TonyTony

Thanks again all. Very helpful. Keen to check out the Abu Veritas SF 1002H 10-15kg. I saw a nice rod today that might also be suitable – Jackson Ocean Gate Shore Jig 10’ PE #1-3.5, lure wt 20-80g. Keen to pair with a Penn Slammer III. Anyone own one of these on a similar combo? Looking at either the 4500 or the 5500. Big jump in size up to the 5500 though. Any feedback appreciated.

Thanks all – super helpful. Happy to spend around $500/600. Yep, land-based so looking at rods closer to 8ft. Wondering if I could go longer and also use it as a beach rod? Was looking at the new Daiwa BG MQ’s. Most of the reels I’ve seen have similar specs when you compare the 4000 to 6000 models – the only clear difference is spool capacity. I imagine spool capacity is less of an issue when fishing land-based? I know of guys that use 8000–10,000 size reels for this type of fishing. Any thoughts on this? Thanks again. Realise I'm asking LOTS of questions!

Hi all, I recently bought a cheap Savage Gear 'Black' spinning combo to use to target Kings in my local estuary. I went with a lighter combo as I'm land-based and was thinking I'd only be dealing with rats. It's a 5–8kg graphite rod with a 4000 size reel (7kg max drag supposedly) – have been using good quality 16lb braid with 20lb FC leader. Using metals and soft plastics I've managed plenty of 40–60cm Kingfish and the odd Salmon. I lost a few fish early on as I think I was letting them run too much and they'd bust me off on rocks/oysters. Recent strategy has been to be more aggressive – to get stuck into them very hard/quickly and keep them away from the bottom/edges. This has been successful for the 40–60cm fish. The issue is when I hook bigger fish. Even at close to max drag these fish are taking line like crazy – I just don't have the stopping power. I think I've realised I need to upgrade my gear but I'd like to understand what I should be focussing on/looking for? I'm happy to upgrade my entire combo but should the priority be finding a better quality reel with heavier maximum drag? If it helps, I'm considering a 7–15kg graphite/composite rod, 4000 to 6000 reel with ~10/12kg drag. Something I can comfortable cast lures/plastics with land-based. I’m not after huge/offshore Kings but would like a better chance up against 65cm+ fish. Any help/insights would be greatly appreciated. Apologies if this is a tired topic. Thanks.