Total nOOb in CT

[smyke]

Hi All,

Great forum you got here. tons of info.
I'm glad I stumbled upon this site as I am learning a ton. now its time to go out there and apply the "knowledge".
Wait a minute... I dont even have any gear yet.

[Mark P]

Good Luck and remember to have fun.

[Doublerunner]

Regarding the gear. As a noob myself this year I made the mistake of buying gear that was too heavy to begin with for the plugging that I mainly do. So my heavier combo is now put aside for if I go chunking and thanks to my dad I got a great lightweight combo that is strong and has tons of feel and now when I am plugging my arm does not feel like it will fall off.

What I am saying is if you are going to be plugging then use a lighter weight set up.

[smyke]

Thanks, Jack.
Appreciate the info, Double.
Dont mind me asking but what exactly did you pick up?
I would love to get a combo that would allow me to use different methods (chunking and plugging). any way to do that?
I would be mainly fishing from the beach or a pier. no boats in the near future. At this point I just want to catch A fish.

fist week of August we will be camping in Rocky Neck State Park in CT. Looks like I could do some ocean, saltmarsh and freshwater fishing there. any suggestions or pointers?

[smyke]

Hello,

I stumbled upon this great forum few days ago and cannot get enough of it. I had never fished in saltwater before and honestly I dont fish much period. lately I picked up a freshwater rod and now feel like I am getting the fever. :)
Next week I will be camping in Rocky Neck State Park in CT which has a nice beach, saltmarshes and a river flowing into the LIS. Seems like I would be able to fish all of them but need to pick up some gear for saltwater. I looked through posts here and found lots of good info but need to know what lenght pole to get. I read that you need a longer rod for chunking but shorter (lighter) for plugging. is there a happy medium with this? can I go with 9 footer and be able to do both? obviously I cant tell what my preference will be and there is only one way to find out, right? I know one thing that I dont want to break the bank with this purchase.
It may be a dumb question for most of you but as you can see I am greener than grass here.

If you have any pointers, advice or anything to say at all about this I would greatly appreciate it.

[JakeF]

Hi Smyke,
You can do well with a 9' rod. The main thing is to make sure that it is rated for the weight you want to throw. Regardless of length, a rod that will throw a 1-3oz lure well, will not be a good choice if you want to throw a 3oz chunk of bait and a 4oz weight. For folks who do both, most end up getting a rod for each scenario.

[Mark P]

You can get a rod for multiple purposes but it is going to be lacking in different areas on both purposes. A 10 Footer with say a 2-6 OZ rating should work Ok for either application. You will be a bit heavy for certain plugs and a bit light to throw chunks with lead in certain currents.

[smyke]

it all makes sense, thank you.

what would you recommend if you were to choose one? would you say a newbie would be better off plugging or chunking? I just want to catch some fish. I dont necesarily need to catch a trophy bass the first time out.

[jerseystriper]

Originally Posted by smyke

it all makes sense, thank you.

what would you recommend if you were to choose one? would you say a newbie would be better off plugging or chunking? I just want to catch some fish. I dont necesarily need to catch a trophy bass the first time out.

I just want to catch fish is like saying I just want to marry a millionaire. It aint easy, and may not happen.
I had asked the same question many times-"If I was to get just one rod"- there is not one that is better than the other (plug or chunk) it all depends on the day and time and everyday is different. If you have to get just one rod then I don't really know but maybe something that will handle a little larger weight so it does not explode if your throwing something heavy but then your plugging is going to suffer. Hell you can plug with a broom handle if you like. There is no good answer, well one I can give you anyway LOL


"I dont necesarily need to catch a trophy bass the first time out."
depending on what a trophy is to you, you may never catch a trophy. Many folks fish for years and even decades just to catch something close to a trophy.

I think Jackbass said it though If it needs to be one setup then get something in the middle (read above)

[smyke]

I am actually 100% positive I will never catch anything "trophy" since I will not be out there enough. All I was trying to say is that I dont have high hopes of catching anything but want to try it and hopefully hook something (most likely my ear).

I guess will just get the cheapest combo and some lures mentioned in the stickies and try to chuck it out there. see what happens.
I can always exchange it for something better down the road.

I'll keep reading the forum and figure stuff out from other posts.

[Sudsy]

You won't go too wrong with a 10' rod rated to 5 oz, with medium action and a slightly soft tip that will allow you to snap cast a light plastic lure.
When you're bait fishing you can adjust the holding power by using different types of sinkers rather then just going by weight.
The medium action will allow you to work pencil poppers and will aid with casting plugs.

Match it with a Shimano Baitrunner and you'll have a decent setup that can handle more than on application.

Later on you can get a dedicated bait stick to go with the Shimano and a decent plugging reel to go with the rod.

The best tip I can offer you is to avoid buying crap. You'll end up hating it and that's like throwing money away.

[jerseystriper]

Originally Posted by Sudsy

You won't go too wrong with a 10' rod rated to 5 oz, with medium action and a slightly soft tip that will allow you to snap cast a light plastic lure.
When you're bait fishing you can adjust the holding power by using different types of sinkers rather then just going by weight.
The medium action will allow you to work pencil poppers and will aid with casting plugs.

Match it with a Shimano Baitrunner and you'll have a decent setup that can handle more than on application.

Later on you can get a dedicated bait stick to go with the Shimano and a decent plugging reel to go with the rod.

The best tip I can offer you is to avoid buying crap. You'll end up hating it and that's like throwing money away.

Very well put Sudsy as always.

With throwing weights I found by using the Hatteras style pyramid sinker in the surf may at time help hold a little better as long as the spiral end digs in. This maybe allowing to go with a bit lighter sinker
I at this moment am in a similar situation as the poster due to tightness of funds(I hope temporary) along with having to replace some stolen equipment and a few broken rods. I myself am also looking for a rod in upto 5oz or so catorgory. Problem is that I want to pair this with my Abu 6600 which may later become my primary bait rod. Due to the limited availablity of casting rods, I just may scrap that whole idea and get a new rod and spinner setup. Maybe later setup the Abu as my bait setup.

Pictured here is a hatteras sinker, the ones I get have a spiral on the cone/bottom end which I think holds a bit better. You could also try a sputnik style to keep the weight down

[smyke]

Thank you both for your help.

[Jimmy Z]

to the site. I live in Ct., but fish in RI. I've never fished Rocky Neck, but I'm sure you'll get something.

[FLOATSUM]

"Next week I will be camping in Rocky Neck State Park in CT which has a nice beach, saltmarshes and a river flowing into the LIS. Seems like I would be able to fish all of them but need to pick up some gear for saltwater."

That is very hard to figure. you're not going to want a 10-11 footer for the marsh, nor a 8 footer for the beach.

I think I'd recommend a 9 ft, with a better quality braid friendly reel.
Perhaps something along the lines of a Tica 2-4 (3 1/2 oz would be the sweet spot) and perhaps a Penn Sargus reel. All toll, that would set you back around $200 and include some decent 20# braid, spool of 40-50# leader material, quality swivels, and a few pkg. of good hooks you can snell to the leader yourself. Maybe a few fish finders too if inclined. (all for about $200)

Here's my reasoning as to why;

BEACH - Plenty of muscle to work a kastmaster hopkins in 2-3 oz, sling smaller (12-14" eels w/o weight, sinker and clam, sinker and worm, plugs in the 2-4 oz range. You'll be spending most of the fish time in the wash out to the back of moderate waves. I feel that's where you'll find most of the fish in the early evening until sunrise. (you'll probably not be able to fish the beach in the daytime)

RIVER - could use the same stuff as above, and maybe a drifting head, or eggs with teasers, and combinations of most. Should be a very good choice for that (IMO)

MARSH - these are usually smaller schoolies, a 1- 1 1/2oz. surface popper and droppers (redfins etc.) are killer here at times. May also like to try floating a worm or clam on a egg or dobber in here. Something I like is a blacked out 1 oz. kastmaster (hookless) tied in as a casting weight and followed by some flatwing / shrimp flies etc.

I feel this would be a good general purpose rig, really a nice jetty stick too.
Later on if you decide you'd like to specialize in one particular area,, I doubt this would sit collecting dust when just scouting about.

Good luck & enjoy.
I look forward to a full report on how many fish you caught to the point of your arms felt like they were falling off.


By the way, when I am just out playing around it's ussually with a 8 1/2 ft conventional or a 9 ft. spinner. Handy, easy, and a lot less trouble to carry than a 10-11 ft. surf rig.
However, in the fall migration it comes along but rarely gets wet. That's a different ballgame.