rods for drift fishing

[aiden]

hi guys im looking for a hand deciding what kg rod to use for inlet / estuary drift fishing with bait. i have recently seen a rod i like but its only 3 to 6 kg and very sensitive. from my experience  with drift fishing you don't want any thing to sensitive while drift fishing cause it looks like you are getting bites when you are not. any advice or experience would be appreciated 

[kingie chaser]

Depends where your fishing & what you are fishing for.

I would normally have at least 2 rods for inside/bay fishing, 3 if I thought I was going to come across some Kings.

3 to 6kg will cover bread & butter fishing in estuaries/bays, if your fishing offshore I would be looking at 6-10kg.

 

Just my 2c. 

[Green Hornet]

Bait fishing rods tend to get knocked around a bit and as kingie chaser said it all comes down to what you're chasing and what weight line you want to fish.

For a tough, knock about rod, its pretty hard to go past an Ugly Stick. There's a stack in the range and sure to be one suitable for what you're after.

[aiden]

1 hour ago, Green Hornet said:

Bait fishing rods tend to get knocked around a bit and as kingie chaser said it all comes down to what you're chasing and what weight line you want to fish.

For a tough, knock about rod, its pretty hard to go past an Ugly Stick. There's a stack in the range and sure to be one suitable for what you're after.

hey mate thanks for the advice i have a million rods but im trying to find my self a fairly light drift fishing rod. mainly for up the back of estuary's for those flatty's. i was thinking the shimano  viper fxg 4 to 8 kg as its fairly cheap and there good rods...

[aiden]

5 hours ago, kingie chaser said:

Depends where your fishing & what you are fishing for.

I would normally have at least 2 rods for inside/bay fishing, 3 if I thought I was going to come across some Kings.

3 to 6kg will cover bread & butter fishing in estuaries/bays, if your fishing offshore I would be looking at 6-10kg.

 

Just my 2c. 

hey mate thanks for the help i really appreciate it. i just sold my crappy no name   tinny yesterday.  in hopes of buying a bigger boat such as a qintrex  440. hopefully then i will be able to carry more rods in the boat as i fish in my old mans boat and he is very old fashion the typical "why do you need more than one rod"   "what do you need all this shit/gear for" 

i was looking at the shimano fxg viper 4 to 8 kg as it is not super sensitive but its not to stiff 

[kingie chaser]

5 hours ago, Green Hornet said:

For a tough, knock about rod, its pretty hard to go past an Ugly Stick. There's a stack in the range and sure to be one suitable for what you're after.

I think I have 4 Ugly's in the collection & recon they are a great value rod, tough as nails

Even in the light versions I think they would hold up much better in comparison to light graphite in landing a bigger fish for the rod class.

4 hours ago, aiden said:

hey mate thanks for the help i really appreciate it. i just sold my crappy no name   tinny yesterday.  in hopes of buying a bigger boat such as a qintrex  440. hopefully then i will be able to carry more rods in the boat as i fish in my old mans boat and he is very old fashion the typical "why do you need more than one rod"   "what do you need all this shit/gear for" 

i was looking at the shimano fxg viper 4 to 8 kg as it is not super sensitive but its not to stiff 

Pretty easy to explain to the old man in ways they might understand, light rod/reel/line for catching small fish, heavier rod/reel/line for catching bigger fish 😉 

Is that the shimano a combo for sale for the store that starts with B?

 

Its had to try to get all your fishing needs to suit 1 rod/line class, I sort of think that the 3-6kg range is a good all-round mid weight range for bay/estuary but then as mentioned its really about what you want to target, even still to heavy for a whiting/bream rod which I have a jewel 1-4kg rod for. But would I use the 1-4kg if I was going to go out chasing jew, nope, I would probably take my 4-8kg or my 6-10kg outfits.

Good luck on finding the new boat 

[Fab1]

14 hours ago, aiden said:

hey mate thanks for the advice i have a million rods but im trying to find my self a fairly light drift fishing rod. mainly for up the back of estuary's for those flatty's. i was thinking the shimano  viper fxg 4 to 8 kg as its fairly cheap and there good rods...

You could use a piece of pipe with line tied on and bait on the hook for flathead drift fishing and catch them if they are there..I'm a crap fisherman and have caught a few over the years drifting with 25 yr old crappy big w gear.

  I've caught flatties, bream,whiting,flounder, tailor,luderick,and a few others over the years on that said crappy gear with 4kg mono and size 1 or 6 hooks with various baits.

  Even a handling drifting will catch them.

Like the others said get something in the 3-5 kg class and you'll be fine.

  Good luck.

[aiden]

On 8/30/2021 at 3:54 PM, kingie chaser said:

I think I have 4 Ugly's in the collection & recon they are a great value rod, tough as nails

Even in the light versions I think they would hold up much better in comparison to light graphite in landing a bigger fish for the rod class.

Pretty easy to explain to the old man in ways they might understand, light rod/reel/line for catching small fish, heavier rod/reel/line for catching bigger fish 😉 

Is that the shimano a combo for sale for the store that starts with B?

 

Its had to try to get all your fishing needs to suit 1 rod/line class, I sort of think that the 3-6kg range is a good all-round mid weight range for bay/estuary but then as mentioned its really about what you want to target, even still to heavy for a whiting/bream rod which I have a jewel 1-4kg rod for. But would I use the 1-4kg if I was going to go out chasing jew, nope, I would probably take my 4-8kg or my 6-10kg outfits.

Good luck on finding the new boat 

thanks mate .....with new boat i should be able to keep more rods in the boat

[aiden]

On 8/31/2021 at 1:53 AM, Fab1 said:

You could use a piece of pipe with line tied on and bait on the hook for flathead drift fishing and catch them if they are there..I'm a crap fisherman and have caught a few over the years drifting with 25 yr old crappy big w gear.

  I've caught flatties, bream,whiting,flounder, tailor,luderick,and a few others over the years on that said crappy gear with 4kg mono and size 1 or 6 hooks with various baits.

  Even a handling drifting will catch them.

Like the others said get something in the 3-5 kg class and you'll be fine.

  Good luck.

cheers for the help mate

[slothparade]

I used to use a 2-4kg sports fisher kmart rod, nice and flexible and was like $20. actually not bad but can't compare to a high end shimano tho 

[kingie chaser]

5 hours ago, slothparade said:

I used to use a 2-4kg sports fisher kmart rod, nice and flexible and was like $20. actually not bad but can't compare to a high end shimano tho 

All rods work, we have just succumb to opinion & market strategies 😉 

[Fab1]

2 hours ago, kingie chaser said:

All rods work, we have just succumb to opinion & market strategies 😉 

It's not just the fancy lures that catch fisherman that's for sure.I made the mistake of watching 5 min of a fishing show yesterday (hadn't seen one for about 10yrs) and it was all flogging how good this rod and reel was and it went on and on and on.It made me nauseous listening to the idiot.

  Television shows have hit rock bottom the amount of rubbish on it.

  That must be why I like being outdoors so much.

[slothparade]

19 hours ago, motiondave said:

nothing wrong with kmart rods, I still have several I use and they work well, although , I had to replace the reels with better ones over the years.

I still use my original jervis walkers from kmart, got them 13 yrs ago LOL, still work well. I service them 2 times a year and no complaints 

[savit]

15 hours ago, Fab1 said:

18 hours ago, kingie chaser said:

All rods work, we have just succumb to opinion & market strategies 😉 

It's not just the fancy lures that catch fisherman that's for sure.I made the mistake of watching 5 min of a fishing show yesterday (hadn't seen one for about 10yrs) and it was all flogging how good this rod and reel was and it went on and on and on.It made me nauseous listening to the idiot.

  Television shows have hit rock bottom the amount of rubbish on it.

I guess those are still away from Youtube  fishing shows level where fish catches are regularly supplemented by sounds resembling  macaques in breeding season.

Back to the main topic. I prefer 3-6kg Ugly (usual one/with soft glass tip) for light estuary drifting/trolling. 2-4kg and 3-5kg Ugly action is just too soft IMO.

[vernonbain]

It all depends on where you're fishing and what you're after. I'd generally have at least two rods for inside/bay fishing, and three if I felt I'd run across any bigger ones.

[aiden]

On 9/3/2021 at 2:06 PM, slothparade said:

I used to use a 2-4kg sports fisher kmart rod, nice and flexible and was like $20. actually not bad but can't compare to a high end shimano tho 

hey mate ....me and my uncle  keep those 1-4kg  k mart rods in the boat for catching small bait ..one day we caught a 45 or 50 cm king fish on them  and the rod handled it like a champ 

[slothparade]

19 hours ago, aiden said:

hey mate ....me and my uncle  keep those 1-4kg  k mart rods in the boat for catching small bait ..one day we caught a 45 or 50 cm king fish on them  and the rod handled it like a champ 

I wouldn't be surprised, theyre nuts. honestly I was nicely surprised with it, its one of the rods that almost comes on every trip as a backup

[campr]

I live bait drift for flatties using old 8ft Kmart nibble tip rods.  The slow loading of these soft rods give them time to take the bait and the slow loading sets the big mouth hooks into the corner of their jaw.  I don't strike but let the hook behave like a circle hook. This has accounted for many big flathead including 2 that went 97cm.  All big girls released of cause.   Ron 

[aiden]

On 9/13/2021 at 6:52 PM, campr said:

I live bait drift for flatties using old 8ft Kmart nibble tip rods.  The slow loading of these soft rods give them time to take the bait and the slow loading sets the big mouth hooks into the corner of their jaw.  I don't strike but let the hook behave like a circle hook. This has accounted for many big flathead including 2 that went 97cm.  All big girls released of cause.   Ron 

i dont set the hook either mate  unless brim fishing ..i find they hook them self specially using poddy mullet

[XD351]

I fish rods in the 4-8kg range( Penn or Ugly Stik)  for places like broken bay and half tide rocks at ettalong as I use a fairly large sinker to keep bottom .

Once I go upstream from there I drop down to 2-4kg - if I’m not in the main current of the Hawkesbury as I can use a smaller sinker .

20lb braid and 15-20lb fluorocarbon leader down to a 4/0 hook ( found this to be the best for Flathead as they don’t tend to gut the hook as much ).

[aiden]

On 9/18/2021 at 6:11 PM, XD351 said:

I fish rods in the 4-8kg range( Penn or Ugly Stik)  for places like broken bay and half tide rocks at ettalong as I use a fairly large sinker to keep bottom .

Once I go upstream from there I drop down to 2-4kg - if I’m not in the main current of the Hawkesbury as I can use a smaller sinker .

20lb braid and 15-20lb fluorocarbon leader down to a 4/0 hook ( found this to be the best for Flathead as they don’t tend to gut the hook as much ).

legend depending were i fish the most i use is 12 to 30 all depends when drift fishing in my normal spot i use 12lb but when in Pittwater i use 15lb