Most people have a perception that surf fishing means casting large sinkers and a variety of live and dead baits using a spinning rod. These spinning rods often perceived to be stout and long exceeding 10 feet typically. The fact is a spinning reel spool with 20 to 30 pound test monofilament line has in fact, been the norm. One of the challenges with this is the fatigue that is associated with hours of casting this large raid into rolling waves. The problem is that this type of tackle is often required to get the bait into just the right spot when the surf is high. Surf conditions including rolling and crashing waves against the beach, often require this type of equipment. There are however, situations where this is really too much, and anglers wind up using far more energy than they need. Fortunately, technology comes to the rescue and allows you to assemble a fishing rod and reel combination that is not only lighter, but shorter and easier to cast.
There are many areas in the Northeast that provide great opportunities for surf fishing. In these areas, tidal currents tend to not be as aggressive and the waves are typically paying. In these cases, you are not likely to find especially large fish that instead a large number of smaller size striped bass and bluefish with an occasional bruiser. This environment, you can scale down to a graphite surf fishing rod in the 7 foot to 8 foot length and combine it with a spinning reel in the 4000 size range. The best thing is that these rods will provide you more than enough length for distance casting with a 1 ounce to 3 ounce lure.
For the novice, braided fishing lines which were a relatively new advancement have made distance casting much easier. With the 4000 size real, 200 pounds of 30 pound test braid line on top of monofilament backing is becoming more common. Remember, braided fishing lines are significantly smaller in diameter than traditional monofilament. One of the benefits is the increased casting distance that is allowed because of less friction against the fishing rod guides. Surf casters should always note that braided line tends to not be as abrasion resistant as monofilament. In fact, in areas that are full of rocks and boulders fields, surf casters often discover they have many problems when casting a braided line. This problem can be fairly easily alleviated by attaching a fluorocarbon leader to the braided line. This helps provide some protection of line breakage in the event a fish aims for the rocks.
Children who are fairly new to angling will enjoy this much more and be far less frustrated than if they were trying to learn to handle a 10 or 12 foot surf rod. Not only that, but tackle of this size makes fighting smaller sized fish much more fun and sporting. If a large fish is hooked, the angler will be put into a position of fighting very hard to land him. Few things are far more exciting for the sporting angler.
There is no doubt that large surf rigs will always have their place. This is especially true for the angler whose preference is the 5 or 6 ounce sinker who is on the hunt for the largest fish they can find. However, for those that are tired of carrying around heavy rigs along the beach when your main interest lies in catching fish in the 5 to 20 pound range, it is definitely the time to start thinking about scaling back, scaling down, and sporting.
When you are out saltwater fishing it is important to make sure you have the right supplies. Some of the most popular brands include Shimano Saltwater Reels, Penn Saltwater Reels, and Daiwa Fishing Reels.
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