What is the right rod to use while surf fishing? Well the proper answer is,as always,"That depends". Several factors such as target species, beach contour,weather conditions,physical ability and personal budget all play a part. In any case a dedicated surf angler will most likely build an arsenal of rods to coincide with their own circumstances. This guide will review various surf rods and rod blanks from several leading rod manufacturers in an attempt to help meet your needs based upon the factors being faced. Please take into account that this is a general overview and your overall experience may vary. Rods reviewed are CASTING models unless otherwise noted. Not all rod models are made in both casting and spinning version.
BUDGET RODS:
Several Mfrs. have off the shelf rods priced under $150 in both spinning and casting models. The quality can vary since they are mass produced and usually use lower cost reel seats and guides to keep the cost down. Also the rod rating can sometimes be over or understated. The Rod Rating refers to the range of weight being cast (lure or live bait/ sinker) to load the rod correctly. Every rod has an ideal casting weight (sweetspot) within that range which maximizes the cast performance. I have found that many of the budget mfrs. overstate the Rod Rating in order to market the rod as a can-do-all rod. This can hinder your performance in the surf if you are trying to specialize on an intended target fish, since typically the overall action of the rod is a function of the rod rating. Lighter action rods (2-5 oz. rating) are generally prefered for smaller species under 20 lbs like Pompano or Whiting when using bait for example. Medium action rods (rated 3- 8 oz.) are typically better for fish between 20-60 lbs. While Heavier action (6-12 0z ) are more suited for pelagics . Some of the budget rods are better rated than others which will improve your fishing performance. I have selected some rods that are of decent quality and rated them from 1-10 in the budget category based upon build quality, value,ergonomics, and performance based upon mfrs rating.
Daiwa Emcast 10' 3-6 oz . Medium Action
Daiwa does make some very nice rods. This is their lowest priced surf model. For the price it is a good value but tends to load better at 3 oz making it a bit to soft for genereal application. Quality is as good as you will find at this price point but the guides will most likely fail you after some usage. At 10' it will not wear you out but your distance will be limited. OVERALL RATING 7.3
Bass Pro OM 12' 3-60z Medium Action
Bass Pro OM 10' 1-4oz Light Action
Ocean Master series are constructed of high quality components and are priced at the higher end of the budget spectrum. The 10' OM is a great rod for lighter application and seems to have quite a sensitive tip given its overall beefier design. Sweet spot toward the higher end of 3-4 oz.. The 12' may be the best overall rod for smaller and medium size fish in this price range. A bit stiffer at the tip but not a telephone pole. Sweet spot at around 5 oz. and it will get you that needed distance to the bar.Overall very good rods. They previously made an 11' rod 2-5 oz but was recently discontinued. It was amongst my favorite rods.
OVERALL RATING OM 10 8.3
OVERALL RATING OM12 8.
TICA UEHA 12' 4-10 oz. Heavy action
When Tica first came out with these rods a few years back, they were considered by many to be the best bang for the buck for under $100. They now sell for about $140 for the 12' and about $100 for the 10'6'' which still puts them in the budget category for surf rods. Many people ,including myself, flocked to Tica when they first hit the market in the U.S. due to the perceived value and many favorable reccomendations from fellow anglers. I purchased the 12' and 10'6 rods and paired them with Penn 525 mags. The rods appeared well made and clean looking with a nice cork taped butt handle. My first impression was that they felt quite light for being a bit beefier on the tip piece. The rods performed well during the cast but were a bit stiff in action. I found that 5-6 oz was probably the weight range to load the rod with a OTG or overhead cast. It can handle 3-4 oz but not without sacrificing distance . I also think that the rod is over rated on the top end above 8 oz. even with the firmer tip. Since it is a heavier action rod I do not reccomend using it for Pompano or whiting since the bite detection is inadequate. For larger species 10 -60 # the rod holds up well when working the fish especially with the Penn 525 reel. The reel seat is adequate and the guide wraps look nice but the rod guides are lower quality. I have had several instances whereby the ceramic guide inserts have popped and one instance where the guide itself actually split at the top of the ring. If you know how to wrap a rod this is an easy and inexpensive fix but it does take away from it's dependability. Tica has a newer UGSA series of rods that are similiar except that they use a better seat (Fuji DPS) and higher quality guides (Fuji Alconites) which bumps the price up by $30 and out of the budget category
Overall Rating: 7
Other Non Rated
Okuma Solaris 12' 3-8oz Medium Action Price $80
Tsunami 11' 4-6 oz Medium Heavy Action Price $120
Lamiglas 11' 3-8 oz Medium Action Price $100
3 comments:
I am looking for some advice on combos. I spend about a month out of the year in Ormond Beach and am beginning to get into surf fishing. I want a combo that is versatile and will be sensitive enough for smaller, table fish, but also able to cast far enough to hook a decent sized fish as well. I recently picked up a 12' Medium Action Daiwa Emcast along with the ECS 5000 reel that came with the combo. When it arrived at my house, I was a bit surprised at the overall size and strength of the pole. It just doesn't seem like a smaller fish would be much fun to horse in with a combo like this. Perhaps I need an additional light weight combo, but I would like to just begin with the most versatile combo I can find. Do you have any advice or suggestions? I had a gift card to Bass Pro which is why I selected the combo I did. I can return the pole for a smaller version, but not sure what to do. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.
What are you targeting? Whiting ,Pompano?? Look for a good 11-11.5 foot rod rated 2-5 oz. Most off the shelf budget rods tend to be incorrectly rated. What you have is an all around general application rig. If you can afford to have a rod custom wrapped see my review of the Rainshadow. Great Pompano rod but will pull in a 60 lb ray too.
Thanks for advice.
I am in the market for a good all around surf spinning rod. I want to cast bait with this combo. I have pretty much decided on the ABF 65 Okuma reel. (unless you have heard issues on this reel) As always budget is an issue. I only visit the surf one to two weeks a year and have a 9" combo that I picked up for a couple bucks last year and I am looking to get a combo to be able to cast further with 6nBait plus if necessary but would rather not through that much.
I am debating on 12 Okuma Longitude 3-8oz 20-40ib.
and the 11' Okuma Longitude 3-8oz 20-40.
Also have heard great things about OM 12' 6-12oz., but it is a little more than I wanted to spend. Is this rod too aggressive if I wanted to back off.
I guess in short I want something that will handle a large shark / ray but still be an all around combo.
Your suggestion are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
sgibbs@cwpcabinets.com
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