Good Morning!
A good friend just bought a condo on the beach just south of Melbourne Florida. I would like to build him a spinning surf rod as a house warming gift.
My talents lie in building walleye and northern pike rods for use here in Minnesota and Ontario so any advice would be appreciated.
My only experience with surf fishing was using a 2 ounce cone weight with a circle hook baited with shrimp in Destin. It was a BLAST. Caught some Pompano and a lot of good natured grief from the "regulars".
My questions are:
Can the rod be multi purpose? Fisihing statically like above AND casting?
Length and type? I'm thinking 2 piece for ease of transportation. I've had great luck with Batson and Mudhole blanks.
Handle and fore grip type and length
reel seat size and type.
Guide sizes..double foot?
Underwraps?
This should get me started.. Thanks again

In general...count on about a 10-12' rod capable of casting upwards of 4-6 ounces of lead. Figure around 15# test on the reel. That should get you in the ballpark. From there it depends on how he fishes. Some guys will throw small jigs for pompano with 8# line and some will fish a few sand fleas with a 4 ounce sinker on 20# test.....so it depends.

Down here we don't fish long rods much so while it could be multi-purpose I wouldn't count on it (peir/jetty work maybe). Underwraps and double foot guides are the norm but not required. Other questions depend on spinning reel or convential reel.

Larry,
down there you will still be hitting some great Pompano fishing. I'd be looking at an 11' 2 pc. that will throw 3-5 oz. Our "LSB1322M" should work well for your application. If you are looking for something to fish the inlets with I'd probably look in the 9' - 10' range.

Todd

Regards,
Todd Vivian
Mud Hole Custom Tackle

todd@mudhole.com

I might go a bit different direction and look at the Batson steelhead and salmon blanks in the 9 to 10 1/2 foot range. I fish on the coast of SC (would guess the surf is similar?) and I usually use a 2oz pyramid sinker. Sometimes I have to use 3oz but I can usually do that with a lob cast. I have a 1086 and a 1264 and they both work great for what I do fishing for Pompano, Redfish and Whiteing (Kingfish). On open sandy beaches like SC and FL, I never go over over 15# test, and even go down to 8#. If you use a "surf" blank, I would go with the lighter power blanks. I agree that 2pc is non-negotiable for these longer blanks.

Dittos to what Todd said for bait fishing. You need to be stronger then me to cast a 12' rod with 4 to 5 oz. all day. For jigging I use a Rainshadow SW1088. I can throw a 1 oz to 2 oz jig about 100 yds. You really need to know what reel is going to be used for jigging to get the balance correct. A tip heavy long rod will wear you out in a few casts. I use double footed guides on long bait rods, NGS sizing and spacing. No underwarps. Single footed on jig rods, NGS sizing and spacing and lock wrapped.

here are some Lamiglas graphite, with a nice flat finish on them. Nice finish [www.mudhole.com]

Another thought is if your friend has not done any surf fishing, Google up the area he will be fishing. Check on tackle that is suggested to use. This will give you a starting point as to what to look for in blanks and line etc. If he has, try to find out what he likes.

Bill - willierods.com



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/26/2009 02:54PM by bill boettcher.

I talked at length with a local guy..Thanks for the advice on that... Very helpful and has got me started in the right direction