GT fishing Rods & Reels & Poppers

[snyper67]

Just wondering on genaral set up for fishing for GT would a Shmano bluewater 10 to 15 kg be enough matched with penn 850mms reel any tips would be great this rod would also be used for snapper fishing out wide also any one tried the poppers on ebay

[Chris_2184]

have a read through this forum >> gt popping . com << and you'll get an idea on what gear to use.

[NAGG]

I recently set up for GT Poppering and it would be considered a light outfit ( but high end) ....... Stella 8000 & Daiwa Saltiga rod - 50lb braid .
Now it's not cheap being worth $1800. As I plan to do a fair bit of this stuff I could justify it ( barely) - The reel will also be used for jigging & lighter game.
The trouble is that GT's are such a punishing fish & need to be stopped ...... and that means locked drags and enormous stresses on rods , reels , lures and terminal tackle. This needs to be taken into consideration otherwise blown reels , popped guides .... & lost fish will be part and parcel - specially if you plan to do this on a regular basis & are likely to tangle with better class fish.
A mate is going to have a crack with more budget orientated gear when we head north on the weekend ....... It will be interesting to see what happens

Chris

[Chris_2184]

That sounds like a nice outfit NAGG, I use a Shimano Saragosa 18000 (with Carbontex drag washers) mounted on a Samurai Reaction Pop-12 rod (60-100lb) and 80lb PowerPro down to a twisted 130lb leader. It's amazing how you can barely pull drag off with your hand yet a good fish can peel it off in a heartbeat!

But back to Snyper67's question, I personally think an 'allrounder' for snapper and GT's is a bit difficult to achieve (depending on the size GT's you intend to target ofcourse). But bare in mind (IMO) you generally need a shorter rod for bottom fishing (under 7ft) and a longer one for popping (over 7ft), also in regards to power you'll either be over-gunned for snapper or under-gunned for GT's if you find an 'in-between'outfit. I ventured down the same path when trying to find an outfit which could do both bottom bashing and GT popping, I ended up with the outfit mentioned above for GT's and a t-curve deep jig 400 for reds.

But thats just me...

[snyper67]

So realy when it comes down to it you cant have everything in one rod whitch i know you can,t its just that if i buy the lighter outfit i will have to be prepaired to lose some fish there is not much chance in me chasing gts on the east coast yamba so you can see my problem just dont whant to spend a lot of money on one out fit for gts maybe ill just go the bluewater 10 to 15kg & sagosa 10000 and see what happens got to remember iam going on a surf trip but the opportunites to do some great fishing are to good my buget is around
$ 500 maybe a bit more what ya reckon ...

[snyper67]

Cheers Nagg let me know how you go on the budget gear would be great to here what outfit your mate is using

[Horse]

You could be getting close to a Saragosa and a Monster Mesh Max 72MH. Is a 24kg rod and its two piece for ease of travel. It would be quite useable back home. If you want to save a bit more go for a Penn Slammer or Spinfisher on a T Curve revolution 763 Travel rod

[FishHunter]

IMHO the Spinfisher is too light in the drag department for GT's. Look at the Fin Nor Offshores for a cheapish reel, stainless gears and 60lb drag with carbon washers standard for around $200

[snyper67]

Just being looking at Daiwa Monster mesmax 72 15kg and Saltist 6500 looks petty good for the price do you think that it is a better set up than the t curve and saragosa the saltist has 33lb drag and holds 400y of 60lb braid got to remember not just chasing gt

[NAGG]

Cheers Nagg let me know how you go on the budget gear would be great to here what outfit your mate is using

I know he will be using an 8000 Stradic on either some beefed up Gutts butt ugly stick or a Strudwick

[Matthew Thompson]

I have a fin nor 6500 off shore spin reel with 80lb braid, pulled a few 15kg+ GTs no probs so far, and its a pretty cheap reel. Check out Nomad Tackle for some good poppers to. Where abouts you fishing for GTs?

[snyper67]

Heading over to the Maldives in July on surf trip on boat for 11days looks like some insane fishing over there

[Daintreeboy]

So realy when it comes down to it you cant have everything in one rod whitch i know you can,t its just that if i buy the lighter outfit i will have to be prepaired to lose some fish there is not much chance in me chasing gts on the east coast yamba so you can see my problem just dont whant to spend a lot of money on one out fit for gts maybe ill just go the bluewater 10 to 15kg & sagosa 10000 and see what happens got to remember iam going on a surf trip but the opportunites to do some great fishing are to good my buget is around
$ 500 maybe a bit more what ya reckon ...

That's not a bad set up to try. Sure if you fish rough ground and the GT fights dirty your done for but otherwise you can play the fish out. Unless you're specifically GT fishing a lot this outfit will do the job.

[snyper67]

Cheers thats what i wanted to here .....:D