# Spinning Reel Surf Distance Casting



## chrly brown

What set up is best for Distance Casting in the Surf with a Spinning Reel?

:fishing:


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## Rob S

Is cash a concern? I would love to try the Daiwa Saltiga but I've heard good reviews out of the EMCAST for distance.


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## Sea Level

Charley, I assume you are speaking fishing distance and not competitive casting. If so, I like a good 10'-11' rod equipped with lowrider guides for throwing lures and a longer 11.5'-13' rod for fishing bait. When I say good rod, there are many out there. A Conoflex Barracuda Thief at 11.5' and faster action throws 2 to 4 ounce lures real well for me. An Anyfish Anywhere 11' "Estuary" model would be just the ticket for throwing 1-3 ounce lures. I have an Anyfish Anywhere "Surf" rod at 13' which I use a spinner on sometimes. With Fuji Lowrider guides I can fish that same rod with a Daiwa Emblem filled with 30# braid line and get nearly the distance I get while fishing a 525 mag on it. Those are just some of my personal favorite spinning rods.

I like my spinning reels with braid, so those must be "braid-friendly", newer technology reels especially when throwing lures. The older technology reels such as Daiwa Black and Gold are durable and will hold up well to surf fishing with bait. I have braid on a couple B&Gs, but they aren't used to throw lures. I like my spinning reels to weigh around 16-18 ounces to balance nicely on the rods I mentioned above.

When you say "best" combination, there is not one in my opinion, but a goodly number. What is best for you depends on your physical dimensions, your preferences and your current skill level vs. projected ability.

You'll probably get a lot of advice on this question -- good luck.


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## fishbait

For 8nBait in the surf, the best combo is a Daiwa Saltiga Ballistic rod paired with a Daiwa Basia QDII spooled up with 17lb test Daiwa Saltiga Braid and using a tapered braid shock leader. Ya can't put together a better spinning combo. Period!


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## markedwards

well sealevel said it best.
so without knowing what you want to do with it i'll say you can do a lot worse than a breakaway(1418) 11'9 and a shimano baitrunner 6500B spooled with 20lb suffix braid and a 40'lb shockleader. this combo can approach 600ft and fish just about any beach at anytime.


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## billr87

mark. have you tried the breahaway HDX, with the tournament butt? you could throw that suckeer out of sight. i cast it about 550 one evening last fall. you might break a record.


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## sprtsracer

Just ordered a Daiwa Emblem Pro 5500 from Greg with 30lb PP. Next purchase will be the Saltiga Surf. As for rods, they'll have to wait a bit. Have a couple of Daiwas now,(One Sealine and One Eliminator) so I'll use one for my Stradic 5000 and the other for the Emblem Pro, until I can afford the Ballistic and a custom AFAW. Only problem is that I want a couple of the AFAW's for my conventionals as well. Anyone wanna loan me some money???


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## saltfisher1

An Okuma Avenger AV-80 on a 9 ft medium action rod will get you out there...Rock you bait back and forth like a pendulum on a clock and let it fly when its just starting away from you.


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## CrawFish

With spinners, invest your money in the rod. I think a good rod and a decent reel get you more distance than a expensive reel and cheap rod. But your best investment would still be taking a casting class. Spend an hour with a distance caster will gain an average of 20yards.


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## sprtsracer

CrawFish said:


> With spinners, invest your money in the rod. I think a good rod and a decent reel get you more distance than a expensive reel and cheap rod. But your best investment would still be taking a casting class. Spend an hour with a distance caster will gain an average of 20yards.


Well...I agree to a point. The Daiwa rods are good, but there are better. That being said, the object is "catching" fish, not hooking them, so I prefer a reel that will allow me to play them, fight them and ultimately "land" them. Otherwise, I'd have a $500 rod and a Silstar, Pinnacle, Zebco or Shakespeare reel. So far, the Daiwa's are, as you say, "good" rods" and the Stradic and Emblem Pro are "decent" reels, so I guess I fit that category. As far as the casting class goes, that's in my VERY near future, and GREAT advice for anyone! Ya can't beat 1 on 1 instruction!


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## Brooksobx

11' Team Daiwa rod, Daiwa Emblem Pro 5000 loaded with 20# Fireline will let you fish shoulder to shoulder with the Big Dogs for about $350.


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## CrawFish

sprtsracer said:


> . Otherwise, I'd have a $500 rod and a Silstar, Pinnacle, Zebco or Shakespeare reel.


I said decent not junk.  And if you're going to use braid, get a reel that lay the line down nice and even. Wind knot is a terrible thing.


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## chrly brown

What does everyone think about a Diawa Emblem Pro 5500, 20lb. Sufix Tritanium and a 10' Ugly Stick (Shakespear) Rod?


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## eric

no,

stick with daiwas, good quality good price.

if you plan to use a emblem, get braid.
maybe fireline 20 or sufix braid 30

then get a daiwa emcast surf rod.
i now have 3 emcasts because i was able to buy that at a great price. love them.
extremely light yet is able to nail 6nbait with no problems.

you can buy the emcast rods for about 100$ give or take.

then get a breakaway cannon, about 20$ .

thats all you need. great setup about 300$ total with the braid.


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## markedwards

hi bill how ya doin? yep an hdx with a tourney butt is on my to do list and i think a record could fall too. i really need to practic though and these 2 boys can really cut down on practice time.


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## billr87

hey mark, i have 2 but they are set up for my ultra mags. that ia what i uded in texas. the evening i hit that one big lou got off a monster shot. then we went to nick's and had cook out
.my [only] grandson is a baseball nut[he's 16 ]and has been practing all winter. they are now practing at the high school for the spring. he made the varsity last year and will have a full year coming up.


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## saltfisher1

*reels*

I have always invested more money in the reels than in the rods...I can find really good rods for under $30 as to where the reels cost 50 to 150.

I can not see paying more than 150 to 180 for a surf setup especially when the cheaper stuff will last just as long if you take care of it. I have this one setup that I payed 90$ for and its 16 years old and has caught thousands of fish literally(still works like new).

I have borrowed a friends high dollar rod in the past and it didnt cast any better than the walmart/kmart/flea market rods.

Just my opinion.


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## INDIO

saltfisher1 said:


> I have always invested more money in the reels than in the rods...I can find really good rods for under $30 as to where the reels cost 50 to 150.
> 
> I can not see paying more than 150 to 180 for a surf setup especially when the cheaper stuff will last just as long if you take care of it. I have this one setup that I payed 90$ for and its 16 years old and has caught thousands of fish literally(still works like new).
> 
> I have borrowed a friends high dollar rod in the past and it didnt cast any better than the walmart/kmart/flea market rods.
> 
> Just my opinion.


i guess like me , you need to go to casting competion and see for yourself.i have seen some cast. truly amazing at they can do with proper technique and equipment. i heard some can cast great with a simple broom stick, further than me with a broom stick thats for sure.

see to belive. 

opcorn:


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## chrly brown

OOERIC, 

What is a Breakaway Cannon?


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## BAYFISHER

*breakaway cannon is..............*

http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0002148315671a.shtml

click the safe link above to see and understand what might give you between 30-50% more distance without the "slice N diced" fingers.opcorn:


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## Rob S

chrly brown said:


> What does everyone think about a Diawa Emblem Pro 5500, 20lb. Sufix Tritanium and a 10' Ugly Stick (Shakespear) Rod?


Make sure it's one of the US custom's, the regular ugly stick is pretty heavy. Not sure your goal (bait or if you plan on using it for plugging, ect) but my buddy has a 12ft bigwater ugly stick and I swear it weighs a couple lbs, whereas my Lamiglas 10ft surfcaster is extremely light. If you check ebay you can find some great deals. I would put the retailer name, but would probably get in trouble. I got my lami for 46 plus 18.50 shipping. Not the highest end lami but it gets the job done for me.


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## atsealevel

*also...*

the 12' shakespear is like fishing with a rubber band... Too loose IMO:--|.Now my buddy just bought an 11' emcast around $80.matched with a baitrunner 4500 and it casts like a dream. I was shocked at how light the rig was.


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## PEEWEE

*Spinning Surf ?*

Check out the 12' Tica tc2 graphite extra heavy, fast action rated 4-10 oz., paired w/ a Penn 6500ss.. Its a little over rated for weight but a great spin surf combo...


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## Teddy

*I agree*



CrawFish said:


> With spinners, invest your money in the rod. I think a good rod and a decent reel get you more distance than a expensive reel and cheap rod. But your best investment would still be taking a casting class. Spend an hour with a distance caster will gain an average of 20yards.




With that being said find someone here that will let yu test out the equipment before hand. If outta question then if yu plan on surf fishing and want spinning at least 11ft rod, A friend fishes them Penns forget the name Ocean masters maybe as for reels well HellRay is the King of the Spinning Reels I would pm him for advice Yet they can get expensive. If you think you got a store bought rod that is a good surf casting rod think again 11 ft min and up with heavy action should cover your bases for the upper east coast. I have a few yu can test here in MD.


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## Centralpafish

CB, where are you in PA? I'm allways looking for another fishin' buddy. Steve (Squalus) and I are hitting SPSP on April 12th and going to OBX for a few days. I have a variety of reels/rods you can try if you'd care to hook up sometime. Also plan on hitting SJ with Junkmansj or the Dogg as well as a couple trips to Barnegat Light area with my brother throughout the summer. Let's try to hook up. OH yeah, there's also a 2 week vacation to OBX in June with my wife. Will be seeing a few other guys on that trip too. Wife is very understanding or wants someome else for me to wake up at 5 AM. Philly Jack


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## Slammer

I thought the Daiwa Surf Basia was the King of spinning reels when it comes to distance


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## sprtsracer

Why is this thread showing it has two pages but I can only get to page 1? Hmmmm...nothing on page 2. Guess that's why.


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## chrly brown

*Thanks*



BAYFISHER said:


> http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0002148315671a.shtml
> 
> click the safe link above to see and understand what might give you between 30-50% more distance without the "slice N diced" fingers.opcorn:


I took a casting class last year and it has really increased my cast but I am going to try the Cannon. Thanks for the info!


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## terpfan

BAYFISHER said:


> http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0002148315671a.shtml
> 
> click the safe link above to see and understand what might give you between 30-50% more distance without the "slice N diced" fingers.opcorn:


Cannon does not give you extra distance. it just let you put more power into your cast without worring about your finger. just use glove and you'll be fine.


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## fish bucket

whether the cannon gives extra distance is debatable.the fact that it is much more conveniant than a glove or tape is not.
with the cannon you leave the drag set for fishing as the cannon takes all the pressure off the drag.with a glove or tape you have to tighten and loosen the drag every cast.
also gloves and tape have rough surfaces which over time can abraid the braid whereas the cannon has a very smooth surface.


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## Brooksobx

Fish Bucket, you lost me on that "adjusting the drag" on every cast if you don't use the canon. I never, ever touch my drag unless I hook a big fish in a Tournament, then I'll loosen it a little so as not to break off a high scoring fish. 
When your bail is open, what does the drag do?


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## sprtsracer

Brooksobx said:


> Fish Bucket, you lost me on that "adjusting the drag" on every cast if you don't use the canon. I never, ever touch my drag unless I hook a big fish in a Tournament, then I'll loosen it a little so as not to break off a high scoring fish.
> When your bail is open, what does the drag do?


Welcome to Mr. Rogers Neighborhood...can you say, "premature bail closing" Boys and Girls??


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## Brooksobx

What's to keep the bail from closing when you cast with a canon? Are you still going to loosen your drag everytime you cast with a canon? And by the way, all of us smart fishermen in Mr. Roger's neighborhood either buy a new reel, adjust the tension on the bail return spring or just take the bail off when it starts closing prematurely, not tighten and loosen our drags 50 times a day on every cast for the life of the reel!!!


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## ReelinRod

Brooksobx said:


> Fish Bucket, you lost me on that "adjusting the drag" on every cast if you don't use the canon. . . .
> When your bail is open, what does the drag do?


When you are powercasting 5+ ozs you need to bind the drag down all the way so the spool doesn't slip on the cast. If the spool lets line out while you are in mid-hit not only do you lose power but the braid acts as a rope saw on the tip of your booger digger.

With the cannon you take two or three wraps around the capstan and you can cast with a loose spool; the pressure of the cast never pulls on the spool.


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## sprtsracer

Brooksobx said:


> What's to keep the bail from closing when you cast with a canon? Are you still going to loosen your drag everytime you cast with a canon? And by the way, all of us smart fishermen in Mr. Roger's neighborhood either buy a new reel, adjust the tension on the bail return spring or just take the bail off when it starts closing prematurely, not tighten and loosen our drags 50 times a day on every cast for the life of the reel!!!


Sorry...I was making a joke. I forgot that all the OBX guys were smart fishermen as opposed to the rest of us who are *stupid* and insist on maintaining the reels we have instead of buying new or removing our bails. We are talking throwing weight here, not metal, and if you are tossing out 50 times a day when soaking bait, then something is wrong. My apologies!


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## Brooksobx

OK Sgt. Slough, thanks for your explanation on this canon issue. I'm a fairly good size guy that uses 100% braid and always has a leather finger guard on when I cast. I have never had that line slippage problem when casting but can see where some people might not have the strength to pinch the line tight enough with the heavier weights. You would never use a canon for throwing a mirrolure with a 7' trout rod or a 3oz hopkins on a 10' surf rig because everybody can handle that with their own finger pressure, but the canon is the great equalizer when you have to throw heavier than what you can normally handle.


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## fish bucket

thanks sarge,you took the words right out of my mouth.
sprtsracer,soaking bait and fishing with bait are two different animals.i easily cast 50 times when bait fishing.most bait washes out in 5-10 minutes so i change bait in that time frame.in the course of a 6 hour tournament,thats at least 50 casts.


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## sprtsracer

fish bucket said:


> thanks sarge,you took the words right out of my mouth.
> sprtsracer,soaking bait and fishing with bait are two different animals.i easily cast 50 times when bait fishing.most bait washes out in 5-10 minutes so i change bait in that time frame.in the course of a 6 hour tournament,thats at least 50 casts.


Agreed...if you are fishing a tournamernt! I'm talking nice, easy, leisurely fishing here with no pressure. Changing bait every 10 minutes and re-casting is not fun for me. I'm looking at catching fish for the table and to have fun, not for winning a tournament. To be quite honest, if I had to change my bait every 10 minutes and recast, all the fun is gone, not to mention the wasted bait. No offense...I just like to relax when I'm fishing...not put myself under any pressure. I've caught plenty of fish on bait that's been out there 30 minutes or longer. Just had to wait until conditions were right, etc. After so long, however, it's time to change spots...not change bait. Three rods with three different baits at three different distances with no action means change places. Maybe one of these days, I'll enter a tourney, but I'm having fun doing what I'm doing now. Now if I can get these dang tourists out of my way, I'll have even more fun!


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## Brooksobx

Hey Fish Bucket, I'm with you. Some of us are fishermen and others just fish. I also never said that the OBX fishermen were all smart and everybody else was stupid, believe me, after only a week on this site I've got the stupid narrowed down to just a select few!!! Charley Brown, did you ever decide on a long casting,spinning surf rig? Things kind of got side-tracked.


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## rick1

hello everyone I'm new at messaging as well as surf fishing


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## lrs

I would like to see shimano come out with a large capacity spinning reel, with a "quick trigger" type release.


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## chrly brown

*Kind of*

I settled on a Diawa 5000 Emblem reel and I am still looking at rods. There is a rod (don't remember the name) you can adjust where the reel sits and it is very light. 




Brooksobx said:


> Hey Fish Bucket, I'm with you. Some of us are fishermen and others just fish. I also never said that the OBX fishermen were all smart and everybody else was stupid, believe me, after only a week on this site I've got the stupid narrowed down to just a select few!!! Charley Brown, did you ever decide on a long casting,spinning surf rig? Things kind of got side-tracked.


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## ReelinRod

chrly brown said:


> I settled on a Diawa 5000 Emblem reel and I am still looking at rods. There is a rod (don't remember the name) you can adjust where the reel sits and it is very light.


Good reel and I think the rod you are thinking of is the Shimano Tiralejo. They are a bit pricey though, $300 to $330 for the 10 to 12ftrs. For about that money you could get a custom Rainshadow 1418/ 1507 / 1508 with Alconite Lowriders and the reel seat exactly where you want it.


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## eric

Sgt_Slough said:


> Good reel and I think the rod you are thinking of is the Shimano Tiralejo. They are a bit pricey though, $300 to $330 for the 10 to 12ftrs. For about that money you could get a custom Rainshadow 1418/ 1507 / 1508 with Alconite Lowriders and the reel seat exactly where you want it.


but! you cant beat the tiralejo's lifetime over the counter warranty.. lol

my only really really big qualm with the factory tiralejo rods is that the striper guide is very very close to the reel. 
and its mounted facing the wrong way. 

because its so close to the grips, it might actually do bad things for spinners

i havent looked at it for a long time, but i think the tiralejos are all dual rung.


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