# Need Rod advice for Penn 525 Mag



## Bill Lamb (Sep 13, 2007)

I am going to order a new 525 Mag tomorrow for surf fishing. I will be hoping to catch a drum or larger blues with it. Could someone give me some advice on what line would be best and rod to match it. Thanks


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## kingfisherman23 (Dec 14, 2003)

A few options that I like:

1) 14# mono and a 10', 4-8 oz Ocean Master conventional rod. Good for most meium fish out of the surf. Good for casting 6-7oz and bait.

2) 17# mono and an Ocean Master 12' Heavy 6-12. Great for 6-10 n bait. Heavy surf fishing, big drum, cobia, etc.

3) 17# mono and 13' Breakaway HDX. Same as above, but a nicer, longer rod. And twice the price, but lighter.

Just some suggestions. There are lots and _lots_ of rods out there. Literally the best thing you can do is get together with people who own some different setups and try them out. It would suck to follow a suggestion on here and end up with a rod you can't throw or you don't like.

Evan


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## Bill Lamb (Sep 13, 2007)

Thanks Evan,
I am learning so please excuse the dumb questions, why only mono line AND WHAT BRAND, ALSO what does the letter N mean in the phrase 6-10 n bait?


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## fishingadam95 (Oct 6, 2008)

braid on a conventional will work but if you get a bad backlash you lose line and braid is expensive. the best mono is suffix tritianium


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## jobxe327 (Aug 7, 2007)

Bill Lamb said:


> Thanks Evan,
> I am learning so please excuse the dumb questions, why only mono line AND WHAT BRAND, ALSO what does the letter N mean in the phrase 6-10 n bait?


the N would stand for and. he is saying it will throw 6-10oz and a decent sized piece of bait. josh


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## Tacpayne (Dec 20, 2008)

Sent you a PM, your welcome to come over and cast with me sometime. Im in Salisbury. I dont have a lot of factory rods, most are customs, but you are welcome to cast anything I have and see what you like. I second the Ocean Master rods they are nice for the money, Tsunami is also a great value


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## jobxe327 (Aug 7, 2007)

also you might can save a little on the real by looking in the bst forums they are pretty frequintly sold or traded on there. and then you have a little more for the rod. heck you can even find some good deal on bst for heavers too quiet a few custom built rods saleing for less than the price of the blank just a thought for a little higher end stuff. josh


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## Tacpayne (Dec 20, 2008)

jobxe327 said:


> also you might can save a little on the real by looking in the bst forums they are pretty frequintly sold or traded on there. and then you have a little more for the rod. heck you can even find some good deal on bst for heavers too quiet a few custom built rods saleing for less than the price of the blank just a thought for a little higher end stuff. josh


Yep there have been some great deals on on the BST lately


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## kingfisherman23 (Dec 14, 2003)

Mono is more forgiving and easier to cast, IMO, on a conventional. With 14 or 17, the 525 will hold plenty of line to fight most any fish you come up against. Regarding line I like any of the Sufix brands, with my personal favorite being Sufix Tritanium. I believe Tacpayne knows a great little shop where you can pick up a few rolls of that.

Now I get to ask a question. What is BST?

Evan


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## jobxe327 (Aug 7, 2007)

buy sale trade. or i guess on this site its the marketplace. josh


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## Tacpayne (Dec 20, 2008)

kingfisherman23 said:


> Mono is more forgiving and easier to cast, IMO, on a conventional. With 14 or 17, the 525 will hold plenty of line to fight most any fish you come up against. Regarding line I like any of the Sufix brands, with my personal favorite being Sufix Tritanium. I believe Tacpayne knows a great little shop where you can pick up a few rolls of that.
> 
> Now I get to ask a question. What is BST?
> 
> Evan


The marketplace, I sent him a Pm about Flemings


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## Bill Lamb (Sep 13, 2007)

BST...Buy Sell Trade? Anyone know the hours of that shop?


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## Tacpayne (Dec 20, 2008)

Bill Lamb said:


> BST...Buy Sell Trade? Anyone know the hours of that shop?


Thats the name on another fishing site, meant the marketplace here


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## Bill Lamb (Sep 13, 2007)

Thanks to all, great forum with friendly people and good advice. Time 4 bed


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## jobxe327 (Aug 7, 2007)

it is on this web site. its open 24-7 365 if you see somthing you wont post ill take it. i guess if you are just getting into this then you might not know what a good deal on some custom rods would be. but do alittle homework on some of the rods and itll be pretty easy to see i know of 3 rods in the past week that have sold for less than the value of the blank. a wri inferno a wri nitro and a afaw beach which i sold. well and the other two i bought. lol but if you see one on there just check the mfg website for the msrp of the blank and you can find some pretty good deals just have to be pationt and look. you can get good deals some time and some times not. josh


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## Rockfish1 (Apr 8, 2005)

Bill if you're gonna be over here on the coast anytime soon, I can let you throw an assortment of rods... I got Lamiglas, Loomis, OMCPS, AFAW's, CTS and prolly a couple others laying around here... as for reels there's Diawa SHA20, Penn 525's, AVET's in several different sizes, ABU's in several different configurations and Shimano Calcuttas in 4 different sizes, with and without level winds... it'll give you a better idea as to what you might like to get...


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## dave5623 (Apr 16, 2007)

1) 14# mono and a 10', 4-8 oz Ocean Master conventional rod. Good for most meium fish out of the surf. Good for casting 6-7oz and bait.

2) 17# mono and an Ocean Master 12' Heavy 6-12. Great for 6-10 n bait. Heavy surf fishing, big drum, cobia, etc.

I have both of these rods and a 525, albeit the 12' is the Cape Point Special kind, and I really like them both. I feel like the 10' is a bit more manageable (in terms of castability), but you definitely get a bit more distance with the 12'. Bite detection is a bit better with the 10', but if you're going after big fish then it shouldn't be a problem with a 12'


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## kingfisherman23 (Dec 14, 2003)

I'll be completely honest: I started out with a 10' OM and a Penn 525 GS (no mag). I loved the rod, so I went back and bought the 12' 6-12. I threw it a grand total of 3 times before taking it back to BPS and trading it in for a 10'. I hated it. The rod takes a bit of oomph to get it out there, and I just didn't have the ability to throw it. But once I got used to throwing conventionals, I decided that 12' wasn't a bad length. I managed to find a 12' OM Cape Point on this board and snatched it up.

I love the Cape Point, even better than the original OM. But I recommended the regular OM because the Cape Point is hard to find nowadays. But for chucking 5-6oz fishfinders or king anchors off CG, the 10' is still my go-to rod.

Evan


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## rocket (Dec 1, 2008)

The 12' OM Cape Point special is a good rod but you really need at least 8 oz of weight to load it good. I have thrown 10 oz with mine with no problems. It's pretty much a beast of a rod than can slay the large fish but you won't be able to detect an average whiting bite with it. 

There's really no such thing as one all around good setup. I'd go with a 12' heaver for the larger fish and maybe find a cheaper spinning setup for the light/medium bottom fishing. The right spinning combo would also be good for throwing lures. Think something around 9' - 10' that can handle up to 4oz with the sweet spot being in the 1 - 3 oz range.


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## HStew (Jan 8, 2009)

The 10 foot may be easier for someone starting out on conventional, then later get the 12 and keep both like Kngfshmn. Rckt's right also bout having a heavy and a light outfit. You will need both to cover all bases.


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## Bill Lamb (Sep 13, 2007)

*Purchased Saltist 30H & Tsunami Trophy instead.*

Went to the fishermans "Candy Store" today in Salisbury. Mr Fleming helped me choose a surf fishing combo and lots of tackle as well. Prices were better than I expected, the Trophy rod is a 2 PCS 12' TSTSC 1202XH, I did go with the suggested line, Sufix Tritanium Plus 20lb. Hope I made good choices. Now I just need to learn how to use it. Anyone close enough to Salisbury need not look any where else for better prices.


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## rocket (Dec 1, 2008)

Bill Lamb said:


> Went to the fishermans "Candy Store" today in Salisbury. Mr Fleming helped me choose a surf fishing combo and lots of tackle as well. Prices were better than I expected, the Trophy rod is a 2 PCS 12' TSTSC 1202XH, I did go with the suggested line, Sufix Tritanium Plus 20lb. Hope I made good choices. Now I just need to learn how to use it. Anyone close enough to Salisbury need not look any where else for better prices.


You just hooked yourself up with an excellent combo that will serve you well. Good call on the saltist. In my opinion it's slightly better than both the 525 and the sl30sh. You may already know this but just in case... set the spool tension such that if you grab the spool and try to move it back and forth it will have just the slightest amount of play. Too little tension = birdsnest. Too much tension will hurt your distance and can potentially damage the reel. Good luck with the new toy.


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## Bill Lamb (Sep 13, 2007)

Thanks Rocket, know any where I can order good quality fish finder rigs? I do not wish to make them. What hook sizes should I buy if I want to fish for drum with that combo?


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## surfchunker (Apr 10, 2006)

any tackle stores at the beach will have the fish finder rigs ...... at least a 8/0 circle hook 

before casting your reel check to see if it has the brake blocks in it .... probably not ..... start with the red ones in .... and just start casting easy .... don't go for the gold ..... smooth easy cast and follow thru

watch and study these vid's
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAuMsGfQczw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wnqhCpJTVU&feature=related


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## jobxe327 (Aug 7, 2007)

you can get them at most any tackle shop as stated but they are simple and alot cheaper to make. there are even a few how to for drum rigs (fish finder) rigs in the fishing bible. josh


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## Rockfish1 (Apr 8, 2005)

Bill... when you get your shock leader tied on, thread a large snap swivel on, then a plastic bead, bout 5-6mm, tie at least a 100# swivel to the end of your shock leader... tie in a foot of 60-100# leader material and tie your hook to that... I use 6/0 to 10/0 "J" hooks only... your usage may vary...  that's all you need... don't waste your money on pre-tied rigs...


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