Heavy or light ?

[Persues]

It’s all starting to come back to me now...

I’ve just bought a load of 40lb mainline and 35lb trace.

Most of my fishing is off the rocks, and the beaches I do fish tend not to need a long cast since most of them have gullies and holes 40 - 60 yards out, depending on the state of the tide.

I’ve never understood the fascination with distance casting - most situations I’ve encountered never needed it.

Basically I’m going from 30lb mainline with a shockleader to 40lb mainline straight through, with no shockleader, with a 35lb trace and a 25lb rotten bottom link.

I usually fish substantial baits on big hooks right through the year because it’s the bigger fish I’m interested in, and I’ve either caught them myself or seen them caught in all weathers, including low tide in bright midday summer sun.

I won’t hit the horizon with this setup but at least I’ll get my gear back most of the time, and I will still be able to hit the sort of range the beach marks I visit require.

40lb straight through with a pulley rig at the business end will still go a long way without too much effort behind it and if the cast is a smooth swing a heavier shock leader won’t be needed.

How do you guys do it ?

I have lighter gear for targeting smaller fish and/or bigger distance but the heavier stuff is what I will be using almost exclusively.

 

[adam.d]

15lb mainline 65-80lb shocker. I sometimes only drop short but I have the option to chuck 1 a bit further if I need to. If I'm fishing anything other than clean sand then I use a pully pennel, I use about 8 different rigs for the cleaner stuff

 

[Sea_Troot]

It’s all starting to come back to me now...

I’ve just bought a load of 40lb mainline and 35lb trace.

Most of my fishing is off the rocks, and the beaches I do fish tend not to need a long cast since most of them have gullies and holes 40 - 60 yards out, depending on the state of the tide.

I’ve never understood the fascination with distance casting - most situations I’ve encountered never needed it.

Basically I’m going from 30lb mainline with a shockleader to 40lb mainline straight through, with no shockleader, with a 35lb trace and a 25lb rotten bottom link.

I usually fish substantial baits on big hooks right through the year because it’s the bigger fish I’m interested in, and I’ve either caught them myself or seen them caught in all weathers, including low tide in bright midday summer sun.

I won’t hit the horizon with this setup but at least I’ll get my gear back most of the time, and I will still be able to hit the sort of range the beach marks I visit require.

40lb straight through with a pulley rig at the business end will still go a long way without too much effort behind it and if the cast is a smooth swing a heavier shock leader won’t be needed.

How do you guys do it ?

I have lighter gear for targeting smaller fish and/or bigger distance but the heavier stuff is what I will be using almost exclusively.

for the beach i use my abu 6500 rocket with 15lb ultima f1 and 50lb leader for heavier stuff i use 40lb mailine and my sl30sh i also use only 6/0 pennel pulley rigs for river and beach. dont target small fish but you will be amazed even how big a small codling mouth can be.

 

[beano]

.

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I used to use 40lb straight through for all my rock fishing but switched to 80lb braid last summer and with that I can fish any venue now.
Not as costly as I first thought 'I think in the long term its been cheaper and its really nice to cast with once you get used to it.
Personally preference I suppose.

 

[Sea_Troot]

I used to use 40lb straight through for all my rock fishing but switched to 80lb braid last summer and with that I can fish any venue now.
Not as costly as I first thought 'I think in the long term its been cheaper and its really nice to cast with once you get used to it.
Personally preference I suppose.

do you use your braid on a multi or F/S

 

[beano]

do you use your braid on a multi or F/S

On my Saltist 30 mate, really smooth cast... but I always use a rubber strip to cover my thump just in case it's whipped off !!! never had any dramas with it tho

 

[CHOPPER]

When I do get to fish its nearly always from the rocks, and my set up is typically 35lb straight through, 60lb leader, 40lb hook length. 4/0 - 5/0 pennel pulley with a yarking bait of some description!!! Kompressor Sport and RTAxcellerator with 7000c3 or Sl30SHX. If I do fish from the beach then its usually with my 525 mag one one of my rods, 20 lb line, 60lb shock leader with a similar terminal set up.

 

[Pete from shields]

I don't really fish rock marks mainly because I don't know them, so I stick to places I do know. I use 15lb mainline with 50lb leader chucking 5oz weights suits me fine.

 

[Persues]

One of the codling I got on Dunstanburgh cliffs the other day was barely 10 inches long but it had contrived to swallow a monster bait on a 6/0 pennel

Even small flatties have easily scoffed 4/0 hooks...

I might look into braid later this year as an all around solution.

 

[Persues]

Out of curiosity, which brands of braid are the ones to go for ?

 

[Rocker]

I use 66lb power pro, 60 lb shockleader down to a 3 way swivel then 50lbs snood/ rig body.
I put an impact shield on the rig body and use 5/0 vikings as they bend out nicely.
Amazing how little gear you lose with this set up.
Oh and my braid is the same diameter as 16lb mono so I can chuck it miles or drop it short. It's on a slosh 20, and I Give it the beans no problems.

 

[beano]

Out of curiosity, which brands of braid are the ones to go for ?

I've always used Whiplash pro mate as it was recommended to me and I use it for the Kayak and spinning aswell, I'm sure other lads will give you feedback on the many others out there on the market.

 

[Sea_Troot]

I've always used Whiplash pro mate as it was recommended to me and I use it for the Kayak and spinning aswell, I'm sure other lads will give you feedback on the many others out there on the market.

do you have to use a mono back on the reel?

 

[Rocker]

Oh and you can't mistake a good cod bite when using braid.
And the sensitivity when feeling for a bite is amazing.
I revert back to mono when fishing in a heavy sea, as the breakers can bounce your rod clean out of the rest.

 

[beano]

I dont as its a spool of 300 yards and it just fits onto the Saltist nicely but on the Saltist 20 I cant fit it all onto the spool but as for my spinning reel its best to underfill your spool as it stops any wind knots when you cast out, but as for the muti I suppose it'll depend on what your spool capacity and make your reel is.

Hope this helps

 

[beano]

Oh and you can't mistake a good cod bite when using braid.
And the sensitivity when feeling for a bite is amazing.
I revert back to mono when fishing in a heavy sea, as the breakers can bounce your rod clean out of the rest.

Deffo theres no give with braid I just hold the rod on the beach in heavy seas and you dont strike into a fish as it'll self hook itself

 

[RL83]

ive always used 15lb main line and 50-60lb shocker! thats all ive ever needed for where i fish
ocassionally ive used 20lb main line but not very often cause to me 15lb line tends to hold in the tide better than 20lb but thats my opinion and i could be talking sh##e haha
different courses eh!

 

[skott]

i use 25lb main and 60lb leader with 30lb traces most times.

 

[g-force]

I generally fish with a good, sturdy 0.5mm/ 30lb line (Tritanium red or Trilene Big Game) and a 60/70lb leader over rough ground, but some venues do suit the "straight through" approach and I have a couple of reels loaded up with 0.6mm (45lb) and no leader for shorter range stuff pretty much as you describe. I find that sort of set up particularly good for the likes of Whitley beach, where there can often be bits of weed floating around and there's nothing worse than losing a fish to the snags 10 yards out when your leader knot jams in the rings!

Only downside really is that the last few yards of your mainline needs checking carefully as it doesn't have the resilience of a heavier leader and I regularly have to trim a few yards off, meaning that after a while the reel needs a refill as the line level has dropped too much. I like to keep my reels brim-full so as to keep as high a speed retrieve as possible; this is where the thinner line works better especially at longer range, but as I rarely chuck the heavier line more than 70/80 yards, keeping them full there's still enough line on to get your gear back quickly if need be.

End gear will be pretty much the same on either set-up;80lb rig body, 40 or 50lb hooklengths & a 20lb rotten bottom (if I'm using one) with hooks that will bend out (I like the Mustad big-eyes in 3/0 - 6/0, or Vikings or such). I use Amnesia for the rotten bottom as it's quite thick, so will take a bit of abrasion & avoid throwing away sinkers unnecessarily, but will still snap easily enough with a bit of rod pressure (vital if you've got a fish on). I'll sometimes make the rig body a bit longer, up to 6ft or so, when fishing without a leader just to help reduce abrasion issues a bit. For heavy ground I usually just use a simple one hook flapper, tied old-school-stylee with a loop-to-loop hooklength so that there are as few bits as possible to throw away (just a personal thing but I don't rate pulley-rigs one bit) and places like Whitley I use a 2 hook flapper on the more mixed-ground areas.

Gary