Fishing Victoria Forum

Im going to do the Eyre Penninsula SA route about May this year for about 2-3 weeks
Need info on cheapo surf rod for bait fishing that will take a 7000 abu reel.
Also what size sinkers would I need
Cheers Denis

Penn, Shimano and Daiwa all have lower end 12' surf rods that retail for $100 or less
The rod you buy should have it's optimal casting weight printed on it. I usually use sinkers near the top of that range - when you get it set up, buy a few cheap sinkers of different sizes and try casting with each one. You'll feel when it's right. Too light, and it doesn't load up the rod enough to get any distance. Too heavy, and it loads up the rod too much and just kind of lobs the bait instead of flicking it.
When you feel the weight is right, get a few different styles of sinkers in that weight. Bomb sinkers for calm conditions, star sinkers for sand and light current, grapnel sinkers for heavy current, spoon sinkers for reefy ground.

You should be able to pick up a decent rod for under $150 at a tackle store like BCF or Anaconda etc.

Go for something between 12 to 15 ft with a line class of 15 to 24kg which will suit that reel you are using and general bread and butter fish you will be catching. I prefer mono over braid for surf fishing and would take a variety of star sinkers in different sizes because conditions are always changing.

To make things more comfortable take a pair of waders also.

Good luck!!

Being an overhead reel you may want to make sure that you buy an overhead rod. The parabolic curve is totally wrong if you are using a standard spin reel surf rod with an OH reel. They tend to use grapnel sinkers in SA, anything from 4 ounce upwards, but I have had success with your standard star sinkers