surf casting

chrisham61 · Post by **chrisham61** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:21 am

i went surf fishing this weekend and bought some dual hook setups from local tackle vendor the snaps on the snap swivels got tore off three times i replaced these with forged split rings and never hooked anouther big fish i have several large spinning reels dam 500 mitchell 488 302 402s and several vintage plueger surf reels i am going to load some of these up with 65 lb braid what are the drawbacks of using this line other than cost a fellow next to me caught a 6 foot shark and anouther fellow had all the line stripped off his penn 320

Bill in Port Orange · Post by **Bill in Port Orange** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 7:54 pm

Hi Chris ,

Make your own rigs and leaders , not only is it cheaper , the knots will stay tied and you can use good hardware . With braid you will be able to get almost twice as much line on your reels , make sure the rollers on the bails work good or the braid will cut into them over time , it will cut into the guides on your rods as well if they don't have a hard insert in them . Braid will also cut your fingers good if you get it wrapped around them with a fish on . The lighter braid will get wind knots but you won't have that problem with 65lb . Where are you fishing , we had a record Pompano run here in FL , I was catching them regularly until last week . I surf fish at least once a week , this week it was Ladyfish and Spot .

Bill

fishbugman · Post by **fishbugman** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 9:55 pm

I have spectra 50 or 65lb on almost everything I own. While the stuff is almost impossible to break from pulling too hard with a fish on, it will break from shock, like when you try to set a hook. With mono, you have to set a hook first to remove all stretch and slack from the line and then to set the hook. To remedy the shock problem, the manufacturers recommend not setting the hook, but just reeling thru the bite, which in turn sets the hook without the shock. It takes a little time to learn to not set the hook, but eventually becomes habit. Other pluses for spectra are no memory (a great feature when it comes to spinning reels), the thin diameter of the line which allows using a smaller lighter reel to carry the same yardage of mono line and it last a long time (not sure how long but I have had the same spectra on reels that get used 60-100 times a year for 7-8 years now and the line is still fine) and best of all, with no stretch the bite sensitivity is incredible. Small bites feel like big bites and big bites rock your world. Make sure you have some good scissors or cutters...I can bite thru 130lb test mono, but can't chew thru 50lb spectra.

chrisham61 · Post by **chrisham61** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 3:30 pm

on all the spinning reels i have the bail roller is stationary i do have mitchell pums that will fit302s and 402s do i need to use these instead of the larger capacity 488s and gk 28s

chrisham61 · Post by **chrisham61** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 3:34 pm

i was fishing in port st joe florida i loved it and bought my salt licence for a year because i know i will be going back

Bill in Port Orange · Post by **Bill in Port Orange** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 7:42 pm

Try the braid on the reels without the roller bails , just keep an eye on them . I use lighter line and have had it cut into guides over time . I fish in the Daytona area .