[21OffShore]

I am new to this striper fishing craze and I'm getting ready to buy rods and reels for my new boat. I'll be doing most of my fishing in the bay but the ocasional trip to the ocean will happen. My question is.....What rod and reel will best suit my needs? I like the Senator line from Penn, it fits my budget well. Will a 113HL and a 20-30lb rod be too much to feel the fight from a smaller Striper? Will it be big enough for the ocasional Tuna? I was thinking 30lb test. Am I on the right trak or am I lost? Or would I be better off starting with a spin setup like a 8500SS? Thanks

 

[finally]

For a basic inexpensive setup a Penn 209 levelwind and a 15 - 30 lb Ugly Stick will do the trick. The 113HL and that rod is a little heavy. If you want a little better setup, you can still go with the Ugly Stick and get a Shimano Charter Special reel or if you want a spinning setup go with an Ugly Stick and a Shimano Baitrunner 4500. As for line I have become partial to using a braid, I like Spiderwire Stealth in 50lb.

 

[NJ Joe]

I have used a 7 foot 15 to 30 pound Ugly Stick Custom rod with the Shimano 4500 baitrunner spinning reel and 20 pound mono, then 30 pound flourocarbon leader. I have caught striped bass to 38 inches, 35 pound drum and 15 pound bluefish with this combo and love it. The rod tip is light enough that you can see the slight hits from stripers while fishing live bait with an open bail or with the baitrunner on. There is enough line capacity on the reel for a large bass or drum to make a good run. I also like the infinite reverse on the shimano reel, feels very responsive. The rod will bend almost into a circle when a large bass takes that last run away from the boat. I had the rod for a year, but fishing with Skip on the Stalker and learning how to really use it made me appreciate it more.

 

[21OffShore]

What do you think of the Penn Levelwind GTI reels.320 or 330?

 

[PortlyRedhead]

I've personally had three Penn GTI reels melt down in my hands. Two blew up on tarpon in Boca Grande Pass. One died on a bluefin tuna here in NJ. Cruise this thread. We beat this topic about five days ago.

http://www.thebassbarn.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=008915

[ 11-22-2005, 11:29 PM: Message edited by: PortlyRedhead ]

 

[21OffShore]

I when looking at reels, I reely seem to like the Penn 8500SS. Do you think it's too much for what I'm doing? I don't wan't to lose a big fish like I have in the past bass fishing with 4 and 6 pound test and ultra lights. Fish of a lifetime prb.

 

[kenbrown]

The 8500SS is alot of reel! The 6500SS should suffice, if you wanna go that route.

I just recently picked up an Okuma AV80..which actually is overkill..but it's nice to know I have the line capacity for the big boys....

 

[phish4fun]

i use the penn gti 330 and 320 for drum and stripers.

 

[21OffShore]

I just got back from the store, I bought 4 8500SS. Now I'm wondering which pole do you guys like for such a reel. I was thinking a Ugly Stick Big Water 7 foot Med. or H action one piece. Will the Med. be too light for as balenced rig with a reel that wieghs 26 Oz???? And will a pole with the longer handle work with my rod holders and rocket launchers better????

 

[21OffShore]

I was thinking the Penn Slammer SLS-2721H....7 foot one piece, Heavy action 12-25 Lb. I don't know if it will be too much, but I was thinking of running 25 Lb. test, and the medium action runs from 12-20 Lb. and is only 6.6 feet. The extra length would be nice to get around the motor.