I am new to salt water fishing, and recently bought a Battle II 3000 and Daiwa BG 4500 to do some fishing in inlets and salt water rivers, as well as try out some surf casting. I do realize some bigger reels would've been better for big fish surf casting. I am fishing Cape Cod in the Bass River area.

 

I am wondering two things. 

 

I have seen and read a lot about backing your reels with Mono and mainlining braid and then using a leader. I am wondering what lb test for each of the 3000 and 4500. For each reel, What is the ideal lb test to back mono, mainline braid (lb test), and then leader lb test. What lengths of backing, mainline, leader should I be using for each. Should I use the guide lines on the reel for each? I have seen very varied responses on other posts, which I am assuming is mostly preference.

 

Second thing I am wondering, is what are some of the better lures to use for this type of fishing, and live bait setups. What weights should be used, rigs, etc.

 

Any advice would be great. Thanks!

 

Ric

Edited May 31, 20206 yr by Eric Cro
Clarification for Saltwater help

Here in Florida most of my setups are the same Penn reels. I don't use the mono backing, I just go from braid to leader. I use 15lb braid and 30lb flouro leader. Tie them together with a double uni knot. I fish mainly for red fish and snook. My top three lures are simple a 1/8 oz jig with either a doa or mirror lure paddle tail in white or silver as the trailer, a topwater such as a spook, and gulf shrimp. With that setup I have landed 40 inch snook, tarpon, reds and cudas. Good luck. 

Appreciate the info mrmacwvu1. Very helpful.

Fishing from land is much harder than fishing from a boat so take that into consideration when deciding what tackle to use. In a boat you can get away with using 15 pound test braid but that might not be the best line choice when you are fishing from land in an area with lots of rocks and other obstacles that can break your line. A lot of guys that use 15 pound test braid get break offs often and leave fish with hooks in their mouth, you want to avoid doing that. You also stress the fish too much when you catch them on light line which is another reason you should use at least 30-50 pound test braid when fishing from the shore. With that said I like using 30-50 pound test braid with a heavy mono leader and will use strait mono line in areas with lots of snags. I have caught dozens of +40'' snook, redfish over 45'', tarpon, jacks, barracudas, sharks, and many other big fish while fishing inshore.