Pinfish extraordinaire,that’s a good one.
Great to hear from another War Eagle. We are AU classes of 1968 and 1971, thus very old, but still young enough to fish passionately. I don’t do much inshore, and prefer cobia, tarpon, other live bait fishing, nearshore, offshore, etc. Many ways to skin the cat in this area. I’d be glad to help you get started. So feel free to PM me.
Roger
Pioneer 222 Sportfish
quote:I have a 3500 on a 7' medium-heavy (Penn Battle combo), running 30lb braid. I also have a Penn Fierce 2500 loaded with 20lb braid presently in need of a rod, as I broke a crappy 20-year-old Shakespeare last time I was out. I was planning on picking up a medium-light 6'6" Ugly Stik or something.
Originally posted by Firefighterj80 Not sure what setups you are using, but a 2500 reel on a 7' med light rod for throwing artificials is perfect. For fishing corks/structure, I use a 3000(maybe a 4000 for docks) and use a 7' medium to medium heavy rod.
Finally, I have a cheap baitcaster on a somewhat dated 5’6" Ugly Stik, and use it to throw skitterwalks and other similar things [in vain]. I bought the baitcaster for fecal matter and casual laughter, and it turned out exactly as I thought it would – with a 4-step process:
- Step 1: Do really well for a few minutes. Think "hmm, I think I've got this figured out."
- Step 2: Mind wanders while casting. "I wonder whether the fish are driven away by Led Zeppelin."
- Step 3: Notice basketball-sized rat's nest. Look around to see if anyone else noticed.
- Step 4: Put rod back in rod holder.
I feel that your 2500 and 3000 are the correct set ups. I would caution you to downsize your braid. I would run 10-12# on your 2500 and a max of 20# on your 3000. A med-light rod with the 2500 and a med for topwater or corks to med-heavy for the 3000 for structure.
Capt. Jeremiah
Southern Slam Fishing Charters
2018 Sea Hunt BX 22 BR
Also, I forgot to mention in both of my posts about fluorocarbon leader. Not sure if you are using it, but with the winter water much clearer, it is definitely suggested to use a leader for reds/trout. I typically use anywhere from 15-25# depending on what type of fishing I’ll be doing.
Capt. Jeremiah
Southern Slam Fishing Charters
2018 Sea Hunt BX 22 BR
quote:
Originally posted by Firefighterj80Also, I forgot to mention in both of my posts about fluorocarbon leader. Not sure if you are using it, but with the winter water much clearer, it is definitely suggested to use a leader for reds/trout. I typically use anywhere from 15-25# depending on what type of fishing I’ll be doing.
Capt. Jeremiah
Southern Slam Fishing Charters2018 Sea Hunt BX 22 BR
Whoa – I’m actually doing something right. I think I have a 20 or 25# fluoro lead on the heavier braid, and a 15 or 20# fluoro lead on the lighter braid.
Of course, I have it tied on there with square knots, meaty swivels, and a big ole’ bow tie, but they’re on there.*
- I’m kidding. There’s no bow tie, and I’m at least a little bit beyond the square knot.
2017 Sportsman 211 w/ F150XB “Marital Property”
#TheWorstFishermanInTheWorld
That was a fun read… reminds me off the style of one of our Nextdoor forum members.
Anyhoo… been there, done that . Let me add a couple of things that have helped us along the way in getting more successful in getting fish into the boat.
When we (if I say we, I mean my oldest son, who is my fishing buddy - now 24, but it all began when he was about 4, and I) started fishing in our first boat (a 17 ft Seaswirl CC with a gas guzzling 140 hp Johnson) we would typically anchor up in a spot and “fish/stay” there for a while (too long!!). Most of the time, we would use minnows under a float, sometimes shrimp… occasionally catching a fish or two, but we never “killed it”, so to speak. After 10 years or so, where we gradually became a little better at finding spots and understanding tides, time of year patterns etc, we moved up to a 207 Seahunt so that we could also fish the nearshore reefs once in a while (even went for Mahi on a few occasions, that was fun!!). Nice boat, but we were not happy with its usefulness in our quest to become better inshore fishermen and, between work and other activities, we just were not able to go out on the ocean as much as we liked.
Our inshore fishing “break-through” came when we purchased our bay boat (Robalo Cayman 206) outfitted with an iPilot trolling motor which will allow us to go relatively shallow (1-2 ft) to find the reds… We NEVER physically anchor up anymore!! Using the trolling motor we will move slowly into areas where we suspect (sometimes know) fish to hang around and will typically use artificial to catch them. Our plastic of choice is the 3.75" Z-man StreakZ in Smoky Shad https://zmanfishing.com/store/categories/elaztech/streakz_375 (we have bags and bags of other plastics, but we always come back to this specific one) on very light jig heads at the end of ~1.5’ 20# FC at the end of 10# braid. To be able to cast a decent distance you need a decent rod (no way around that). Both my son and I fish a St Croix Avid Inshore VIS70LM rod
quote:
Originally posted by reeldutchTo be able to cast a decent distance you need a decent rod (no way around that). Both my son and I fish a St Croix Avid Inshore VIS70LM rod (not the cheapest but also not the most expensive rod out there).
ReelDutch…what reel (make & size) do you like with this setup?
quote:
Originally posted by BigCquote:
Originally posted by reeldutchTo be able to cast a decent distance you need a decent rod (no way around that). Both my son and I fish a St Croix Avid Inshore VIS70LM rod (not the cheapest but also not the most expensive rod out there).
ReelDutch…what reel (make & size) do you like with this setup?
BigC, we have currently Penn Battle II 2000 reels on these rods. You do not want heavier/larger reels on rods like these.
Cheers
Maybe, just once, someone will call me “sir” without adding, “you’re making a scene.”
(Homer Simpson)
1988 17’ Seaswirl Luckydutch I (sold)
2010 21’ Seahunt Luckydutch II (sold)
2014 21’ Robalo Cayman R206 Luckydutch III