First fishing setup part 2

Trigger3lite · April 10, 2015, 02:26:13 PM

So I double checked on the Ugly stik and I must've made a mistake or something but it's a Heavy, not medium Heavy.
The 10' is available in Medium Heavy.
I want to be able to catch anything from stripers to sharks. I think I'm going to go with braid instead of mono, what do you suggest the weight should be on it?

Also I do want a wire leader, but might also get Fluorocarbon.

Should I stick with the Heavy 12 or go switch to the medium heavy 10 or is there a better suited rod for me out there.

I only his the $240 mark with the previous setup I had planned.

and haha we both started a thread.

Pferox · April 10, 2015, 02:51:24 PM

Thats OK, I'm multi threadal.

Have you checked out Daiwa's Beef Stick? They are another popular rod. I have a couple short boat rods and they are pretty good for the price.

10 foot is a good length if you are going to fish both surf and piers, because a lot of the piers around here have a maximum rod length of 10 feet. That two feet does make a difference in casting distance. My buddy has the heavy ugly stick in 12 feet, and it takes a ton of weight and near perfect technique to get any distance with it. It kills me when I try to cast it because of the weight. To me it is more of a yak the bait out kind of rod, but it is castable, and it will bring in some BIG fish. Some smaller fish will be stuck on there not indicating to you there is a fish on, so you have to watch it a little closer.

If going with braid, I would go with 30 to 50lb. Heavier isn't always better. Stick with mono or wire leaders for now, try fluorocarbon after you get pretty handy with knots, because Flouro is persnickety about knots. Learn how to tie the Alberto knot, uni knot, palomar knot, and a couple types of snell knot, to start out with. IF you are using braid, you will have to direct connect a piece of 40 to 60 lb mono about 20 to 40 feet long between the braid and your terminal tackle, this will help protect your braid from junk on the bottom. You can try omitting the mono if you want, just to see if you really need it, but I am pretty sure you will be adding that to the rig.

Pferox · April 10, 2015, 03:26:22 PM

Shark ...... AHHHH yes.....

They are fun, and big, and dangerous. AND if You don't know what is going on, can get both you and the shark in a whole lot of trouble. Many are endangered and heavily protected. You live in Great White territory, I think so you are looking at some BIG Mean Critters.

My PB is a 7 foot Macko, my buddy tells everybody it was 9. It took 4 of us to handle it safely in the surf. That was before I ever thought about bringing a camera.

Took me almost a half hour to bring it in, and it helped me with a run towards shore. Caught it on little Gasparilla Island many years ago.

Back then I owned a used custom rod that had roller guides, 7 foot long I think it was, a Penn Senator and a ton of 50lb dacron with 50 yards of 100lb mono, and 200lb cable leader.

We used to swim our baits out. I would never do that now.

Trigger3lite · April 10, 2015, 05:48:00 PM

Yes I've been fascinated by sharks for all my life. I thought you would need extremely expensive gear to fish sharks but I know that you can still catch one with the setup I'm ordering, I'm really excited. That's why all of a sudden I went and switched to braid. I'm not going to go shark fishing right away, going to take my time and ease into this new hobby.

Oh and I asked what the bead on a rig was use for in the other post but you missed it.

Pferox · April 10, 2015, 05:53:07 PM

One HUGE suggestion is to learn your quarry. The best anglers here, although they won't admit it, know their targeted fish in the areas they fish like the back of their hands. It helps you to get that edge.

As an example. Shark are actually pretty easy to catch, but bringing them in is a different story. They are terrible on leaders and line. They have been known to even bite through steel leaders, their skin is like sandpaper, making their bodies line grinders. Braid doesn't stand a chance with them, that is why you will almost always hear about shock leaders being used in shark fishing, especially when the main line is braid. What they feed, where they like to feed, how they feed, all the different species, and the little idiosyncrasies of each species all play into it. knowing that is what will get you big shark, of course having the right gear helps too.

The more you know about the species that swim within your casting distance will do nothing but assist you in improving your catch ratio. It can go to the point of exactly how you rig your line, where you cast and what kind of bait you use, what part of the water column you fish.

Pferox · April 10, 2015, 05:55:47 PM

Quote from: Trigger3lite on April 10, 2015, 05:48:00 PM
Oh and I asked what the bead on a rig was use for in the other post but you missed it.

Which bead, the ones on the double rig? I use beads for a lot of things. Sorry I missed it, and now I can't find where you asked that.

Trigger3lite · April 10, 2015, 08:09:27 PM

So about the braid and wire. What brands of braid and wire should I get out of these. Also how much of it should I get.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_ex_n_1?rh=n%3A3375251%2Cn%3A10971181011%2Cn%3A706813011%2Cn%3A3408951%2Ck%3Awire&bbn=3408951&keywords=wire&ie=UTF8&qid=1428714375

http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=dp_bc_6?ie=UTF8&node=3473351

Pferox · April 10, 2015, 08:27:09 PM

1 of these kits, to start with.
http://www.amazon.com/American-Fishing-Wire-Surflon-Crimp/dp/B00144EN3G/ref=sr_1_23?s=hunting-fishing&ie=UTF8&qid=1428714762&sr=1-23&keywords=wire

After you get the crimping tool, then you can up the size of wire and crimps. Might be easier for the first couple of trips to get ready made IMO.

http://www.amazon.com/Power-Pro-Microfilament-Green-Pound/dp/B003CUNZTS/ref=sr_1_1?s=hunting-fishing&ie=UTF8&qid=1428714731&sr=1-1

You need 490 yards of 30lb or 335 yards of 50lb to fill the spool. I actually think you are better off starting out with mono. This is the only brand that I am familiar with that has larger spools on it.

You do know that braided line has to be spooled on the reel as tightly as is humanly possible, right?

Trigger3lite · April 10, 2015, 08:44:42 PM

Yes, but how is it different from when you reel in the line from the water without a fish on the end? It's not exactly being pulled tightly. Wouldn't you have embedding problems too?

Pferox · April 10, 2015, 08:56:48 PM

It is actually under a lot of tension, think about it, you are bringing in a few ounce lead and gear that gives some heavy resistance, and that is only a portion of the spool, the rest below that will be rock hard solid, so if it does dig in it usually is on the top portion.

AND if you break off and are only bringing in bare line, you will have to put tension on the line with protected fingers while spooling it in to save you a whole lot of problems.

OH yea, another thing, might want to make one of these out of an old glove, especially when casting with braid, otherwise you will end up with a pretty messed up finger.

Or you can wear gloves.

Trigger3lite · April 10, 2015, 09:12:01 PM

I think i can must up a few ounces of strength to spool the line. And yeah I heard they sell finger protection at local tackle shops, think I'll pick one up.

Pferox · April 10, 2015, 10:44:38 PM

Quote from: Trigger3lite on April 10, 2015, 09:12:01 PM
I think i can must up a few ounces of strength to spool the line. And yeah I heard they sell finger protection at local tackle shops, think I'll pick one up.

Really, finding them around here are like finding hen's teeth.

Brocksdad1 · April 10, 2015, 10:49:25 PM

What is this babble, oh salt life lol
Jk

Pferox · April 10, 2015, 11:02:30 PM

Salty babble, makes you thirsty.

Trigger3lite · April 11, 2015, 09:01:48 AM

I don't like buying kits so I opted out on buying the crimp tool separately. The only think I don't know is, what weight wire should I get for 50lb braid and what crimps for that wire. You mentioned that I would need mono for the end of the braid, what weight should that be? I'll probably look pretty silly with this setup when most people use mono on the pier, but I'm aiming really high for that trophy fish.

Pferox · April 11, 2015, 10:05:21 AM

40 or 50 lb would work. Same way with the wire, and the crimp size is usually cross referenced to the size of wire.

Did you read one of the links I posted about crimping? One of my more expensive investments was in a good pair of medium heavy weight crimpers, it has been a blessing on my hands when doing a few of them at a time.

Most of the fish you are going to catch are gong to be dinks on that rig, and 80+ lb fish are going to be a very tough fight, but if you can get into the 50 to 60 lb guys you will be good to go. Just keep in mind that for every 20lb fish, you will usually have to catch or feed 1000s of little ones.