# surf rod and reel



## steve2 (Jun 2, 2013)

Any opinions on Tsunami rods. Found one at local Dicks for $49. Ten ft. 15 to 40 lb line. Is lighter than ugly stick of same numbers. Also found Okuma reel there with plenty of capacity and baitfeeder switch for $65. so with my $20 discount card is less than $100. Just wondering?


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## RjTheMetalhead (Dec 3, 2011)

Fine for bait soaking off the beach or jigging off the pier


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## steve2 (Jun 2, 2013)

bait soaking is all i will be doing. ty for the input.


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## SmoothLures (Feb 13, 2008)

Tsunamis are fine. Never fished with an Okuma.


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## smoldrn (Sep 10, 2006)

That's the combo I use. Good set up for the $.


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

The Okuma line capacities are WAY off. I have the baitrunner (Avenger 65 I think), and it is way off on capacity. Found that out while spooling it with braid for sharks.
The other thing, make sure the baitrunner is engaged after you flip it, and do so every single time. Or be really quick at running down the beach after them, like me.
Reel should do fine for soaking bait though.


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## steve2 (Jun 2, 2013)

thanks for the replies. Yes is avenger 65. Was planning to back up 300 yrds braid with about 100 of mono. Haha about running down beach. Lost a St. Croix and Penn real last time i was at beach so hoping the bait runner switch works. The Okuma is 7 bearing real and for the price was best i could find locally.


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## SmoothLures (Feb 13, 2008)

Use a loose drag and never lose a spiked rod again.


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

steve2 said:


> thanks for the replies. Yes is avenger 65. Was planning to back up 300 yrds braid with about 100 of mono. Haha about running down beach. Lost a St. Croix and Penn real last time i was at beach so hoping the bait runner switch works. The Okuma is 7 bearing real and for the price was best i could find locally.


That is about exactly what I did. I have the avenger ABF 65, was going to run 300 yards of 65 Power Pro, then run a topshot of 60 BBG mono. When spooling the braid, I spooled with a lot of tension and was not even able to get the whole 300 of 65 lb PP on the reel.
65 PP is about 0.36 mm (I tested with calipers but not micrometer) and the ABF 65 should hold 390 of this. I think I got on maybe 250-270 of braid on and then ran a topshot of about 10-15 yards of mono.
FYI.


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## letmefish (May 23, 2015)

After you make your cast loosen the drag, and use only enough drag to prevent the wave action from pulling out line. That way, when a fish hits he can pull line out fairly easily and not jerk your rod down to Davy Jones locker
............................................................................................................................

Since this thread is about "surf" rods, I'd like to inject something here about what I use and why I use it. If I may of course 

I've used "traditional" surf rods for a long time. After a while though I got tired of catching small fish and never getting to enjoy the fight. I caught so many fish in the 1 to 3 pound range, and never get to feel the fight it was silly. So many times I would reel in my line to check my bait, and see if I had any tangles only to find that I had a fish on the whole time and didn't even know it. Sometimes I felt like I was fishing with a telephone pole or an iron rod. I tried 2 or 3 different poles, but they felt pretty much the same to me. I'm 6 ft - 235 lbs, all skin, muscle, d*ck and balls, so using a heavy setup is not a problem for me 

So I started searching for a solution. Most of the REALLY nice "surf rods" were WAY out of my budget so I had to broaden my search a bit. I was looking for a nice rod that was VERY thin and light weight that would allow me to feel and play even the smallest fish, but still allow me enough power and backbone to land the big ones. One day I found it. It did take me another couple weeks of watching youtube videos and reading articles, and hundreds of forum posts before I decided to take a chance on one. As luck would have it, I found someone locally that has what I was looking for so I didn't have to have it shipped from overseas.

Since I found what I was looking for I don't use "traditional" surf rods any longer, instead I use "CARP" rods like the one's that are very popular in the UK. No, I'm not talking about the cheap mess (to many guides, and the guides are way to small for distance casting) from Bass Pro Shops or Cabela's either. Besides, I don't think they can handle the weight. There's a guy in NC that sells them, and they are not crazy expensive. It appears that big time Carp fishing has really caught on here in the States, who knew. Just google Resistance tackle. This rod I'm using is like fishing with a switch. I can feel minnows nibbling at the bait and still have plenty of backbone to land the big fish.

The guys in the UK are catching 40 pound fish on these things, and dragging them in from 180 yards out. There are tons of videos on youtube featuring these "Carp" rods and "Big Pit Reels". There's even a guy in the UK that can cast a 4oz lead over 200 yards with these skinny "switch" rods. I haven't caught a 40 lbs fish on these yet, but I'm trying The great part is that even a little 1 pound fish is a joy to play around with. If I needed to, I can cast a 4oz lead on a pulley rig 153 yards (laser rangefinder measured) to really reach out there. But why do that though when the fish are usually only 10 to 20 yards out most times anyway right.

Anyway, I just wanted to share that with everyone. Sorry for being a bit long-winded


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## PatapscoDad (Jun 17, 2014)

letmefish said:


> Just google Resistance tackle.


Aww, what a tease! This is their home page currently:



> *******We are temporarily CLOSED for Vacation. We will re-open the evening of Sept 1st. When we re-open we will begin our final drive to close Resistance Tackle with a target date of Sept 30, 2015 as the final day of operating the Web Site. Giving you our Customers one last chance to take advantage of the same low prices we offer today.
> 
> I want to thank you for your patronage,
> 
> Dennis*******


Will definitely check back on the 1st!


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## steve2 (Jun 2, 2013)

Pods, Power Pro 65 test is .36 mm. Stren 20 mono is about .43 mm. My Abf-65b says max of 300 yds 20 mono. Not sure but that looks tome like you couldnt get 300 yds. of 65 braid on it. I put 300 of 30lb. PP and then had room for about 60 yrds of 30lb. Pline floroclear. What kinda rod do you have that would handle 65lb? I made the mistake of getting too strong of line when i first went to braid. Broke a fairly nice Daiwa Sea-line rod on a big ray because of that. Also made the mistake of not using a glove or taped finger the first time i cast it. About cut the end of my index finger off . Lol . You live and learn. And Smoothlures, I thought i did that. Thought drag was set plenty loose. Again live and learn.


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

steve2 said:


> Pods, Power Pro 65 test is .36 mm. Stren 20 mono is about .43 mm. My Abf-65b says max of 300 yds 20 mono. Not sure but that looks tome like you couldnt get 300 yds. of 65 braid on it. I put 300 of 30lb. PP and then had room for about 60 yrds of 30lb. Pline floroclear. What kinda rod do you have that would handle 65lb? I made the mistake of getting too strong of line when i first went to braid. Broke a fairly nice Daiwa Sea-line rod on a big ray because of that. Also made the mistake of not using a glove or taped finger the first time i cast it. About cut the end of my index finger off . Lol . You live and learn. And Smoothlures, I thought i did that. Thought drag was set plenty loose. Again live and learn.


I see, you have the "b" model. I bet you it has the same size spool but is marked accurately. Mine says 390 yards of 15 lb test (0.37 mm).
I just have mine on an Okuma Solaris 12'. I think I stripped off the 65 when I got my big spool of Sufix 832 in 50 lb. Run 60 BBG as a shock leader/topshot. Then spare spool has sufix Tri + in 12 or 14 lb. Cant remember.


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## steve2 (Jun 2, 2013)

Mine says 15 lb. -360yds.


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## letmefish (May 23, 2015)

PatapscoDad said:


> Aww, what a tease! This is their home page currently:
> 
> 
> 
> Will definitely check back on the 1st!


Oh my, I didn't realize that. Guess I should have checked on the website before I posted that. I'll be darned. I had no idea they were closing out. No matter, I'm sure there are other places around to turn to. At least I hope there is  They will be missed for sure.


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