Rock Fishing Rod?

[DerekD]

Just one heads up. After lots of casting with my Snapper Raider rod I can get a slow separation between the two halves. If I don't catch it in time the top half of the rod flies off. Might be just my rod - this probably won't happen to you. My solution was to rub the top part of the lower half with a bit of candle wax to just increase the friction lock just that little bit more. In your case after lots of casting just check the two halves are still together tightly. Unlikely but possible with any two piece rod.

[DerekD]

Hi Will,

For my smaller reels I top shot (150 yards/metres of braid with mono backing to make up the difference) but with both my Stradic 4000 reels I went braid all the way. On older one I have about 300m of 15lb braid and newer model has about 270m of 15lb braid. For the sake of saving $20 or $30 on the line cost I didn't want to hook the fish of a lifetime then worry about the backing and joiner knot as it is flying off the spool. Just something to consider. First meter of line on both reels is mono to ensure it locks in to the spool. Other option is to stick it down.

Regards,

Derek

[Will Wright]

23 hours ago, DerekD said:

Mind??? Not at all. I've recommended the Snapper Raider and the smaller Bream Finesse to a number of people over the years and coincidently today. If I damaged mine I'd probably buy another. It is an excellent combination. If you ever get down to the lower North shore I'd be happy to show you how effectively it can be used for a variety of lures. With the schools of kingfish due to arrive in numbers in Sydney over the next two months your timing is excellent.

Yes I do have some recommendations. My go to for kings are the 6 and 9 inch (pink or white) slapstix used with a TT bullet head jig head and XH hook. 20 and 30gm halco twisties. Phatt blatz flutter jigs. Size 3 squid jigs. More later. We also do well send down stripped squid pieces unweighted through the water column. I like either a 5/0 mustad light gauge circle hook or a Gamakatsu 5/0 or 6/0 circle hook.

Thanks for all the info Derek!n

this combo is also suitable for catching flatties right?

[Will Wright]

14 hours ago, DerekD said:

Hi Will,

For my smaller reels I top shot (150 yards/metres of braid with mono backing to make up the difference) but with both my Stradic 4000 reels I went braid all the way. On older one I have about 300m of 15lb braid and newer model has about 270m of 15lb braid. For the sake of saving $20 or $30 on the line cost I didn't want to hook the fish of a lifetime then worry about the backing and joiner knot as it is flying off the spool. Just something to consider. First meter of line on both reels is mono to ensure it locks in to the spool. Other option is to stick it down.

Regards,

Derek

Thanks for all the info Derek!

This combo is also suitable for flatties right?

[DerekD]

It will be fine but personally I chase most of my flathead on my bream finesse. Was introducing a father and son to soft plastics on Sunday and the son picked up a nice 60cm flattie on a 2-4kg rod with 4lb braid. Your rod will kill it but it will be a challenge fishing the ultralight lures.

[Will Wright]

6 minutes ago, DerekD said:

It will be fine but personally I chase most of my flathead on my bream finesse. Was introducing a father and son to soft plastics on Sunday and the son picked up a nice 60cm flattie on a 2-4kg rod with 4lb braid. Your rod will kill it but it will be a challenge fishing the ultralight lures.

Ok thanks!

[Mutch22]

Palms shore gun 10ft 20-70 gram it’s a “shorejigging” rod but I use it for my lighter spinning outfit absolutely launches metals a mile, I found that the 40-50gram is the sweet spot but handles heavier lures fine,  works excellent for stickbaiting  and your larger soft plastics. 

Its paired too a 4000 sized Daiwa reel very well balanced and can spin with it most of the day it’s a pleasure to use! 

 

 

[Waza]

A 10ft ugly stick with ABC 10000cl

A 7ft 2-4kg fast taper flick stick with 4/0 eggbeater

A JS9102 Live Baiting Rod and TLD25

A 12ft gaff

These rods and reels are old but the new evolution of similar specs will serve any keen LBG / Rockhopper very well.

I still have this kit and it doesn’t get out fished or fail under stress. Buy once cry once and check out what everyone else is using on the stones. Fishos love to talk about their gear or what they would prefer to own.

Good luck

[PaddyT]

11 hours ago, Waza said:

A 10ft ugly stick with ABC 10000cl

A 7ft 2-4kg fast taper flick stick with 4/0 eggbeater

A JS9102 Live Baiting Rod and TLD25

A 12ft gaff

These rods and reels are old but the new evolution of similar specs will serve any keen LBG / Rockhopper very well.

I still have this kit and it doesn’t get out fished or fail under stress. Buy once cry once and check out what everyone else is using on the stones. Fishos love to talk about their gear or what they would prefer to own.

Good luck

Waza- well said- i just think recommending 7ft rods for ocean rockfishing is asking for trouble-short rods have their place but wont work in many places- nor will light braid.

[Will Wright]

A lot of you guys are saying 7ft isn’t great for the rocks. Anyone have any suggestions to match with the Shimano Stradic 4000? Going to use off the rocks and throw metal lures to catch kings. (Price range 100-200) 

[PaddyT]

Frankly-no- a 7ft rod is ok for some places but not for a hell of a lot more. First of all lets go back to basics- how old are you/what is your physical size? Where are you planning on fishing? What size lures are you going to throw-When i targeted kings of the rocks my goto lure was a 85gm RAider in white- there used to be a lure called a Juro Shiner- and the 85gm white shiner outfished every other lure i used for kings of the rocks. Using a 10ft FSU 4120 with a Shimano Speedmaster overhead- i could cast all day at 80% effort and those 85gm lures would drop in the water 90-100m out every cast- that outfit caught kings to 10kgs , longtails to 15kgs and about a million bonito- 25lb mono was the goto line and i never bother with leaders- just check the line every now and then. The last couple of times i spun the rocks for a bit of fun i used a 10 ft MAgspin with a 5000 size reel and 20lb braid- but would i be confident if a king over 4kgs climbed on- nope-not enough low down grunt in the blank- and besides its really only good for 40gm lures max- which larger kings tend to ignore. My personal opinion is that the 4000 reel is a bit small (fine for bonnies and rats but sooner or later something bigger will climb on)- and by having an outfit that is only good for 40gm lures you are limiting yourself.

[Waza]

Gents a 7ft flick stick is a great outfit off the rocks spinning for frigates etc

Thats what we used in the LBG heydays all around JB Avoca Tomaree etc

If your ledges are gnarly get a longer rod , but landing fish will still require finesse.

Find good quality ledges to fish with deep water at your feet.

A 12ft 7144 or similar and an alvey 650A  is a great winching outfit for gnarly reef at your feet.

I caught heaps of frigates etc on 2kg on a 7ft outfit off the rocks.

ymmv

Cheers

Waz

 

[PaddyT]

51 minutes ago, Waza said:

Gents a 7ft flick stick is a great outfit off the rocks spinning for frigates etc

Thats what we used in the LBG heydays all around JB Avoca Tomaree etc

If your ledges are gnarly get a longer rod , but landing fish will still require finesse.

Find good quality ledges to fish with deep water at your feet.

A 12ft 7144 or similar and an alvey 650A  is a great winching outfit for gnarly reef at your feet.

I caught heaps of frigates etc on 2kg on a 7ft outfit off the rocks.

ymmv

Cheers

Waz

 

Yep- ive even targetted bonnies on 1 and 2kg off the rocks back when i was in ANSA, and i agree with your comments re location- Avoca, JB and to a lesser extent Tomaree are ok for flicking little lures for little fish with short rods, any spot with a sloping ledge eg 99%of the North Coast its going to be useless- the young fella wants to chase kings- i think he needs something a bit more robust

[Will Wright]

Hey guys I'm 18 and 190cm tall I'm going to be fishing mainly north Sydney but am heading down to tasmania on a bit of a fishing trip soon. 

[Waza]

The 10ft Gutts Butts Ugly would do it but is now probably regarded as a too heavy a weight compared to the carbon rods available today.

 

Ok not the nsw north coast or a kid 👍

10ft overhead or eggbeater outfit will do, just match the rod to the lure weight and remember you might want to cast a live yakka out as well. 

Im old school and prefer overhead reels and fast taper rods  

My Ugly Stick and ABU 10000cl will do it all 😉 but it’s not perfect for any specific purpose.

Edited October 18, 2019 by Waza
OP new post info

[xerotao]

Depends where you fish. Bringing a 7ft rod to where i fish would just get your lure caught  on the rock ledge when retrieving due to to the height and leverage of where you’d be standing. 

Personally i use 9.6ft to 11ft rods to the places where i fish. Rods range from lure and bait use. And i choose which setup to bring depending on which area i go to.

[PaddyT]

This months Fishing World has what looks like a nice recipe for a 91/2 foot spin rod that comes as a kit- build your own-TBH looking back i was a pretty crap rod builder but built or had custome built everyone of my rock rods -becuase off the shelf was always a bit rubbish and not suited to the rocks. Still reckon its hard to go past an FSU4120, its light, pretty tough and not expensive last time i looked (prettu sure Wilson still make them)

[Rob81]

If you're looking at light weight rods you should take a look at seabass rods. Generally light fishing as well as light weight. For example the rod I am using (on paper) weighs 156.3gms and is 10ft in length.

Downside is that it runs a higher risk of snapping in a lot of locations when I am trying to bring in a fish without any other aids (such as gaff or net).

[Will Wright]

On 10/10/2019 at 12:36 PM, DerekD said:

Hi Will,

The problem with fishing off the rocks is not just hooking and fighting the fish it is landing them. I was using a Shimano raider snapper 762 (15-45gm lure weight) a 4000 Shimano Stradic c/w 15lb braid and 30lb leader. I ended up dead lifting a couple of kings. I prefer a shorter rod than some of the other people off the rocks as I try and get a lot of lure movement with the sluggo/slapstix lures I like using and I struggle to achieve this with the longer rods. I do lose a bit of casting distance.

I also picked up a Daiwa Saltist Hyper 7ft PE3/5 (60-120gm lure weight) and matched it with a Daiwa BG5000 and a fine 50lb braid. The reel I can switch between that rod and the 9 foot 6 Saltist Hyper I also own if I want that extra bit of distance.

Good luck.

Derek

Hey Derek do you have the Stradic 4000 fk?

[DerekD]

15 hours ago, Will Wright said:

Hey Derek do you have the Stradic 4000 fk?

Hi Will,

Short answer is yes - but that it didn't have FK written on the spool left me a little uncertain.

The Snapper Raider 762 rod was a present to me over a decade ago from my mother so I wanted a nice reel for it and matched it with the Stradic 4000FI (which I still use and which still performs very well) and 15lb braid. A couple of years ago while putting the Stradic in for service when the kings were  around I bought a Sedona with 15lb braid which I now use when I want to take the rod out on the kayak. If it gets wet a $90 reel is less painful to damage than a $200 plus reel. While in my local fishing store I saw and picked up the Stradic 4000 FK and thought why not. It is the least used of my 4000 reels but such a nice reel. The new FL looks really nice but I can't justify it (yet).

On a related matter - how have you been going with the new rod and lures?

Regards,

Derek

[Will Wright]

5 hours ago, DerekD said:

Hi Will,

Short answer is yes - but that it didn't have FK written on the spool left me a little uncertain.

The Snapper Raider 762 rod was a present to me over a decade ago from my mother so I wanted a nice reel for it and matched it with the Stradic 4000FI (which I still use and which still performs very well) and 15lb braid. A couple of years ago while putting the Stradic in for service when the kings were  around I bought a Sedona with 15lb braid which I now use when I want to take the rod out on the kayak. If it gets wet a $90 reel is less painful to damage than a $200 plus reel. While in my local fishing store I saw and picked up the Stradic 4000 FK and thought why not. It is the least used of my 4000 reels but such a nice reel. The new FL looks really nice but I can't justify it (yet).

On a related matter - how have you been going with the new rod and lures?

Regards,

Derek

I have been going quite well with the new gear. I have only caught two rat kings on the metal lures on the Avoca rocks, But I’ve caught a lot of trevally around the 30-40cm mark. I’m going to try for kings off Clarke’s point this weekend. 

[Will Wright]

On 10/14/2019 at 7:15 AM, DerekD said:

Hi Will,

For my smaller reels I top shot (150 yards/metres of braid with mono backing to make up the difference) but with both my Stradic 4000 reels I went braid all the way. On older one I have about 300m of 15lb braid and newer model has about 270m of 15lb braid. For the sake of saving $20 or $30 on the line cost I didn't want to hook the fish of a lifetime then worry about the backing and joiner knot as it is flying off the spool. Just something to consider. First meter of line on both reels is mono to ensure it locks in to the spool. Other option is to stick it down.

Regards,

Derek

I have 15lb mono on the stradic 4000 at the moment and I'm wondering would it be worth it spending the extra bit of money buying 15lb braid and putting a 30lb leader on? The thing I am concerned about is that I am not experienced at tying leader to braid. 

[Rebel]

Stick to Mono. Otherwise you will end up in tears.

Cheers.

[DerekD]

On ‎12‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 10:54 PM, Will Wright said:

I have 15lb mono on the stradic 4000 at the moment and I'm wondering would it be worth it spending the extra bit of money buying 15lb braid and putting a 30lb leader on? The thing I am concerned about is that I am not experienced at tying leader to braid. 

Hi Will,

With the rod and reel you have invested in I think it is worth getting into braid a little down the track. Once you have learned to fish braid and the little tricks then it is hard to go back. Sensitivity is awesome. Improved casting distance. Going to state the obvious - the experience comes with trying things. Don't let that put you off. Plenty of information out there. The financial thing is another matter.

I learned the double uni knot from a knot book which came with Berkley fireline. Used it happily for over a decade. Also learned the Surgeon's joiner knot (very easy). Found out later on that doubling the braid in the double uni made the knot even stronger.

These days I mostly use the FG knot but it took a while for me to make the jump. I'd seen plenty of videos on tying the FG knot but I wasn't happy with most due to the hassle of keeping tension in the line and line wastage. One of the Fishraiders posted the following video but I use a different finish than the half hitches shown and you will see that in the second link:

Now the finish of the knot can be found at a little after five minutes on this link:

I can manage to do it with the really fine lines but that has taken a bit of practice. With 10lb braid or heavier it comes up a treat. Generally my leaders are 50% to 100% more than my main line.
 
Regards,
 
Derek
 
 

Edited December 12, 2019 by DerekD

[Will Wright]

On 12/12/2019 at 11:14 PM, DerekD said:

Hi Will,

With the rod and reel you have invested in I think it is worth getting into braid a little down the track. Once you have learned to fish braid and the little tricks then it is hard to go back. Sensitivity is awesome. Improved casting distance. Going to state the obvious - the experience comes with trying things. Don't let that put you off. Plenty of information out there. The financial thing is another matter.

I learned the double uni knot from a knot book which came with Berkley fireline. Used it happily for over a decade. Also learned the Surgeon's joiner knot (very easy). Found out later on that doubling the braid in the double uni made the knot even stronger.

These days I mostly use the FG knot but it took a while for me to make the jump. I'd seen plenty of videos on tying the FG knot but I wasn't happy with most due to the hassle of keeping tension in the line and line wastage. One of the Fishraiders posted the following video but I use a different finish than the half hitches shown and you will see that in the second link:

Now the finish of the knot can be found at a little after five minutes on this link:

I can manage to do it with the really fine lines but that has taken a bit of practice. With 10lb braid or heavier it comes up a treat. Generally my leaders are 50% to 100% more than my main line.
 
Regards,
 
Derek
 
 

Thanks Derek. I have got 160m of 15lb braid sitting in my shed and I'm wondering would that be enough?