I had an old high school friend request a "reef/patch fishing for snapper and grouper", he fishes out of his own boat in Florida. The last time I fished saltwater was in 1978 (37 years ago??? YIKES!!!) for blues and flounder off the Jersey Shore. I sent him a message on what specs he likes as to rod length, action, reel and seat, etc. I primarily roll ice rid and local freshwater sticks. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I've been in the mountains too long to know what's going on at the shore anymore. Thank you.

If he uses a fighting belt get him a gimbal, if not get him a rubber butt cap. It makes reef fishing a lot better. My advice is to ask him what pound line he uses and the length of the rods he uses. I know calstar and seeker makes a wide variety of stand up rods, make sure you go with an aluminum reel seat but for a stand up rod I wouldn't go with an aluminum butt. You can use a roller tip and/or a roller stripper guide, but I would only use those for heavier class stand up rods. I personally like a 10" rear foam grip and a 12" foam fore grip. Hope I helped.

A rod no longer than 6' with a lot of backbone will help hustle those fish out of and away from their holes in the reef and the rocks.

[www.floridasportsman.com]

Depends greatly on where he is fishing. So basically.....what waters and depth, how much lead, what type of snappers and groupers, average size of fish, and what pound testline. Also size of boat and type of motors would influence rod length. See if he has a preference there. Of course spinning or conventional gear would make some difference in the build.

Myself I would want two rods. I would like a lighter and more sensitive rod for snapper. Some fish are only a pound or two and rarely are they over 20 pounds. They are such good eating you don't want to miss the light bites. Grouper, on the other hand, are typically caught on the bottom with a lot of lead, a very long leader, and a whole live bait (often a pound of more in size). You drop it down, put it in a holder, and wait for the rod to double over. Typically the drag is screwed down tight and the fish is winched in. No need to "feel" the bite and no finesse involved. Just need a rod that won't break as you might use the boat's motors to pull him out of the rocks.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

I do a fair amount of grouper fishing off North Carolina.

My rods are rainshadow swb80ml and swb80xh. I build them full length, Aluminum gimble, 14" foam butt, 14" foam fwd grip, full #22 or 24 aluminum reel seat, and regular boat guides or turbo guides. No rollers.

I like the longer rods because I can snatch the fish off the bottom 8-10' feet on the hook set.

My reels are tld 25s, torium 30/50 and senator 6/0 reels with 65 and 80 braid. And I like to fish 130 to 950'. (So lead from 12 to 30oz.)

I fished the reefs over this last weekend and work with MANY of the guides and boats down here with their rods.... if he is like most people on the reefs he will be running conventional reels......

The ATX AX670 is the perfect reef/party boat rod. Set it up with a gimbal and cover, a 12" smooth butt or 12" eva rear, an aluminum reel seat and a 12' X-Cut EVA foregrip.

Throw on either turbo guides or virtus heavy guides and you will have a rod that can drag them away from the reef quickly and also gives you a sensitive enough tip to feel them picking at your bait.

And of course set him with the Nano-X line and you have a great combo.

_______________________________
God Bless, Don Morse

800-516-1750 ext. 1207 / don@americantackle.us

Rod Building..... It's What We Do.