BY MIKE STEVENS
CARLSBAD— As a Southern California native, surf fishing has all the time been in my again pocket as a neighborhood, low-cost fishing choice that required minimal gear and planning. My rod-and-reel outfit was all the time simply no matter freshwater medium-light spinning outfit was closest to being retired from finesse-bass obligation. Whereas that’s what I went with for the higher a part of three a long time with respectable outcomes, I all the time had a Jack-of-all-trades, grasp of none feeling when it got here to these outfits, and it wasn’t till this summer season that I made a decision to next-level my seashore recreation.
The primary mission was to place collectively a rod-and-reel outfit devoted to the lighter facet of West Coast surf fishing. For me, meaning Carolina-rig fishing on 6- or 8-pound line with sand crabs or numerous Berkley Gulp! merchandise and casting smaller spoons, swimbaits, grubs and jerkbaits. I needed it longer than the 7-foot drop-shot rods I beforehand employed however not as “clumsy” feeling because the salmon/steelhead rods some surf guys wish to run for such a fishing. For the reel, I simply needed a easy operator that might deal with salt and sand in contrast to anything I used.
What I landed on was an 8-foot, 6-inch Penn Carnage III Spinning Surf Rod that delivers that size whereas sustaining that finesse really feel and solely sporting a ranking of 4- to 10-pound line, making my 6- to 8-pound work actually hit the candy spot. It’s a 2-piece stick so it may be stowed away when wanted, and whereas the motion is listed as “average” by Penn, to me it feels nearer to quick.
Together with the checklist of normal options that make the rod cool, there have been just a few that stood out to me proper off the bat on its first subject take a look at. For one, the grip is mainly rubber shrink tubing that’s loads lower-profile than a foam or cork grip. That made it really feel like I used to be actually simply holding the clean which I appreciated for sensitivity functions. The small foregrip (above the reel) has a ripple texture that makes it comfy to carry when strolling up and down the seashore. There may be additionally a knob-type rod butt that’s simple to hold on to for a two-handed solid, and that’s a pleasant contact. On one hand I’d have appreciated these rods to be geared up with a hook keeper, however on the opposite I recall studying about how severe East Coast surf guys choose life with out them, one much less factor to get tangled with.
That rod balanced completely with Penn’s Spinfisher VI 2500 which is the smallest within the collection that includes a completely sealed HT-100 drag system and gearbox that saltwater’s not moving into. It delivers 15 kilos of max drag which I’ll by no means want with gentle fluorocarbon, nevertheless it’s good to understand it’s there if I have to fish straight braid for one thing in a pinch.
It’s not an affordable combo, however for the man who needs to dial issues up with a surf outfit that’s really constructed for saltwater and will probably be a performer for years to come back, it’s effectively value it in the long term. Subsequent up, I plan to do the identical sort of improve for heavier (for me anyway) surf fishing for halibut, bass, and possibly a type of wayward SoCal stripers. Keep tuned for that one.
For more information on the setup and different optoins, go to PennFishing.com.
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