Well my good friend sold his offshore center console last year. So now I have all my pelagic gear sitting in the garage covered and collecting dust. So I decided to get back to my roots of inshore fishing. I bought a new 22’ Tidewater Carolina Bay with all the trimmings and some additional custom work and love the bow flair. I keep my boat on Murray and fish only for stripers pulling umbrella rigs with my 50’s or top water when they’re schooling. I get a kick out of watching the bass fisherman looking at my setup as the pass me by. It’s even better when you pull 3-5 stripers weighing about 3-5 lbs each hooked to one umbrella rig going over the gunnel right in front of them. At least the reels and rod rollers are getting the salt out.
My wife is having a heart attack because I now have invested a lot of $ in the last year in some new inshore terminal tackle but now am not happy with a few things. I am a Shimano man and have purchased several Shimano Stradic ci4’s 3000FA’s and Shimano Sustain 3000FG’s. I have 2 4000FA Shimano Stradic ci4’s but only use them for top water for stripers. I love my reels so that’s been a good investment. I have trailered my boat down Charleston and Edisto a couple of times this past fall and winter to get some spec and red action. I have had good success considering not knowing the areas that well and some friends suggestions.
I consider myself an avid and experienced fisherman. I grew up in southwest Florida fishing for snook, reds, tarpon and jacks. But the inshore fishing is different down there compared to the type of fishing you all do up here for specs and reds so i am open for an education. I currently have all my reels attached to either 6’6 Med/Extra Fast Shimano Teramar SE Inshore spinning or 7’ Med/Fast SE Inshore Shimano Teramar spinning rods. They work great down south for the snook and reds when i go home. I have been reading a lot about how the specs hit on the down and having a sensitive rod tip to feel them hit is important. I feel I have lost some good fish al
I fish primarily Falcon Coastal 7’6 spin and bait cast. Quality rod for the money and the action is perfect for my type of fishing. I also have a few tide master rods which make a quality rod. Rods are are CI4 2500 and Calcutta 100 and 250.
ALX Rods. Made/assembled in SC (Aiken, SC). They make three different series…ZOLO, IKOS, and BOKU. The ZOLO and IKOS are geared more towards bass fishing but the BOKU is designed with the actions most applicable to inshore fishing. I own four BOKU rods (and 1 ZOLO and 3 ALX customs rods). I have two Slot7 rods and two Slot76 rods and absolutely love them.
I see you’re from Columbia. The new Fishing Outpost at PSA carries all three lines of ALX rods. Their Mt Pleasant store does as well.
For inshore I have switched to Star Plasma rods. I have a few in varying actions for different species(7’ 4-10, 7’ 6-14 and 7’ 8-17). They also have an across the counter warranty. As far as reels, I have mostly been a Daiwa fan in the past but over the last two years I have moved over to Penn Conflicts for inshore. My go to trout rod is the 4-10 with a Conflict 1000, sheepshead/reds is the 6-14 with a Conflict 2500 and the 8-17 has a Conflict 4000 for large reds. The Conflicts have a great sealed drag setup and have held up great with no issues.
This is great ■■■■■■■■ gentlemen! Keep the ■■■■■■■■ coming all. I will be begin my research for sure.
Yes Archer I live in Columbia. I will be in Aiken for work on Thursday. Do you know if ALX Rods is open to the public or has a showroom?
bmarvil - i will look into the Star Plasma. My 1st rod i bought once i got my 1st job out of college was a Star Rod. Still have it!
Inshore LTC - i will look into Falcon as well. Always thought they were more freshwater glad to know they have a saltwater rod. They have always have had a quality product.
I’ll second the ALX rods!!! The fact they are made in SC is what drew me to them. Then I fished them and was hooked (no pun intended). Great product. Great prices. Great warranty.
I own a few of their customs and would walk over broken G Loomis, Kistler, St. Croix rods barefooted to get to them. I’m planning on buying some of their BOKU inshore rods for the salt.
I don’t believe they have a “showroom” for public access and I know they don’t have their own retail shop.
No matter how much it hurts, how dark it gets, or how far you fall…you are never out of the fight.
I have the St. Croix Avid inshore rod. Love it. I have yet to pull the trigger on G.Loomis with the exception of my fly rod. St. Croix really offers a great rod for a decent price. A couple of Shimano rods would mate up to those Ci4s pretty well. I too am a Shimano guy and fish the stradic ci4 and ci4+, sustain, and stradic fj.
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Thank you all for the insights and ■■■■■■■■. I just wish there was a closer saltwater tackle store in Columbia that I could compare these rods. I have heard great reviews on St. Croix rods and would be interested in looking at the Avid Inshore series. I would like to compare the Avid, Star Plasma, Falcon, ALX and G Loomis. Does Haddrells in West Ashley carry all of them? I really would like to find the rod with the most sensitive tip. I prefer to throw artificial over live bait.
What action/taper are you all fishing? ML/F, M/XF or ML/XF.
What length you all using? 6’6", 7", 7’6"
As far as tackle shops in Columbia, Palmetto State Armory had a pretty decent selection and Barron’s on Harden street usually has a pretty good selection.
“Apathy is the Glove into Which Evil Slips It’s Hand”, but really, who cares?
I have a bunch of St Croix Tidewater, both bait caster and spinning. They are great rods and hold up to abuse. I also have a 7’ 6" G Loomis Greenwater. The G Loomis Greenwater is what I throw jigs for Trout with most of the time. Both great rods.
Archer thank you for the reference and suggestion. I will check them out. Thanks for the insights Optiker and Pawayne. I think Sportsman’s Warehouse has some St. Croix’s - Greenwater, Tidewater and Avid’s and possibly Cashion rods. DFreedom I will check out PSA since it’s closer to my side of town and Sportsman Warehouse. Does anyone have any experience with Cashion? They have all the specs you all are suggesting. Thanks all keep it coming!
Cashion is out of NC (Pittsboro). Their rods are ok. They seem to be made with quality components but action-to-action, they seem a little “stiffer” (faster) to me. Their grips are very firm and long, relative to the length of the rod. A little too firm of a grip and too long of a handle for my liking.
In the future, where every stranger poses a potential threat, knowing the predator mindset is the only safe haven.
I have several St. Croix, that I bought the bare blanks and components and built them myself. Good winter night projects. I like those rods. Got a couple of Stars I like too and an Ugly Stik or 3. They all work. A good fisherman just needs a coffee can and a piece of string anyway
I tend to stick to the same thing I use nearshore/jetty/offshore… trevala 6’6mh they have enough backbone and a soft enough tip you can use them for allot… bottom fishing,plugs,poping corks, light slow troll(flounder) they just do work. one of the greatest rods I have on the boat in all seriousness
if you want to get down and dirty a 5’8xh or 5’8xxh can be used… semi broom stick but it will raise most most anything including decent size sharks.
but I so love my 6’6 trevalas… my best day was slaying trout on them with a popping cord and real shrimp… hit a few slot reds as well… I knew they were overkill but so was the van staal vm150s I have on them.
I have a couple Terramars that I mainly use for bait fishing as they are a bit heavier for their actions than some others in the same weight power class. However, I think they’d be fine for fishing popping corks or trolling jigs/mirrolure, etc. You didn’t mention whether you’re using mono or braid? IMO braid makes up a lot for a less sensitive rod but with no stretch you have to be careful with it to not rip soft trout’s mouth. I keep my drags set very light and use mono shock leaders.
Here’s my thought process and is the basis I use for selecting rods. It may be flawed as I’m new to chasing trout specifically and am learning more about them every day. My observations so far are: 1) I will do a LOT of casting in a given day so light weight matters. 2) I need to get as much distance as possible across open water 3)Trout have soft mouths easily ripped and lost on hookset or boatside so either rod, reel, or line needs to have some give. 4)Trout bite very soft in cold water.
I basically use 4 different methods to fish them: a popping cork, topwater plugs, jighead/plastic (most frequent), and sinking plug. Of these methods, it’s most important that my jig rods are very sensitive. I’m using a 7’6" St. Croix Mojo Inshore ML, 7’ Shimano Compre ML and a 7’2" bass pro Carbonlight (good value) for the jigs and find them to be light weight, very sensitive, and to have enough flex that I don’t pull the bait out of the fishes mouth. I find that the rods that are over 7’ have a little thinner softer tip in the same power rods. I go a little cheaper for the popping corks and topwaters since sensitivity is less important. I really like the Med. St. Croix Triumph for these purposes. It has a little shorter handle which keeps the rod butt from hitting me in the crook of the elbow when I use downward walk the dog jerks of the rod and a little slower tip (though they call it “fast”.)
I also have a couple Star Stellarlites Meds Fast Tapers that I’ve just started using. They’ll likely be suspending plug and live bait rods as the
One thing I’ll add since you say you’re a Shimano man. My Med-Light 7’ Shimano Compre is probably my most used all around rod. I could use it for 90% of the fishing I do. It seems to have more backbone than my other ML rods. It feels more like a Med with a ML tip. It has a real cork handle that I appreciate and the handle isn’t too long, and it’s plenty sensitive. I have used it from everything: throwing plastics, tossing corks, jerking topwaters, even drifting 1/2oz flounder rigs. I have a more confidence that I can horse a big red from structure with this rod than I do with my lighter MLs.
