Hey guys I need a little advice on my shark fishing gear. I just got a spinfisher v10500 and paired with a 10 ft. ugly stick 80# braided line. Is that a good match or should I get a different rod? I also need help on a rod for a fin-nor lethal 100. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I would use between a 6’6 or 8ft.
I just put new braid on this year and spooled up with 65#, I guess I will drop to 50# next time per Dans recommendation. Regarding your rod, I’ve been using St. Croix rods for 10 plus years and love them. They have 2 lines that both offer an 11 ft mh rod-up to 40lb line- that throw 3-8ou of weight. The mojo and avid series. By the time you put a 4-6 ou weight and the bait it’s nice to have something that will throw up to 8 ou or you can snap off the end of your rod if not careful. The mojo 250.00 with a 5yr. warranty and the avid is 360 with a lifetime warranty. They are very good about honoring. I coughed up the extra 110.00 and bought the avid and now have that pole for life. Pricey but worth it to me. Plenty of different lines out there that cost less just get one that is capable of at least 40lb line , a mh-h rating, and capable of throwing 8ou of lead and bait. Good luck Sir and show us some pics.
Ugly sticks are tough as nails. Last a long time. Imnotfishy who is a shark man,that knows what he’s doing, bought the 12 ft ugly stick.
I love the St. Croix rods. I have the avid for red fishing. The warranty is only on the rods though, the eyes are not covered, but it is till a hell of a deal.
That will work just fine. Get on the sand. See if you like the set up. Right now I’m rolling with a spinfisher 7500 with 500 yards of 50# braid on a 9 ft star rod. When I finally save up for my senator 9/0 and yak I’ll prolly get a stock star rod 6-7 ft. I like the affordability factor with Star. St croix is still outa my price range. Some people love their ugly sticks. All I’m saying go and hook into a black tip or two and see if you really wanna spend the money.
I have had a lot of different rods and most can handle a lot more fish fighting action then you would think and then they are rated for, but with an ugly stick I don’t even worry about blowing it up and power pro braid is really hard to pop when its the heavier #s. Pretty much 65 and above most reels won’t have heavy enough drags to pop it. I hung my 150# the other day and I had to get in a tug of war stance and use my legs to pop it and even then it looked like it hit something abrasive to give some assistance. On my large 15ft ugly stick which is fun for the novelty of having the biggest rod out I will throw heavy weights and baits like 2#s about 80yds and if I botch the cast it basically rips the rod out my hands but I am almost positive I would get a shoulder or wrist injury before it breaks from casting. As far as a big rod goes a 10 should be perfect, the ratio of leverage to efforts really goes down on the larger rods. As for 80# being overkill, its always nice to be able to really lock down the drag and muscle up to turn a big fish when it gets to the point of low line or swimming into something likely to tangle you or pop you off, the main down side is yds on the spool lost but you should be able to have a ton on the spin fisher.
I would say the majority of people on this forum aren’t using reels that could come close to locking down with even 40# of drag. Braid usually breaks at a much higher tolerance than it is rated for. When heavy ( 40+ ) lb braid breaks it’s usually because of a few things, teeth, structure and shark skin and or tail slaps. When any of that happens 40-120 # breaks just the same. Not that I’m knocking 60# braid - I use 60 on my Makaira 15ii SEA - however that reel MAYBE capable of breaking that braid at full drag - bottom of the spool.
Thats good stuff, I’m happy to be learning and hearing from different folks. I bought new shark rods and reels this year and decided to go with the avid st croix 11 ft and the cabo 120. I know I could have gotten away with less reel,but wanted the capacity of 500 yds. The cabo will give you that in 65lb braid and has what is supposed to be one of the best drags on the market. I think I will use 50 next time I spool.There is a great write up by Allen Hawk who is independent, and highly respected. He loves them. He gave them the # 1 spot for general saltwater reels and Mr. Parker loves his Quantums so that was enough for me. You folks should check out his reviews very informative. I contacted him and asked his opinion and he actually responded which blew my mind. When it came to poles I found a sight on Tackle Direct.com. Go to saltwater,go to combos,go to all combos then click on Blacktiph. From there Josh-blacktiph guy had suggested advice and combos. His suggestions are 11-12 rods for most all the surf fishing combos. I know you don’t have to live by these ,but they are good guide lines and I trust what he is saying. I used a 9’6 avid that was rated for 25ld test last year and several times it felt like I needed more power, so I moved up a little. I have also heard Stan and Iggy say they used the 11ft mojos the last couple of years and respect their opinions as well, enough for me. Sharkim the LT100 is also recommended by Allen Hawk and is also recommended by Blacktip h. They paired 11-12 rods with them. The spinfisher is also on the sight. He recommended the 8500 with 11-12 ft rod as well. Allen Hawk reel review guy not a fan of the Spinfisher, nor is the “Reel Doctor” at Haddrels. I had the 8500 burn up on me in less than a season last year-with proper care, but my 6500 has lasted several seasons with no problem. Good luck folks and thanks for advice, much appreciated. Allot of different set ups will work, just pick and choose what you want.
I’ve owned the St Croix Mojo Surf in a few flavors. 12’, 11’ and 10’6 in both ratings. Currently I have the 10’6 in the heavier version, but the 11 is nicer for throwing a bigger bait. Can’t go wrong with any of the St Croix rods really!
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https://www.coastalsharktagging.org
I popped 65# braid on a big shark (8+ for sure) in 200ft of water once with an 8000 spinning real and the drag is no where near 65lb. I caught a 8ft sand bar in 180 the week before and powered up on it with every thing I had and couldn’t pop it, so naturally after a 30+ fight I tried the same tactic on the next one. I went from 3/4 to as tight as I could turn it gradually over the next five minutes and reeled down while squatting down and then lifted the rod while standing up and the fish pulled some drag and then popped the line. That is the only time I truly popped heavy braid on a big fish and I kind of had to force the hand. Some manufactures rate drags for where they still perform as intended, but if you tighten past that point the drag will go higher but usually suffers in performance like heat sticking, skipping and locking up. I have had several reels warm up and melted/broke a few drags but that is mostly do to catching something way to big for the gear used, improper usage and low quality gear. I have caught a 8ft shark in 180ft on a lethal 100 it wasn’t mine but the guy who let me use it told me to beast on it because he heard of issues with some of them breaking at the reel seat from factory defects. It performed well and sharks fight extra hard in deep water.
the 10 foot ugly stick works great in the surf and i have a 10 foot medium heavy ugly stick myself for surf fishing. the extra length is great for longer casts and keeping line above the water to minimize waves hitting it. the tip is light enough to see bites from small fish, but the rod will take a solid beating from sharks too. as for the 80lb braid, i use the same weight as well. i took a travel rod with me to diego garcia the times ive been there and 80lb braid in a spinning rod handles 4-6 foot sharks like a champ and also landed a nice giant trevally from the beach as well. i also hooked into an 8+ foot bull shark that i did NOT land on a 30-40lb 3 piece 7 foot spinning rod, but with a bigger reel i think i could have done it. the reason i lost it is because after fighting for about 10 minutes is even though the rod was holding up fine, i nearly got spooled on my okuma 65 spinning reel and grabbed the spool to break the line instead of losing 250ish yards of braid. for the normal blacktips, sandbars, and lemons you will find around charleston, that combo will handle sharks fine along with being a decent surf rod. good luck!