Big T

I have tired Stren, Berkley XL, Berkely Trilene Big Game , Silver Thread, Ande, Momoi and Calcutta Saltwater line. As other have said it is what you are comfortable with. For me, that line would have to be Ande and Ande Back Country, I have never had a fish break this line. I once had a Red Drum break Momoi Line which is supposed to be a saltwater offshore line. The others with the exception of maybe Big Game, I just did not like.

Not Trying to steal some one else's thread, but here is an alternative to taking your citica into the saltwtater environment. You could get yourself one of Daiwa's Coastal Advantage biatcasters or Quantum PT Accurist that's made specifically for inshore fishing. I have held both reel in the local tackle shops and both are nice, but I like the Daiwa better. I may try to get one this spring, but I have to sell some freshwater stuff first. Hope this helps. Big T.

floridabassboy, I knwo what you mean, I am lucky that the saltwater baitmonkey that I am dealing with lives inshore. If he lived offshore I would really be in trouble ;D

One word about Penn Reels, if you Buy one, try to find some of the old stock that is still made in the USA, all the newer ones are being made in China. I found some 450 ssg's that were made in the USA, and some 550 ssg's made in China. Another good choice would be the Shimano Spheros series. I would get it in either the 5000 or 6000 series, just for the line capacity. Hope this helps, Tony

The Bait Monkey has been nipping at my heels for a couple weeks now, so yesterday I gave in and bought a cheap spinning rod at Dick's Sporting Goods. Well, the bait monkey started whispering in my ear again, telling me that I did not like the cheap rod. So this morning I took it back that's when it happened. I took a trip to a tackle shop at Carolina Beach and was attacked by a bait monkey that is even more vicious than the fresh water bait monkey. It is his evil salt water cousin. He convinced me to by a 6 1/2 ft. Key Largo rod, and next week I am getting a Penn 450 ssg reel to match it. ;D

I ordered mine two weeks ago, they were not back ordered. At least they did not say they were on back order.

From a link through a previous thread I ordered 5 lures for $5 from BPS, I received them today. The jig and the spinnerbait were BPS housebrand. The lipless crank, the crankbait, and the pencil topwater bait were Lew's Speed Lures. Wonedering if anyone had any of these lures. I like the speed pencil's color. I may change the hooks a use it as saltwater lure.

I believe there was once a Bull Shark caught from the Mississippi River in Illinois.

Hey Hula Popper, Do not feel bad about not catching a small mouth, I have never seen one other than on TV or magazines, we do not have them on the North Carolina Coast. I have caught a lot of the saltwater fish, except for Marlin. I am not sure I want to tangle with a Great White. These guys can get to be the size of small cars and I am not sure if there is a rod and reel strong enough to get them to the boat. ;D

On a previous thread, I had asked about All Star Classics vs. Shimano Compre. I have settled on the Compre, however I need help on deciding which action to get. I was hoping to use it as general purpose rod, however I have plenty of medium and medium heavy spinng rods with a fast tip that could be used for this purpose. I was looking at a medium power, medium fast action for throwing lipless cranks, zara spooks, topwater chuggers, and jerk baits. My question is would this rod work and should I get it in 6'6" or 7'. Any input would be greatly appreciated

I have not tried one but I hear they are pretty good, some of the better guides around the area are using the for inshore saltwater duty. Hope this helps.

I was watching the Carilona Outdoor Journal on TV this morning, to windy to go fishing, anyways these two guys were fishing in small farm pond. They were catching Channel Catfish using persimmons for bait. It seems that the pond had a persimmon tree overhangin the pond, every time a persimmon would fall off the tree these catfish would go into a feeding frenzy. Has anyone ever seen or heard of something like this

I use to never wear a life jacket, however due to back surgery and weak nerves in my left leg I will start wearing one when ever the boat is moving. Also I took a huge wake across the bow of my boat this summer, it litterly put enough water in my 16ft jon boat that while running, there was a 1ft of water in the back of the boat. The wake was the result of two large sportfishers running right behind each other at full speed in the intercoastal waterway. That incident took a little nerve out of me. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Another great video, way to go. ;D There is no fishing going on in SE North Carolina it israining and the wind is blowing. Weather forced a local King Mackeral tourney to be postponed due to high seas. :'(

Great reels for the money, I have a 4000 series that I just acquired. I used to have the 2500 series which most people on here will tell you is the perfect size for bass. I liked that reel but traded it because it was a little small for my needs. My spinning reels see double duty, bass and inshore saltwater. I would probably buy a second one. If you could swing an extra $20 or $30 then I would get the Symtre. Another awesome reel but it is over a $100 is the Stradic. Hope this helps.

A local bait shop near the river where I go fishing alot sells what they call Goldfish but the owner told me they are actually a variety of shiner. I am not sure how accurate he is considering I do not know much about freshwater baitfish. If it were inshore I might could tell the difference.

MDangler14, We have Sheepshead down here in SE Norh Carolina. I don't normally target these guys, but I have gone after them once or twice with my uncle. You are right they are real quick at taking your bait. They have cool teeth also. I forgot to mention Roosterfish, those guys are cool as well.

I think that drug testing is a good idea. You would not want someone who is jacked up on some kind of drug operating a boat at the speeds that most bass boats can run. Anyone who does not think that fishing is not a sport, has no idea what it takes to fish a tournament. I don't really a ton of bass fishing but it would probably be fair to compare it to the physical aspects of fishing offshore. What I mean is that it can be pysically gruelling to fish a King Mackeral tournament when you have to run anywhere from right off the beach to 50-60 miles in a 4-5 chop. You have to be pysically fit to be able to stand the pounding your body takes when fishingin these conditons. Most of the top pros are using 31-35 ft boats, but alot of SKA events have 23 ft and under division. I know that I would be able to do it now, especially after back surgery/

Speadbead, I have an uncle who lives on lake Tacun in Pananma, hopefully one day I make it down there to go fishing peacock bass, if not I guess I will have to hire a guide down around Broward and Dade Counties in South Florida.

Here in Souheastern North Carolina we are blessed with a variety of saltwater species. We have red and black drum, flounder, blue fish , and spainsh mackeral that are all in the estuaries and right along the beach. When it gets hot in late July and August the Ladyfish and the Tarpon show up. If I had the chance to fish for something different I would love to go to South Florida after Peacok Bass of Snook. I also have a yearning to chase landlocked stripers, and would definately like to fish for smallies. We have smalllies in the western part of NC so I may have go to some our lakes for vacation. Roadwarrior- I here you on the saltwater deal, I used to do alot of King Mackeral Fishing the equipment is bulky, and here latley I get sea sick. I have no desire to go big game fishing, I went tuna fishing one time an it like to have broke my arms reeling. I'll stick with the inshore flounder and red drum fishing, maybe some bass action.

Thanks Road Warrior. I missed this thread when I made my original post.

Nope, that is smallest I have at the moment. I may get some smaller ones I am not sure. I don't really Bass fish as much as I do inshore saltwater. I live literally five miles or so from the beach. The lake I fish is a cooling pond for Progress Enegry. I mainly fish there when the water is too cold for the saltwater action, usually late November to early May or June. I may however start going bass fishing more. The intercoastal is starting to get too crowded. I went fishing one day this summer before I had back surgery and I could literally not find a spot where my boat was not be waked by pleasure boaters and jet ski's.

I believe the gill nets are still legal here. Like I said the commercial interest is very powerful in this state. That may change however as recreational fishermen start having to pay for a license. Here is another one for ya. A freshwater license is fifteen dollars,and a saltwater license is fifteen dollars. However you can get a combination salt/fresh water licence for $35 . You would save $5 by buying them seperate. However that should not be surprising since the state had to push back the license progam a year because they were only going to charge one dollar for a day pass. This would not even have paid for the paperwork involved.

I am not really looking for specific setup, I was just wondering if my rods that I use for flounder and red drum would work. Most of them are shimano 4000 series reels with 10 or 12 pound line. I also have an Abu 4600C3 coming from Flechero, that I wanted to use. Thanks for the reponse though. The way you guys were fishing is alot like the way we set out lightlines for King Mackeral while bottom fishing.

I was wondering what kind of tackle you guys were using while fishing with shiners. What size rods, terminal tackle and method of hooking bait. Would my 7' mh rods rated fo 8-17 pound test line work. If anyone else has some info I would greatly appreicate it as well.