is it really tha ROD

[noname]

just thought i'd throw this question out there.

do you really need the latest rod, reel braid combo's,that are out there.

after being guilty of doing just this on the weekend, i thought of my mate pat who catches everything on 1 rod and reel combo, hell he just plonks it somewhere and checks it in half an hour or so.

[jeff f]

ok here's a back to basics challenge for you rob

next time you go out after reefies take a couple of monno handlines and see how you go for an hour doing it old school style

[Davo_Dinkum]

no

i fish back to basics pretty much,i still use handlines too.

handlines for reefies bugger that

i just got 2 new reels that have bearings in my old cheapies didn't but they still done 10 year and caught many fish.

anyways the new reels feel nicer but haven't improved my catch rate at all.but now at least i can have a play with lures and sp more.

yeah i'm a stick ,peice of line and bit of bait kind of guy it worked for the last 30 year:laugh:

[noname]

.deck winches are handlines aren't they. . :whistle:. well you know what i mean!

[Davo_Dinkum]

close enough same same sort of thing lol

[ellicat]

Buyers remorse....

Test that theory out with some surf fishing. Not sure the handline will cut it getting it out there lol.

[jeff f]

i've been feeling tyhe need for some surf fishing lately might have to do something about it

[AZZA]

If you want to go right back to basics leave the GPS and sounder at home and head out to the cape and try to remember which sand dune and tree to line up, and then get the shivers and go to flinders because its easy to find. jezz now I think I am showing my age

[obone]

I've thought about this before.

Personally, I don't really see the advantage of outrageously priced rods, other than to say "I have an outrageously priced rod". Maybe I just haven't mastered the finesse of it yet, but I think I do OK on all my old(ish) and cheapie rods.

Braid and reels however :kiss:. Happy to go pricey on reels and line and could never go back to mono.

Joel

[bretto]

I think it depends on the type of fishing you are doing.

If you are just lugging out some baits then a k-mart special will do the job but if casting small lures all day you need that better gear to get those lures out there further to cover more ground and if a bigger fish than expected jumps on the end of your line you have a better chance of getting it in as the better gear gives you the smooth drag and stronger rod imo.

Brett

[Mack_attack]

totally agree with bretto, also the fact that with the more expensive rods they have the ability to work lures better than cheaper rods dur to their increased sensitivity

[hairyweasel]

obone wrote:

I've thought about this before.

Personally, I don't really see the advantage of outrageously priced rods, other than to say "I have an outrageously priced rod". Maybe I just haven't mastered the finesse of it yet, but I think I do OK on all my old(ish) and cheapie rods.

Braid and reels however :kiss:. Happy to go pricey on reels and line and could never go back to mono.

Joel

I've got 12 rods in my collection. If I'm just going to soak a couple of baits for a lazy afternoon, the first rod I'll pick up is my 1972 Len Butterworth solid glass rod. It has the softest tip, yet it's indestructable.

Its on its 3rd set of guides and second reel seat and I reckon it'll outlast me.

[Feral]

As long as its graphite it will do me!

Used a glass rod on the weekend and was casting at the heavens all day as it was just to whippy!

[shortie]

buy the best you can afford.

a $200 1980 ford laser gets you from A to B

So do the 2009 Ferrari.

what would you own if you could afford it.

[hairyweasel]

shortie wrote:

buy the best you can afford.

a $200 1980 ford laser gets you from A to B

So do the 2009 Ferrari.

what would you own if you could afford it.

Ah, now we've come back to the core of Rob's original question....is the Ferarri really necessary? This is a matter of personal perspective.

I have a mate who owns 2 rods, a 10 footer and a 13 footer. Both with alveys. Ask him what action the have, and he'll look at you as though you're speaking another language.

He quietly smirks at my spinners and overheads. He thinks they're gadgets. He's never owned a lure and I doubt he ever will. He reckons soft plastics are a passing fad.

In short, he's an ignorant savage with no appreciation of the finer points of angling and should be scorned at every opportinity.

Trouble is....he catches lotsa fish!!!

[shortie]

hairyweasel wrote:

shortie wrote:

buy the best you can afford.

a $200 1980 ford laser gets you from A to B

So do the 2009 Ferrari.

what would you own if you could afford it.

Ah, now we've come back to the core of Rob's original question....is the Ferarri really necessary? This is a matter of personal perspective.

I have a mate who owns 2 rods, a 10 footer and a 13 footer. Both with alveys. Ask him what action the have, and he'll look at you as though you're speaking another language.

He quietly smirks at my spinners and overheads. He thinks they're gadgets. He's never owned a lure and I doubt he ever will. He reckons soft plastics are a passing fad.

In short, he's an ignorant savage with no appreciation of the finer points of angling and should be scorned at every opportinity.

Trouble is....he catches lotsa fish!!!

now you see the Farrari is nescessary. it will get you there quicker and more reliably and you will catch you better looking women on the way. being quick it will give you more time to play with your catch.

now with the ford laser your catch will be ugly and you would not want to play with it.

being slow it will give yo time to think about how you are going to dispose of your catch before your mates see it.

[hairyweasel]

shortie wrote:

hairyweasel wrote:

shortie wrote:

buy the best you can afford.

a $200 1980 ford laser gets you from A to B

So do the 2009 Ferrari.

what would you own if you could afford it.

Ah, now we've come back to the core of Rob's original question....is the Ferarri really necessary? This is a matter of personal perspective.

I have a mate who owns 2 rods, a 10 footer and a 13 footer. Both with alveys. Ask him what action the have, and he'll look at you as though you're speaking another language.

He quietly smirks at my spinners and overheads. He thinks they're gadgets. He's never owned a lure and I doubt he ever will. He reckons soft plastics are a passing fad.

In short, he's an ignorant savage with no appreciation of the finer points of angling and should be scorned at every opportinity.

Trouble is....he catches lotsa fish!!!

now you see the Farrari is nescessary. it will get you there quicker and more reliably and you will catch you better looking women on the way. being quick it will give you more time to play with your catch.

now with the ford laser your catch will be ugly and you would not want to play with it.

being slow it will give yo time to think about how you are going to dispose of your catch before your mates see it.

Good reply mate....I take my hat off.:woohoo:

[noname]

ok, in the ferrari, loose your licence gettin to where your goin, loose your job,because you can't get to work and become an alcoholic, and live out the rest of your days wondering what went wrong.

in the laser, you will eventually get to where your goin, savin along the way, to buy more tackle obviously. and just thinking about the next fishin trip.

[Angus]

noname wrote:

just thought i'd throw this question out there.

do you really need the latest rod, reel braid combo's,that are out there.

after being guilty of doing just this on the weekend, i thought of my mate pat who catches everything on 1 rod and reel combo, hell he just plonks it somewhere and checks it in half an hour or so.

I dont think you need to at all.

Its just very nice using good qaulity gear. I never really used to care, but once you start you develope a fast appreciation for it

This being said I have seen amazing fish caught on average gear.

So I dont think its a question of NEED but of choice.

Just the same as you dont NEED a fancy big car with all the trims, but man can it be fun to drive

Angus

[Angus]

To furth my last, there are exceptions. I have to agree with Bretto sometimes there is a need. You try casting an SX40 around with your stiff tipped k-mart combo with the provided 20lb mono and you wont get far at all.

Sure there are still some affordable options, but in the world of luring, nice gear makes life a lot easier.

I also agree with Shortie, buy the best you can afford. There is fishing gear out there for all types. I still love my alvey in the surf

Angus

[Little Grey Men]

To soak a bait you certainly don't need fancy gear. All you want to do is place the right bait in the correct place at the right time of day and leave it there. Doesn't take a graphite rod and a reel with an abundance of bearings to do that. Just an average quality rod and a half decent reel will suffice to land good fish.

I catch fish on lures but I also catch them on bait...I know that I can catch more fish on bait but I get a little bored doing it.

I don't use my good gear for bait fishing as its not required..but to swim a light weight soft plastic effectivley through the water column to fool a fish, good sensitive gear can be your friend. To actually feel a fish inhale and spit a lure giving you a fraction of a second to stike requires fairly good gear.

It's all about what style of fishing floats your boat.

[haglor]

Little Grey Men wrote:

To soak a bait you certainly don't need fancy gear. All you want to do is place the right bait in the correct place at the right time of day and leave it there. Doesn't take a graphite rod and a reel with an abundance of bearings to do that. Just an average quality rod and a half decent reel will suffice to land good fish.

I catch fish on lures but I also catch them on bait...I know that I can catch more fish on bait but I get a little bored doing it.

I don't use my good gear for bait fishing as its not required..but to swim a light weight soft plastic effectivley through the water column to fool a fish, good sensitive gear can be your friend. To actually feel a fish inhale and spit a lure giving you a fraction of a second to stike requires fairly good gear.

It's all about what style of fishing floats your boat.

yeah what little grey men just said,

i have two combos for lures each worth about $600, my bait combos on the other hand are old alveys bought from the tip shop for $1 matched up to $30 rods. each catch fish and each have there place, but i couldnt use the alvey's to chuck around tiny Hb's

[adri4n]

I totally agree with the post above, you don't need expensive rods or reels for baitfishing, in fact for baitfishing i'd argue that the softer rods are better than expensive graphite rods as they allow the bait to be inhaled and have more give. however I do feel that you can't stinge on reels and at least get something slightly better than entry level as they last longer and if you do get onto the fish of a lifetime you'd want a smooth drag and mechanics to help you reel your fish in.

More expensive graphite rods which are really light only come into play when you are using lures. I've got some cheapo rods and some $50-100 rods and with the cheapo rods they are too heavy and not well balanced enough to cast lures all day long. My arm would ache after using a rod thats not well suited for luring. having said that you definitely could find a good rod on the cheap if you look hard enough. its all about finding the right gear for your fishing. Even if you are using lures though you don't have to break the bank to get a good spinning combo that you could double up as a bait rod.

[Angus]

adri4n wrote:

I totally agree with the post above, you don't need expensive rods or reels for baitfishing, in fact for baitfishing i'd argue that the softer rods are better than expensive graphite rods as they allow the bait to be inhaled and have more give. however I do feel that you can't stinge on reels and at least get something slightly better than entry level as they last longer and if you do get onto the fish of a lifetime you'd want a smooth drag and mechanics to help you reel your fish in.

More expensive graphite rods which are really light only come into play when you are using lures. I've got some cheapo rods and some $50-100 rods and with the cheapo rods they are too heavy and not well balanced enough to cast lures all day long. My arm would ache after using a rod thats not well suited for luring. having said that you definitely could find a good rod on the cheap if you look hard enough. its all about finding the right gear for your fishing. Even if you are using lures though you don't have to break the bank to get a good spinning combo that you could double up as a bait rod.

I agree that you dont need good gear for "SOME" bait fishing.

As some of you know though an semi ex members got a 15kg GT at Noosa recently. Sorry the thread had to be removed but it was blacked out. Long story short it was live bait that caught that fish. Now I would suggest with the limited knowledge I have that you would want ALL your gear working for you to land a fish of that calibre, and no offense to the good ol Alvey reel but it would have carked it way early into the fight. Once again ill state, ANYTHING is possible, however you do want your kit up to scratch with the target.

Cheers.

Angus

[hairyweasel]

Alvey would have carked it?

Strewth....I can hear the Alvey ligitation team rattlin their swords from here!!!!

[ellicat]

Strewth Angus!!!

The right Alvey would have handled it no problem.

You can get Alveys that aren't just a spool on a clip.

[DG89]

This is an awesome topic and i dont really post often but this interested me.

The only thing i can really say is that i agree with angus, man we catch some epic fish on baits. All of Terrys big sharks and other amazing fish are taken im fairly sure on baits. Id really hope i had the right gear for that especially a good rod and belt to make things easier for me.

I also like to think that buying a really good reel is necessary. Not just for there performance but because they also last way longer. Just the otherday i was cleaning two reels i had used in the BRC and various other trips over the summer. Both were bought at the same time. One is a shimano sahara 2500 and the other is some pinnacle real. Both have been subject to the same saltwater damage and abuse over the summer but now i only have one reel. The shimano was easier to clean, fix and remove the rust. The pinnacle one was pretty much destroyed, the bearings had actually been eaten away at.(oh and i dont work for shimano guys).

Anyways just my thoughts, thanks guys

Cheers

DAn

[Feral]

haglor wrote:

but i couldnt use the alvey's to chuck around tiny Hb's

Yeah but Alveys are for the real fishing, not catching the bait!. :laugh:

[hairyweasel]

DG89 wrote:

This is an awesome topic and i dont really post often but this interested me.

The only thing i can really say is that i agree with angus, man we catch some epic fish on baits. All of Terrys big sharks and other amazing fish are taken im fairly sure on baits. Id really hope i had the right gear for that especially a good rod and belt to make things easier for me.

I also like to think that buying a really good reel is necessary. Not just for there performance but because they also last way longer. Just the otherday i was cleaning two reels i had used in the BRC and various other trips over the summer. Both were bought at the same time. One is a shimano sahara 2500 and the other is some pinnacle real. Both have been subject to the same saltwater damage and abuse over the summer but now i only have one reel. The shimano was easier to clean, fix and remove the rust. The pinnacle one was pretty much destroyed, the bearings had actually been eaten away at.(oh and i dont work for shimano guys).

Anyways just my thoughts, thanks guys

Cheers

DAn

Sorry if I'm taking this thread off track, but Dan's point is a good one. There are lots of cheaper reels on the market touting lots of bearings. The "no name" brands often have very poor quality bearings that self destruct when they get wet. Mainly the the bearings either side of the crank shaft, the line roller, and the front bearing of the pinion gear (directly behind the bail skirt).

I also have a Shimano Sahara 1000 and had to replace the bearing behind the bail skirt recently as it had corroded.

I religiously rinse and dry all my reels after every use.

I see that some manufacturers are now advertising corrosion free bearings, so maybe it's not going to be such an issue in the future.

[Little Grey Men]

Angus wrote:

adri4n wrote:

I totally agree with the post above, you don't need expensive rods or reels for baitfishing, in fact for baitfishing i'd argue that the softer rods are better than expensive graphite rods as they allow the bait to be inhaled and have more give. however I do feel that you can't stinge on reels and at least get something slightly better than entry level as they last longer and if you do get onto the fish of a lifetime you'd want a smooth drag and mechanics to help you reel your fish in.

More expensive graphite rods which are really light only come into play when you are using lures. I've got some cheapo rods and some $50-100 rods and with the cheapo rods they are too heavy and not well balanced enough to cast lures all day long. My arm would ache after using a rod thats not well suited for luring. having said that you definitely could find a good rod on the cheap if you look hard enough. its all about finding the right gear for your fishing. Even if you are using lures though you don't have to break the bank to get a good spinning combo that you could double up as a bait rod.

I agree that you dont need good gear for "SOME" bait fishing.

As some of you know though an semi ex members got a 15kg GT at Noosa recently. Sorry the thread had to be removed but it was blacked out. Long story short it was live bait that caught that fish. Now I would suggest with the limited knowledge I have that you would want ALL your gear working for you to land a fish of that calibre, and no offense to the good ol Alvey reel but it would have carked it way early into the fight. Once again ill state, ANYTHING is possible, however you do want your kit up to scratch with the target.

Cheers.

Angus

Good point Angus. If I had a target like a 15kg GT in mind I'd want some serious gear. I guess you could call that specailised bait fishing...live baiting for jacks, or sharking, even live baiting for big palegics. You'd certainly need more than a Kmart combo to handle some critters. But the good old bread and butter species are a different story. Even though sometimes while baitfishing for easy fish, big nasty things come along.

A few mates and myself were bait fishing for bream off Woody Point a month or so back and we kept getting hammered by something fast and strong that happened to be in the area. I wished I was using better gear that day just to see what it was.

[hairyweasel]

Feral wrote:

haglor wrote:

but i couldnt use the alvey's to chuck around tiny Hb's

Yeah but Alveys are for the real fishing, not catching the bait!. :laugh:

True words.

Half of the charter boats operating along the Qld coast supply their punters with 5 foot rods and Alvey snapper reels. Mainly because they're low maintenance and bullet proof. Over the years those reels have acccounted for some serious fish in the hands of some relatively inexperienced fishermen.

The Alvey snapper reel shares the same spindle and drag assembly with the 650BC and 700BC sidecast reels.

I'm sure either of those reels could take on a GT, not sure about the index finger though!

[tomca]

I've got a telescopic silstar rod ($20) and a okuma reel ($16) and spooled with left over 6lb mono line. It lives in the hull of my yak as an emergency spare.

It caught me quite a few quality fish. 40+ cm bass, 50cm estuary cod, big flathead. But always casting heavy lures. sp's on light jigheads and small HB's would go 5m on that combo.

I always use my alvey when baitfishing, its just to bulky for the yak.

I think you can go overboard with any hobby, but use the right tool for the job.