Rod and reel recommendations

[cmerrick]

My 13 yo son and I are looking for recommendations for rod and reel combos. We're planning on fishing the lower CT river and into the sound by boat for stripers. We'd be drifting, trolling and casting. What would be a good all around setup?

Thanks

[zimno1]

after a while of drifting and baitfishing (chunking) you may wind up trolling wire when you get the hang of it. you need a rod with carboloy guides so before you buy rods and have to invest again you could go and get a set of trevally rods (shimano) and an all around rod for all kinds of gamefish and superior for jigging and castable with plugs. paired up with a diawa slosh 20 or 30 (although they are not the best casting multipliers they are good for boat fishing and you can use them from the surf as well) a diawa sealine is a trolling reel but could use it for jigging and the shimano tld pairs nicely with the trevally rod. or you could use a 535 penn. (for trolling it has to be a spool that is not plastic) just depends on your budget. inquire now as there are deals to be had all over.

[cmerrick]

Thanks for the info.

I should have mentioned that our elderly neighbor gave us all of his salt fishing equipment, so we probably already have some of what we need. He said he used to go out on the party boats "a long time ago." The list of reels is a Penn Peer 309, Peen Peer 209, Penn Squidder 140, Penn Leveline 350, Penn 78, Ocean City 923C Level wind, and a Pflueger 2048 Sea-Vue. All of the reels appear to be in excellent and well cared for condition. There are also a number of rods, too, some of them pretty stout. Some of the names I've pulled from the rods are Harnell, Master Whitehawk, and Garcia Conolon.

Most of the fishing we've done to date is for small and large mouth on the upper CT river and some of the local lakes and ponds.

[zimno1]

so you wanna buy more stuff?
harnell? are there any blue and white striped wrapping? that would age the rod one way. reason i ask is if you got a squidder from him he would surely have paired it up with one of the rods and used it in the surf. you can mag the squidder and use it on and off your boat. (providing it is an aluminum spool and not plastic- you can scratch the coating on the spool to check) if there is a steel spool it is okay to mag but you lose alot in distance as if you whip it out there with the steel spool it WILL cause a birds nest as it gets ahead of itself.(can mag the 350 as i have done those as well) i like the 350 as it has the levelwind bar and your spool is balanced better for casting than a sqidder imo anyway, but again, that has a steel spool and will inhibit the casting distance. but for throwing steel or plugs from your boat you don;t need all that much distance.

[cmerrick]

The Harnell has red and white wrappings. The squidder has a plastic spool. All of the others appear to be aluminum, except for the 350. I did some searching earlier today and found some good articles on the mag modification.

[Striperjim]

Hi CMerrick

For way its worth ive never been much of a aboat person but on one occasion I had brain lock and dropped a very expensive rig overboard. I just somhow just let it go. I tried to retreive it in 12 feet of water but to no avail. Ive since purchased a lower end but still quality Penn 320 GT and paired it with a penn 6/6" slammer rod that has held me in good stead when eeling / chunking or drifting off of the bottom or the rare occassions im invited out or am inclined to hop aboard a party boat for a few beers with buds. Not very often - it has seen extremely limited duty but more than fills the bill with 40 pound mono. I actually prefer the shimano baitrunner spinning reel while livelining and casting but not for trolling of course.

You mentioned some quality equipment in harnell and conolon,

The Penns are very good and the squidder is versatile enough to cast and troll with. My two cents but im not near an experienced boat man. But i can catch a fish if you bring me to em.

[zimno1]

michaels craft store sells neodium mags (for anyone interested in where to obtain some) they are smaller in size and can easily be installed. if you use 4 or more you have to scatter them one after the other as to get an equal resistance. not brain surgery. the aluminum squidder spool can be obtained on ebay for a few bucks. if you are fishing from a boat you do want to cast out behind the boat while chunking so a fairly decent casting reel is imo a must, and will be good for jigging as well, as that is another issue and search for that on the site. welcome by the way and keep posting as it is welcome and your enthusiasm appreciated

[cmerrick]

Thanks for the welcome. Actually, I signed up a while ago and have been lurking, searching and reading a lot of the old posts. This site is an awesome wealth of information. Kudos to the creator(s) and all the participants.

[Striperjim]

Why thank you

[BigBassJim]

for starters i would recomend

go to sports authorty and

get a blue diamond med boat rod

it should come with a okuma 5.1.1 reel ratio


the reel is effing amazing
and rod is good

25 pound disapering mono

^ great rod and reel. i have been fishing for yea but it is easy use

i use it for blue fishing on party boats just because it will take a beating

[zimno1]

a pm sent to author

[chunkster]

Try something like this for starters. Its good for drifting eels.
Great for under hand casting 3 0z. diamond and krocodile jigs.
For trolling. A large deep diving plug is as heavy as I will go.
It can be found at

www.pennfishingstore.com

The rod is 7 foot rated for 17-40 lb. line and the reel spooled with
30 lb. mono.

[[email protected]]

What should i get for a reel in a moderate price range for a 7 1/2 tsunami. I got this P.O.S. shimano sienna4000fb 30$ reel and it feels like when i flip the bail its guna crumble in my hands. And the guy told me all i need is 12pound mono... seemed wimpy lol. Ive asked the guys at the tackle shop but i wanna get a second opinion, or five or ten :)

I also have a 10 6 st croix with a penn850ss that i use for baitin and surf castin so i got a heavy setup, but this smaller rod i want for rock hoppin and in the rivers and such. Thanks in advance for ne input

[JakeF]

Originally Posted by [email protected]

What should i get for a reel in a moderate price range for a 7 1/2 tsunami?

The Quantum Cabo PT40 is a great reel for that size rod.

[[email protected]]

that cabo looks BOSS , but lookin at the price, think i'd lean towards used if i was guna pursue. Line???