bottom fishing combo

[Five O'Clock]

hey all,
looking for a saltwater combo up here in Mass... i want to go fishing for haddock and cod out on Stellwagen bank, fishing in roughly 200-300 feet of water...

looking to see what an inexpensive combo would be that would be able to hold enough line (probably braid for no stretch) and would be powerful enough to bring up some fish from the depths...

any suggestions?

 

[flounderman]

Re: bottom fishing combo

I like Penn. My " big" bottom rig is a 345Gti on a 7' heavy Penn Slammer, with a roller tip. It is spooled with 65# power pro. Reel, rod, line is about $250.00. If this is more gear than you want try Boaters World for a Penn package. Buy something heavy duty. When I was 12 yrs old I would fish for cod in Cape Cod Bay with a hand line. I went to camp near Plymouth and they would take us out on a party boat for $5.00 a head. By the way this was 1957. The only cod I see now is battered and fried. Good luck, Jerry

 

[rdny041285]

Re: bottom fishing combo

I saw a 320GTI Penn combo at wal mart for like $120 and for cod i think that would be more than enough...if you cant find that at wal mart, i would say stay with that reeal or mayme the 330 GTI and any pole stiff enough for cod...the penn gti reels are definitely strong enough to catch most fish...i have both the 320GTI and the 330 GTI and if i were to upgrade to something a little bit bigger, it would be the 345GTI.

 

[tnduc]

Re: bottom fishing combo

Ditto- you cannot go wrong with Penn. Our local outdoor store has Penn Senator rod/reel combos for $169.

 

[Five O'Clock]

Re: bottom fishing combo

i currently have 3 Penn CV8000 spinning reels (pretty heavy duty) that are on 6'6" rods, 2 medium and 1 medium-heavy... but i didnt know if i should get the baitcast reels instead of the spinning

 

[rdny041285]

Re: bottom fishing combo

i would definitely go with conventional...hard to get used to if u have used spining all your life but doesnt take long to learn...

 

[rolmops]

Re: bottom fishing combo

I would go with a Penn rod and reel.The rod not more than 7 feet and a Penn 330 GTI or a 112 or113.
The big thing is to NOT use mono filament except for a 4 to 6 foot leader.There is too much stretch in mono and you will not be able to feel a thing from 200 feet away.Braided wire is the way to go.Most head boat mates hate super braids and they will cut it without even trying to unravel it when there is a mess with other lines.With braided line you will feel every nibble.Haddock has a very soft mouth,it tears as easily as paper.When you feel nibbles on your clam,don't set the hook with a lot of force.Wait a few seconds and only on the second or third nibble set the hook lightly.If it is a cod you will have him anyway,if it is a haddock you will have him only that way.Bring a camera with you,the bank is loaded with whales
I fish a lot on Stellwagen and Cashes Ledge with a 35 footer.

 

[rdny041285]

Re: bottom fishing combo

i love the penn 330 gti also...i reel in bonito all day with that thing and bonito are tought fish to catch....but they are fun to catch and then i hook them up to my penn 6/0 and catch sharks...by the end of the day, my arms are all cramped up.

 

[Five O'Clock]

Re: bottom fishing combo

here's a long shot..... how about a conventional penn reel with left hand retrieve.... i know its tough... i can do it right handed, but i would much much rather prefer left

 

[Five O'Clock]

Re: bottom fishing combo

how does this combo look?

http://www.boatersworld.com/product...-reel-combos;cisalt-water-conventional-combos

 

[rdny041285]

Re: bottom fishing combo

same here but i havnt seen any with left handed retrieval...but it really doesnt take long for right handed retrieval to come around...but definitely go with conventional....i caught 4 sharks on sunday that would never come up using a spinning reel...

 

[rdny041285]

Re: bottom fishing combo

that looks like a good set up to me...one thing i like about it is the level wind....that way you can focus on the reeling with the right hand to get used to that instead of learning to reel with the right and line up your fishing line with your left. 1st starting on conventional, level wind is the way to go

 

[Five O'Clock]

Re: bottom fishing combo

I guess I don't know what "level wind" is.... care to explain?

 

[rdny041285]

Re: bottom fishing combo

no problem, level wind is that little piece the the line goes through before it gets to the spool and moves back and forth "level winding" the line so you dont need to use ur fingers to go back and forth to keep the line even.

 

[Five O'Clock]

Re: bottom fishing combo

ohhh yeah yeah yeah, i know exactly what you're talking about, i just didnt know the name of it.....

clearly i'm not sure about this, but pretty much every casting/conventional reel i've ever used or seen had level wind on it.... isn't it pretty much standard?

 

[rdny041285]

Re: bottom fishing combo

no actually....on some of the "BIG GAME" reels like for sail fish and stuff like that, you wont see level wind because, according to a lot of fisherman, its just another thing that can break...


here is a pretty good example although its kind of hard to see the open face really good...

http://www.boatersworld.com/product...-reel-combos;cisalt-water-conventional-combos

 

[Five O'Clock]

Re: bottom fishing combo

good point

 

[rolmops]

Re: bottom fishing combo

It looks like a fine combo.Both rod and reel are Penn.Seeing how close you are Gloucester,it may be a good idea to go to the Yankee fleet store(Right next to their docks).They have a lot of these rods and reels.There is nothing like getting the feel of a combo,specially when the reel loaded with line weighs 20 some ounces.

 

[rdny041285]

Re: bottom fishing combo

I love my penn 330GTI!

 

[Five O'Clock]

Re: bottom fishing combo

the 330GTi different from the 330GT2?