Advise on Soft Plastics rods please.

TackleNut
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Re: Advise on Soft Plastics rods please.

Post by TackleNut » Sun Jul 13, 2014 11:16 pm

Hornet,
U must be so similar in age to me, us older folks are always behing these young fella's when it comes time for outfits, these young guys must dream about them :roll:

Just as I am writing this and no one had answered you, buy now as I am finishing my thoughts and scribble that I am in no doubt your going to get lots of post telling you a certain make and model of rod and reel, but for now we are all assuming you want a particular fish species in mind and how heavy or light you want to fish.

Hornet, just my opinion and you take it the way you want from having been fishing with sp's since way before they were even available here

As far as the Sedona 1000 goes, you will probably find it a bit small for what you want ( probably Sloth has found the same and relagted it to the shelf ).
No brands mentioned from here in, as they all have a outfit for what ever you want to do.

A 2000 or 2500 would be a better all rounder and fit quite a bit more line onto it, 1000's don't hold a great amount of line so it can depend how far your casting, what your fish your chasing, into what sort of water your casting into ie no structure, snaggy bottom or friggin pylons everywhere as say after a dozen 20 yard cast and get snagged, you can lose 20 yards of mainline, if your fishing snaggy bottom and pylons then your probably going to get snagged every 6-12 cast. If you need to cut off at the rod 2 or 3 times there is not much line left on your reel to effectively fish with so you end up going home early or needing to respool on the spot.

You haven't given a species that your chasing, but from your comments I would assume Bream as your talking about pylons & structure. But then again could be other fish.

I still know guys that fish for Bream using 14lb/15lb/20lb Braid, 2 guys that I personally knew quite well would fish 20 and 30lb Braid chasing bream on lures in some places on 5-7kg snapper rods. And these buggers were doing quite well for themselves at many ABT events around the country.

Dude we can talk about rods all day long, what length ( most Breamers go with somewhere between 6ft to 7ft6inch ), what lb rating 1-3kg, 2-4kb, 3-5kg, 3-6kg and so on and then about what tapers and actions you want. As well as 1 or 2 piece.

As for reel size, some will go for a 1500, others for a 2000 or 2500, and some others with 3500 bait runners.

What kind of fishing do you have in mind ?

Do you want to test yourself and fish ultra light with a 1-3kg stick with a very fast rod action and fast taper/action and 1500 reel and 2lb line ? Better luck in playing lotto but sure is fun if your out there among fish and not really upset to lose a few.

Play it down the middle with a 3-5kg fast action and fast taper or even medium/moderate fast taper action and a 2500 size reel with 8lb braid and similar leader and in with a fighting chance of landing nearly everything you hook onto.

Or just go big guns and not lose anything if it swims around you and use a 6-8kg rod, 3500 reel and 20lb braid with larger leader and have more than enough power to stop a good jewie ?
The above 3 outfit sizes I know that some of the ABT teams were using just for one species. Yep Bream. When the $$ and pride is high, then sometimes what is sporting goes out the window. Would you want to one to lose the fish that could have won you the title if only you knew to upgrade or downgrade at that particular moment.

Good luck with it,
TN

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Re: Advise on Soft Plastics rods please.

Post by hornet » Mon Jul 14, 2014 12:15 am

TackleNut wrote:Hornet,
U must be so similar in age to me, us older folks are always behing these young fella's when it comes time for outfits, these young guys must dream about them :roll:

Just as I am writing this and no one had answered you, buy now as I am finishing my thoughts and scribble that I am in no doubt your going to get lots of post telling you a certain make and model of rod and reel, but for now we are all assuming you want a particular fish species in mind and how heavy or light you want to fish.

Hornet, just my opinion and you take it the way you want from having been fishing with sp's since way before they were even available here

As far as the Sedona 1000 goes, you will probably find it a bit small for what you want ( probably Sloth has found the same and relagted it to the shelf ).
No brands mentioned from here in, as they all have a outfit for what ever you want to do.

A 2000 or 2500 would be a better all rounder and fit quite a bit more line onto it, 1000's don't hold a great amount of line so it can depend how far your casting, what your fish your chasing, into what sort of water your casting into ie no structure, snaggy bottom or friggin pylons everywhere as say after a dozen 20 yard cast and get snagged, you can lose 20 yards of mainline, if your fishing snaggy bottom and pylons then your probably going to get snagged every 6-12 cast. If you need to cut off at the rod 2 or 3 times there is not much line left on your reel to effectively fish with so you end up going home early or needing to respool on the spot.

You haven't given a species that your chasing, but from your comments I would assume Bream as your talking about pylons & structure. But then again could be other fish.

I still know guys that fish for Bream using 14lb/15lb/20lb Braid, 2 guys that I personally knew quite well would fish 20 and 30lb Braid chasing bream on lures in some places on 5-7kg snapper rods. And these buggers were doing quite well for themselves at many ABT events around the country.

Dude we can talk about rods all day long, what length ( most Breamers go with somewhere between 6ft to 7ft6inch ), what lb rating 1-3kg, 2-4kb, 3-5kg, 3-6kg and so on and then about what tapers and actions you want. As well as 1 or 2 piece.

As for reel size, some will go for a 1500, others for a 2000 or 2500, and some others with 3500 bait runners.

What kind of fishing do you have in mind ?

Do you want to test yourself and fish ultra light with a 1-3kg stick with a very fast rod action and fast taper/action and 1500 reel and 2lb line ? Better luck in playing lotto but sure is fun if your out there among fish and not really upset to lose a few.

Play it down the middle with a 3-5kg fast action and fast taper or even medium/moderate fast taper action and a 2500 size reel with 8lb braid and similar leader and in with a fighting chance of landing nearly everything you hook onto.

Or just go big guns and not lose anything if it swims around you and use a 6-8kg rod, 3500 reel and 20lb braid with larger leader and have more than enough power to stop a good jewie ?
The above 3 outfit sizes I know that some of the ABT teams were using just for one species. Yep Bream. When the $$ and pride is high, then sometimes what is sporting goes out the window. Would you want to one to lose the fish that could have won you the title if only you knew to upgrade or downgrade at that particular moment.

Good luck with it,
TN



Thx for your input tacklenut ! yep we are about the same age I would say, I'm still into line pounds and this new PE line rating has got me stumped, I'm not into light line fishing since my ANSA days, you would know who they are, my best was a 40lb yellow fin on 8lb line outta bermie, and a 6lb trout on 1 lb web, done that been there, these days I like a sporting fight but also like a feed to take home God willing, while you were typing I went and had a look in my tackle shop ( garage ) and found a rovex aureus reel forgot I had, it's the 3500 / 4500 two spool model, the larger spool seems perfect for what I'm doing, 10lb braid will be the line I decided as it gives me a fighting chance, target fish will be the usual pinkies,bream,whiting,flathead and maybe one day a jewie if it commits suicide on my line, locations will vary from sand bottom to hellish reef to docklands, now the reel and line is sorted that leaves the rod, general consensus dictates a fast taper, so I'll look at graphite or graphite composit blanks,thx again and I'll keep an open mind if other members suggest more info... :thumbsup:
He who has the most fishing rods WINS ! :ts:

TackleNut
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Re: Advise on Soft Plastics rods please.

Post by TackleNut » Mon Jul 14, 2014 2:11 am

hornet wrote:
TackleNut wrote:Hornet,
U must be so similar in age to me, us older folks are always behing these young fella's when it comes time for outfits, these young guys must dream about them :roll:

Just as I am writing this and no one had answered you, buy now as I am finishing my thoughts and scribble that I am in no doubt your going to get lots of post telling you a certain make and model of rod and reel, but for now we are all assuming you want a particular fish species in mind and how heavy or light you want to fish.

Hornet, just my opinion and you take it the way you want from having been fishing with sp's since way before they were even available here

As far as the Sedona 1000 goes, you will probably find it a bit small for what you want ( probably Sloth has found the same and relagted it to the shelf ).
No brands mentioned from here in, as they all have a outfit for what ever you want to do.

A 2000 or 2500 would be a better all rounder and fit quite a bit more line onto it, 1000's don't hold a great amount of line so it can depend how far your casting, what your fish your chasing, into what sort of water your casting into ie no structure, snaggy bottom or friggin pylons everywhere as say after a dozen 20 yard cast and get snagged, you can lose 20 yards of mainline, if your fishing snaggy bottom and pylons then your probably going to get snagged every 6-12 cast. If you need to cut off at the rod 2 or 3 times there is not much line left on your reel to effectively fish with so you end up going home early or needing to respool on the spot.

You haven't given a species that your chasing, but from your comments I would assume Bream as your talking about pylons & structure. But then again could be other fish.

I still know guys that fish for Bream using 14lb/15lb/20lb Braid, 2 guys that I personally knew quite well would fish 20 and 30lb Braid chasing bream on lures in some places on 5-7kg snapper rods. And these buggers were doing quite well for themselves at many ABT events around the country.

Dude we can talk about rods all day long, what length ( most Breamers go with somewhere between 6ft to 7ft6inch ), what lb rating 1-3kg, 2-4kb, 3-5kg, 3-6kg and so on and then about what tapers and actions you want. As well as 1 or 2 piece.

As for reel size, some will go for a 1500, others for a 2000 or 2500, and some others with 3500 bait runners.

What kind of fishing do you have in mind ?

Do you want to test yourself and fish ultra light with a 1-3kg stick with a very fast rod action and fast taper/action and 1500 reel and 2lb line ? Better luck in playing lotto but sure is fun if your out there among fish and not really upset to lose a few.

Play it down the middle with a 3-5kg fast action and fast taper or even medium/moderate fast taper action and a 2500 size reel with 8lb braid and similar leader and in with a fighting chance of landing nearly everything you hook onto.

Or just go big guns and not lose anything if it swims around you and use a 6-8kg rod, 3500 reel and 20lb braid with larger leader and have more than enough power to stop a good jewie ?
The above 3 outfit sizes I know that some of the ABT teams were using just for one species. Yep Bream. When the $$ and pride is high, then sometimes what is sporting goes out the window. Would you want to one to lose the fish that could have won you the title if only you knew to upgrade or downgrade at that particular moment.

Good luck with it,
TN



Thx for your input tacklenut ! yep we are about the same age I would say, I'm still into line pounds and this new PE line rating has got me stumped, I'm not into light line fishing since my ANSA days, you would know who they are, my best was a 40lb yellow fin on 8lb line outta bermie, and a 6lb trout on 1 lb web, done that been there, these days I like a sporting fight but also like a feed to take home God willing, while you were typing I went and had a look in my tackle shop ( garage ) and found a rovex aureus reel forgot I had, it's the 3500 / 4500 two spool model, the larger spool seems perfect for what I'm doing, 10lb braid will be the line I decided as it gives me a fighting chance, target fish will be the usual pinkies,bream,whiting,flathead and maybe one day a jewie if it commits suicide on my line, locations will vary from sand bottom to hellish reef to docklands, now the reel and line is sorted that leaves the rod, general consensus dictates a fast taper, so I'll look at graphite or graphite composit blanks,thx again and I'll keep an open mind if other members suggest more info... :thumbsup:


Hornet,
Damn that PE crap, how is someone supposed to get their head around ever changing diameter ?

TN

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Advise on Soft Plastics rods please.

Post by sloth » Mon Jul 14, 2014 5:23 am

I fish 99% bream. I get trev, flattie and pinkie bycatch.

My main outfit is a 1-3kg abu garcia velocity with a 2506 Daiwa caldia.

My entry or starting outfit (budget) was a 2-4kg pflueger trion with a 2500 sedona.

My heavy outfit is a 2-5kg daiwa gen black pinster with a 2500 sedona.

For line I fish either braid (for SP and dropshot) or straight through fluorocarbon (for hardbodies):

Sunline .8 super PE braid with 6lb fluorocarbon leader.

Or

Sunline Sniper 5lb Fluorocarbon straight through

I probably align with TNs down the middle option looking at the above and he's right in that it gives me a good fighting chance with 99% of what I'll hook into.

As said above for SP you should be looking for a fast taper rod. I don't worry about matching the rods line rating to the braids breaking strain - I pay more attention to the lure rating - the rod should state what lures it can cast eg my pinster states 1 - 10g. This matters for SP fishing as if you get too heavy a rod rating you'll struggle to flick unweighted or lightly weighted SP. If you're thinking of finesse bream fishing you're often trying to flick a 40 or 50mm, 2 or 3gram lure 10 - 15m - not easy on a heavy or slower actioned stick.

In general a 2000 or higher sized reel will make line management and casting easier due to the larger spool diameter. The only reason to go with a 1000 is personal preference (some like a small reel) or for balance. It sounds like a 2000 or 2500 would suit you. I don't fish long sessions so having an outfit which is a little butt heavy is neither here nor there. - I found the 1000 to balance better on the 1-3kg stick but the advantage was small and I just felt more comfortable with the larger reel I'd started out with.

Bottom line for me for SP around our local estuaries is:

Fast or ultra-fast action
7" or 6'6"
1-3 or 2-4kg rod

.8 PE/8-10lb braid
Flourocarbon leader - 6lb good starting point and go heavier or lighter as dictated by your catch rate and bust off rate.

My gear will land most things in the estuaries I fish. Yes, a big Jewie might be a challenge but I don't go targeting big jewies and I want to suit my gear to the 99% of the fish I catch and not the 1% I don't.

I generally use the 1-3kg abu - especially if fishing the rivers. If I'm fishing docklands I take the pinster - long casts don't matter here - the shorter rod is easier to handle around pylons and it has more grunt which means I can get stuck in quick and drag the fish away from structure. Some areas of the docks can be "stop them or pop them" locked up drag and prepare to lose some leaders.


If you're after bream mainly always worth having a look on the breammaster site. Lots of very experienced bream and ABT fishos on there. You'll soon get an idea of the outfits most people use for bream these days. I do warn you though a lot of those guys spend serious coin.

For your budget a second hand trion may be worth looking at or have a look on sneakyfisho website for something suitable.

Good luck and enjoy your bream fishing - metro bream can be a wily adversary but always fun ;)

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Re: Advise on Soft Plastics rods please.

Post by hornet » Mon Jul 14, 2014 10:55 am

sloth wrote:I fish 99% bream. I get trev, flattie and pinkie bycatch.

My main outfit is a 1-3kg abu garcia velocity with a 2506 Daiwa caldia.

My entry or starting outfit (budget) was a 2-4kg pflueger trion with a 2500 sedona.

My heavy outfit is a 2-5kg daiwa gen black pinster with a 2500 sedona.

For line I fish either braid (for SP and dropshot) or straight through fluorocarbon (for hardbodies):

Sunline .8 super PE braid with 6lb fluorocarbon leader.

Or

Sunline Sniper 5lb Fluorocarbon straight through

I probably align with TNs down the middle option looking at the above and he's right in that it gives me a good fighting chance with 99% of what I'll hook into.

As said above for SP you should be looking for a fast taper rod. I don't worry about matching the rods line rating to the braids breaking strain - I pay more attention to the lure rating - the rod should state what lures it can cast eg my pinster states 1 - 10g. This matters for SP fishing as if you get too heavy a rod rating you'll struggle to flick unweighted or lightly weighted SP. If you're thinking of finesse bream fishing you're often trying to flick a 40 or 50mm, 2 or 3gram lure 10 - 15m - not easy on a heavy or slower actioned stick.

In general a 2000 or higher sized reel will make line management and casting easier due to the larger spool diameter. The only reason to go with a 1000 is personal preference (some like a small reel) or for balance. It sounds like a 2000 or 2500 would suit you. I don't fish long sessions so having an outfit which is a little butt heavy is neither here nor there. - I found the 1000 to balance better on the 1-3kg stick but the advantage was small and I just felt more comfortable with the larger reel I'd started out with.

Bottom line for me for SP around our local estuaries is:

Fast or ultra-fast action
7" or 6'6"
1-3 or 2-4kg rod

.8 PE/8-10lb braid
Flourocarbon leader - 6lb good starting point and go heavier or lighter as dictated by your catch rate and bust off rate.

My gear will land most things in the estuaries I fish. Yes, a big Jewie might be a challenge but I don't go targeting big jewies and I want to suit my gear to the 99% of the fish I catch and not the 1% I don't.

I generally use the 1-3kg abu - especially if fishing the rivers. If I'm fishing docklands I take the pinster - long casts don't matter here - the shorter rod is easier to handle around pylons and it has more grunt which means I can get stuck in quick and drag the fish away from structure. Some areas of the docks can be "stop them or pop them" locked up drag and prepare to lose some leaders.


If you're after bream mainly always worth having a look on the breammaster site. Lots of very experienced bream and ABT fishos on there. You'll soon get an idea of the outfits most people use for bream these days. I do warn you though a lot of those guys spend serious coin.

For your budget a second hand trion may be worth looking at or have a look on sneakyfisho website for something suitable.

Good luck and enjoy your bream fishing - metro bream can be a wily adversary but always fun ;)


Thx sloth ! very detailed explanation on how it all works !
after some consideration on rod choice I'm looking for a 2-4 kg or maximum of 5 kg depending on the action when I have a play with one.

Also my thoughts on rod length differ a little, my fishing won't be confined to docklands so the rod will need to cover varied locations.

A 7 foot rod will be more versatile for me, I understand the short rod more power to lockem up and arm wrestle them out.

After being Pwn3d by travelly near a pier my tactics have changed near structure, the extra length can steer them away from pylons.

you are limited with a short rod the angle you can exert with it, each to there own I suppose but the longer rod does give leverage, as long as it's not to floppy that the fish can exploit this.

Thx again sloth and the rod hunt continues ... I have found quite a few out there in my price range.
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Re: Advise on Soft Plastics rods please.

Post by DougieK » Mon Jul 14, 2014 11:13 am

This is a great discussion and maybe should be stickied? Lots of good ideas in here.

Horndog i'm using a 1-3kg catana with a 1000 sienna and about to buy a 3-6kg pflueger trion as a slightly heavier option. Either or both will get you by, I like the statement from sloth about gearing for the 99% of fish that you catch and not the 1% that you don't.

The berkley dropshot has a great rep and I almost bought one instead of my light catana. A lot of very good anglers I know (mostly from here) use it and love it. I ended up buying the Catana cos I was short on dollars that month and found one for $35, plus I already knew the brand and model.
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Re: Advise on Soft Plastics rods please.

Post by sloth » Mon Jul 14, 2014 11:16 am

Yeah I generally only use the 6'6" at the docks. I use the 7' for the rivers where I want more range and there's less for them to bury me into.

2-4 is a good choice. If I could only have one of my rods I'd pick the 2-4.... Good all-rounder for estuary work.

Of all the bycatch I reckon trevs are my favourite - never know when to give up - great fun on light gear :)

With the docks I am usually flicking under my feet or skipping 15 - 20ft under the wharf --- leverage isn't too much of an issue as it's a short and brutal fight under there. Agree though if you're picking them up off the outside of the pylons the extra leverage can help.

Let us know how you go and post some reports up - always good to see some estuary reports :)

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Re: Advise on Soft Plastics rods please.

Post by hornet » Mon Jul 14, 2014 11:19 am

DougieK wrote:This is a great discussion and maybe should be stickied? Lots of good ideas in here.

Horndog i'm using a 1-3kg catana with a 1000 sienna and about to buy a 3-6kg pflueger trion as a slightly heavier option. Either or both will get you by, I like the statement from sloth about gearing for the 99% of fish that you catch and not the 1% that you don't.

The berkley dropshot has a great rep and I almost bought one instead of my light catana. A lot of very good anglers I know (mostly from here) use it and love it. I ended up buying the Catana cos I was short on dollars that month and found one for $35, plus I already knew the brand and model.

Wiping the coffee off my screen ... "Horndog" :rofl: :rofl:

Yep Dougie lots of good info here, should help a lot of guys ( and me ) out with this type of fishing ..
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Re: Advise on Soft Plastics rods please.

Post by sloth » Mon Jul 14, 2014 11:28 am

DougieK wrote: I like the statement from sloth about gearing for the 99% of fish that you catch and not the 1% that you don't.
A harsh reality unfortunately ....

I've been fishing nights lately for bream and have a couple of times sank the hooks into something much, much more sizable. Popped the leader in both cases. So then I started taking the pinster and upped to 15lb leader to up my chances ..... and of course started catching a lot less bream ... haha. What you going to do?

So I decided to gear for what I'm chasing and not worry about the corner cases. Quite happy catching flatties, bream, trevs and pinks on light gear for now. Haven't got the patience to chase mulloway at the moment.... too long a time between drinks :)

Maybe that will change in time but at the moment love chasing metro sportsfish - lol.

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Re: Advise on Soft Plastics rods please.

Post by Master Baiter » Mon Feb 11, 2019 8:26 pm

You could try a Storm Adventure 6' 6,'' 4 - 10lbs, lure 3/16 - 3/8ozs, action extra fast a reel say a Daiwa cross fire 2000 loaded with a 10lbs Braid I like power pro.
Would set you up comfortably. Even the bigone that comes by.
Wally
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