I have a great 9 ft rod made by Zebco, called the Rhino, paired with a graphite Browning reel. 20lb on that setup. Casts great and has a nice feel/balance. Also have an Offshore Angler setup, 15 ft with a Quantum Great White reel. 25 lb on that setup. Again a nice casting pair. Both of these are over 20 years old, but are in great shape. I would like to add a 12ft and another 15 to the lineup. I am clueless on what currently is considered good quality in modern production. I know the Offshore Angler stuff is now part of the Bass Pro line, and doesn't appear to have held the quality line that the original Offshore company provided. Ballpark budget 175-250. What is a solid reel choice now? Rod? I would ask the same of boat rods for those in the know. Coastal fishing, no Tuna setups. Stripers, Blues, maybe Halibut someday. Kind of out of touch on budget here. Would love some input on good used products as I will be keeping an eye out for used stuff for a while. Would prefer solid used stuff over current production.
I'd love to ask my husband except he has not been in the know for too many years too. What I can tell you is that he recently bought a rod and 2 reels and was impressed that the price was alot lower than he knew of years ago.
Are these spinning or baitcast reels? I don't do anything but lightweight freshwater bass fishing with spinning equipment, and I stopped buying anything but Shimano years ago. I still have and use some of their sub $20 reels, while much more expensive Quantum, Pflueger, Abu garcia, and Pro Qualifier (Bass Pro brand) have turned to junk. Shimano's Symetre is a pretty sweet reel and what I use now. I don't know what to tell you about rods. Rule of thumb is to pair a rod with a reel of the same price. I used to use much cheaper rods, but since going into the $100-200 range for rods, I've noticed they are in a different class and have much better action and sensitivity when using lures. But if I'm bank fishing with live bait, I'll don't notice a difference and will still use my old cheaper rods just in case one gets bashed on the rocks.
I have 4 of these and love em.http://www.basspro.com/Shakespeare-Ugly-Stik-Big-Water-Boat-Rod/product/354/ Have stood up to much abuse and many stripers ,blues cod haddock ect.. cant go wrong for the $$. As far as surf rods go I have been looking also. Maybe check out the Penn Prevail spinning rod not sure if they make it in a 15' though. Good luck, let us know what you come up with.
Saint Croix makes a nice stick...And IMO you can't go wrong with Penn rods and reels either. I have one G-Loomis that I love, but they are very pricey!!
I have one St. Croix rod, and while it's an absolute dream to cast, the ceramic ring in the tip guide rod shattered after only a few months. St. Croix fixed if for me (at the cost of shipping to them) because it was under warranty, it shattered again after only a few uses.
Anyone have or know of the Dam rods? They are some kind of metal composite. The prices are similar to St Croix and Lamiglas. What size and model do you have? Curious about the tip eye issue.
It's a a 6' Premier Ultra-lite. Which I doubt is constructed the same as a surf rod like you're looking for. But I just checked St. Croix site, it's $50 plus my shipping to them to get it fixed now that it's out of warranty.
I had to put replacement tips on all of my St Croix's and my Loomis also. Although all of mine have many years of fishing on them. But now that I think about it, I never had to replace them on any of my Penn Rods! Any local bait shop should be able to put a new tip on for $10.00 or so.
I ordered/picked up 3 setups. All reels are Shimano Baitrunners, one of each size 6000, 8000 and 12000. A 15' Daiwa Sealine, 10' Tica Dolphin and a 9' St Croix Triumph Surf. All are getting braided lines. Can't wait to see how well these cast. This weekend I will get to try them all out.
I might just do it myself. I've put new tips on cheaper rods like Berkely Cherry rods, but I've never had to on my nicer stuff before. Lately I've just been using stainless steel guide rods for my creek fishing set-ups. You can't shatter those!
