[Anonymous]

Hi from England.

I’ll be in your stunning country during Feb 2013 and need to find a rod and reel combo that will be multifunctional. I’ve seen the Ugly Stick Gold 10′ which seems to fit my needs, or is it overkill? Here we use 13′ rods capable of casting up to 275g as the tide races between Dover and France at 3+ knots. Do you manage to hold the bottom with less than 4oz? Also, why are most of your rods either 14′ long or as short as just 7′, but with little options in between?

I may buy a Surecatch tackle both with all the bits, but is this just a gimmic purchase for the gullible?

I’ll be fishing areas North of Auckland mainly, predominantly beaches with a few rocks although a trip around the Southern half of the North Island and piers/wharfs is possible. Also, any Rod I buy needs to be small. Down to about 3′ to 5′ when split as I’ll be in a motorhome.

I may bring my own multiplier, ABU 6500 or PENN 525 MAG, but would be happy for any advice on fixed spools, aka Coffe Grinders? My 13′ carbon beachcaster will be staying here though as I’d hate to have it trashed by the airline baggage handlers!

Thank you in advance.

Nigel

[Miliwolf]

During normal conditions a 4oz break out sinker is enough to hold firm.

There are quite a few 10ft and 12ft rods on the market, although most are 13’6″. For whatever reason most 12ft and 10ft rods are normally budget models.

Its after midnight here, and I am tired but would write a bit more in the morning.

[Miliwolf]

In my experience kits such as the ones from Surecatch are not worth the money. They typically use poor quality tackle and often weird sizes. Sometimes it is possible to get a very good price but much of the content never gets used. Sometimes I do buy such kits just for the sinkers and maybe container then give the rest of the content away. I would probably advise to purchase a few packets of hooks, sinkers and swivels separately.

These not many surf rods designed to be used with multiplier sold here, and can not think of any off the top of my head. I use a 8ft 6-10kg something Ugly Stick Gold rod for Snapper fishing from the rocks. Its very soft, but allows me to cast out unweighted baits a good distance. Have landed a few good fish on it. Its a struggle landing rays and other big fish with it. I do not know the 10ft ugly stik which you speak of, is it this one http://www.fullonfishing.co.nz/contents … g_Rod.html

If so, it would probably be okay. I normally fish with 10-15kg rods when Surfcasting but I target sharks, up north I suspect you would mainly be targeting Snapper, Trevally and Kahawai so the 6-10kg rating would be fine. It seems to be a good compromise, while not ideal it should do the job from the beach, rocks or wharfs.

[Anonymous]

Miliwolf.

Thank you so much for the information. As I suspected, the Surecatch box is a waste of money, I’ll not be suckered into buying one now on the basis of your advice.

As for the rod, how far can you cast with an 8′ rod, and, perhaps more importantly, how far do you need to cast from rocks, beach and piers? Here 80+ yards is a must, hence my reticence for looking at anything shorter than 10′.

I must say though, before anything else, thank you so much for taking the time to research and find the one Ugly rod and shop that I have spent hours looking for. Yes it is the one that I am likely to buy, especially as it is a budget model, which I will leave behind when I return to the UK, but seems to be a good all-rounder, unless you can convince me that I only need 8′ on a beach! Out here 100yds+ is considered a short cast!

On the reel front, I may still bring my multiplier as I’m used to it. Fixed spools (coffee grinders) don’t work well with multiplier rods here, but multipliers work fine with Fixed Spool rods as there id less friction on the guides.

Tight Lines and good catches to you
Nigel

[Miliwolf]

Rock and beach fishing typically require different techniques. I am not overly familiar with the beaches around northland, from memory they are all quite shallow. These beaches typically fish best by casting into holes and gutters, how far the hole is from the beach determines the distance. Might be a few meters, might be a hundred. The beaches I am more familiar with, I often cast just behind the first breaker, maybe only 30m, but they are deeper.

Rock fishing is different, often you want to fish the white water around where the surf hits the rocks. Often burley is used to bring the fish in closer. The most common style is to Strayline from the rocks without any sinkers, or a tiny ball sinker is used when extra distance is required. Kingfish require different techniques, but the Ugly Stik gold is unlikely to stop one.

So, from the rocks 5-30m, from the beach 30-100m+ , Ideally I use a 8ft-ish rod from the rocks, and a 12ft + rod from the beach. But I think the Ugly stik might just do both, assuming the beach is not rough. In saying that, many people do like using long rods from the rocks.

Suppose, for the same budget you could purchase two budget rods, the cheap fiberglass Surfcasters are typically heavy and probably lack the backbone for extra long distance casts, unless they have manufacturing faults they are typically extremely durable.

http://www.marine-deals.co.nz/surfcasti … e-surf-rod
and
http://www.discountfishingsupplies.co.n … -2025.html

They are probably terrible rods, but they are cheap and would catch fish.

Its hard to know which options would be the best, I have fished 10ft rods from the beach before, and a lot of people fish them from the rocks…

[Anonymous]

Miliwolf,

many many thanks for the advice. Much as I’d love to buy 2 rods I think, and based upon what you have said, the 10′ all-rounder will do me fine,

Tight lines and plenty of bites.

Nigel

[Anonymous]

Update….

Thank you all for the advice etc. The http://www.fullonfishing.co.nz/contents … e_Rod.html was superb. I could cast 70yds with a 3oz lead and also feel little nibbles close in.

I caught mullet, kahwai, snapper and even a stingray the size of a dustbin lid with it, just a shame the kingfish broke me off! A tip though would be get a heavier duty reel than the 200yd/8lb one i took, as you’ll need some cranking power, far more than I expected, in even shallow water.

Tight lines,

N

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