Joined
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25 Posts
Hi. Thought I'd put my first post here as it comprises quite a long tackle enquiry too. I've mailed this to **** also and plan to speak to him on Friday but it's always good to get some food for thought. Also, thanks to Simon for hinting in the direction of this forum.
Straight to the point, my wife and I have been a fly-fishers for several years and, living as we do very close the SW Wales coast (Carms/Pembs) we have decided to give sea bass fishing a try. Now we are TOTALLY new to this (have ordered Hooked on Bass but it has yet to come) and I want to ensure I don't screw up in making some potentially expensive buying decisions. I have often thought when trying something new that I will invest in reasonably priced kit and upgrade if I get into it. Probably a good idea in this case too BUT I have a little extra cash at mo that's itching to be spent and I suppose I can ease the pain by saying it may help me save wasted money selling unwanted kit if I go straight for what I think we might want. Only here once!!!!
So, it will likely be an expensive decision but I'm looking for some advice to purchase two complete rigs (wife and I). We will likely be shore fishing 95% of the time and my preference is for spinners/lures as opposed to bait. I understand that most people tend to use lures these days as opposed to the more traditional spinners like the Dexter Wedge etc. and as a result the more specialist (shorter) plugging rods tend to be favoured over the longer and slightly heavier traditional spinners.
I had thought about getting a couple of the Grauvell Teklon Concept Spin 802s and a couple of Shimano Technium 4000s and indeed that might be considered the best option but if the performance is THAT much better, in this case, I'd happily up the budget some. After more reading I also added the consideration of the Sakura Rookie or the Mazerra also.
Truth is though I'm a little confused? The Henry Gilbey site which I found very useful talks about 3 Tenyru rods (Super Mix 240, Red Dragon Express and the Rod Bar) and I'm not sure which would be better suited for us and our location, if any, or whether such rods are somewhat over the top? Since then, **** has also mailed and suggested the RLSD as a worthy contender too.
I'm also not quite sure what the use would be of the 13' beach-casters I read about, surely the 8' plugging rods are also for beaches? Is it because the plugging rods you often wade or are the beach-casters for longer shallower shelves of sand where the length gets a good long cast out?
One consideration I do have is that my wife suffers a little from a condition which can make her neck and arms tire a little so I am looking at gear which is as LIGHT and easy to use as possible and where the rod can do most of the work getting the lure out. I did even consider getting us different rods but the danger with always is both of us may have a preference for just one of the rods.
On the reel front I wondered whether to go for the Stella as a match-up but having read loads of threads etc I was starting to come down in favour, subject to a chat to ****, of the Rarenium 3000.
Following trawling the threads here and 'other places' :wink: I am starting to come down in favour of the Super Mix 240 with the Rarenium 4000 (which Simon kindly pm'd me about to say he'd tried the 3 and 4000 on his 240 and felt the 4000 better)
Any thoughts on rods/reels and indeed anything else that might be essential for bass fishing would be appreciated. On the line front I did consider trying top-end braid but I have read a couple of times that it is perhaps better to learn to use it with a more mid-range offering. Berkley Fireline has been suggested at 20lb BS which has a coating making it perhaps an easier intro to braid? I'd perhaps look to bed the spool with 15/20 lb mono and possibly even use a 2' length of fluoro as a leader on the tip of the braid to try and avoid lure snags in the braid?
Key point is FOR NOW I only really want one rod and I'd like it to be light and flexible enough to handle most of what we'd be likely to try. If it could handle hard and soft plastics and maybe cast the occasional trad metal spinner it would be ideal but I'm not THAT bothered about the latter.
Also, any local places selling Greys GRXi waders and Platinum boots? Not sure I want the hassle of postal ordering and sending back if size is wrong.
Any help appreciated.
Straight to the point, my wife and I have been a fly-fishers for several years and, living as we do very close the SW Wales coast (Carms/Pembs) we have decided to give sea bass fishing a try. Now we are TOTALLY new to this (have ordered Hooked on Bass but it has yet to come) and I want to ensure I don't screw up in making some potentially expensive buying decisions. I have often thought when trying something new that I will invest in reasonably priced kit and upgrade if I get into it. Probably a good idea in this case too BUT I have a little extra cash at mo that's itching to be spent and I suppose I can ease the pain by saying it may help me save wasted money selling unwanted kit if I go straight for what I think we might want. Only here once!!!!
So, it will likely be an expensive decision but I'm looking for some advice to purchase two complete rigs (wife and I). We will likely be shore fishing 95% of the time and my preference is for spinners/lures as opposed to bait. I understand that most people tend to use lures these days as opposed to the more traditional spinners like the Dexter Wedge etc. and as a result the more specialist (shorter) plugging rods tend to be favoured over the longer and slightly heavier traditional spinners.
I had thought about getting a couple of the Grauvell Teklon Concept Spin 802s and a couple of Shimano Technium 4000s and indeed that might be considered the best option but if the performance is THAT much better, in this case, I'd happily up the budget some. After more reading I also added the consideration of the Sakura Rookie or the Mazerra also.
Truth is though I'm a little confused? The Henry Gilbey site which I found very useful talks about 3 Tenyru rods (Super Mix 240, Red Dragon Express and the Rod Bar) and I'm not sure which would be better suited for us and our location, if any, or whether such rods are somewhat over the top? Since then, **** has also mailed and suggested the RLSD as a worthy contender too.
I'm also not quite sure what the use would be of the 13' beach-casters I read about, surely the 8' plugging rods are also for beaches? Is it because the plugging rods you often wade or are the beach-casters for longer shallower shelves of sand where the length gets a good long cast out?
One consideration I do have is that my wife suffers a little from a condition which can make her neck and arms tire a little so I am looking at gear which is as LIGHT and easy to use as possible and where the rod can do most of the work getting the lure out. I did even consider getting us different rods but the danger with always is both of us may have a preference for just one of the rods.
On the reel front I wondered whether to go for the Stella as a match-up but having read loads of threads etc I was starting to come down in favour, subject to a chat to ****, of the Rarenium 3000.
Following trawling the threads here and 'other places' :wink: I am starting to come down in favour of the Super Mix 240 with the Rarenium 4000 (which Simon kindly pm'd me about to say he'd tried the 3 and 4000 on his 240 and felt the 4000 better)
Any thoughts on rods/reels and indeed anything else that might be essential for bass fishing would be appreciated. On the line front I did consider trying top-end braid but I have read a couple of times that it is perhaps better to learn to use it with a more mid-range offering. Berkley Fireline has been suggested at 20lb BS which has a coating making it perhaps an easier intro to braid? I'd perhaps look to bed the spool with 15/20 lb mono and possibly even use a 2' length of fluoro as a leader on the tip of the braid to try and avoid lure snags in the braid?
Key point is FOR NOW I only really want one rod and I'd like it to be light and flexible enough to handle most of what we'd be likely to try. If it could handle hard and soft plastics and maybe cast the occasional trad metal spinner it would be ideal but I'm not THAT bothered about the latter.
Also, any local places selling Greys GRXi waders and Platinum boots? Not sure I want the hassle of postal ordering and sending back if size is wrong.
Any help appreciated.
