Surf Combo

[Fishinfanatic115]

Hey guys, I was looking to get into a little surf fishing this summer, and was hoping to get some advice on a combo and gear! I know fishing off of the Jersey shore, it's mostly schoolie stripers and blues, and was hoping to put together a combo that'll give me the best fight with them. The Penn Fierce/Prevail combo caught my eye, since I know Penn's a legendary name in saltwater. Any input? Also, besides bait, what kind of lures you guys usually throw for stripers and blues? I'm totally out of my element with this, being a bass guy, haha... Any advice is appreciated, and thanks in advance!

[darrin]

A great site for striper fisherman is stripersonline.com. Lots of information here. Based on reviews I found there, I got the Daiwa Coastal SP. It's a really nice rod and pretty inexpensive to boot. I have mine paired with a 3000 procyon. I've been throwing the Daiwa SP minnow. Casts like a dream.

[iliketofishman]

How much are you looking to spend is the real question?

I use a Loomis IMX 11' surf with a Stella 6000swb.

[Fishinfanatic115]

I wasn't looking to spend a tremendous amount. More like the range darrin mentioned. Not really close enough to the ocean to surf fish a tremendous amount. Almost willing to go with a steelhead rod just to save some money, but not sure if it has enough backbone.

[darrin]

For what you were describing, I would not get a steelhead rod. Though you can land a striper on a steelhead rod in the surf, all of our hookups have been incidental. For stripers, I am using the medium action Coastal rod (only rated 10-20). It will easily cast my SP minnow. If you are throwing lures, stick to a surf rod.

[GOOD YEAR 71]

I don’t hit surf as often as I would like but will offer suggestion. Given you’ll throw artificial, go for the longest rod you think you’ll be able to comfortably retrieve. Handling a 12” rod nonstop within cast/retrieve cadence is a job for Superman. It’s ideal for chucking cutbait and all, but it’ll wear you out if the idea is to cast several hundred times with it. In my mind, something in or around 9’6” is a good compromise.

Over the years, if I had to pick just one lure for Striper, simple as it sounds, it would be a Rapala Broke Back Rebel. Striper love this lure. They’re cheap and work well at slow retrieve.

[iliketofishman]

Nowadays there are plenty of good surf rods around the $100 mark. One light enough should be no problem casting all day. Having a good reel is more important for me. Sand and saltwater is a killer.

[TFOUR]

Yea, I think the longer the better usually of more importance for a lot of guys is conventional vs. spinning reels. It boils down to preference but you can cast further with a conventional but it usually has a higher learning curve.

[Fishinfanatic115]

Thanks guys! appreciate all the responses! Looks like I'll be going with a rod around 9' and a 5K series spinning reel for the surf next year.

[TFOUR]

Sounds good if your having to make long casts or have a chance at hooking up with some larger species you might want to go with a little more capacity. If weight is your main concern or your casting short distances then 5k, will do ok.