a reduced hook up rate with them but I guess that's the trade off for being able to fish easier in weedy areas