Rod to match with Stradic 1000 for bream

[Aardvarking]

I have been fishing a Shimano T-Curve 2-4kg 7' rod for ages for all my lightweight spinning needs and it has tackled anything from bream to flathead to trevally with ease, a great rod which never serves me wrong. The problem I have had is that having one rod for all those purposes means I have to either put on a 10lb leader for flathead or a 4lb leader for bream, and have to chose what I target at the start of the session or waste a ton of leader. I decided to get a lighter outfit for bream and bought a stradic 1000 with 4lb line I want to pair with a 1-3kg rod for all ultralight applications. I had an Okuma Precision X I bought on Gumtree to pair with it, but I accidentally stepped on it and broke it in half, oops...

Seeing the rod I accidentally broke was a fairly low-mid range rod, I figure I may as well upgrade so I don't feel like as much of an idiot paying money to replace a rod with another rod of equal or worse quality. My budget is about 150-200 dollars, and I'm looking for something to cast ultra light lures as far as possible, as I often cast out small poppers on the flats for whiting and bream. Sensitivity is also a concern, I'm sure anyone knows how annoying bream hits on plastics can be. I'm looking for a 2 piece between 6'6" and 7'6". Any advice helps, thanks.

Also, if anyone is selling anything I'm a fan of buying 2nd hand, so dms are accepted.

[DerekD]

Hi Aardvarking,

I'd suggest another approach to your initial issue. Contact the people at Shimano in Taren point and then get an extra spool or two for your Stradic. You can set up one spool for ultralight and the second for your normal fishing. No leader change required.

Years ago I took it to the extreme. I bought a Shimano Symetre 1500 back in the good days when it came with a spare spool. Even better was that the body for the 1500 was the same as the 2500 and the spool capacity (and handle shape) was where the difference was. I liked the reel so much that I bought another two at a really good price. I now have a glut of spools with different line ratings. The extra bodies live in the cupboard till I need to service the primary unit then one comes out. I have had to retire one but I should still get plenty of fishing with the remaining Symetres. I store the spools in baby socks to stop them banging against each other.

As for the second part of your email now that you have a reel looking for a home I'd suggest looking at the Shimano Bream Finesse (I am totally biased). They do a 1-3kg as well as the 2-4kg in various lengths and well within your budget. I find them to be a very responsive rod.

Regards,

Derek

Edited February 25, 2018 by DerekD

[xerotao]

1-3kg rods are so much for fun than a 2-4kg rod.

I own 4 2-4kg rods but i always pick my 1-3kg.

Couple of rods on the top of my head are the gen blacks itchy twitchy or scratchy 2pc. and tcurve revo inshore has 2x 1-3kg rods, a 7'3" and a 6'"6.

thats my 2c. flame away if anyone disagrees

[Aardvarking]

Thanks for the spare spool idea Derek, that is a good suggestion. I do always like to have one rod with me rigged up for squid just in case, so I might keep the reel on my Tcurve for squid and get a spool for 4lb and 8lb for my stradic. The reel I currently have does the job, but it is a bit of a cheapo so it might be better suited to squid anyway. It is normally fine, but I once nearly got spooled by a stringray with it and it wore out my drag to the point where it just stopped working halfway through the fight.

I'll check out the gen blacks, I've heard good things about them and the scratchy model seems perfect for me, 7' is my favourite rod length.

Edited February 25, 2018 by Aardvarking

[Welster]

I don’t own a 1000 sized reel but due to the smaller spool diameter I doubt it would cast as far as a 2500 all other things being equal. 

[Green Hornet]

You could do a lot worse than looking around for a second hand Samurai 101. Nice and light in the hand and match perfect with a Stradic 1000.

[Pafisho08]

HI

GO the Gen Blacks good o/a  have used them for some time The Itchy Twitchy would be ideal .

Regds Bob

 

[Aardvarking]

Just found a 6'3" Daiwa 1.5-4lb Black Label rod used for a good price, should I grab that? Are they better or worse than the gen black series?

[xerotao]

1 hour ago, Aardvarking said:

Just found a 6'3" Daiwa 1.5-4lb Black Label rod used for a good price, should I grab that? Are they better or worse than the gen black series?

Better blanks and sic guides instead of alconites. Also a more comfortable real seat imho

[Aardvarking]

Just pulled the trigger on the Black Label. It is the original series not the V2, but from what I have found online there isn't much difference. The only thing I'm not sure about is that it is quite a bit shorter than the 7' rods I usually use, but seeing it is a finesse rod that might go to my advantage anyway. I'll let everyone know how it goes, I'm picking it up on Sunday and I'm very excited to try it out!