Need Help Choosing First Rod :)

[Logan J]

Hi to anyone reading this post 

I'm 16 years old and am just getting into fishing seriously for the first time, iv been fishing with mates and family a lot over the last 10 years but we always just used cheap Kmart rods and and never really knew what we were doing so i never really got hooked on it, but just recently i went fishing with an extremely skilled friend of mine who has been hooked on fishing for about 8 years now we used quality gear the right bait and it was a blast i started researching it myself and i'm already hooked (no pun intended)  so iv decided i wanna get my self setup with a good quality rod and reel that will last me for a long time, iv done a lot of research especially on reels and have come to the decision to buy the daiwa bg spinning reel not sure what model number though (3000 - 4000) are the ones iv been looking at , but with the rod i'm still undecided as i want something that can be used in just about any circumstance e.g effective with small to large fish saltwater and freshwater and inshore and offshore and a little bit of surf  fishing is this unrealistic ? if not what rod would be best for these requirements i was looking at an 7 foot ugly stik gx2 is this a good idea ? Ps 85 % of the fishing i will be doing will be saltwater and i have a 200 to 350 dollar budget 

thanks very much and any reply's are appreciated regards Logan  

[Old Scaley]

Hi Logan, welcome to the site. Your best bet would be to go to your local tackle store and talk to them about what sort of fishing you do and what your budget is. They are usually very knowledgeable and helpful. Let us know how you go.

[Drop Bear]

11 hours ago, Logan J said:

Ps 85 % of the fishing i will be doing will be saltwater and i have a 200 to 350 dollar budget

Hi Logan,

@angus are you still having a sale? Angus has Nordic Stage rods. they are a very high end carbon rods that I love but I agree with Old Scaley a good local tackle store will help a lot.I dont go to BCF as I find they dont know anything about the products usually. 

Ugly sticks are a good option. they are hard to break and well built. If you go for a carbon one remember that they are great, light and nice to use but very fragile. One good knock and they can snap on your next cast or fish. 

[Angus]

My only thoughts are a 4000 is much to big for an all rounder.

I would be getting a 2500 size reel.

4000 is overkill for bread and butter species which is realistically what you will target as someone getting into it. 

Also 2500 size can still tame decent fish when the need arises.

Angus

[fishinfox]

Hi Logan,

You're pretty much in the same position I was when I started out. I wanted a rod/reel to cover all circumstances. I ended up with a 4000 reel and a heavy rod to start off with. Not suitable at all for what I ended up doing as there was no sensitivity in the rod when catching flathead/bream. I never really caught any big fish that would have tested the gear.

I think that a pretty good buy to start off with would be a 2500 reel and a 2-4kg rod. The shimano Stradic 2500 FK can be had for $180 delivered if you know where to go (message me if you want details). As far as rods go I am a great fan of the nordic stage rods if you can get anything in the 2-4kg range. Otherwise I'd recommend something like a pflueger trion which anaconda are doing for $100. The 702L version is the 2-4kg rod. Pretty cheap and I enjoyed using mine. It handled bream, flathead and whiting .

 

[Logan J]

awesome thanks very much for all the reply's and for the welcome i can't wait to use this site more , i'l definitely head down to my local tackle store and ask around a little, and yeah as you said old scaley i tried speaking to the guys at BCF and anaconda but they were kind of unsure as to what to recommend and didn't really give me any confidence, but i'l definitely look into my local tackle shop. @dropbear, angus, fishinfox thanks for the rod suggestions i had a look at the Nordic stage rods on there website and they look like awesome rods, i was quite interested in the 2.13 m loki as its marketed to be an all-rounder, is this a good choice ? also i was looking for the plueger trion 702l but i couldn't seem to find that model on amazon but il definitely keep looking. In regards to the reels thanks very much for the feedback i had no idea the 4000 would be overkill would the diawa bg 2500 on the Nordic stage Loki rod be a good set up ? thanks again for the reply's they are all highly appreciated. oh one last question does the size of the person have any impacct on what size rod they should choose ? because although im only 16 im 6 foot 5 tall .

thanks again

Logan 

[Angus]

14 minutes ago, Logan J said:

awesome thanks very much for all the reply's and for the welcome i can't wait to use this site more , i'l definitely head down to my local tackle store and ask around a little, and yeah as you said old scaley i tried speaking to the guys at BCF and anaconda but they were kind of unsure as to what to recommend and didn't really give me any confidence, but i'l definitely look into my local tackle shop. @dropbear, angus, fishinfox thanks for the rod suggestions i had a look at the Nordic stage rods on there website and they look like awesome rods, i was quite interested in the 2.13 m loki as its marketed to be an all-rounder, is this a good choice ? also i was looking for the plueger trion 702l but i couldn't seem to find that model on amazon but il definitely keep looking. In regards to the reels thanks very much for the feedback i had no idea the 4000 would be overkill would the diawa bg 2500 on the Nordic stage Loki rod be a good set up ? thanks again for the reply's they are all highly appreciated. oh one last question does the size of the person have any impacct on what size rod they should choose ? because although im only 16 im 6 foot 5 tall .

thanks again

Logan 

Sorry mate you wont find a Loki in Australia. Or in your budget (I think they retail over 400).

Nordic Stage australia has closed up so all that is left is clearance rods. 

Very good and cheaper than retail just wont be available once they are all sold.

Angus

[Logan J]

8 minutes ago, Angus said:

Sorry mate you wont find a Loki in Australia. Or in your budget (I think they retail over 400).

Nordic Stage australia has closed up so all that is left is clearance rods. 

Very good and cheaper than retail just wont be available once they are all sold.

Angus

well that crushes that idea hahahahaha i'l go to my local tackle shop and ask what the would recommend but would have any suggestions ? 

 

 

[fishinfox]

Logan, I sent you a link for the pflueger trion

 

[Logan J]

yup thanks very much mate it looks like an awesome rod probably going to be the one i get so thanks for that   il probably either post on here or start a new thread once i get the rod and reel set up so just to clarify i'm probably going to be getting the plueger trion rod with the daiwa bg 2500 reel does this sound like a decent set up to every one ? 

[Angus]

1 hour ago, Logan J said:

well that crushes that idea hahahahaha i'l go to my local tackle shop and ask what the would recommend but would have any suggestions ? 

 

 

We still have a few clearance rods.

Nordic stage favorite (only a couple left) for $60 might suit your budget.

Nordic stage Sharpshooter is similar to the loki but will set you back 250 (still nearly half retail price.

[Logan J]

ok

19 minutes ago, Angus said:

We still have a few clearance rods.

Nordic stage favorite (only a couple left) for $60 might suit your budget.

Nordic stage Sharpshooter is similar to the loki but will set you back 250 (still nearly half retail price.

Ok cool i'l admit it does sound tempting to get a rod of that quality for that price, but is there any chance there will be any left by the first week of January ?  because it wont be before then i actually buy the rod and reel as the family are preparing to have cousins to stay over Christmas week , so it wont be actually buying the rod and reel till the first week of January. would that work ? if not how would the pflueger trion compare to the nordic stage sharp shooter ? 

[Angus]

1 hour ago, Logan J said:

ok

Ok cool i'l admit it does sound tempting to get a rod of that quality for that price, but is there any chance there will be any left by the first week of January ?  because it wont be before then i actually buy the rod and reel as the family are preparing to have cousins to stay over Christmas week , so it wont be actually buying the rod and reel till the first week of January. would that work ? if not how would the pflueger trion compare to the nordic stage sharp shooter ? 

Most likely mate. I won't be doing much selling wise from now till jan.

[Logan J]

awesome i'l probably go for the nordic stage favorite as a lot of the fishing i will be doing will be off the pier and and on the beach and i heard that the favorite would be good for that so i'l probably get in contact with you when i'm ready to buy is that cool ?

[Drop Bear]

13 hours ago, Logan J said:

awesome i'l probably go for the nordic stage favorite

You wont be disappointed. 

[fishinfox]

Yeah Logan those favorites are a great rod even at normal price never mind $60. I'd go for the 7'3" 6-12lb if Angus has any left. They cast a loooooooong way.

[Logan J]

that'

27 minutes ago, fishinfox said:

Yeah Logan those favorites are a great rod even at normal price never mind $60. I'd go for the 7'3" 6-12lb if Angus has any left. They cast a loooooooong way.

 

6 hours ago, Drop Bear said:

You wont be disappointed. 

that's awesome to hear i cant wait to get set up and get out on the water and its good to hear they can cast a long way cause imma need all the help i can get hahaha

[Drop Bear]

19 hours ago, Logan J said:

good to hear they can cast a long way cause imma need all the help i can get hahaha

You will smash it mate. Just on casting distance, "generally" the thinner the line the further you can cast. The problem is the thinner the line the easier it breaks

[Logan J]

 

On 12/23/2017 at 1:54 PM, Logan J said:

that'

 

that's awesome to hear i cant wait to get set up and get out on the water and its good to hear they can cast a long way cause imma need all the help i can get hahaha

 

5 hours ago, Drop Bear said:

You will smash it mate. Just on casting distance, "generally" the thinner the line the further you can cast. The problem is the thinner the line the easier it breaks

awesome it sounds like the perfect rod for my circumstances and iv heard a lot of people saying to use braid line is this a good idea ?

[ramsey]

I use braid on all my set ups cast better and is alot thinner.  Generally if you going to be lure fishing or casting alot I would go with braid. But if you just wetting a line mono or fluro will work because it practically invisible and there then isn't any need for a leader

[Logan J]

awesome i'l probably be out at least 1 to 3 days a week so it might be easier to run braid 

[Logan J]

oh and merry Christmas every one    

[fishinfox]

You'll need to learn a knot to tie the leader to braid if you don't already have one you use. I'd learn the FG knot. Takes a bit of practice but its the only

knot I use now (can't remember any others) and its never let me down. Nothing worse than losing a fish when your line breaks at the knot.

[Logan J]

Ok cool I ended up setting up with mono, im running the daiwa 3000 reel with the daiwa saltist bw spin rod out at mornington pier, trying to get some salmon no luck so far but il keep trying  imma start a new post with more details about the set up but here's some pics .

25 minutes ago, fishinfox said:

You'll need to learn a knot to tie the leader to braid if you don't already have one you use. I'd learn the FG knot. Takes a bit of practice but its the only

knot I use now (can't remember any others) and its never let me down. Nothing worse than losing a fish when your line breaks at the knot.

 

[Drop Bear]

29 minutes ago, Logan J said:

imma start a new post with more details about the set up but here's some pics .

Sweet. Looks perfect. Good luck with the salmon