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I'm a newbie to Florida and saltwater fishing and looking for insight on what I should be looking for as far as jetty fishing, and coastal fishing and occasional surf casting for a do it all rod and reel? I have always fished fresh water, so all my tackle is not suitable for saltwater. Looking to spend maybe $300 for a good rig, but willing to go higher if need be. Looking at maybe a a Penn battle 11 5000 with an Ugli Stik 7' rod or an upgrade to a Redbone 7.5' medium heavy action rod at about $100. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.














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Crowder Rods, Stuart, FL. Best on the plsnet


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You would do well to start with a reliable casting reel at least as good as a Penn 3/0:

[Linked Image]

For a rod look at a 1-piece, 6-1/2'-7', 30-50 lb.


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it depends on what you're fishing for.


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Originally Posted by pal
You would do well to start with a reliable casting reel at least as good as a Penn 3/0:

For a rod look at a 1-piece, 6-1/2'-7', 30-50 lb.


While good reels for holding a pile of mono or dacron, if you're using braid the senators are way too big and heavy.

[Linked Image]

A modern 2/0 sized reel will hold 300+ yds of 60-70 pound braid and weighs ~20 oz vs 30+ oz for the senator.

Can't comment on rods as I prefer shorter rods on the boat.

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Paul what reel is that shown in your picture.


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Keith,

Avet JX. I got distracted while posting frown

There are other options for similar size and weight of reels.

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Paul which Avet JX model


6 Single speed? Kurt Keith was my dad!


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Kurt,

Sorry frown I'm fighting a head cold.

It's the JX 4.6:1, I have three of them and they are my favorite reels. I also have a JX raptor and even though its nice having more drag, I prefer the lighter single speed and so long as you're pumping the rod and not using the reel as a winch the 4.6:1 ratio is fine.

That said I only jig and rarely with heavier than 16 oz. If you're dropping heavy cod sinkers the lower ratio of a two speed would be the way to go.

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Paul, I,m to old and tired to be fishing more than 100' with heavy weights.

With the lack of big Halibut any more not much of an issue, if you happen to find a big one, knowing how to fight them you don't need heavy gear. Probably release it anyway caught enough big ones, a shame to kill the breed stock.





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I brought a triple digit halibut to the boat a couple years back with the jx on a ~10 oz jig, plenty of rod and reel. The nice thing about jigs is you don't need to use nearly as much weight as bait and with a good jigging rod and reel you can fish all day and not be worn out. The buts we caught this year were in ~250' of water. No monsters, but enough to put some meat in the freezer

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Originally Posted by 458 Lott
Originally Posted by pal
You would do well to start with a reliable casting reel at least as good as a Penn 3/0:

For a rod look at a 1-piece, 6-1/2'-7', 30-50 lb.


While good reels for holding a pile of mono or dacron, if you're using braid the senators are way too big and heavy.

[Linked Image]

A modern 2/0 sized reel will hold 300+ yds of 60-70 pound braid and weighs ~20 oz vs 30+ oz for the senator.
...


The OP said he has $300 to spend on a whole outfit. So you show him a $250 reel. smile Sure, it's lighter than the Penn.


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I have a penn international 16VSX 2-speed that is a workhorse. I can just barely fit 500yds of 100lb powerpro on it. I normally fish with a 16oz wally whale with a strip of chum belly or a 17-21oz solvkroken cod jig. The reel is heavier than all get out though. I have never had a single problem with it and I doubt that I ever will. It does get tiring jigging with it all day because of the weight, and at times I have found myself wishing I got a 345GTI instead. The drag on the internationals is second to none IMO, super smooth. Out of your price range though by a good margin.

Those Avet's are very nice, definitely worth the money.

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Having had several penn 2/0's, 3/0's and 4/0's I can say the avet is well worth the money. If one wants a light tough economy reel than a shimano charter special with the drag washer replaced is a decent setup.

There have been massive strides made in reel designs in the nearly 80 years since the senator was introduced. There is absolutely no good reason to use such a reel when modern reels with braided line make for a much more enjoyable fishing experience.

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Yeah, I'm pretty bummed out about all the fish I've caught on them; I could have done it with a lighter reel!


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If someone asks you what type of car to get, do you suggest one designed 80 years ago? Do you suggest bamboo poles?

Having used senators for years, and having replaced every single one of them I can honestly say I've not once pined for the good old days. I would have much preferred spending the money up front vs. upgrading several times to get what I should have in the first place.

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Originally Posted by pal


The OP said he has $300 to spend on a whole outfit. So you show him a $250 reel. smile Sure, it's lighter than the Penn.


He said " Looking to spend maybe $300 for a good rig, but willing to go higher if need be."

I just bought my first Avet, an MXL for tuna fishing off WA. Probably won't be my last. smile

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The OP suggested a spinning reel (BTL2 5000), although it is not clear what he is targeting.
He may not know how to use a conventional reel, and based on size, may not be targeting 9' tiger sharks.

The Battle 5000 and the 7' UglyStik GX2 Med or MH (I would go a little longer for pier and surfcasting ~9, though may be too much for wading) may be all he needs for small to medium sized fish, being it reds, tarpon, kings, stripers, snook, etc.
It will be heavy for sure, but a setup more for bait and wait than lure casting. If fishing blue water then a different reel is a must, or a lighter one for wade and lure casting.

$300 could get him very decent setups, 3000 size reel for wade/lure with freshwater rod already owned and 6-7000 reel for pier/surf/jetty with heavier more powerful rod.

I have a 7' Shimano Voltaeus Med Fast (70$) that I use for lure sand light baits and a 9' MH UglyStik ~$80. Old
Shimano 3000 reel and Battle 6000 on the heavy rod.

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Thanks everyone for the suggestions. As Sponxx stated, I wasn't very specific as to what I was targeting. I'll mostly be jetty fishing and wade fishing and shorefishing for Reds,Snook, Sea trout, Drum or about anything else one might catch doing this type of fishing. I'll be be throwing a lot of Soft and hard plastic baits and also do some live bait(shrimp, sand fleas) on the bottom.
I joined Florida Sportsman and doing a little research on that site, and asking a few questions I came up with a pretty good Idea of what I wanted. I searched Craigslist for rods and reels and found a guy who was moving back north and selling all his equipment. I picked up a like new Penn Conflict 4000 on a 7.5' Star Seagis rod for $175 and a Battle 4000 on a Star 7.5' Stellar Lite for $125. Both reels are spooled with Braid. The Battle has seen a lot more use than the Conflict, but is still in excellent shape. I just picked these up last night, so I'll let you know how things work out. Thanks again.

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lightning, nice purchases.
You now have 2 very similar setups and will get lots of use out of them. I doubt any fish your are targeting will outclass your reels, the rods I am not very familiar with.
If dropping larger baits, then you may need a stronger reel, but finesse goes a long way when hook up above class, unfortunately comes with experience (that unfortunately, I don't have yet by the way smile ).
Good luck

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Thanks Sponxx. The Star rods, especially the Seagis model is rated pretty well on the Florida Sportsman site. They are both med action rods, so I'm hoping they work well for what I'm looking for. As you stated, I may look for a larger reel/rod combo for larger fish in the future, but I'll get my feet wet with these for now. Here in SW Florida there are good used rods and reels everywhere at a pretty good price so I'll figure out what I need/or want and go from there. The problem is these things are like rifles and hand guns, you always need just one more! Take care.

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Nice reel, but I think they put a cheap rod on those combo sets. Looked at a Battle II 4000 combo, and even the dealer said the rod wasn't worth it.

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The rods are Chinese.


"There's more to optics than meets the eye."--anon

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I have fished coastal FL waters for 45 years and have several St Croix spinning rods of various lengths and for different line classes and they are the schizzle.

You feel everything all the way through the butt.


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Hard to beat St Croix! Just starting and have a couple of Star Rods and having lots of fun. Caught about a 24" snook the other day and of course released it. Just bought my snook license and looking forward to getting my first 28" legal snook for Dinner. Heard they are good eating. Tight lines for all you anglers!

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Local dirt, what do you like for reels, and what size?

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lightning, Congrats on the snook. They're a blast to catch and really fight hard. You didn't say if it was your first one or not, but you have just exposed yourself to a highly addictive sport. You can't keep anything over 34" these days. As you already know, the window starts at 28". The limit is 1 per day per angler. Also, where you're located isn't that far from my stomping grounds in my younger days. You should have redfish and trout around your area, too.

If you're fishing from Venice jetty much for snook, try this trick. If they hit it close, try to immediately get their head up. You will be surprised how many you land faster, and keep them out if the rocks. Trust me, they're very good at finding something to cut you off on. They know the drill.

And, yes, they are excellent eating. Just be sure to skin the filets. You are GTG any way you want to cook them after that. Back in the old days, nobody ate them because they had a soapy flavor if you left the skin on, hence their old nickname "soapfish".

The spinning combos I have right now are:
Daiwa 4000 on 7' St Croix Tidemaster
Daiwa 4000 on 7'6" St Croix Tidemaster
Penn 450SS on Star 6'6" Star Rod
Shimano 3500 Baitrunner on Star Rod
Shimano 4500 Baitrunner on Star Rod
Penn 750SS on Star Rod

All the Star Rods I have were mfg'd here in the good ole US of A, which was Star's heyday, IMHO, before they transferred production to China.

I used to also have a Penn 440SS on a 6'6" Star Rod, but that one was stolen. Also used to have 2 other older Penn 450SS's on Lew's Speed Sticks that were also stolen. All god setups.

Good luck!



Last edited by local_dirt; 08/31/15.

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Thanks for the info ld, and yes it was my first snook, but hopefully the first of many to come. Looking forward to the season opening tomorrow, and good luck to you also.

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You're welcome, lightning.


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In the pacific NW lamiglass is about the best value...tough rods and great warranty.. Don't matter if you slam it in the truck door...they have always replaced it for me....

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St Croix is great for that, too. My neighbor buddies across the street lets me fish off their docks whenever I want. One of them has a gate going out to the dock. Yep. Slammed the tip in the gate. Saw it happening in slow-mo. Couldn't grab it fast enough.

St Croix replaced the exact rod for $35.


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My preference is to the Accurate 870. Sure is a nice reel. The new models are really nice too but pricy!

I caught a 44# bluefin Monday on a Spinning rod with a Fin nor reel. Had no issues with it at all. I like throwing plastic better with the spinner than the caster, but that is just me.

Last edited by dennisinaz; 09/09/15.

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Can anyone offer help? I'm catching some decent sea trout on johnson silver minnows using braid with a 3' 20lb fluorocarbon leader, but I'm losing a lot of spoons to the Spanish Mackeral cutting my leader, usually right at the loop knot. An old timer told me to use about 10" of steel leader, but another one told me to go to a 40lb fluoro leader instead of steel. He said the steel leader would reduce the # of strikes considerably. What do you guys suggest? Would 40lb fluoro really stand up to the Mackeral?

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If you're getting bit off, use the wire.


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Yep, Macks have scissors instead of teeth smile
Though with colder weather and water they will likely move further out.
Wire will reduce your hits, but shouldn't be too bad when working spoons vs bait/live shrimp.

Get the 30lb black coated one and crimp, if you use siny wire and clips they will hit those instead of the spoon.

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i use a heavy fluoro when fishing for smacks, just keep a eye on it and change it when it starts getting frayed.


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Long range forecast is for 90 degree weather for the next 3 weeks or so , so they may be around for awhile. I'll pick up some wire leader and report back later. Thanks for the help.

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Went to about a 15" steel leader attached to 4' of fluoro carbon leader and have caught some nice Spanish Mackeral, and not losing the spoons anymore. The Macks are also pretty good eating which surprised me.

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