Advice for all-round heavy rod

[damien102]

Hi all, new member here hoping for some advice as I have seen lots of great tips on this forum already!

I am relatively new to fishing after having had a break for 30 years (since being a kid) but now I have definitely got the fishing bug again but am just learning a lot of the ins and outs.

I have already invested in a quality Lox 1-3kg rod and Daiwa Regal LT 2000 reel, and very happy with these for light lure/SP fishing in lakes/estuaries and some pier fishing for pinkies and flathead etc.

Now I am wanting something a little heavier to target things like squid, snapper, Murray Cod, and other larger species. Currently land based but planning on getting a kayak at some point in future, so it would be great to have a rod that covers both options.

Does such a rod exist?

I have a spare Shimano Cazna 4000FE reel to put on this new heavy rod, but I'm not opposed to getting a good quality reel if this one is not suitable as an all round option.

I need some guidance on brand/type/length of rod in order to tap into these more heavy fishing options. Is there such a rod that will be good for both snapper and squid and stuff like Murray cod? Ditto is there a rod that is good for land based but can also transfer to kayak fishing pretty easily?

I have a bit of a lure collection going already but happy to use it for bait fishing if that's a better option.

Budget is around $200.

Thanks in advance!

[Sebb]

Hi all, new member here hoping for some advice as I have seen lots of great tips on this forum already!

I need some guidance on brand/type/length of rod in order to tap into these more heavy fishing options. Is there such a rod that will be good for both snapper and squid and stuff like Murray cod? Ditto is there a rod that is good for land based but can also transfer to kayak fishing pretty easily?

I have a bit of a lure collection going already but happy to use it for bait fishing if that's a better option.

Budget is around $200.

Thanks in advance!

Welcome!

For snapper and murray cod, I suggest an 8 kg or 9 kg rod class, will suit 4000 reel nicely. 2-4 kg rod is enough for squid, go to 5 kg if you want, for the monster kraken squid.

Length is what you want to consider then. In general, the longer the rod, the further you can cast. So longer rod is good for rocks, surf, even piers in some cases. But on a yak, you want a 6ft or 7ft rod.
Imagine waving a 12 ft rod on a yak, lol.
You can use a 7ft rod on rocks etc too, but you lose that distance a bit and the arm length extension (to avoid the rock edges when fishing off a rock).

There's plenty of decent rod between $100-$200. I'd say get an 8 kg or a 9 kg 7 foot rod.
My Daiwa wilderness 8kg 7ft rod is my all round heavy rod. Yak, boat, pier, snapper, cod. But I also have a 9ft 9kg rod for the rock and piers.

[DougieK]

Cod and snapper land based? You probably need two set ups to be honest with you. Cod rods are generally pretty short and land based snapper rods are generally pretty long. Someone with more experience can comment on the cod side of things, but a good rod to look at is one of the 902 shimano series, either the Catana (if they still make them) or the Tcurve revo's are now $150 or so, and it will double with your 4000 reel as a great spin setup to chase salmon with. I've owned both of those rods for quite some time and have caught all sorts on them.

[damien102]

Thanks for the info guys, very helpful. Yeah I think I will just have to bite the bullet and get a couple of set ups if I want to do it all.

The Catana 902 looks like good value at just over $100. Salmon sounds like fun and I hadn't heard much about that or considered it.

One thing I read was someone who used the Catana for squid but said it wasn't ideal for this. Is this because of the tip action or some other reason?

What size braid would you put on the Catana 902? Would 12lb be okay? (I already have 12lb on the 4000 reel).

[mazman]

Thanks for the info guys, very helpful. Yeah I think I will just have to bite the bullet and get a couple of set ups if I want to do it all.

The Catana 902 looks like good value at just over $100. Salmon sounds like fun and I hadn't heard much about that or considered it.

One thing I read was someone who used the Catana for squid but said it wasn't ideal for this. Is this because of the tip action or some other reason?

What size braid would you put on the Catana 902? Would 12lb be okay? (I already have 12lb on the 4000 reel).

If that was on here about the catana it was probably Doug, don't think there's much he hasn't done with it.

For your landbased cod rod what type of fishing are you looking to do?

You could easily bait fish somewhere like eildon with the 902 catana and could get by (not ideal but it'll do the trick) bait fishing most rivers cod. If you're looking to lure fish for versatility I would stick with spin, however baitcast definitely has it's advantages, a 6'6 - 7' rod capable of casting 10-40g or there abouts is what you are looking for. Something like this could also double as a heavy snapper rod off a kayak.

[DougieK]

Thanks for the info guys, very helpful. Yeah I think I will just have to bite the bullet and get a couple of set ups if I want to do it all.

The Catana 902 looks like good value at just over $100. Salmon sounds like fun and I hadn't heard much about that or considered it.

One thing I read was someone who used the Catana for squid but said it wasn't ideal for this. Is this because of the tip action or some other reason?

What size braid would you put on the Catana 902? Would 12lb be okay? (I already have 12lb on the 4000 reel).

Perfect mate. If you can get a Tcurve on sale the extra $ is worth it but the catana is a rock solid rod. My salmon set up is an Assasin (same thing, better quality) 5000 reel (which is a 4000 with a bigger spool) 12lb braid and 20lb fluro leader. You can use the same thing for squid if you dont' want to also carry a squid rod and are fishing a spot with both. Salmon are on hard at Gunnamatta the last week, weather should ease up by tuesday or so.

[frozenpod]

I would suggest a 5-7kg 7ft spin stick.

[Millzee]

Wilson Live Fibre rods are awesome, simply hard to go past in that price range but if you can stretch your budget, check out the range of the Wilson Venom rods, best on the market in my opinion.
http://www.wilsonfishing.com/Products/R ... -Rods/Spin

[damien102]

If you can get a Tcurve on sale the extra $ is worth it but the catana is a rock solid rod.

Is this the T Curve or is that something else again? https://www.anacondastores.com/fishing/ ... BP90141451

[DougieK]

If you can get a Tcurve on sale the extra $ is worth it but the catana is a rock solid rod.

Is this the T Curve or is that something else again? https://www.anacondastores.com/fishing/ ... BP90141451

That's the one. I have the one two models before that. They re did them a couple of times since then. You pretty much will never need another rod in PPB or the back beaches unless you want to do very very specialised work.