Bought The Wrong Rod And Line

[Azza_Fishing]

Hi all, 

Today I made the worst mistake possible and bought the wrong rod and line to go with my baitcaster. I bought an 8lb braid (0.13mm) and then I bought a baitcaster rod which has a cast weight of 10-30g and line from 6-12kg. I was talking to some of my mates and they said the rod I bought is suited for kingfish and other big species rather than small estuary fish such as bream, whiting and smaller flathead (bought the rod to target those species). 

I can't return it to a shop because of their no return POLICY. Don't know if I should keep the 8lb braid on, or just take it all off and replace it with a heavier line. I want to keep on using it to fish, but, can't think on what to do with it.

Any suggestions on what to do.

Cheers 

Azza_Fishing

[Brodie_S]

Keep it on for now and give it try on some fish if you think it’s to light or you keep snapping you’re line try some heavier line that’s my suggestion anyway hope that helps 

[jon]

Put heavier line on it and keep it for a heavier setup. Then get cheaper setup for the light stuff which you can get something reasonably priced from bcf when they have sales. Other wise sell on gumtree even though you’ll lose a bit of money then you can Put it towards a  better suited setup. And always do bulk research before buying a rod to make sure it’s what you want

[Kat]

Hey @Azza_Fishing

What rod is it?

Cheers Kat

[Azza_Fishing]

@Kat

It is the Daiwa Revros 

 

[Ed.]

What bait casting reel do you have?

[Azza_Fishing]

1 minute ago, Ed. said:

What bait casting reel do you have?

I have the Shimano SLX 150HG

[Ed.]

So is the main issue you have with it, is that the rod is too stiff for your intended line/fishing style or are you worried about the lack of spool line capacity if you go to a heavier braid?

[Azza_Fishing]

9 minutes ago, Ed. said:

So is the main issue you have with it, is that the rod is too stiff for your intended line/fishing style or are you worried about the lack of spool line capacity if you go to a heavier braid?

No, it's just, if I use it with small and light lures, it doesn't cast well/far. It just goes probably like 2m in front of me. I intended to use it for bream, flathead and tailor. So far it only casts well if I attach something heavy to it.

[Ed.]

Are you familiar with bait casting reels or is this the first one you have used?

 

[Azza_Fishing]

3 minutes ago, Ed. said:

Are you familiar with bait casting reels or is this the first one you have used?

 

I have used a baitcaster before, numerous times, however they were cheap ones. The shimano SLX is the first proper baitcaster I have bought/used. Yes I am familiar with baitcasting.

[Ed.]

What weights/lures are you trying to cast with and have you adjusted the brakes as well as the side tension spool button?

[Azza_Fishing]

I am want to go with 1/8 ounce jig heads with zman grubs and slim swimz. In regards to hardbodies I use the daiwa double clutch (5g) and the ecogear zx35 vibe (5g). Yes I have adjusted the breaks and the side tension spool. In regards to the brakes, I have this type, but I am sort of unsure about how to adjust it. I haven't used this type of brake system before  

[Ed.]

Ok, first I must admit I have never used one of these reels before so take my info for what it is worth, but anyway,  I will start from scratch.

Starting first, put your selected lure on the end of the line and out of gear, adjust the spool tension knob in until the lure doesn't drop, then adjust the spool knob till it just starts to drop down with it's own weight towards the floor. That sets the tension for that particular lure/weight. Open up the case as in the above picture and click all the pins out towards the outer edge, that reel should be now at the maximum braking, give it a cast, if it stops way too short a distance then open the side cover and click 2 of the white pins  toward the center. Do in pairs and opposite pins only, close up and do another cast.  If still too short a distance, repeat and do another pair till all the pins are closest to the axle.  If the casting distance is still too short then you are close to running out of options. Back off the spool tension knob just a little bit and the lure should freely fall to the ground when out off gear.

You have now removed all the braking on that reel so also be prepared for a birdsnest, just do a very light cast only, and see if it gets you more than your previous 2m distance. If yes then do a slightly stronger cast. If you are starting to get  birdsnests  then adjust the spool tension cap a smidge tighter.

If you still can't get the distance required after all that, then there are a couple of possibilities:

A) You will have to use heavier lures/weights.

B) Change to a lighter oil in the bearings.

C) There may be a problem with your reel.

Be aware that small lures/weights even on small bait casters can have issues, in that the tiny weight of the lure is not enough to offset the inertia reguired for the spool to spin freely and let off line when casting. 1/8oz jig is quite a light weight even when the weight of the grub is added.

[Azza_Fishing]

Okay, I'll give that a go, and see if it works. Just as a side note the rod I bought to go with it, feels and looks bigger/heavier than your other regular light to medium spinning rods. Will the rod have something to do with it, or is it just the weight of the lure. I was talking to a couple mates of mine and they said that the rod I have is more suited towards bigger lures. It will be fine if you don't know it, but will the reason why the lighter lures don't cast far be because of the rod weight and size.

Thanks 

[Ed.]

The rod will probably not help but I would say the main issue would be the light lures, as you need to overcome the spools inertia, but you should do better than 2m.

Just as a test I grabbed one of  my smallest lures, which is a Toby 8gm connected it to my Stealth 300 casting reel with 12lb (0.35mm) mono on a 15kg overhead 1.96m rod and I managed to cast about 15m. Certainly not an  ideal lure weight but much better than the 2m that you have with your setup. So I would say that you either don't have yours setup correctly or there may be an issue with your reel.

I changed the 8gm lure to a No.4 bean sinker (28gm) and I got 31m, so goes to show what the extra weight will do. Off the top of my memory when I did a similar test a while ago and I used a 2 Oz (57gm) sinker and got about 60m.