Any sea fishermen on here

shakey jake

Well-Known Member
Hi guys been doing a bit of boat fishing for cod and bass off of Norfolk, uptiding for cod and drifting with sand eels for bass I now want my own rod, can one rod do both or do I need 2? Either way what would you lot recommend looked on eBay and now completely confused on makes and weights don't mind secondhand if anyone's selling but don't want to buy crap or the wrong stuff
Cheers Jake
 
had a Leeda 2xl rod for years ,cheap as chips multi tasking rod and not expensive.you could spend an arm and a legg on Penn but Leeda works and doesnt brake the bank.Also have a Firestick boat rod for about 15 years now again cheap,strong and durable atb
 
Yes, you can do everything from surf to small tuna with a quality open faced spinning reel and a fiberglass rod with a graphite core. A longer spool, like on a Penn will let you cast 100 yards with practice, but a shorter spool, like on a Shimano Baitrunner, will cast pretty far, though it is more of a boat reel. An inexpensive rod for these reels would be a Shakespeare Ugly Stik of about 7 feet, one piece. The tip is soft enough to not spook a fish which is gently picking up your bait. The Baitrunner and the Penn with the same feature, have been around a long time and are very strongly built. The dual drag system lets you play and control live bait like a conventional baitcasting reel, then switch gears to the front drag for fighting the fish, so it is good for fishing around structure, in deep water, etc. They hold a lot of line and have the drag systems to whip a big fish. You can buy some dedicated rod later, like an 8 foot surf caster, if you find yourself doing something more than another.

If you just want to wet your feet :lol: but not planning enough fishing to warrant an investment in top tackle, buy a large Okuma copy of the Baitrunner, and a smaller, similar reel and rod for inland fishing, and to become skilled at the casting and feel of the rod and reel.
 
+2 for the okuma ,me n the missus both use okuma reels,as Southern says theyre a great copy of the Penn and at only 30 quid well worth the money.up and downtide ideal boat reels atb and tight lines
 
You won't go wrong with anything from Diawa, Shimano or Shakespeare - personally in that order. Look at the Diawa Sea Hunter range, quality, quality rods for under £50. Personally I would get both a boat rod ( 6 - 7 ft, 12-20lb class would do almost everything) and an uptider, combined with shimano, Abu or Diawa reels. It becomes addictive, I have no idea how many I have, but ask the wife and it is too many!!

A forum worth a look for secondhand gear and advice is World Sea Fishing (WSF) - sea anglers are no where near as forthcoming with help and advice as deer stalkers, but you will still find helpful people.

One word of advice, the more you do spend first time on gear that will be used in the harshest of environments, the longer it will last. Cheap stuff will literally last sessions, good stuff seasons.
 
Shakespeare invented and perfected the fiberglass rods, pole vaulting poles, high-voltage breaker poles, etc. Their reels are not in the higher end like some Daiwa and Shimano are. You want a saltwater reel, with sealed bearings, etc. In the Shimano, that starts with the Stradic in an all-purpose inshore reel, and the Baitrunner, more a strong boat reel. As karlbird says, hese reels will last decades if you take care of them.

In saltwater, Daiwa shines in long spool, shallow spinning reels for long surfcasting.

I bought my daughter a Penn Battle last year, a relatively new reel which seems very good. She fishes inshore mostly in harbors, creeks and rivers, catching red drum up to 20 lbs and sea trout up to 6 and 8. Too early to tell about its longevity. My Penn Liveliner is 11 years old and has caught fish up to 90 lbs on 30-lb Power Pro braid.

Unless you know equipment, don't risk a used reel. But old Penn are good, because they can be repaired and there are many who can do it, as they were used by so many guides and charter boats.

My $40 Okuma in a 4000 frame size does a fine job in the surf and estuaries for me, and I use in for landlocked striped bass. Last trip out, fishing live herring in water from 130 to 60 feet deep, I caught five bass of 12 to 15 lbs each with ease.
 
Quick one - and more relevant to the UK market, here Shimano Baitrunners have been taken over by carp anglers (which is where my main interest lies) and most are not saltwater proof. The ones that are are the D EU models, with gold spools and any of the Big Baitrunners are too I believe. Your bog standard 6000, 8000, 10000 RE, GT, GTE and XTE are not going to last very long - and I have learnt the hard way.

Penn do not have the follwoing or stockists here that they have in the UK and the ones I have used (Penn Captiva) are nicknamed Craptiva for a very good reason, I was on my second one thinking the first must have been a bad egg before I realised this.

And back to your original posts - if you are fishing off boats, for all but specialist uptiding and jigging you are most likely to want a multiplier, the best one on the market secondhand (and I am a big fan of buying decent (that is the key) secondhand gear) is probably Shimano TLD - something like a TLD10 or 15, or a Diawa SLOSH 20, ABU 7000 or similar. All can be picked up on ebay for less than £70.
 
ABU bait casting and down line reels like the 7000 are great, and been around a long time. Like the older Penns, pros use them, and there are parts and repair shops. Casting this type of reel takes a bit more learning, and if you are, I recommend the C4 Abus, which have more and different bearings than the C3. Also, all their models ending in "1" are left handed handle. So a 4001C4 is a smoother left hand retrieve model.

Penn Captiva was a short-lived venture into a lower priced product. Penn seems to have replaced it with the Battle. All the Baitrunners I have ever seen were saltwater, because of where I live and who buys them - everyone I know is very happy with their Shimanos, as am I ( Sahara 2500 for freshwater ).

My Okuma is a CDS 50 bait feeder on a Shakespeare Intercoastal one-piece rod, rated 8-17 lb, spooled with 14-lb Berkeley Big Game line. It is a perfect rig for dragging sand eels along the bottom for flounder.

Good site showing all the rods and reels sorted by saltwater, and type of fishing. You can compare the differences.
Fishing Reel, Saltwater Fishing Reel, Penn Fishing Reel, Shimano Fishing Reel - TackleDirect
 
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Well after all this found a rod called an ugly stik 7 and a bit long 12 to 20 lb test and been given 2 Shakespeare reels both used and loaded with braid, does braid go off like old mono used too thanks for your advice so far
 
Braid every time ....
Just keep eye on it for fraying ...... If so cut back till bot that isn't

Paul
 
+1 for braid and the ugly stick add one coffee grinder reel and its as kiss as it gets , i'v got penn's multiply reels and uptide rods but I just like the easy life of catchin and eating nowdays
 
Well after all this found a rod called an ugly stik 7 and a bit long 12 to 20 lb test and been given 2 Shakespeare reels both used and loaded with braid, does braid go off like old mono used too thanks for your advice so far
The rod, with foam handle, retails in the USA for $40.00, and with cork handle and stainless reel seat, for $50.00. Let that guide you.

Shakespeare spinning reels are bottom shelf these days, for mass stores. Some of their conventional big reels are still the old design and good quality.

That is a pretty heavy rod, and you may want to back down to the one I have, 8-17, later. Offer no more than $20 used.

Take that savings and buy a new Okuma bait feeder spinning reel.

The braid on the reels is $15 to $30.00. Get someone who knows how show you how to open the reel, clean the gears, and re-lube them. Use them til they die. Reverse that line on to your new reel and tie on a barrel swivel and a heavy mono leader with a snap swivel, and you are set to go.
 
As above - I use braid and some of my reels have been spooled for probably pushing 10 years.

Not sure what sort of reel you have, but a boat rod is normally used with a multiplier reel, rather than a fixed spool. Not saying it won't work with a fixed spool but it won't be as good. Uptiding rods are generally a bit more forgiving with what they are used with as they are a bit longer. It depends on which way the rod is meant to be used (multiplier has rings upwards, fixed spool rings downwards) and how low they are to the blank, this aids casting with a fixed spool reel.
 
karlbird makes a good point about conventional reels.... and I realized that we don't know what sort of reels and rod you were giving. My mind was still on spinning reels. You may have some of the solid old design Shakespeare reels which they have made forever, like Penn has. If you can, tell us the model numbers of the rod and reels and post a photo.
 
The rod is an ugly stik gx2 the reels are Shakespeare sigma 2951-340 and a deluxe 2918 300 to my eyes the sigma looks older but better. Also got 2 okuma impact im80 Fixed spool reels. Just found another rod a shakespeare fire bird boat rod 1455-240 action b.300 . What's the verdict guys?
 
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Shakespeare Sigma 2951-340 is a trolling reel for the ocean or big lakes. Holds 330 yds 15-lb mono. Since braid is smaller per same strength, it could be spooled with 30 or 40 lb, and over 400 yards, which means only the first 100 yards has probably ever been in the water. This is a good, solid, yeoman's reel, and manuals and parts are still available. The only part I can think of it needing might be drag, someday, maybe. It will do short casting and flipping, like around jetties and out from piers. You just need to get the knack of controlling the spooling off of the line, so you don't get backlash.

Shakespeare 2918 is a levelwind, lever drag reel, excellent for bottom fishing or trolling for big fish on the right rod. It is a newer model than the Sigma, still made and sold. Numbers in the UK may be different than in the US, but this was called the Solara line here. Not an expensive reel, but will do the job if you take care of it.

Don't know the Firebird rod. Is it white and soft action? If so, it is fiberglass. I like them, and Shakespeare still makes fiberglass rods. The soft action lets a fish pick up your live bait without feeling your rod. I use a circle hook and let them set it themselves by just holding the rod steady.

Shakespeare GX 2 Ugly Stik is a good rod, current production. Soft tip and lots of backbone.

Okuma IM80 is an old reel, one where they made their reputation - good for long casts with the right rod, so good for lakes, inlets, even surf. Surf fishing is tough on a reel because of the drenching of salt water laden with very fine sand, which cuts up line and gets into everything. I would not subject this old reel to that. Spool up with some 8-lb diameter braid in about 25-lb test, and you can cast a mile and have plenty of backing. I like Power Pro braid because it is coated, so does not pick up sand or hold water.
 
Think Southern has about covered it all off there.

Whilst it may have braid or line on it, have a look and see if you think it needs changing. It is a horrible feeling losing the fish of a lifetime (or your dinner!) just because you couldn't be bothered to change the line.

A second vote for Power Pro, it is awesome, but beware fakes here in the UK which comes in from China. At a guess about half that is on eBay UK site is fake. Expect to pay about £35 for 500M of genuine stuff, you should work out which is right, filter products from UK only. Another braid worth looking at is Whiplash or Whiplash Pro - very similar stuff. Yes, either is expensive, but remember it will pretty much last for ever unlike mono which will need changing every year or so. If you are after a cheaper braid I can also recommend Stonefisher - available on the 'bay again, it is made here in the UK and the guy manufactures for a lot of the UK brands.

If you do need or prefer mono, go with something like Diawa Sensor or Berkley Big Game - cheap but still very good, I use Big Game in 30 and 40b for blue sharks (the only real boat fishing I do with mono, everything else I use braid).
 
I must confess to living within a few miles of both the Shakespeare HQ and the Fabrique National factory which makes Winchester rifles ( as well as their LMGs ). A friend and I did some consulting on automation, years ago, of their monofilament line. Other friends designed some of the Sigma line, and others started up the Silstar brand. A friend of mine's uncle invented the Wonder Rod, and I still fish with the one I got when I was a boy, long outlasting a vintage and very solid Mitchell 300 reel. Shakespeare makes rods for all sorts of other companies, and especially when they made most in the USA, they would have an annual sale to the public of leftovers, which had lines outside. I bought some wonderful Pfleuger fly outfits there. By no coincidence the fiberglass boat was pioneered just up the road, so there is a lot of fishing lore about.
 
Well southern it certainly sounds like you know your tackle the firebird rod is red looks like carbon fibre its pretty heavy and alot stiffer than the ugly stik. Do you guys catch sea bass? if you do how do you cook them? we get them that look like your stripped bass from around newyork city but ours don't have the stripes
 
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