Land based rod

[Mark Harris]

Pretty well covered in  the 8 foot range thanks Alex.

This is a deliberate move for increased distance. Off my beach there is one reef at 60-80 metres which I can reach fine with boat casting rods. Then there is a sand hole and another stretch of reef at what I estimate is 95 metres. I want to have a chance of reaching that!

Big fan of the Blue Snipers and keen to try one of the 10 footers but not yet quite decided which. Also looked at the MC Works Wild Breaker 106 but it is too much money really for the level of use it will get.

[Nathan Tsao]

I know i've probably said it a few times on the forum before, but anyone looking to tackle GT's from the shore should really have at least have one conventional reel setup. They are unbeatable for distance, and you can throw a very long running leader behind your bite leader. Just in case a fish gets you pinned under a ledge for a while, the long leader will allow you time to work the fish off the rocks.

The last two seasons my shoreline GT combo has been a PD Rockfist 115XTX Blank that i wrapped conventional matched with a Daiwa Hyperspeed both 30 and 40 and PE8. The spinning rod i throw is a United Comp 100XXH with a Stella18K  with PE8 and PE10. Both rods dont even blink at fish in the 20kilo range, with the 100XXH being exceptionally merciless on fish.
I'm hunting for my 100lb GT from the rocks, and no doubt that these rods will handle the challenge!

Alex, Century blanks are phenomenal casting rods not really suited for GT's, but can bomb a plug to the horizon!

[Ken Uechi]

Mark,

The 130 gram rating on the Blue Sniper represents the weight of a jig it would be able to cast. I'd think that 70 gram plugs would be fine on the 100H but 30 grams would be slightly light.

I have two shore based Blue Snipers. One is a 95H and the other is a 95M. The 95H is very powerful for the weight of the rod.  I use Cuberas up to 100 grams and have stopped a bluefin in the 8 kg range in it's tracks with it. I think the 100H is a little less powerful than the 95H but likely has a better action for working plugs.

The 95M is great for 25-60 gram plugs. I've caught 4 kg fish on this rod without a problem. I think the 100M has similar characreristics.

I love the shore jigging Blue Sniper range of rods and wish that they'd make a PE 8 model. But since such a model doesn't exist, I ended up with a Ripple Fisher Infinity Shore 102.

[Mark Harris]

Ken - that is really helpful as I think I am probably going to get a 95M or 100M.  The fish targeted would be mostly Bluefin Trevally, Bigeyes, Green Jobfish and maybe the odd very small GT, and Mack Tuna.  Up to about 6kgs max, mostly smaller.  The ability to cast stickbaits in the 30-50 gram range is important  and I really want distance.  Sounds like it fits the bill and thanks so much for the run-down.

I am still pondering the possibility of 100MH though as I am slightly nervous about having to stop fish in some gnarly terrain.

I have ruled out the H - really for heavier line class and lure weight.

[Leigh Turner]

I know i've probably said it a few times on the forum before, but anyone looking to tackle GT's from the shore should really have at least have one conventional reel setup. They are unbeatable for distance, and you can throw a very long running leader behind your bite leader. Just in case a fish gets you pinned under a ledge for a while, the long leader will allow you time to work the fish off the rocks.

The last two seasons my shoreline GT combo has been a PD Rockfist 115XTX Blank that i wrapped conventional matched with a Daiwa Hyperspeed both 30 and 40 and PE8. The spinning rod i throw is a United Comp 100XXH with a Stella18K  with PE8 and PE10. Both rods dont even blink at fish in the 20kilo range, with the 100XXH being exceptionally merciless on fish.
I'm hunting for my 100lb GT from the rocks, and no doubt that these rods will handle the challenge!

Alex, Century blanks are phenomenal casting rods not really suited for GT's, but can bomb a plug to the horizon!

Nathan could you provide more details on the  PD Rockfist 115XTX Blank please? Thanks Leigh

[Adrian Moyle]

Thanks for all the information guys, really appreciate the input. I ended up getting a mates 9'6 MH NS Black Hole Cabin II and used the extra money to get a 5000H Catalina. Should be quite a formidable combo off the stones up North.

Cheers Adrian

[Gerhard Delport]

Hello Mark

This may sound a little odd but I fish my 100h differently to what most would think of such a rod. I fish it with either my Stella or Sustain 5000 using 30lbs on the Stella and 20lbs on the Sustain. Both braids are JB solid so break above their stated strengths. I only throw lures from 50 to 80g with the rod. The lighter the lure the longer the line I leave from the rod tip to the lure when casting.

My reasoning for the above is that distance is a big factor when throwing metals in the surf for mulloway. Casts of 120m are often the norm. The firmer rod really allows me to punch the lures a long way, particularly if there is a little onshore wind. I find the firmer rod delivers the metal for better than a softer rod where the lure has a tendency to flare a little more. The smaller arbor reel means that the loops coming off of the spool are smaller meaning less resistance through the guides.

Many of the fish we catch are in the 5-8kg range. The rod has enough of an action that these fish still put a good bend in it even though I would be unlikely to be fishing more than 2 or 3kg of drag.

As you can see I am fishing well below the stated capabilities of the rod. I find that the heaviest part of most set ups is the reel so by keeping this light I am able to fish for longer periods. Sometimes 300+ casts a day.

Hope that this helps.
Regards
Anton

Anton,

I am gonna have to try this on Friday...

BH 106H with Sustain 6000 loaded with 25lbs Goosen.

Will be casting GT Ice cream lugs and spoons someone send me from the S Cape... 

I have ordered the 106L blank to build a good quality spinning rod as well.

The 106H has been used last couple of times with the Stella 14k to cast 3oz size twitch baits and the travel 80-90m with ease ... 

[Felix Lux]

Love this thread!

Anyone with recent purchases/builds in the medium to heavy shore casting category?

-I have the blue sniper 102M as well and love it for it's casting characteristics, crisp feel and light weight.
- A BH Cabin II 9'6 monster rated pe2-5, realistically a pe2-3, sweet spot 50g and it's action and taper are a lot slower than of the Blue Sniper. Not very powerful but super light at less than 250g. Have the 9' light model too for bonito/salmon/tailor fun.
- Built a modified CTS blank based on their Baycaster series. 9' pe3-4 sweet spot ~50g. It has the tip of a ~16lb Baycaster transitioning to the 30lb blank at the mid join and the butt section of their 30lb blank. Can fish light lures such as a gamma 45~60g perfectly with enough balls to stop smaller YTK's and weighs only roughly 280g. Casts very well too, not as far as the Blue Sniper though being a bit shorter.
- Got a custom 8'8 BD100 (suppose no introduction needed) as my heavier outfit and like that too.
- Built a 9'6 CTS baycaster for 10kg overhead spin and 50-85g lures.

My next rod will be something similar to the 9ft CTS, just in 10ft pe4-5 cast weight around 65-100g with YTK and Tuna in sharky country in mind. Most likely another CTS custom blank, as there's not much on the Market.

Also want an 8ft pe2 rod to cast 20-45g. Would like something similar to a long soft plastic rod, fast taper fast action. Can't be below 7'6 or over 8'6. Any recommendations (except Satiga MO83)?

Cheers

[John-Pierre Nicholls]

Composite Developments Graphcast 5. I use them for yellowtail kings. Specs fit your brief perfectly.

Hi
I have used CD graghcast rods for 20 years and have never had any problems . Up until the last few years I have only done shore based angling for GTs and have caught some decent fish with my graph 5, using nylon and conventional reels. They are great to cast and like Anton says the specs are what you looking for,9ft6.
 
I would post pics of some of the fish I have caught with my graph 5, if I knew how.(sorry)

regards
JP
 

[David Noble]

Love this thread!

Also want an 8ft pe2 rod to cast 20-45g. Would like something similar to a long soft plastic rod, fast taper fast action. Can't be below 7'6 or over 8'6. Any recommendations (except Satiga MO83)?

Cheers

Felix, look at various Seabass rods for landbased casting. Majorcraft, Megabass have huge number of models.
You might be pleasantly surprised.

[Felix Lux]

Thank you David,

Was already thinking about some Yamaga Early Seabass rods, just a little hesitant, as most Seabass rods I could play around with (most around 9' though) had a more medium or even slow parabolic taper. Is this usually not the case with shorter Seabass rods?

Haven't looked into Majorcraft and not at all into Megabass models, very good point.

Best would be a blank to build myself, just haven't got a clue which one.

Cheers

[David Noble]

yeah I hear you. I recently bought a majorcraft 9ft model (evolution 902 sensitive custom from memory) and it's got that medium action, I like it but it's not fast as I hoped, still nice though. Would be perfect for bonefish or any species on the flats, and it's very nice for squid...
I haven't found anything in the 9ft range that mimics a 6'6"-7" rod though, yet. The dynamics of being light thin and long with more guides and weight.

I bought the lightest model Daiwa Lateo Pirates when they first came out thinking it could work in the tropics or off the rocks, hated it and sold it on. Nick named it the noodle for the 1 trip it came on.

[Trevor Skinner]

Felix,

There's a South African company called Assassin. I think I saw they now have an agent in Oz.

Their background is surf and rock fishing and they make a great line of lighter, longer rods and, from memory, not expensive .

I field tested a new shorter range (I can just see myself in a tournament shirt with 'pro' plastered all over it) which had nice fast action blanks and responsive tips. The only negative side of that rod (the 7ft) is that it had those microwave guides. They might be OK for 10lb leaders but not 40lb ones.

My favourite 8ft PE2 rod is the MC Works Dazzler 802LF. Save your bickies and grab one when you see it.

Regards,


Trev

[Gerhard Delport]

My next rod will be something similar to the 9ft CTS, just in 10ft pe4-5 cast weight around 65-100g with YTK and Tuna in sharky country in mind. Most likely another CTS custom blank, as there's not much on the Market.


Cheers

Felix,

Here is my Black Hole Nano 10.6L





Light rod casting 90g lure a long way on PE4

The Nano 10.6H cast 150g popper with out blinking as well

[Felix Lux]

Thanks guys

That is a very sweet rod Gerhard! Was seriously thinking about building this one up too at some stage in the future. What species do you use it for?

David, I still didn't get around to seriously check those rods out, will do soon though. As for long fast rods, that CTS custom blank is exactly that and it's awesome! Problem is i wanted double foot guides for durability and the taper needed support of an extra 1-2 guides, so it needed titanium k guides to keep the tip light and chrisp...expensive. Totally worth it though, love the rod, so does everybody that had a play.

Trev, i'll write you a pm on FB, thank you!