help with rods choice

[ajax72]

Hi guys i have recently sold boat due to more important commitments hopefully next year might get one again.I was using the shimano spheros 8,000 on the boat with shimano bluwater sticks and also ugly sticks and found them excelent .I have recently made the mistake of leaving my gear in the car and they got pinched never again lesson learnt,so this time i have replaced them with spheros 10,000 due to extra line capacity cause im stuck to piers jettys,rocks and surf my question is what rods would suit for pier mostly and i also need a good surf rod to.People i have spoken to tell me to go 12 foot surf for piers and no shorter than 10 foot,there also telling me to go graphite please could someone help me i dont want anything to cheap i look foward to your suggestions thank you for your time.

[DonVito]

Hey ajax72.

I own a Diawa Seajigger which I use for piers and I reckon it's a fantastic rod. It's 10ft+ from memory. It's graphite and sure it's not a "surf rod" but I reckon i'd be able to use it as a surf rod. As the name implies it is a "jigger" but I have never used it as a jigging rod, but being graphite it is a really responsive rod. I notice a lot of nibbles/bites on it and with the use of braid it does make a great rod. Pricewise - depending on your budget it is roughly $250-$300; but for me personally, I reckon I made the right choice with it. Another perk to it is: it's graphite - lightweight. Nothing worse than walking down a pier with a gianormous broom stick of a surf rod.

If however, you planned for soft plastic flicking and squid jigging, i'd go for something smaller (which i am sure you are already aware of).

Word of advice for you though, if you've never owned a graphite rod.. make sure you secure it in a place: i.e a PVC tube.

I made the amateur mistake of leaving it in the tray of my ute (has a secured fibreglass lock up lid) and when I went to show the missus the new Diawa Saltwater (graphite) 2 piece rod, it suddenly became a 3 piece rod =[. It's not cheap to fix/replace them either.

Curious. Are you planning to fish mainly off piers?

PS. I reckon with the seajigger + braided line I could cast 75m-100m with a size 2 ball sinker on it.

PPS. I don't work for Diawa either, I just think they're a really good brand.

Hope that helps.

James.

[ajax72]

Thanks james you have been really helpful and yes mainly pier fishing ,i was down at compleat angler the other day and the guy there recomended graphite to 12 foot no smaller than 10 .I think 10 would be fine also he showed me ugly stiks and some shimano rods both graphite .i was wondering why graphite would be so much better than glass there a bit pricey but the action and weight look worth it ,if i was goin to go fibre glass any suggestions brands etc as for lenght 10 foot i thought was great to i mostly fish for snapper and occasional shark and i always use baits, tried plastics not really my thing thanks for your input much appreciated.

[DonVito]

Can't help you on the fibreglass side of things.. my very first 2 rods where fibreglass and once I actually started learning more and more about fishing, I stepped up and bought myself a graphite rod. I now own three, and the luckiest one I own (caught me the most fish) was a shitty $100 dollar one from BCF. Graphite would have been recommended as it has the ability to cast a mile whereas the fibreglass won't. It's all in the action of the rod tip. Graphite as mentioned earlier is more responsive and with the cast it imparts the energy from the rod butt to the rod tip, whereas the fibreglass doesn't and will wobble with the cast. Weight factor - unbelievable.. fish like a ninja. They're unbelievably light.

The guy at Compleat Angler would have suggested the graphite as you're land based and need the cast (unless your chasing garfish).

Just out of curiosity, which Compleat Angler did you go to? Good bunch of blokes at the local store but they'd sell there own mothers if they could. :wall:

My very first rod was sold to me by a bloke who listened to what I wanted in a rod, reel, line etc.. but he took advantage of the situation. He could have sold me something of lesser value/quality and I would have achieved the same things.

[Brett]

Where are you located ajax72?

[ajax72]

Brighton and i went to the bentleigh store good blokes but i guess thet have to sell stuff,also what brands for graphite should i stay away from and do you think the spheros 10,000 is a good choice they worked great in boat but they were 8,000 .there is stuff all diffrence between them except for line capacity and weight diffrence is not even noticeable.I forgot to mention i dont really like braid i prefer mono think ill go sufix they say its the best,would this choice be bad for casting ?and by the way how did you break your rod in the ute are they that easy to break thanks for your input james.
ps: my prce range is about 150 to 200 per rod i need two been looking at lamiglass or shimano.

[Fish-Hunter]

I use the Silstar Crystal Blue power tips #CB-1202SFM , they are awesome rods & have accounted for several nice Snapper land based for me . they aint cheap @ $225.00 rrp , but i can highly reccomend them to you .

[DonVito]

Brighton and i went to the bentleigh store good blokes but i guess thet have to sell stuff,also what brands for graphite should i stay away from and do you think the spheros 10,000 is a good choice they worked great in boat but they were 8,000 .there is stuff all diffrence between them except for line capacity and weight diffrence is not even noticeable.I forgot to mention i dont really like braid i prefer mono think ill go sufix they say its the best,would this choice be bad for casting ?and by the way how did you break your rod in the ute are they that easy to break thanks for your input james.
ps: my prce range is about 150 to 200 per rod i need two been looking at lamiglass or shimano.

ajax72,

I broke my rod in the ute of my car by just driving - either recklessly driving :lolf: or driving "normally". I guess it broke from applied pressure from something in the tray. I was told by many that, 'graphite is designed to bend over an even pressure..' so i.e whilst hooked onto a fish the natural curve the rod takes is 'even pressure'. Applied pressure would be pressure on a certain spot. So when your friends ask you to look at your newly purchased graphite rod - don't let them pencil grip it and bend it, as this is applied pressure and therefore it will either A: weaken or B: break. That's to my knowledge and what I gathered from explanations of other people.

Reels, well to be honest.. I've never caught that magical 10kg snapper and nor have I caught a hard fighting gummy - so I have never owned anything over a 4000 type reel. I guess it will come down to trial and error as to what best suits you. Line - I like suffix mono, probably one of my favorite and same with suffix braid. Personally, I would choose braid over mono anyday, especially as I am landbased and require the cast to get me anywhere. Braid comes off the spool so well it makes for a better cast and I could honestly say, I seldom ever have a "birds nest" in braid, whereas I had many with mono.

Brands of graphite rod to stay away from - hmm, I know people that have converted over from fibreglass rods and went to graphite and would never look back, from the low end of things to the high end of things (price wise). Try for a low budget rod - see how you go and once you see/feel the difference, maybe move up in price to another. I couldn't say, 'stay away from any particular brand' because I only buy Daiwa. I am the type to stick to what I know. :thumbsup:

Out of those two brands you've mentioned - Shimano is obviously the "better" known brand, in fact I have never heard of "lamiglass".

James.

[dragonfly]

For surf / pier rods, I haven't cast either of mine for ages because I have the boat, but I spent the first 15 years of my fishing life casting from terra firma (as most of us did :D ).

My first rod was a 9' Ryobi graphite rod with a shimano 6000 sized reel (although it wasn't called that... can't remember what it was called actually :oops: ). That was OK for small fish, but the longer rods get deeper and allow you to target more areas in the water.

I now have a Shimano 10' Exage surf rod with a Shimano Trinidad overhead casting reel for shallow reefs (less than 100m offshore). The Exage comes with a medium and heavy rod tip that are interchangeable to target different species and conditions.

I also have a 15' Shimano Exage surf rod with a Daiwa Grand WaveX 50 reel for casting deeper. This rod has three interchangeable tips (light, med, heavy) for targeting different species and conditions too. I use heavy for shark and fish over 30kg, with my PB being a 70kg Ragged Tooth Shark caught off the east coast of South Africa.

I don't need any other rods than these two, but the set ups were not cheap to begin with