I will be spending a couple of weeks in Florida this February. I hope to do some surf fishing at the Canaveral National Seashore, also known as Playalinda Beach. I have observed people fishing there in previous trips and it seems that the most common catch is a Whiting---nothing very large. I have not tried that type of fishing before, but am looking forward to spending a few hours a day at the beach.

I would like to get a suitable blank for that type of fishing. I have read that the most popular rod for fishing there is in the 8ft-9ft range with a spinning reel designed for 14-20 lb test line

I figure Ineed to get at least a 2 piece blank that I can send from Michigan to Florida.

I am looking for some recommendations on a blank. I'd appreciate any and all advice on a setup for this type of fishing.

Also, it would be great if anyone is familiar with the area and can recommed other fishing spots

Thanks a lot,

Herb

The Forecast SH1086 salmon blank would probably work, the SW967F may be a winner also.

Whatever you do, you don't want to go overboard on length or power. You want something fun to cast and fish with. I assume you won't be just sticking the rod in a sand spike, so make sure you wind up with something that is easy to hold for long periods.

...........

Herb- I just built a Batson/Rainshadow SW967F 8' that would be perfect for your use. It's a 2-piece graphite/fiberglass composite that will take a little abuse including travel. If you're interested, send me an e-mail and I'll send you back my build recipe (anyone else for that matter).

Pete Kornegay
Camden, NC

Herb,

What weight lures or bait with weight is usually thrown for these Whiting? Many Salmon blanks are made for light lure weights, like 3/8 - 5/8th oz.
There are many 8 1/2 and 9 foot blanks which can handle more weight and still make a lightweight rod. Shoot me an email if you want to discuss this further.

Dave

Hi Herb,

You may want to post a question to floridasurffishing.net regarding the type/length of rod you need. In the past the folks I know in Florida tended toward 12' rods with ABU 6500's and 17# line. There has been a shift in Florida to longer rods in the 12' 6" to 13' range. I would think that a 9' blank would be the shortest length desirable for a spinner. The previous US distance record holder using a spinner was Chuck Wilson. I believe he was using a Zziplex Primo Syncho rod (13') for competition. His best cast was 747'.

What I am pointing out is that there is a range of blanks you may want to consider both in length, price and ease of use.

I haven't fished in Florida for about 5 years, but if I recall correctly, whiting are only caught bait fishing. Fishbites were developed in Florida and reports are that they work very well as bait. You can buy either a sheet to cut into the sizes you want or purchase packages of precut pieces. I have used Fishbites successfully in Texas to catch whiting.

My personal recommendation is the Conoflex Baracuda blank. Although it was designed for bait casting, it makes a great spinning rod. I built one for demonstration purposes as a spinning rod and dropped it off at a local tackle shop for testing. The shop manager partially filled a reel with mono and topped it off with 150 yards of 20# braid. When the guys test cast the rod using a 3 ounce sinker, they cast off the entire 150 yards of braid and about 30 yards of mono. During their casts they used the Breakaway Cannon. (Subsequently, I made several sales to the shop owner.)
The Baracuda is 11' 8", very light, casts 1 to 3 ounces, and has a tip over handle ferrule. It should also provide some versatility in catching larger fish as well as catching whiting.

Again, I highly encourage you to ask questions on the various Florida boards.

Hope this helps,
Don

I do that kind of fishing a lot and my main rod right now is a 1264 steelhead rod, which throws 1-2 oz great; however, it overpowers the whiting very easily. The frustrating this is that the rod needed to throw the weight has way more power than needed to fight the fish. Still, I have settled largely on steelhead blanks built into casting blanks for this kind of fishing. I also built a SH1084 spinner rod, rated 3/8 to 3/4 oz, this past summer and it throws 1oz fine; but this not enough weight most of the time. I would look for a 2pc steelhead blank.