sturgeon surfin

[camA]

what is a good sized (length and line wt.) surf rod or blank for gator fishing? im thinking like 11 ft 17-40. any input from you pro surf guys out there is appreciated.

[wayout]

13 ft 15-30lb is what Griggs thinks.

[The Nothing]

Originally Posted by camA

im thinking like 11 ft 17-40..

That's roughly the specs of the surf rod I use for banking gators. 11' Lami Surf King (<$100) spinner with a Abu Cardinal salt spinning reel (C186 or something like that). I run 65# braid on it and the combo has been awesome for me on the coast and gators on the willamette. from what i understand, you'll want a bit more than that at Bonneville.

[Hawgchaser]

I use a 13 foot grigg with a shimano torium. Seems to get the job done.

[69scout]

Lamiglas GSB 1802 M. 2 piece 15 ft surf rod.
Its the new trend out at Bonneville.

[PapaHog]

One piece 15 ft glass Fenwick with Diawa 50 H full of 30 lb big game.

[fisheromen]

Rather than wrapping your own there is a nice 12' 2 pc Ugly Stick that has performed just fine for me up there and it's under $100.

[Dinikin]

Nice thing about Uglys is that they are almost never break.

Originally Posted by fisheromen

Rather than wrapping your own there is a nice 12' 2 pc Ugly Stick that has performed just fine for me up there and it's under $100.

[BTLS101]

15 foot one piece Lami with with a sealine 50 and 30 pound big game. No problems at Bonni.

[troutmaster1202]

3 piece 15 foot white shark pole (white sharks are made in Hawaii never seen them here before) cutt all the eyes off and put on casting eyes and now i run a 7000 series big game abu this is the best set up i have ever had for bankin it for gators....... i us to catch shark with this set up and i almost fotgot 50lb tuff line.

[Mcfishy]

Originally Posted by PapaHog

One piece 15 ft glass Fenwick with Diawa 50 H full of 30 lb big game.

where can you get a 15ft fenwick and how much do they cost?

[69scout]

Originally Posted by troutmaster1202

3 piece 15 foot white shark pole (white sharks are made in Hawaii never seen them here before) cutt all the eyes off and put on casting eyes and now i run a 7000 series big game abu this is the best set up i have ever had for bankin it for gators....... i us to catch shark with this set up and i almost fotgot 50lb tuff line.

50 lb Tuff line ????

I guess you don't fish at Bonneville much.

[MattPark]

Originally Posted by troutmaster1202

3 piece 15 foot white shark pole (white sharks are made in Hawaii never seen them here before) cutt all the eyes off and put on casting eyes and now i run a 7000 series big game abu this is the best set up i have ever had for bankin it for gators....... i us to catch shark with this set up and i almost fotgot 50lb tuff line.

Did you just cut the eyes off? How did you put the new ones on?

I'm also curious as to why you prefer a levelwind with braid for sturgeon off the bank.

[fishingiscool]

Gotta agree with the Lamiglas GSB 180 2M. It's awesome blank. You can cast a 6-8oz just fine. Pair up the reel with a Daiwa saltist 20 spooled with 20lb mono (except big game, line is way to tough to cast from shore and will burn your thumb)

Same setup caught plenty of oversized sturgies.

[Fishheadmafia]

Originally Posted by Dinikin

Nice thing about Uglys is that they are almost never break.

but they weigh about 237 #

[phamf]

I actually took a scale and measured an ugly stik x-hvy vs lamiglas gsb1502mh and the lamiglas weighs about 33% less in weight. The differenence in weight is night and day.

[slicwilly86]

No tuffline or braid.

[PapaHog]

Originally Posted by Mcfishy

where can you get a 15ft fenwick and how much do they cost?

My friend and fishing partner had these for a lot of years. He had two of them and they were identical. He also had a one piece 15 ft lami all with Diawa 50 H reels.

He died and his son gave them to me. I have no idea what they are worth. I do not want to sell any of them so I have not been concerned with a price.

I may put one of them to use tomorrow.

[camA]

thanks guys for all the help. seems like 11-15 ft in the glass section seems to be the way to go. already got the reel. a penn levelwind 209 = 30 lbs berkley big game. i can always change out the drag washers when ever i need to. thanks for the info guys. ill look into the rods you guys shared with me

[dpdub]

Originally Posted by camA

thanks guys for all the help. seems like 11-15 ft in the glass section seems to be the way to go. already got the reel. a penn levelwind 209 = 30 lbs berkley big game. i can always change out the drag washers when ever i need to. thanks for the info guys. ill look into the rods you guys shared with me

For banking it you probably don't want to use a levelwind. You can, but it won't last long. I used a Penn 321 for about a week because I like left handed reels better. I say a week because that is as long as it lasted flinging 10 and 12 ounce leads that far. Luckily it happened so fast I was able to return it as defected and got an open faced Shimano. Wish I would have spent the extra $30 or so and got a Daiwa 50 HV like my buddy told me to.

[MattPark]

The Penn 320/321s are plenty tough. I have never had a levelwind failure, even tuna fishing. The only failure I've seen is the plastic knob on the side plate that holds the spring for the anti-reverse, and that was on an old, well used reel. One had a stripped out worm gear from a sweatshirt string getting caught in it. I've removed the levelwind from the reels I personally use, and although I don't use them for sturgeon off the bank, they should work just fine for that.

209s have too low of a gear ratio IMO.

[cotalot]

Originally Posted by PapaHog

One piece 15 ft glass Fenwick with Diawa 50 H full of 30 lb big game.

15 foot?!!! Gadzooks!!! And you haul it to the river with what, a log truck?!!

[phamf]

Thank the inventor of the ski/snowboard rack.

[camA]

Originally Posted by dpdub

For banking it you probably don't want to use a levelwind. You can, but it won't last long. I used a Penn 321 for about a week because I like left handed reels better. I say a week because that is as long as it lasted flinging 10 and 12 ounce leads that far. Luckily it happened so fast I was able to return it as defected and got an open faced Shimano. Wish I would have spent the extra $30 or so and got a Daiwa 50 HV like my buddy told me to.

i dont think that levelwind or not it will still work and hold up. its not like i need to cast out past 60 yards. that diastance is not really needed for the places i am goiing to fish at.

[camA]

even then, i can always take the levelwind part of the reel off and just make it into a more surf reel type of a reel if it doesnt work out as planned

[troutmaster1202]

Originally Posted by 69scout

50 lb Tuff line ????

I guess you don't fish at Bonneville much.

i fish bonnie like once a month an 50 lb is all i need ..... what do you use?

[troutmaster1202]

Originally Posted by MattPark

Did you just cut the eyes off? How did you put the new ones on?

I'm also curious as to why you prefer a levelwind with braid for sturgeon off the bank.

there is a shop is vancouver that does rod repair and they will do it all so ya they cut off all my eyes and replaced them with lopro eyes and since i have done that i gettin like 15 plus feet out of each cast

[MattPark]

I understand how rod repairs and upgrades are performed, it sounded to me like you literally cut them off

How do other fisherman up at Bonneville react to your braid?

[PaintedEagle]

In the days when I used to fight the crowds at Bonni I did it with a 16' one piece lami and a diawa 50H loaded with 30lb berkley trilene.

[camA]

im going with an uglystick 12' 2 piece and a penn 209 with 30# berkley big game. similar to the guy above me said.

whats the average sized sturgeon? (at bonni)

[camA]

what leader do you guys use?

[jaydog80]

I personally use both,a 14 ft lamiglas 5F not sure of line rating think its like 20-50.And a12ft x-tra heavy ugly stick,and Iam pretty sure alot of us long time bank flingers do.Depending on the money you want to spend all i know is its hard to pick up a lami for a decent price these days.they are both great the lamis you tou have to be more careful with, but the ugly stick is virtually industructable i know i have tried.by the way stay away from spinning reels u never know when an oversize is going to bite,i have seen one burn up after one big one.Althugh it is lower speed the pen 320gti is a great tough reel,not the best casting reel either,mainly a good boat reel but i do use it on the bank.I would stick with a daiwa 50H,or a shimano TLD20/40,both are great casting and have excellent drag systems, the shimano might be hard to find brand new,good luck.

Originally Posted by camA

what is a good sized (length and line wt.) surf rod or blank for gator fishing? im thinking like 11 ft 17-40. any input from you pro surf guys out there is appreciated.

[jaydog80]

80 to 100 lbs dacron or nylon

Originally Posted by camA

what leader do you guys use?

[camA]

Originally Posted by jaydog80

80 to 100 lbs dacron or nylon

from shore or boat?

[jaydog80]

i use it from shore and the boat,the only thing is that i use no more than a four inch leeder from the bank unless iam using whole smelt, and 2 to 3 feet from the boat when i get a chance to go.!

Originally Posted by camA

from shore or boat?

[camA]

Originally Posted by jaydog80

i use it from shore and the boat,the only thing is that i use no more than a four inch leeder from the bank unless iam using whole smelt, and 2 to 3 feet from the boat when i get a chance to go.!

seriousely? my neighbor uses dacron for boats. and when we go from bank, we try to use 80# mono as the leader. short for dacron and like 3 foot for shore. he uses like herring, smelt and squid for boat. and bank we use any type of shrimp, prawn or anything that looks good and has a great deal of smell.

[jaydog80]

Well camA to each his own sturgeon are not salmon and stealhead,there are many diferrent ways to rig for them i dont really think anyway is wrong.I was just saying how i was taught,I dont think there is a right or wrong way to fish for them as long as the bait is what thay want for that particular day,sorry if i came across the wrong way.

Originally Posted by camA

seriousely? my neighbor uses dacron for boats. and when we go from bank, we try to use 80# mono as the leader. short for dacron and like 3 foot for shore. he uses like herring, smelt and squid for boat. and bank we use any type of shrimp, prawn or anything that looks good and has a great deal of smell.

[camA]

Originally Posted by jaydog80

Well camA to each his own sturgeon are not salmon and stealhead,there are many diferrent ways to rig for them i dont really think anyway is wrong.I was just saying how i was taught,I dont think there is a right or wrong way to fish for them as long as the bait is what thay want for that particular day,sorry if i came across the wrong way.

oh, no you didnt. i was just saying how i learned and how they compare. no hard feelings. i recently learned that from bank to use a mono leader and a spin n glo with a bait and that will catch more sturgeon in the river than you know. this guy henry that i met this summer, he did the same technique, he casted his line out about 40 feet. then literally about 10 seconds later, fish on. and this while everyone else was struggling for hours trying to make these huge rolling gators bite. it was amazing. he is officially the sturgeon master

[jaydog80]

cool i will keep that in mind about the spin n glos i have plenty of big ones left from when i used to plunk for chinooks. well did u go up today,i think it is catch and release today but iam not sure,if you did how did you do?

Originally Posted by camA

oh, no you didnt. i was just saying how i learned and how they compare. no hard feelings. i recently learned that from bank to use a mono leader and a spin n glo with a bait and that will catch more sturgeon in the river than you know. this guy henry that i met this summer, he did the same technique, he casted his line out about 40 feet. then literally about 10 seconds later, fish on. and this while everyone else was struggling for hours trying to make these huge rolling gators bite. it was amazing. he is officially the sturgeon master

[camA]

Originally Posted by jaydog80

cool i will keep that in mind about the spin n glos i have plenty of big ones left from when i used to plunk for chinooks. well did u go up today,i think it is catch and release today but iam not sure,if you did how did you do?

i sent you a private message

[69scout]

Originally Posted by troutmaster1202

i fish bonnie like once a month an 50 lb is all i need ..... what do you use?

I use mainly 20-25 lb mainline. Never, ever braided line off the bank.

And if you're using braided line I guess you're fishing by yourself at Bonneville.
No one there will ever let you fish near them with braided line.

[PapaHog]

Originally Posted by 69scout

I use mainly 20-25 lb mainline. Never, ever braided line off the bank.

And if you're using braided line I guess you're fishing by yourself at Bonneville.
No one there will ever let you fish near them with braided line.

I agree, Have never used braid off the beach. Don't want to fish with someone who does. Braided line will cut the mono that most use in a hot second. I use 30 lb big game from the bank.

[camA]

Originally Posted by PapaHog

I agree, Have never used braid off the beach. Don't want to fish with someone who does. Braided line will cut the mono that most use in a hot second. I use 30 lb big game from the bank.

same. how heavy of a leader do you use?

[SGIndigo]

Originally Posted by PapaHog

I agree, Have never used braid off the beach. Don't want to fish with someone who does. Braided line will cut the mono that most use in a hot second. I use 30 lb big game from the bank.

Just curious, if everybody went to braid wouldn't that solve that particular problem?

[PapaHog]

Originally Posted by SGIndigo

Just curious, if everybody went to braid wouldn't that solve that particular problem?

I don't know. I am under the impression (maybe wrongly) that braid will cut off braid about as fast as mono. I don't know that for sure. I was just telling what I use.

[69scout]

Originally Posted by SGIndigo

Just curious, if everybody went to braid wouldn't that solve that particular problem?

It might but I would never do it.

For one, it is expensive to replace a whole spool of braided line if you broke it off halfway.

Two, don't want to get a bird's nest with braided line.

Three, still want to keep all my fingers so braided line wouldn't work.

Four, rods with plain ceramic guides will break down faster if you're using braided line. Unless you want to invest in a set of Titanium guides which runs about $ 200 .

[SGIndigo]

Originally Posted by 69scout

It might but I would never do it.

For one, it is expensive to replace a whole spool of braided line if you broke it off halfway.

Two, don't want to get a bird's nest with braided line.

Three, still want to keep all my fingers so braided line wouldn't work.

Four, rods with plain ceramic guides will break down faster if you're using braided line. Unless you want to invest in a set of Titanium guides which runs about $ 200 .

So casting mono that far doesn't burn your thumbs? I wrap my thumb in surgical tape for braid. Or, well, I did after the first cast. I'm just so used to using heavy braid for Muskies, I feel like I'm taking a step back in time using mono.

Casting with a rod that long, I don't usually get a big bird's nest, it just wraps around backward a few times, jams, and the weight and/or bait goes free flying and makes a splash at a distance I can only dream of casting to. I have lost a lot of money in lead learning and getting the freespool dialed in, that's for sure. Going from 5/6oz to 8 or 10oz sure helped.

After tens of thousands of casts with my Muskie rods, I haven't noticed a problem with the guides. Maybe the thinner braids do more damage? I don't use anything under 80#.

[camA]

Originally Posted by SGIndigo

So casting mono that far doesn't burn your thumbs? I wrap my thumb in surgical tape for braid. Or, well, I did after the first cast. I'm just so used to using heavy braid for Muskies, I feel like I'm taking a step back in time using mono.

Casting with a rod that long, I don't usually get a big bird's nest, it just wraps around backward a few times, jams, and the weight and/or bait goes free flying and makes a splash at a distance I can only dream of casting to. I have lost a lot of money in lead learning and getting the freespool dialed in, that's for sure. Going from 5/6oz to 8 or 10oz sure helped.

After tens of thousands of casts with my Muskie rods, I haven't noticed a problem with the guides. Maybe the thinner braids do more damage? I don't use anything under 80#.

what helps allot for castin out is if you use the spool tension. tighten it up until you have to pull very lightly on it to make the line come out. just past what a regular free spool is. it will still get way out there, and you wont have anywhere near as many problems with backlashes or losing your bait.