Starting Out Popper/Stickbait Outfit

[Damien Phillip]

Gday everyone,
I am new to the site and the whole popping scene so decided I am going to buy a dedicated outfit.

I will be fishing both landbased and from a boat so a rod around the 8' mark preferably rated to PE5-6 i would think..? I'm not into the heavy(100lb+) as gear and i'm not targeting anything awfully big(around 20kg max). Considering maybe the Shimano Bluewater 15-24kg or GT special..?

As for the reel, I am only starting out so don't want to go straight for the stella/saltiga etc but something a bit less expensive that would be up to the task. Considering maybe the 10000FC TwinPower or Saragosa..?

I want to be able to work poppers and stickbaits if possible between 60-120g, such as cubera's, dogtooth's, ulua's atc..

I have no idea for a budget as I don't know very much about it all, maybe up to $1000, so any suggestions, tips or contributions will be extremely helpfull.

Hope theirs enough info here to get where i'm coming from.

Thnx in advance

[Damien Phillip]

Can anyone help out 

[Luke Wyrsta]

Can anyone help out 

Hi Damien,

You have listed some good equipment options, however, asking to throw 60g poppers while still wanting to throw 120 (without terminals) is a big ask. I personally think if you don't want to go over 120g, then the TCurve Bluewater 1524 would be a good option, paired with either the TwinPower or Saragosa. If you wan to be consistently using poppers over 100g, then perhaps the GT special is a better option. The GT Special is 8' compared to the 7'6 of the Bluewater.

[Brandon Khoo]

Damien - I would also make the comment that 20kg is a big fish. I don't care what anyone says, that makes the fish not far shy of 50lb and that is a big fish! I've been wasted on heavy gear before by 20kg fish in tight shallow reefy areas on a number of occasions so you may find PE6 pretty hard work in reefy areas. I personally think that if your lures are up to the 100g mark, then an outfit comprising a T Curve Bluewater 15-24kg with a reel like a Saragosa would be a excellent outfit and even better, you will get enough change out of that to buy some decent lures.

They're not the only options with your budget. There is a Shakespeare Ugly Stik spinning rod that is rated at 50lb that would be strong and tough. The only drawback is that it is one piece. Daiwa also have their Monster Mesh range which seem to be decent. I personally would probably go for the T Curve as I've seen these in action before and seen them abused terribly and still hang together!

In terms of reels, the Saragosa is a good choice. I thnk the Twinpowers are good too but more expensive. Another option you could look at around the price range of the Saragosa is the Ryobi Safari.

[Damien Phillip]

Cheers Luke, Brandon.
Just the sorta info i was after, good to hear from some experienced anglers.

Brandon, only saying 20kg is small because i've seen some reports from some of you guys and.. well.. those GT's can get HUGE!

[Brandon Khoo]

no worries, Damien.
The GTs do grow really big but it doesn't take away from the fact that a 20kg fish is still a very respectable fish indeed! 

[Colin P]

The GTs do grow really big but it doesn't take away from the fact that a 20kg fish is still a very respectable fish indeed! 

Well said Brandon. A 20kg GT will always be a good fish to me.

I've had bigger but though I haven't quite got to the 40kg mark yet, I would never feel let down at catching a 20. You still get to "feel the power" on a 20 - and my wife had a 10kg fish smash her Shimano 240 GTH into three pieces 'cause it hit right by the boat and dived under it.

[Brandon Khoo]

I reckon that 95% of rod breakages when fishing for GTs happen next to the boat. I have found that they are nearly always good for one more run when they see the boat and often, that is directly under the boat which places an horrendous amount of strain onto the rod at adverse angles.

A 50lb fish is a very respectable fish. Unfortunately, in the past couple of years, I have seen what I regard as a rather unfortunate "macho" element come into the sport . That is, people who belittle fish below 100lb and who claim they can muscle big GTs around.   

[Colin P]

Unfortunately, in the past couple of years, I have seen what I regard as a rather unfortunate "macho" element come into the sport . That is, people who belittle fish below 100lb and who claim they can muscle big GTs around.   

I'm with you here Brandon and not just in respect of GTs. I know of someone who heard about 800lb sturgeon in the Fraser River (one caught last year, though several people fought it) and got "miffed" when he hooked a 100 pounder!

If all we cared about was the biggest fish of any species there'd be no point in going fishing most of the time. Provided a fish can give a decent account of itself on the tackle used to catch it, it will do for me. That means I can bet a bang out catching 1-2lb arctic grayling on a 4 weight fly rod, or 5-15lb lake trout on an 8 weight.

[Jon Li]

Talking about macho , at one time the GT anglers fishing Komodo including myself were counting how many minutes + seconds they can subdue the GT to be leadered but good sense prevail after awhile but not before numerous tackle failures occurred .

Jon .

[Brandon Khoo]

One of the problems with that strategy is that with the really big fish (and I regard any fish over 40kg as really big notwithstanding they grow more than double that size) is that if you pull really hard, some of them go mad!

I've had some fish which I have gone really hard on go crazy. The only thing I can say is that in places like Shoalwater, the fight doesn't last long when they go mad - except they win 90% of the time 

[Damien Phillip]

Do i have any other options in terms of reels that are similar to the Saragosa?

[Brandon Khoo]

Damien, there are few reels which can handle the drag pressure necessary to fish even PE6 heavily and the ones that can are generally big dollars.

You could look at something like the Okuma V-System or  Penn Spinfisher but i reckon that around that price range (or below), the Saragosa is the pick.

Is there something about the Saragosa you don't like?

[Angus Hulme]

Do i have any other options in terms of reels that are similar to the Saragosa?

A Shimano Spheros may be a budget option Damien. However, I must add that I have just returned from a trip where I used this reel (with a Stella upgrade kit and Carbontex drag), and all fish that were hooked were easily 20kg+, and sadly I could not land any of them with max drag of around 11kg.   Admittedly, these fish were all hooked in tough country.....shallow bommie-studded water with big current, and I was shore based. But I found the Spheros to be a smooth performer, and it easily dealt with mid size coral trout etc.

Dunno if that helps

Cheers
Angus

Edit: Brandon is spot on about the drag pressure.

[Damien Phillip]

Is there something about the Saragosa you don't like?

Just looking around.. I think the Saragosa is ideal in terms of budget and value for money.

Think i could get away with 50lb Tuff Line?? as i will most probly be using it for heavy spinning also.
Thoughts??

Cheers guys