Fishing Forum

I'm new here - first of all what do I fish:

I fish off shore in Missisipi river. Mostly for drum and catfish and anything else that likes nightcrawlers

Question #1:

We throw 5-6Oz pyramid sinkers and have about 2-3 hooks spaced about 1ft apart on a line. I use 50lb braid and 60lb mono as a leader. Fish is pretty crazy and stupid and this rugged setup works very well.

For rods - I use $19.99 rods from Walmart (throw away reel they come with). Those white rods have specs as: 7'0 Medium 8-15lb
Work pretty good, however I want to achieve further cast and current is very fast and it moves even 5Oz to the side pretty fast..

My idea is to get some rod about 8-10ft long wich I can use to throw 2x5Oz and yet it still should be sensitive enough so I can see when 1lb fish biting. What kind of parameters I should look for? I don't really understand what those "action" parameters mean. I just don't want to break rod while casting and yet it need to be pretty responsive. Possible?

While at Cabellas I was looking over Ugly stick specifically marked as 8.0 Action: Medium 16-25lb and it felt good to me. But I still don't know if it will be good for 5Oz-10Oz I guess dilemma here is that on one side I need pretty sensitive rod but I want it to be ridgid to throw lot of weight. Any suggestions?

Question #2 (actually 2)

I'm starting to learn how to fish for game fish like bass, walleye and need good setup for casting lures. On Missisipi - people throw simple plastic in white colors (dark water). But problem remains! You have to cast far and at the same time you fight with current. What I see others doing - they throw 2-3Oz sinkers with 2 lures above. I bought 12ft Cabelas Predator Rod with 2 1/4 test curve and it seems to be very good for this specific task. Questions I have is:

1. Why there is so much blank below the reel mount? Even when casting I feel like it get's in my way. It extends behind my elbow too. I'm thinking about cutting it or maybe moving reel mount somehow?

[url "http://www.cabelas.com/spinning-rods-cabelas-european-predator-spinning-rod-1.shtml"]http://www.cabelas.com/spinning-rods-cabelas-european-predator-spinning-rod-1.shtml[/url]

2. What line & reel do you suggest for this setup? I need to target walleye and striped bass up to ~8-10lb and as small as 1lb.

I was thinking ~20lb braid and 30lb mono leader. For reel I was thinking Shimano Stradic 3000. Does that sound correct or should I get into 4000 size reel? I actually use 4000 reel in setup on #1.
What I need is smoothness and good retreive speed..

Thanks in advance for any advice
[signature]

Genneraly a long handle below the reel is for fighting the fish, it can be locked in to the belly button or under the for arm for larger fish and still give you access to manage the reel.

in addition, long handled rods are also designed for placing in rod holders for trolling, this is especialy inportant if you are trolling for walleyes. but is not realy nessesary for bass.

ok, I am guilty, I have to confess, I have different rods for different fish.

I have one I use for pan fish and bass
I have one I use for walleye
I have one I use for salmon
I have one I use for ice fishing

Ok, so I have multipules of each, the point is there are different rods that work best under specific conditions.

So before you decide to hacking of the end of a rod handle give concideration to how you intend to fish.

---

now I was not sure if you were talking about the rod blank between the first eyelet or the handle,

if you were talking about the lenth of the rod between the reel and the first eyelet, Longer lenths are usualy for larger reels, The diamiter of the spool on an open faced spin cast reel requires a cirtain distance to not hang up on the spool it self or causing drag when casting.
[signature]

I'll throw my two cents in. Ugly stick makes a good rod that shouldn't break. With 5-10 oz weight I would use a med/heavy rod. Med action in the middle with a heavy action for the tip. Too much weight for a straight med/med. You can always hang your weight on the tip before buying it to see if it will bend too much.
The extra long blanks on these rods help me fight the fish by allowing me to put the but into my waist. More leverage.
I use 15 lb fire line for that kind of setup and I fit the reel to the suggested line on that reel. [ gotta love Shimano]
[signature]

I think I will grab some weight and see how it feels in store. Thanks for that suggestion.

Is there any reference charts that allow easy "search" for proper rod with parameters? So far browsing Ugly Stick website I can see that there is no rod for 5-10Oz with casting config.

Understood about my rod. I also found some videos on how to cast and seems like this long end is for left hand to hold and cast with 2 hands. Seems like I should be able to throw far with this rod..

What size reel would you get for this? 4000 range or 2500-3000? I'm talking 15lb line and 2-3 Oz weight
[signature]

[quote davetclown]Ok, so I have multipules of each, the point is there are different rods that work best under specific conditions.[/quote]

I guess you can't have too many rods but I'd like to keep it to a minimum Too much toys already.

Quote:if you were talking about the lenth of the rod between the reel and the first eyelet, Longer lenths are usualy for larger reels, The diamiter of the spool on an open faced spin cast reel requires a cirtain distance to not hang up on the spool it self or causing drag when casting.

No, I was talking about distance from reel to the "butt" but I guess I will need to learn better on how to use it. Distance from reel to eyelet is another question. It's kind of far, but at the same time I feel that eyelet is too small. It's about 2ft from reel and 1inch in diameter. I guess that means I need smaller reel so the spool is not very big?
[signature]

A 4000 will give you a bigger spool for fishing large fish. Pike,Musky, and Salmon. 3000 good for Bass ect.

I use a 4000 for blue fish and stripers that go over 30" Gives me more line capacity.
[signature]

I would look into baitcaster for that much weight such as the ambaseurs.
[signature]

[quote Catcherman.]I would look into baitcaster for that much weight such as the ambaseurs.[/quote]

To be honest - I never used one

I will be fishing in NY next week (boat trip) and seems like they loan rods with baitcasters. Will see how it works.
P.S. I ordered Shimano Saros F 3000 for my bass/sauger/walleye fishing and throwing 3Oz..
[signature]