Spinning Rods-Choices

[Marky]

Hi all

I am looking for a spinning rod and would like some ideas as there seems to be a wide choice available!
Looking to spend no more than £100, and need something that can be used for Bass fishing from the coast, but I will also use it for stalking pike down my local river.
With respect to casting weights, I want something that would be able to cast between 1 and 3 oz.

Rods so far that I have looked at are the Fox Impressa Plug and Spin, the Shimano Exage 10/11ft, and also the Greys rods.

Recommendations and advice would be gratefully rec'd!!

Thanks all

Mark

[Henry Gilbey]

Mark,

I do some stuff with Greys so that you know...........they make some good spinning rods, some are really good in fact, their upcoming GRXi spinning range for 2007 is nice, I have used the 10' models for plugging and they work well.

But for bass fishing, I reckon one would still have to go a long way to better the Shimano Technium STECDFAX300MH 10’ 15-40g . I have seen it for around £70-80 if that is any help. There is a heavier model if you are really needing to belt 3oz, but I reckon the model here is a fantastic bass plugging rod for shore work.

[Marky]

Thanks Henry, much appreciated

Do you think that 15-40 is about right for most general Bass plugging/spinning?
Forgive me for asking-not sure what would be best-wouldn't like a broom stick, but alternatively would hate to buy a rod that's a bit gutless!

Also having a look at reels-having a look at the shimano spinning reels from Veals which look pretty good-any recommendations also?

Thanks once again
Mark

[woodsy]

i use the greys sea spin, great for summer spinning, also used the rod in the summer for smoothhound, caught a lively 10lbder on hermit, that was fun, good rod.

[Henry Gilbey]

Mark,

for various work-related purposes I am doing a fair bit of research on UK bass fishing at the moment, getting what (little) I know together with info from people I trust implicitly. And funnily enough, I was having a conversation with somebody this morning about ratings on spinning rods etc..

You are right not to want a "gutless" rod, and the Shimano I told you about is an awesome bit of kit and will deal with any bass we are ever going to see. Most of the bass lures we use (topwater, shallow diving etc.) in fact weigh very little, but we need a cross between casting light lures a long way, working them in different ways, and getting fish out of sometimes rough terrain. The Technium is a very "modern" style spinning rod, very "crisp" action etc.

So, yes, to get to the point, I do think that 15-40g is right. You can get much heavier rated rods, and for pollack fishing say I would want the heavier models, but I and a lot of guys I know do like rods at exactly 10', rated around 15-40/50g or so. Perhaps we are missing a trick with our plugging rods rating systems in the UK, but that is another huge subject.

As for reels, I am actually looking around at the moment for a new plugging reel. I have tended to use various Shimano baitrunner reels in the 5000 size, and they are great, but mine have never quite been the same since I went swimming with them in the Bahamas, fixed spools and total submersion in sea water are not that friendly. More and more I am leaning towards better protected front drag fixed spool reels for bassing.

I am seriously leaning towards the Shimano Technium FA I think it is called, either in the 4000 or 5000 size, and I will load it up with 20 or 30lb braid for my plugging. I have used a lot of different makes of fixed spools over the years and I still have not found a brand that touches Shimano yet. I know Dave at Veals mail order does the 5000 Technium FA, I think that is what I will buy (myself for Xmas !!).

I have used the Greys Sea Spin a bit, ok for pollacking off the rocks, but not a plugging rod at all...............I do a lot of work for Greys, but there is never any harm in being honest.

[Flyguy]

I'm new to spinning, coming from a fly background, but the thing I noticed was the difference between weights for spinning rods. Given that I'm trying to keep the rod tip up and working the lure I was surprised how heavy some are? I therefore went for a Greys Missionary as it was one of the lightest 4-pc rods I tried that had a tippy action. But even working this rod continually is tiring.

Flyguy

[rassick]

I have the Grays GRX 4 peice 10ft, used it for spinning and it works very well. Anyone know if its a good plugging rod. Ive just invested in some plugs to try them ive never used them before any advice on how to use/work a plug?

[Asp]

I have the old Greys GRX, a nice bit of kit for a "spinner".

Very good reports of the new Mike Ladle "Surespin2"

asp

[wooky114]

I've got a Shaky Ugly Spin Specimen 1.75lb TC rod, which I use for lure/plug fishing and light work in estuary's etc - you can pick them up for £40 as well!

[Marky]

Thanks everyone for your guidance /help

I have located a dealer local that sells the Shimano rods that you mention Henry-I'll have a look at them over the Christmas break

I also take your points regarding ratings etc.

Thanks once again everyone as always for your excellent help

I'll let you know what I get (if any one's interested.....)

Mark

[dc101]

Mark,

I recently bought a Shimano travel rod. The Exage 2427 MH? Itbreaks down to four pieces, has a reducer - allowing it to be either 9' or 8', comes with a bag and a hard(ish) tube and is a treat to us. All for fifty pounds or so. I plan on using it on holidays and to keep out of sight in the car.

D

[Marky]

Mark,

I recently bought a Shimano travel rod. The Exage 2427 MH? Itbreaks down to four pieces, has a reducer - allowing it to be either 9' or 8', comes with a bag and a hard(ish) tube and is a treat to us. All for fifty pounds or so. I plan on using it on holidays and to keep out of sight in the car.

D

HI DC

Yes, I have seen these travel rods from Shimano-I really like Shimano gear

I have looked at the 10/11 ft version, which I believe is 6 sections.

Just a bit uncertain around the sheer number of pieces-what's it like to use mate?
Also looking at the 4 SURE Spin at Veals which is 4 pieces

Mark

[dc101]

Mark,

Sorry I was wrong - It's 5 pieces plus the reducer. Makes 6 bits, however you only ever use 5 at a time. The reducer replaces the lower section when making the shorter rod - if that makes sense.

I've had no probs with it, although buying it late in the year has meant that it won't get a thoroughly good thrash 'till the Spring.

I'm not an expert (a la Mr Gilbey) , not do I fish every weekend. Therefore for my needs the features of a multi section rod outweigh the downsides. Basically I can't really tell the difference between the 5 piece rod and another two piece I have.

The Shimano is well made and excellently finished - all their kit is you'd probably agree.

[Henry Gilbey]

I am not an expert !!!! I do not even agree with the word, especially in fishing.

But you are right, multi-section rods are the way forward I believe. So much easier to store, transport etc.. and some of them are fantastic.

[bil]

I've treated myself to the Shimano telescopic, plus a cheap reel to leave in the car, plus a small box of lures. That way if I stop off anywhere, I'm up for it, and if the gear gets stolen from the car it's not the end of the world.

That Shimano is TINY when collapsed and is easiyl hidden in the car.

[Manxman]

If you are looking for a good quality spinning rod, at a very reasonable price, that will cast an 18grm - 40grm plugs way out, and will handle an eight pound + bass get in touch with Stan Massey at www.alba-rods.co.uk He also posts on here as Stan M.

He uses the best british made blanks from Harrisons of Liverpool and builds the rod to suit you using the best of kit, Fuji.

I'm sure you will be pleasantly suprised by both the build quality and the price.

[sparkyrichardson]

I was just about to ask this question myself Mark , so thanks a lot for doing it first and most of the leg work. Thanks Henry for the feedback on the shimano rod, just checked their website and it looks certainly like a great bit of kit. Looking at the specs I was warming towards the 11ft model STECDFAX330MH which is still rated 15-40g. Most of my lures are in the 15-30g region which looks fine but will it still manage lures up to 40g (such as the large x-rap) at the top end ok?

As for the reel, I prefer rear drag models. What’s peoples verdicts on the Shimano Baitrunner Aero GTE 5000 or Stradic 4000GTM-RB?

Lastly has anyone else used Veals surespin2? Also looks like a worthy candidate.

Look forward to your advice.

[smiley73]

never tried shimano rods and a little off topic but i bought a beatiful and fairy small shimano spirex 4000rd baitcaster f/s off e-bay for £45 posted.
its a cracking bit of kit with most of the specs of higher priced reels. also fitted with the quickfire single handed cocking lever and fighting drag, a seperate paddle that gives you instant play with the drag settings.
this... paired up with my anywhere estuary makes a superb combo.

the rod and reel together weight zilch and i can flick out anything from 10g rapalas to three ounce rolling weights. it will chuck out a 2oz popper for miles! (well, 60+yrds)

really looking forward to trying the set-up with some one or two ounce ball weights and some saltwater flys, in eel patterns. very high quality rod that will handle all spinning and light ledgering with a nice springy tip and loads of backbone form the middle section down.

cant wait to catch a decent bass on the combo, roll on the spring! :)

h.t.h, al

[groomyd]

I was looking at the Mike Ladle "Surespin2"

Anyone got any experience of it?

[Pugs]

I was looking at the Mike Ladle "Surespin2"

Anyone got any experience of it?

Just bought one a couple of days ago. Not fished with yet but it's a real nice blank, plenty of 'tip action' and should cast out light lures a long way easily...

[sparkyrichardson]

Pugs, Cheers for the info on the surespin. How long is the rods butt section from the reel fitting?

[Pugs]

The reel sits high up on the butt - 19 inches from the bottom of butt. Is that what you meant?

[Pugs]

I've matched it with the new 2007 Shimano Twinpower 4000XT-RB and 30 lb braid. Very light setup.

[sparkyrichardson]

The reel sits high up on the butt - 19 inches from the bottom of butt. Is that what you meant?

Yes, Thanks for that. Its just that I'm used to using a carp rod (longer butt) for plugging.

Let us know what the surespin goes like once you've given it a go. Have you seen any reviews of this rod online any where?

[Pugs]

Yes, Thanks for that. Its just that I'm used to using a carp rod (longer butt) for plugging.

Let us know what the surespin goes like once you've given it a go. Have you seen any reviews of this rod online any where?

I know what you mean about a longer butt section but in all honesty once you have setup the rod and added a reel it feels very natural.

Haven't seen any online reviews yet

Sorry mate: This is the Mike Ladle 10' 4pce 4Sure Spin Mk11 that I'm talking about and NOT the 2 pce

[Jimhendrick]

Hi mark

I am a strong advocate of Shimano gear and use Shimano reels exclusively. The technium reel mentioned in an earlier post is truly a great fishing reel. I have four here that customers have been using for over four seasons - for a full time job thats a lot of hours and the reels still look and work admirably.

Before your purchase i would ask you to take a look at the Stradic FB its slightly more expensive but does have one big advantage over the technium, and for true lure fishing believe me you need this. PM for details

Regarding the tecnium rod although again a very good piece of equipment there are better within the Shimano range more suited to improve your lure fishing. One thing i hate is people buying something then realising its not really right. This advice is based on what i do for a living mark - full time bassfishing guide in Ireland and the US.

drop me a pm for any help needed no probs

Jim
www.bassfishing.ie

[marchster99]

has any1 tried the mustad viking bass rod, as i was lookin at it the other day and it seemed a gd bit of kit

[glasgowdan]

pick up a gresy seaspin and you will almpost certainly buy it. Got a 4lb bass on mine. it weighs 300 grams and casts wonderfully. Lovely rod, best £85 I have ever spent

[lucky]

Before your purchase i would ask you to take a look at the Stradic FB its slightly more expensive but does have one big advantage over the technium, and for true lure fishing believe me you need this.
Hi Jim - what's the advantage you're refering to?

[nomadfl]

I find this thread very interesting about a light rod for casting lures in the sea. What I didn't read was any comments about the different ringing of the rod using PE braid. Most rods...nearly all are ringed for using monofiliment, but there is a growing trend to move over and use PE braid because of it's low diameter which allows the user to use a smaller fixed spool reel with sufficent yardage capacity.

I fish mainly in the Gulf of Mexico in northern Florida, sight fishing for palegic fish. At first when I started using PE braid on a normal fixed spool rod, I was getting so called "wind knots" little knots that formed when casting. I came across an article talking about how Fuji had overcome that problem in a new design of rings (guides) This all came about when, I think it was Daiwa brought out the interline rods, where the PE braid line left the fixed spool reel and went into the inside of the rod. Great idea, but they forgot about water scum getting on the line and clogging the inside of the rod, and you needed a special threading tool to reline the rod ...not a good idea for night fishing,

I went looking for the ultamite light lure rod. I found a 15', 3 pc float match rod, rated at 20 to 30 grms,which had the reel fittings at about where I wanted it sitting. It had small rings on all three sections. I then read up about the new Fuji New Concept Low Riders theory.

Because of the cost of these Low Rider rings, I decided to try and simulate them with a much cheaper ring starting at a size 20, which is reccommended when using PE braid. I removed all the rings (guides) from the butt and middle sections. I mounted my Daiwa Laguna 2000 on the rod, and you will notice now, that Daiwa fixed spool reels have a slant of the spool axis towards the rod. I marked on the rod where this axis of the reel's spool crossed the rod. This is where I put my first guide, which was almost at the top of the butt section. On the second section (middle) I put a size 16, 12, 10 and a size 8. The tip section contained from size 8 to size 5 single leg rings.

On trying the rod out with the Daiwa Laguna 2000, I installed 20 lb, Power Pro PE braid (I think that is 8 lb. mono size. It handled a little over 100 yds of line. And using a 1 oz. ball lead, I was consistantly spooling the reel ...over 100 yds. I said, this is not enough reel. I then purchase a Daiwa Laguna 3500 fixed spool reel. I mounted it on the rod, and found that I would have to change the first guide (size 20) from the butt to the middle section of the rod. I found the new spool axis cross over now was about 1" up above the joint. So then I removed all the rings from the second section, save for the last which I left in place because it was at the top near the joint. I reconfigured the rings and mounted them on the second section.

I tried out the rod, and it works ...no more wind knots, and it cast like you wouldn't believe. I have tried up to a 2 oz. metal lure, and the rod really handles it. One thing I wouldn't do is try an OFF THE GROUND CAST ...to me this would be abusing the rod. Just a normal lure cast using about a 24" drop.

I would like to note that these rods were made for float fishing for salmon and large steelhead trout ...so they can take large fish. This is not a derrick, so you wouldn't try hoisting fish with. When you got a fish on, the rod does all the work.

I have also built 2 other simular rods for different people in other parts of the US.

Nothing stops you from looking at different type of rods for experimenting, whether it is a light carp rod, a sprey salmon rod. If you like the weight and action of a rod ...just visulize what you can do to make it better ...and that's an added plus on those days you can't fish.

Cheers, nomadfl

[havengel]

Here in Norway the most popular way of fishing is lure fishing, and it's been that way for 30-40 years. The same way you've developed beach casting, we've been doin our thing with fixed spools and spin rods. I'm always a little surprised when I see what gear you use for fishing on relatively small fish on the other side of the North Sea, as it is considered too heavy here. A 1-3 oz 12' rod is used here for the heaviest kind of fishing; big salmon, large cod and casting 60-80g pirks.

My first thought when I read what rod you were looking for in the first post, was exactly the rod Henry were suggesting! I would normally go for a rod a foot or two longer, but the shorter rod will have a stiffer tip and have the action for working the plugs the right way. I personally would probably go for an ever lighter rod, my favourite is a 10' 5-25 g and a 12' 10-35 g rod with a 2500 Daiwa reel loaded with 15 lb braid. On this rod I have landed pollack and coalfish to 12 lb. A light rod will be easier to work, you will get a better sensation both with the lure and with how the fish behaves when it attacks the lure. And last but not least, even better sport!

Nomad, really interesting what you write here! I've personally only experienced wind knots when the braid is new (use mostly Power Pro and Fireline), but after a few casts there has been few problems. This is probably because the outer protective layer has been worn off, and the line is getting softer. I've also had some wind knots forming when using braid combined with a stiff, short rod. On long rods this has seldom been a problem. The number of guides and where they are placed on the blank is definetly a factor when approaching this problem.

My favourite braid spinning rod is a 12' Italian rod, Milo, built for the Scandinavian market. It is a rebuilt match rod with many relatively small guides placed close to the blank. The bottom part has been beefed up to get the proper strenght, so instead of beeing sloppy it has a crisp through action. No problem casting a 20g lure past the 100 yd mark, and sensible as if the fish was hooked at your feet.

[stevenhaggerty]

Very good post havengel, best I've read for a long while.

Maybe the reason we use such heavy gear over here is because we have so few fish left that we don't want to risk losing the ones we hook ;)

For what it's worth I really like using my Greys-GRX rod with 8lb line. I'm no expert but it feels spot on when spinning for bass while knee deep in surf.

Regards,

Steve.

[Marky]

Guys
Sorry for delay in responding to posts-work commitments!

Thanks for all your advice-I'll have a look around over the coming weeks, and perhaps let you know what I get and how I get on

Thanks once again

Mark

[kernowlobster]

Interesting posts so far

Personally I use a Berkley Series One Skeletor with a fixed spool reel. It is without doubt the best rod I have ever used for spinning, casting 6-32g I bought it because I want a rod that would cast J-9s a relatively long way and this rod does the job. Also I am not a fan of braid and I use 8-10lb mono depending where I am fishing. I have had a few bass on this rod recently and I have landed them all biggest going to 5lbs.

[NeilF]

I'm always a little surprised when I see what gear you use for fishing on relatively small fish on the other side of the North Sea, as it is considered too heavy here. A 1-3 oz 12' rod is used here for the heaviest kind of fishing; big salmon, large cod and casting 60-80g pirks.


I often think the UK/Ireland experience is fishing heavier than required, probably a carry-over from beachcasting, which seemed to be heavily influenced by the need to cast big distances from the shallow east-coast beaches - never mind that the 6 inch whiting won't register on the tip....

I'm always amazed at the skinny little trigger grip rods of 5-6 ft that Rex Hunt uses (usually off a boat) to cast even decent sized plugs, and the good sized fish that he pulls in on them, usually with the rod bent double. I bought a cheap one handed trigger grip and low profile multiplier on e-bay - can't wait to use it next summer for the pollock, or even mackeral.:)

[Mike]

I've just got a Shakespear Royalty XL 11ft 10-60g, made of carbon & it's very very light I'm going to match it up with my Okuma Interceptor 50 & fish for some bass with plugs.

I got the rod from Spottydog in Stockton, Richard in the shop says he is well impressed with the rod :) so am I :clap3: can't wait to get out with it.
cost £48 :)

[Addy]

Having recently got back into a bit of fishing I got a shakespeare odyssey 9ft telescopic spinning rod.

It was only after a couple of hours of constantly spin-fishing from a cliff that I realised how beautifully balanced the unit was, I really had no fatigue at all.

Unfortunately the build quality wasn't as good as the balance/weight and I snapped the upper section trying to free myself from a snag.

However I'm tempted to get another, it was the kind of rod you could use all day.