Spinning Rods

[KenChir]

Hi Guys

Does anyone of you find this short guide for spinning rods good enough?

http://www.ehow.com/how_2405_buy-spinning-rod.html

As I am currently trying to pick out differences between these rods and other ones.

Can anyone of you add anything else?

Thanks for da help. 

[sergio]

well it depends on what you're looking for. i know quite a bit about the different kind of reel rods and how to distinguish them and their uses . if u tell me what kind of rod you want , i'll help

[KenChir]

bascially lure casting for barracuda and the like

[Simon G]

hi kenneth my spinning rods are all carbon (dam) on which i have caught countless fish, as a personal opinion i think that the rod has to be light (as it is constantly in your hands) and the reel needs to be smooth so even if you are casting lures with a violent action you dont strain your hands.

[sergio]

i dont know that much about spinning from shore actually. if you had asked about ledgering rods or match rods or bolognese or beachcasters i would have helped because i did LOTS of research before buying mine ! ( money is precious when you're a student about to spend lm 40 on something !) but spinning is the only technique that i have never tried ! however , i think usually spinning rods are quite short to give you better manouvrability while fighting . and i think the action has to be quite soft to prevent hook-pulls when the fish strike the lure.

[KenChir]

thanks guys

[jean]

I did quite a bit of research in order to best determine what type of spinning rod is best. However I must specify that what I am going to write is just my opinion and I never actually managed to get very lucky using this technique, although I didn?t try much (time is always limited when you work full-time). I did the research after purchasing a 1.7meter spinning rod with a very light action (something like 5 ? 15 grams). Seeing that trying to cast a 14gram lure at a good distance (something like the 20 meters) as I was aiming for, seemed almost impossible, I started to look at the info. Especially from Italian sites (seaspin.com & 2anglers.it).

From what I saw, it all depends on what fish you?re aiming to catch. If you going for barracudas its one thing whilst if you going for squid it?s an other. This because it all depends on the lures you are intending to use, and the places you intending to spin from.

To start with basic spinning rods always revolve around the length of 2.75 meters, having heavy action ones getting to 3meters. The length doesn?t get much longer than this because jigging the lures whilst they are in the water is easier & more practical. (Meaning utilizing the rod in order to make the jig swim in different ways ? like an up and down motion so the jig seems as if it?s sprinting and stopping). Hence if you thinking of going for fish such as bass or barracudas I would like at something falling within these parameters.

As to the action of the rod, have a look at the lures first and the places where you want to use them. If you going to cast from some rocky shores or from beaches (for bass or ?serra?) you would want to cast out a little, hence you would look at lures weighing around 20 ? 40 grams. This means that the action of the rod must cater for such weights, therefore trying going for an action of 15 ? 35, or even 20 ? 40 would be a good choice. Whilst on the other hand if you going to be using light lures you would have to find a rod which will allow you to manoeuvre such lures better (something like 5 ? 15 grams for light lures you may use in ports like Sliema or Msida).

One other very important point to take into account is the reel and the lines you going to use. I will elaborate on these points later on      

[jean]

With repsect to the reels once again it depends on the fish, place and obviously also the rod. Primarily what you have to keep in mind is that if the rod and reel combo are heavy, and you going to spin for lets say three hours, you will simply break your hand, get frustrated and you will not have any fun at all. Therefore for spinning you have to look at light well balanced reels. Now one other really important thing is the ratio of the reel, yet I must admit i did not master this well hence if anyone can elaborate on the topic it would be of great help. I am aware that the reel must posses a ratio of 5:1, and i guess the advantage of having such a reel is that you would rotate less and retrieve more and in case of a strike (catch) it helps to administer how the fish is retrieved since the drag is usually left slightly open. Speaking about drags, its ideal to have a reel which has a rear-drag (drag at the bottom). Always in my opinion this eases things out when you battling a fish as you can easily access a rear drag, whilst with other reels your hand might get caught in the line and risk loosing the fish. Spinning reels are usually small and compact since there is no need of filling it with 250 meters of thick line like what we use for rock fishing. You might either want to use a good 0,25 with a good breaking strength as a basic all rounder, or a braided (something like a 0,16 or less) but with a nylon end (similar to a shock leader used in surf casting) as the nylon provides some good stretchiness which would absorb the impact of a strike. Professionals usually by some spare spools and fill them with different lines so that they can adapt to any situation which comes along.

Once again I will sincerely tell you that I had barley any luck but then again I did not practice spinning as it is intended: you move a lot, walk up and down coasts a lot and keep on trying till when your hand falls off. yet I know of a lot of people that got really like even when they used equipment which was not that ideal. Yet having some good equipment helps out a lot, then its dedication, time and luck. Skill would then develop with experience (I hope  )

In case you want to have a look at my rods just go ahead and contact me.

regards

jean