slothparade

How long is the rod? I send out 50g jigs on a 150-300g rod, but it's close to 9ft so I can maintain a reasonable distance, but in saying that, I am changing to a different setup. Because that rods for lifting kings up onto the rocks. 

Anything silver is best for Bonnie's, like the halcos. 

Additional pictures attached below. 

For sale, alvey snapper reel, fibreglass and stainless steel, paired with a Berkeley cherry wood rod. Combined $80 ono. 

The reel is in good condition, but is showing signs of cosmetic wear, as depicted in the pictures. The rod is also showing signs of cosmetic wear, but all the guides are intact and in good condition. The rod is 5ft 3" long and has a line rating of 15-30lbs. 

Pickup is in Cherrybrook, but if needed, postage is available, but pickup is preferred. Also i would prefer to sell as a combo. Please contact me here. 

19 minutes ago, DrRaymondSnapper said:

Both the Spheros SW 6000 and Saragosa SWA 6000 are very similar in specifications. Both are solid , chunky reels and carry about 300m of 30lb braid line capacity and have 10kg drags . The Saragosa has one more bearing but the Spheros is slightly lighter and is cheaper by about 25%. Personally , I really love the Spheros that I have and the extra $$ you save with the Spheros could be put towards a nicer rod. A lot of people love the Saragosa and I think that its a great reel but mine is attached to a Terez White 7` 6 and isn`t used on the beach whilst the Spheros performed well in that environment and I never felt under-gunned with the Spheros with any fish..

Yeah, but considering I can get the Saragosa for $20 extra than the spheros, of there's no other benefits, I know which one on picking 😂. 

9 hours ago, DrRaymondSnapper said:

I guess that i have been doing the same as you [ looking for an allrounder on the beach ] but just been doing it for a lot longer and have tried multiple combinations of rods and reels. After all this time I think that I may have swapped around too much rather than becoming more familiar and confident by using a combo for a longer period. Having said that , I think that I have a fair idea of what suits my fishing type. When I first started beach fishing , it was with an Alvey 650 and a custom 14 ft fibreglass rod. Technology in materials and design has improved so much over the years that you can get the same results with a much smaller setup. I went from the Alvey to a Shimano Aerlex then a Speedmaster on a 12ft Revolution rod but wasn`t satisfied so then changed to Aerowaves with Big Baitrunner then 5500 Ultegra  XR. I also had a Pfleuger Contender 12ft with a Penn 750 Spinfisher at the time too. The Big Baitrunner was a handful at over 700gm for long sessions but with 20kg drag and massive line capacity , it could handle anything with fins , including the odd surfer. I didn`t want arms like Popeye the Sailor so I downsized to the Ultegra XR  which was an awesome reel off the beach --15kg drag / 350 yds of 30lb line capacity and only 455 gm in weight. The Ultegra was also unbeatable for anything that swam. I was fishing almost exclusively with bait and didn`t consider lure tossing to be a factor in rod and reel selection but in hindsight , the Ultegra could have done the job in short sessions but with larger metals or hardbodies.  After a sneaky wave stabbed me in the back on Dudley Beach one night and nearly drowned me , the Ultegra was never the same. I then got the idea that I could try and achieve the same results with lighter gear so started using first a Stradic C14 then a 6000 Saragosa on a 10ft [ or so ] Revolution rod. Then I became hooked on trying more different combinations - 6000 Socorro and 6000 Spheros and Daiwa TD Sol with Wilson Live Fibre and Shimano Sonic etc. The Spheros was definitely the pick of the reels that i used at the time and still use it occasionally. The fish that I was targeting were the typical salmon / tailor / jewie / bream species. Then lure throwing became big and I wanted something that could do that as well as casting big baits for hundreds of metres. The Spheros changed into the smaller Ultegra which still had a fairly strong 11kg drag with almost 300 metres of 20 lb line capacity but only weighed 285 gm. The rod changed from Shimano to Penn Prevails , first at 12ft then down to 9` 6. The lighter unit was a marked difference and was better for lure casting [ mainly the 9` 6 ] and allowed for longer fishing duration without the arm fatigue. I realise that weight is irrelevant if you stick your rod [ s ] in a holder and sit on your esky to fish off the beach but I think that you miss fish if you aren`t holding your rod and I`ve always avoided doing the holder thing. I didn`t feel that the lighter setup cost me anything in terms of stopping power for larger fish and if anything failed , it was usually due to poor knot tying or wrong terminal tackle. I was happy with the Ultegra / shorter Prevail for a long time but soon realised that I was kidding myself if I wanted to do both jobs with one combination. I will say that the 4000 Stradic c14 was also excellent with the Prevail. Now that I`d decided that 9`6 was the perfect bait throwing size , I changed the reel to a 5000 Stradic FL [ the one before the latest FM iteration ] and found it was superior in casting distance. I always prefer a nice big ball handle when retrieving [ snicker ] and found that 5000 was an excellent sized reel. The new Stradics are amazing reels -- very smooth and quiet like the Ultegra. For throwing lures now  I always carry a Shimano T Curve in 7`2 with a 5000 Stella FJ and never changed this as it couldn`t be faulted and performed flawlessly every time. Occasionally I would use an 8`6 Shimano Hardrocker BB with the Stella if I wanted a change for throwing metals further .I still use the Stradic now  but it doesn`t throw huge baits well but I don`t use them so its fine. Then I changed to a T Curve Surf model for a while but found it was disappointing. Then I discovered the Abu Garcia Veritas and it was a revelation.  The Veritas was superior to the Prevail with a faster action and excellent " feel ". its well balanced with the Stradic and I`m very happy with the combination and its my current go-to setup. The only downside to the the Veritas is the grip and it wears badly very quickly. The wrap grips on the Prevails are brilliant and are hard wearing and comfortable. For the Veritas I used tennis raquet overgrips to cover the damage and find it works a treat. Its hard to apply to the small sections but improves rod handling immeasurably. I bought the Penn Prevail Apex to see if it was any improvement on the 2 version but there was no appreciable difference in performance. Its very nice to use but inferior to the Veritas. The Veritas is probably the only rod that I would feel confident throwing  lures with and I think it would do the job with heavier slicers for salmon and tailor or big stickbaits for jewies. If you prefer more rod weight at the butt end and plenty of grunt then the big Ultegra XR would be hard to beat with the 12 ft Prevail 2 and I still use this combination when I expect to be battling larger fish like Jewies if I specifically target them with livies or big flesh bait strips. The Big Baitrunner gets a run too at times.  I don`t throw lures for jewies but would be happy if one accidentally took one when I was using the Veritas / Stradic setup. I recently got a 79cm specimen off Grassy Head when I was chasing tailor with the Veritas and it handled it with no dramas at all. Very exciting. I can only give an opinion on the rods and reels that I have used in the past and don`t have much experience with Daiwa gear. I seem to favour Shimano products for my angling gear. I am also sure that there are other great rods and reels out there that I haven`t tried ....yet. Other people will have different ideas on what constitutes a great beach outfit but the concept of one rod and reel to do the whole range of bait and lure fishing is unrealistic and you will require two different combinations to get the job done consistently. Rods and reels are very specialised these days and no manufacturer would claim that any one setup will be perfect in all situations. They have a vested interest in selling more gear so won`t produce anything that will reduce their capacity to make a profit. My opinions on rod and reel selection are only based on how I fish and what I fish for and will undoubtably differ to other peoples ideas of what constitutes  " beach fishing ". That is why it is important to consider this when choosing gear and getting hands-on experience with it before purchasing it. Don`t listen to sales staff in most cases and ignore exaggerated claims in advertisements. Be sure you know what you want from your fishing gear and choose it appropriately. Your reel maintenance and care is better than mine but make sure you get saltwater rated gear that will endure the harsh conditions of beach fishing.  It is also true that you should get fishing outfits that suits where you are mainly fishing and what you realistically expect to encounter. The right rod and reel won`t let you down when you need it the most and don`t be afraid to pay a bit more for quality gear. I think that I made the mistake of using too many different rods and reels rather than getting familiar with one setup for any length of time but it seemed like the right idea at the time. I hope that you can get some idea from my experiences and hope that I haven`t just confused you. Don`t overthink the subject and be realistic in what you hope to achieve. Good luck and the invitation stands.

Looking at the spheros, it's only 5g lighter than the same size Saragosa. Is there any other benefits of the spheros over the gosa? I can get the Saragosa for the same price as the spheros. 

Will reply to the rest when I get home. 

Are they the $4 hooks from the 4 letter department store? Because if they are, I've had them bent straight by trevally off long reef. They used to be a lot better but recently I've found that they snap or bend. 

1 hour ago, lhan said:

Hi I'm trying to do a braid - light leader - heavier leader. I think a double uni will do on the light leader - heavier leader connection, just seeking if there is better knot and generally how heavy and long the "heavier" leader should be. Thanks!

I've used double unis on kings, snapper, rays. Never had an issue. Even double uni braid to fluro works well for lighter line. 

Light - heavy leader defeats the purpose of using light leader. You are just introducing another weak point into your line. You are best just to go main line to heavier leader, try 6-8 lbs fluro. That will give you a better chance than 4 lbs. 

My guess for that Yakka would be a ray as it looks a bit squished. Crabs tend to year chunks off, whole other fish also tend to take chucks out as well. 

Wouldn't you 

2 hours ago, lhan said:

Thanks for the reply @Steve0 @zmk1962 @mrsswordfisherman! Please accept my apology first as I made it confusing - I'm using fg knot to connect my braid mainline to flurocarbon leader now, mainly 6lb main to 4-8 fc leader. The issue is by-catches happen a lot when I'm using light lines where it's getting expensive quite quickly 😂. I heard there's some bream fishos would tie a short bite leader (like 20cm I guess?) in addition to the existing 4/6lbs flurocarbon leader. I'm seeking advice on what's the general rule on this trick.

It's a good enforcement learning with all the details tho, really appreciate still !

Wouldnt you just do a double uni knot? If going mono to fluro? 

Just so Im understanding the issue, are you trying to do braid -> light leader -> heavier leader 

Or braid -> heavier leader -> lighter leader? 

So if your loosing gear, due to the leader snapping, the fatties are biting through your leader or breaking you off. 

Or are you trying to make like a sacrificial leader that goes to your hook and has stronger leader between that and your main line? 

13 hours ago, DrRaymondSnapper said:

Ultegra XR is a heavy bait reel. I find big reels above , say 450gm . are difficult when trying to generate hand speed for casting lures repeatedly but OK when waiting for fish to takes baits. I also got a Pen Prevail Apex a month ago in 9'6 and find it also goes well for bait or metals off the beach. At various times I`ve used Shimano Revolutions in 9 and 12 ft , Aerowaves , Wilson Live Fibre in 12 ft , Prevails in both sizes , Shimano Sonic Surf Spinning in 12 ft [ very fast action ], Pfleuger Contender in 12 ft , Prevail Apex and the Veritas. Invariably , its the Veritas with a Stradic FL 5000 loaded with 20lb braid or the Vanford 5000 that I reach for first these days. When I was younger I could hold a big combo for long periods but these days I find that fishing is more fun with lighter gear and I don`t consider that I`m less able to handle bigger fish with it. I`m always hands-on when beach fishing so I don`t want to be holding a telegraph pole while I`m waiting for a bite. As others have said , you will find it may be necessary to have two outfits for the two techniques that you mention  , baits and lures , as they are very different in their fundamentals ,  especially if you are targeting a variety of species. A single all round combo would be ideal to own and the Veritas / Stradic setup is as close as I`ve come to finding it so far. Personally , I find Saragosas to be less efficient for long casts and heavier than the Stradics to use. I have a 6000 Saragosa and have tried it on the beach but prefer it off the boat for serious fighting fish. The other reel that I like is the Shimano Ultegra 5000 XGFC [ not the XR C14 5500 ] from a certain large tackle store with 3 letters in its name. . A very nice reel with the Veritas too and versatile. The beach is very unforgiving on gear so make sure any reel you get can handle the sand and salt environment safely or you may run into problems. Caring for a reel properly after use is also vital to success. I think that your choice should be dictated by the way that you fish and your primary target species and your personal abilities. its such a huge field with so many variables that its hard to be precise with suggestions as its very much a matter of personal taste. Good luck and I`m sure that you will make the right selection. Just make sure that its after you have personally inspected each piece of gear and not just picked them online after reading their product specs. i hope that they still make the Veritas. Its a nice piece of gear. I would be happy to lend you or let you inspect any of the gear that I have mentioned so far. Just no high sticking that big jewie. Sorry for the wordy reply., its a huge topic with no right/ wrong answers.

Never actually met someone who owns a ulegra, but often wondered exactly where they fit in. From what I understand, they are a long casting reel, much like the spinfisher long cast, hence the deeper spool. The part I I'm curious about it what decision led you to go with the ulegra over say a bait runner, particularly if fishing large baits for Jewfish? I would have thought the bait runner feature would have been more desirable? 

Sorry to be a pain, but if you don't mind, what are the best and worst parts of the prevail Apex, I have been meaning to try one but haven't had time. 

Abu Garcia says that they still are producing the veritas but as I said, o haven't been able to track one down in person. 

Personally for me, when surf casting, or any lure casting for say tailor, salmon, Jewfish, anything in that medium size class, I like to have a bit more weight around the butt/ reel, I just personally find it more comfortable. 

When popping and throwing large stick baits, I again prefer a bit heavier rod butt and reel. I just feel more comfortable with it. 

Strangely enough, for lighter, bream, flathead, ECT, I prefer a very light rod and reel, and sometimes reach for a bait caster. 

Vanford- lovely reel, absolutely amazing, feels great but unfortunately id honestly prefer something a bit heavier. Don't get me wrong, absolutely wonderful reel to use, was actually looking to put one on my bream rod. 

As for the stradic 6000 it's only a few grams lighter than the Saragosa 6000. From my understanding the stradic is the lighter more refined Saragosa? Is that correct? 

Haha, very true, but any reel that can survive offshore kayak fishing will be fine on the beach. But that's exactly the reason Im going for a good sealed reel. 

My cleaning routine is: tighten the drag, put hose on mist and spray rods and reels. Undo the drag and spray with a reel spray (can't remember what it's called) then let them dry out. 

I definitely am getting 2 different rods. I'll be asking for advice about the second one later. 

Current thinking is the 10ft 8-15kg sandstorm or sensor surf, with the Saragosa 6000. From all the advice I've received, o believe that 10ft rod will give me the control and distance needed to throw lures, while having the strength to stop Jewfish. Still want to find a vertias though and give it a try. 

I definitely will be, plan to go up the coast to a few larger tackle shops to try out multiple rods. 

Thanks for the amazing offer, might need to take you up on that. 

Thanks for the great advice! 

On 4/19/2024 at 2:05 PM, DrRaymondSnapper said:

I used a  9 ft Penn Prevail 2 for a while [ or was it 9'6 ] but changed to an Abu Garcia Veritas in the same length. The Abu had a much faster action and could cast a mile. I also have Shimano Aerowaves but the Veritas is my go-to rod on the beach. Nice and light so I can hold it all day but plenty of grunt for larger fish. The Veritas would be better if contemplating lures too. I also use a 12 ft Penn Prevail too for heavier baits for jews. All the rods I mentioned are not hard on the wallet either. Reels are Shimano Stradics in 5000 / Spheros 6000 or Ultegra XR for the heavier rods. And my only Daiwa reel --a 23 TD Sol in 5000 size. And a Big Baitrunner Long cast but that`s a heavy reel to hold for long periods of time.

havent actually been able to find a veritas in person, but they look good and come in a great cast rating. are the utlegras good? i mainly use shiamno for light finese reels and rods and reserve penns for the heavy work. but im planning to use the saragosa for jigging of the kayak as well, so it will be used for multple things as im getting ready to retire some reels. 

haha, one night mate and i forgot to bring the rod holders, ended up holding tiagras for a few hours then gave up and went home beause our arms were way to tired. 

On 4/19/2024 at 4:34 PM, Restyle said:

I take everything, I got a large tackle box which fits perfectly in the space between the rear drawers and the side of the car. My 3 PCs 15ft sensor surf is perfect for travel and is a really good rod for beaches like Stockton which are quite turbulent and also casting out larger squid and 8oz lead. 
 

 

I’ve had no issues with Diawa rods outside of misuse on my behalf. One sensor surf I’ve had for 5 years now and looks like new. But I do take very good care of my rods.

I don’t use lures of the beach but if I did I’d probably use a 9-10ft rod which is whippy. the penn prevail is more of a bait rod. 

I do recommend the saragosa over the stradic, it’s light and also sealed. On a recent trip near Forster I had a double hook up on mulloway and had the rod holder fold over in the soft sand so I had to stand on the butt off the rod to prevent the rod and reel sliding away while fighting the other fish. One fish was 86cm other was 91 with a pretty bad tangle. Abit of wash from a bottle and the reel was like new 

Yeah that would be the ideal spot to put some gear. I need to get some gull wings at some point to make that space actually usable. 

I went out to a couple tackle shops today and tried multiple rods and reels. Firstly: 

Saragosa, 10,000 and 8000 were to big and heavy for what I want as I'm not looking to replace my live liners. The Saragosa 5000 on the was really nice. But ultimately settled on the 6000hg. 

Tried the Penn battles, but found that I was looking for a size between the 4000 and 5000 and they also aren't sealed. 

Then the slammer 4, they've really stepped it up a notch, the slammer 4 is definitely more refined than the 3 and was a tough contender against the Shimano. Ultimately, it came down to I wanted something between the 4500 and the 5500. 

So overall, I'm headed towards a Saragosa, which is great to have the reel out of the way. 

Now for the rods, I had a try of all the prevails. Found that they were all very sensitive. But I do agree, they seem great for sending big baits out. Definitely loaded up nicely and all round, I believe I have found a rod for sending out large baits. 

Now back to the lure fishing rod. The Penn prevails in the 9-10' range are a bit heavy on the cast weight department, as I want to be able to throw smaller metals for tailor. Around the 15g mark. But all round, solid contender. 

The Shimano aerowave, nope. Great bait rod, but I don't believe I need more of them. 

Sensor surf, love it, can see why you like it, but it's not for me. I just wouldn't get the use out of it. 

Thinking to try dawia again, so here's the ones I'm contemplating the most.

The ones in really interested in is the sea bass 10'6" 8-15kg, 20-80g cast. And the 11' 7-15kg 20-60 cast. Any experience with them? 

Other one I'm looking at is the sandstorm, 10'6". 

Finally, the Penn prevail, 10' 8-15kg, 50-100 cast. Or the 9' 6-12kg 20-85 cast 

6 minutes ago, Restyle said:

no mulloway will spool at 6k saragosa on 30lb. id go around 20lb and youll fit even more line on and if you get a quality thin braid youll squeeze even more line on

What brand braid do you recommend? Been tossing up between 20 and 30lbs, but agreed, leaning towards 25lbs. Looking to try some different brands. 

Talking about being spoiled, a few weeks ago I was spoiled by a monster off Stockton on a tiagra 80. 

On 4/18/2024 at 4:52 PM, Ben Hall said:

I just tried to give you an idea of some outfits I use that work and are comfortable to use, I just love casting the light 9 foot rod, like if you wanted to fish smaller plastics it would be nicer then and big heavy rod but if I was going to go for maximum distance I would take my 11 foot Lateo Pirate Daiwa rods in either 7 to 15kg or 10 to 20kg which I run either 20 or 30lb braid with a 4500H Saltiga or 5000H Saltiga.

Yeah I love the Shimano Stella, but yeah not the sort of reel you want to get beat up.

There's just so many variables, it's not often you can spin a Longtail off the beach unless conditions allow and on that day I would of preferred my 11 foot distance rod but the 9 foot rod got the job done, hopefully with your Tailor and Salmon you can find the right bank that you can cast a metal lure the distance to be in the zone something like a 40 gram metal.

And yes I have used the 9 foot rod rigged with gang hooks with pilchards to get the job done but would prefer a longer rod. And also put a small Thunnus 8000 on it with 15lb mono which I fished bait in the right conditions which sometimes a long cast is not required to fish a close in bank or gutter.

Like Restyles comment above its hard to get a outfit that does both jobs well, and the Sensor Surf rod he mentioned is the rod that took over from the discontinued Heartland I spoke of, I also have a Sensor Surf which is exactly the same as the Heartland only different colours and labels. 

Hope that helps

6 hours ago, DrRaymondSnapper said:

I used a  9 ft Penn Prevail 2 for a while [ or was it 9'6 ] but changed to an Abu Garcia Veritas in the same length. The Abu had a much faster action and could cast a mile. I also have Shimano Aerowaves but the Veritas is my go-to rod on the beach. Nice and light so I can hold it all day but plenty of grunt for larger fish. The Veritas would be better if contemplating lures too. I also use a 12 ft Penn Prevail too for heavier baits for jews. All the rods I mentioned are not hard on the wallet either. Reels are Shimano Stradics in 5000 / Spheros 6000 or Ultegra XR for the heavier rods. And my only Daiwa reel --a 23 TD Sol in 5000 size. And a Big Baitrunner Long cast but that`s a heavy reel to hold for long periods of time.

Thanks guys, much appreciated advice. Now settled on getting 2 different rods.

IAs for the lure setup 'm aiming for a 10 ft rod, looking at the Penn allegiance, veritas, and Shimano speed master. Other than the dawia, can you recommend any others? And what weight class should I be aiming for, as I want to cast lures for tailor, salmon, Jew, ECT, and matches the reels below. 

As for the reel, it's coming down to line capacity, I have been recommended to look at a 5500 slammer which has a line capacity of 380/30lbs. But I want to cut down a bit of the weight. So I'm looking at the Saragosas 6000hg but it only has a line capacity of 295/30lbs. Will that he enough for Jews? 

Any pointers with ideal line capacity would be much appreciated. 

As for the bait rod, I'll probably go a prevail 24-37kg or 15kg. I know the 37kg will be a broom stick but I prefer that when handling sharks. 

4 hours ago, Steve0 said:

The poor man's Stella, the Saragosa has IPX8 water protection.  I had no problems with my (at least) annually serviced Shimano Saragosa 5000, tossing mostly 40g lures fishing an average 3 days per week for about 8 years, including a couple of washes in breaking waves after accidentally dropping my rod.  Before that, I wore out two unsealed reels in about 12 months (bathed neither of those in surf). To give you some idea how hard I fished, the crank handle on one unsealed reel wore halfway through in six months. Fine sand does a lot of damage! Gears were OK. Bottom line: make sure you get a well sealed reel for serious beach fishing. 

Shimano offer a lower priced Spheros, at a slightly lower price than Saragosa but has the same sealing and would suit someone who beach fishes less frequently than I did. Unfortunately, the Shimano reel sealing is limited to 5000 and up reels and up and not every Shimano reel has it. The feature to look for is X-shield. X-protect is a lower level of protection for lighter reels. 

Review from a comprehensive tester: https://www.alanhawk.com/reviews/spswa/

 

That sounds promising, I'm definitely going to be adding a saragosa to the list to look at. 

Talking about breakages, I actually managed to strip the main gear of one reel and burn out the drag of a spinfisher 😂. 

I'm only interested in properly sealed reels, as I know the effects of sand and salt all to well. 

Is the sphroes a good option or would I be best to spend the extra for a saragosa as this will be used off a kayak as well. 

13 minutes ago, Steve0 said:

The poor man's Stella, the Saragosa has IPX8 water protection.  I had no problems with my (at least) annually serviced Shimano Saragosa 5000, tossing mostly 40g lures fishing an average 3 days per week for about 8 years, including a couple of washes in breaking waves after accidentally dropping my rod.  Before that, I wore out two unsealed reels in about 12 months (bathed neither of those in surf). To give you some idea how hard I fished, the crank handle on one unsealed reel wore halfway through in six months. Fine sand does a lot of damage! Gears were OK. Bottom line: make sure you get a well sealed reel for serious beach fishing. 

Shimano offer a lower priced Spheros, at a slightly lower price than Saragosa but has the same sealing and would suit someone who beach fishes less frequently than I did. Unfortunately, the Shimano reel sealing is limited to 5000 and up reels and up and not every Shimano reel has it. The feature to look for is X-shield. X-protect is a lower level of protection for lighter reels. 

Review from a comprehensive tester: https://www.alanhawk.com/reviews/spswa/

 

That sounds promising, I'm definitely going to be adding a saragosa to the list to look at. 

Talking about breakages, I actually managed to strip the main gear of one reel and burn out the drag of a spinfisher 😂. 

I'm only interested in properly sealed reels, as I know the effects of sand and salt all to well. 

Is the sphroes a good option or would I be best to spend the extra for a saragosa as this will be used off a kayak as well 

23 hours ago, Restyle said:

Rods for both soaking baits and lures can be challenging as you want a fairly long rod to get the line above the breakers when soaking Bait but you also want a fairly short 10ft or so rod for the lures so it can be much lighter and easier to handle.

my goto bait setups are

Lighter surf for salmon, tailor is a sensor surf 13ft with a 8000 saragosa 

Heavier surf for mulloway, big rays and sharks is a sensor surf 16ft with a 10000 saragosa

both rods work well off Stockton and other high energy beaches where the water can be quite turbulent and a lot of sweep  

the light surf has 14lb main line with 20lb leader and the heavy surf has 30lb main, 30lb or 40lb leader. I also have a penn prevail 12 and 13ft but much prefer the sensor surf. You can easily cast out much heavier baits, the rods 10x lighter, good action and a very long butt which makes casting a breeze. I only use the penn prevail in areas where I don’t need to cast far or as a loan rod to mates.

Sorry, how are you finding the Saragosas? Are they giving you maintenance trouble? I'm currently looking at the 6000hg as it's very similar weight to the slammer 4500 but has a bit more line capacity. I'm planning on going to a shop and actually having a play with both. 

23 hours ago, Restyle said:

Rods for both soaking baits and lures can be challenging as you want a fairly long rod to get the line above the breakers when soaking Bait but you also want a fairly short 10ft or so rod for the lures so it can be much lighter and easier to handle.

my goto bait setups are

Lighter surf for salmon, tailor is a sensor surf 13ft with a 8000 saragosa 

Heavier surf for mulloway, big rays and sharks is a sensor surf 16ft with a 10000 saragosa

both rods work well off Stockton and other high energy beaches where the water can be quite turbulent and a lot of sweep  

the light surf has 14lb main line with 20lb leader and the heavy surf has 30lb main, 30lb or 40lb leader. I also have a penn prevail 12 and 13ft but much prefer the sensor surf. You can easily cast out much heavier baits, the rods 10x lighter, good action and a very long butt which makes casting a breeze. I only use the penn prevail in areas where I don’t need to cast far or as a loan rod to mates.

Thanks for the great answer, actually was perfect, because the beach I mainly fish is Stockton. 

I've been looking at the Penn allegiance as it has a medium-fast action and has a more suitable length for lures. What length would you use for lures on Stockton? I'm strongly considering the 9' allegiance but also open to other rods, I was also looking at the Shimano speed master. 

I did used to have a heavy surf setup, with a 37kg rod and a 10500 slammer, until the rod gave wave and snapped. That setup stopped everything 😂. 

16 hours ago, Restyle said:

Rods for both soaking baits and lures can be challenging as you want a fairly long rod to get the line above the breakers when soaking Bait but you also want a fairly short 10ft or so rod for the lures so it can be much lighter and easier to handle.

my goto bait setups are

Lighter surf for salmon, tailor is a sensor surf 13ft with a 8000 saragosa 

Heavier surf for mulloway, big rays and sharks is a sensor surf 16ft with a 10000 saragosa

both rods work well off Stockton and other high energy beaches where the water can be quite turbulent and a lot of sweep  

the light surf has 14lb main line with 20lb leader and the heavy surf has 30lb main, 30lb or 40lb leader. I also have a penn prevail 12 and 13ft but much prefer the sensor surf. You can easily cast out much heavier baits, the rods 10x lighter, good action and a very long butt which makes casting a breeze. I only use the penn prevail in areas where I don’t need to cast far or as a loan rod to mates.

Other than the dawia sensor, can you please recommend any other brand or rod? I've had a couple of bad experiences with dawia and now don't buy from them anymore. Got 2 saltists, within 4 weeks, a few of the guide inserts fell out while just sitting on the shelf, called dawia and they said I can either send them back and wait 6 weeks for them to make up their mind wether it's a warranty or I can go fix it myself, (they wanted me to pay shipping both ways). 

Looking to get a heavier rod for baitfishing for Jews, something in the 15kg range. 

Do you ever target Jews on lure off the beach? What setup would you use? 

15 hours ago, Restyle said:

i took 3 beach rods, 2 7ft 1 pce terez rods & a light spinning down to south aus for 25 odd days and had no issues with space ontop of food, water, tackle etc

Been meaning to ask, do you have a smaller tackle box that you pack for traveling? Or do you just take everything? 

Once I have the fridge, recovery gear, sleeping arrangements, spare parts, fuel, water, ECT, really not much spare left. Have you had any experience with a 3 piece rod? Are they any good? 

14 minutes ago, Ben Hall said:

I would try to work towards 2 outfits.

I'm pretty much just a Daiwa and Shimano so don't know about the Penn outfits that seem very popular.

I do alot of spinning and spin with rods between 8 foot and 12 foot for varies reasons from the beaches and rocks.

So when take a rod to spin the beach while bait fishing aswell I always reach for my Shimano Revolution 9 foot spin rod which is 6 to 10kg which are a good price.

The reel I run on this is a Shimano Stella 5000 with 20lb braid on it which is a high end reel but something like a Stradic or Saragosa would go nice on this rod to bring the price down. I've even managed a nice Longtail Tuna off the beach around 12kg on this outfit.

Having a spin rod ready to go at all times can really help when fish turn up.

As for bait fishing I lean towards a rod around 11 to 12 foot in that 7 to 15kg or 10 to 20kg range since I'm usually trying to cast large baits out intended for Jewfish. My 7 to 15kg rod is a Daiwa Heartland which has been discontinued  the 10 to 20kg is a Shimano Revolution which I pair with a Shimano Thunnus 16000f which have a baitrunner feature so you can have the rod set that allows line to be taken from the reel on near zero tension and with one wind of the handle you can set the hook with the pre set drag pressure you've set. And for my bait fishing off the beach fishing for Tailor and Jewfish I use 20 to 30lb mono.

I've caught Jewfish up to 27kg on this outfit on 20lb mono.

Hope this helps, this is just my choice for this style of fishing. I'm sure you'll get some different advice.

Tight lines

Agree with the 2 setups, and I actually do have multiple beach rods. Just to elaborate my situation, I am getting into long distance touring so having multiple rods just doesn't fly, hence why I'm looking for a more multi purpose one. 

What influenced your decision to choose a 9' rod for spinning on the beach? I found with my 9' rod, I was struggling to get lures out any reasonable distance. 

How robust do you find the Stella? Often looked them, but then considered what my gear goes through. My rods get strapped to the front of the car and run up and down the beach. They also get dunked, dropped in sand, splashed on the kayak ECT, hence I transitioned over to Penn as the stradics were giving me trouble. 

As for the bait fishing, would you ever use your lure setup if say you could only bring one setup? The nice thing about the 4500 slammer is it has the line capacity and the drag to stop most things on the beach while being light enough to cast. As for the rod, what do you think of 8-12kg, would that be a reasonable compromise? Can still flick smaller lures for tailor, salmon, ECT and reasonable lures for jewfish. 

As for my dedicated jewfish bait setup, I already have a baitrunner and just need replace the rod as it fell out of the rod holder and was run over. But at the moment, have been using a 8-12kg heavy rod. Do plan to get a 15kg. Use to have a 24-37kg but that one was unfortunately snapped. 

Good afternoon, after a 2 year break, i am returning to fishing. I am looking for some advice in regards to beach fishing combos. 

My intended use for this would be to cast lures for jewfish, tailor, salmon, ect, with a secondary use of soaking baits for jewfish, bream, flatties, salmon, ect. 

I am currently looking at a penn slammer iv 4500hs paired with a penn prevail. Firstly, I am wondering what weight class would suit my purpose the best. Secondly is there any other combos i should be looing at, thanks. 

Lots of fatties, the bottom is quite muddy, so keep that in mind and it's quite shallow through there. Think of it like a big mud flat. Its starting to get a little bit to cold for whiting, but there may be some around.

Main target would be fatties. Though there are bream in holding up in pockets 

I've eaten them and am still here, so I'd assume they're ok to eat. If your worried id just not eat to many. They're good with garlic and butter 

Yeah I've had an issue like that, they measured the bream which was right on the legal dot, and they still took it and gave me a warning. I guess it depends on who you bump into. Do they have a quota to fill?