South African needs help

[Nico Carelse]

I live in SA and tend to fish as much as posible. The rock&Surf thing i have down to a T but still get kicked in but by some GT's.  The 30-40kg klass is a 50/50 with the long rod as the larger GT's take 800m of 45lb line on first run and with reefs at the back ....ja well do the math....Thats the reason for this post.

I would like to go for the larger GT's on youre popping style with heavy tackle, they will be reachable with this tacke on our coast, but i need the correct tools for the job.....SO PLEEEEESE HELP.

What rod.....?
What reel.....?
What Braid.....?

[Mark Stotesbury]

hi nico
send me a PM.am in cape town.
cheers mark   

[Andrew Poulos]

How far do you need to cast out off the rocks or shore ?

[Brandon Khoo]

Nico - I've never seen a GT that takes 800m of line, even on 45lb line. I have had many GTs on light tackle over the years on lighter braid and while there is little doubt a big fish can spool you, we're taking 250-300m, not 800m.

If you're serious about targeting fish of the size you're describing, that's hard work. A fish of that size off the rocks is always going to be tough as hell. You can buy specific shore based GT rods which are specially made for this purpose. Companies such as Fisherman, Ripple Fisher and Medusa Custom Works have special rods that are 10 to 11 feet long that can handle PE8 braid. That said, these rods will be EXPENSIVE.

I'd personally be fishing no more than PE8 as you will not be able to properly utilise the power of the line while standing on the rocks. Maybe even PE6 is enough for this purpose and you would cast better with it. As Andrew asked, what distance do you need to get to the fish?

[Nico Carelse]

Its now 9:47am sa time.

We pick up gt's from 10m to 100m so a casting distance 100-120 would be great.
Conditions are of the rocks and of the beach. 
Send me a mail ([email protected] and i will send a pick of one that did not get away.
Thanks for the help guys and tight lines.

[Brandon Khoo]

it reads to me that to reach the fish consistently, ideally, you need a proper shore-based GT rod that would be about ten feet long. They cost a fortune!

[Andrew Poulos]

If you are casting off a beach and trying to get 100m then in my opinion you are going to need a long rod. This will help keep the line above the surf and allow you to work the lure properly.

If you are casting off rocks where it is shallow in close and you need a 100m cast, again a longer rod. But if the rocks are like a ledge with deep water in close then I would use a shorter rod. Trying to pull a stubborn fish out close to the rocks on a long rod is harder work than using a short rod.

You can get the distance with a good technique and short rods easy enough. But if your rock fishing is like ours, and you have swell, slippery rocks, barnacles etc to contend with, it becomes harder on the longer rods. I use long and short rods when rock fishing, but vary between them according to where I am fishing.

Reel wise- any of the modern reels will cast long distances...stella, saltiga etc.....

[Andrew Poulos]

Dont you get Blue marlin and Purglas blanks in SA....if so, have a look at a some of them as they have a few models that can be built up nicely to handle that kind of work.

[Nico Carelse]

I use a pentagon hmg 8-10oz with a torium 50 600m braid+600m mono for sharks and gt's.  Was thinking of using  my blue marlin G3 4-6oz with saltist 50 for popping and take a odd thrashing if i have to.

May be a purglas 300/4 down to 11ft and using a torium 20 or 30 packed with braid and 100 or so of mono and straight stick if i have to.

thanks

[Mark Stotesbury]

nico the purglas 350/4 2 piece custom has landed plenty 30 kg gt's at cosmo and a few bigger .there you got to stop him before he gets off the edge 400m+ straight down.trinidad or shimano 20/40 just fine.got trinidad 40 works great but you tire casting it all day .rememder the longer the rod the more work its going to be casting all day.try for a 11ft purglas build it on the blank and it will cover most areas from kosibay to cosmo. 

[Mark Stotesbury]

andrew you wants some 2 piece purglas blanks??got a few spare 

[Nico Carelse]

I think that will be the way to go thanks guys