Lure flicking rod & reel combo ?

[HarryClyne]

I'm all about bait, tried soft plastics for 3 months and had very little luck (though i was landbased at the time) I'm looking to give it another shot but I'm going to give it a real chance this time not just get bored halfway through then change the rig over and throw the castnet out.

Anyway, I want to get a rod + reel combo that is perfect for the job, I fish estuaries generally in the hunt for jacks and flattys.

With the current range available what would everyone recommend as a combo? (feel free to suggest line+leader weight aswell) Value for money in mind - as I'm not sure whether I will maintain interest in it I'd like to spend under $500.

Also what are your go to lures? What are the essentials that everyone should have in their box?

Looking forward to hear the opinions and maybe a few of you have tried and tested some gear to steer clear of.

Cheers,
Harry

[Sevric]

Hi Harry,
For $500 you should get a fairly good mid range / price outfit. In my opinion (others may disagree) I would go a 6kg graphite rod and 2500 sized reel. As an example and making up a reasonable outfit you could use one of Shimano's 2500FJ Stradic (about $200) coupled with one of the nice Samaki Zing rods in 6kg for about the $160 mark. That would leave you enough to fill it with some nice braid of your choice (i use sunline super pe) and a few lures to boot. I would be looking at 20lb line for this outfit. Bit of an overkill for Flathead I know but Jacks are a different story. An outfit like this would also double as a nice bay snapper rod should the opportunity arise. There would be a huge selection in your price range and if you go to a reputable tackle shop with the intention of purchasing a complete outfit with a bit of line and some lures you will probably get a better price. As for leader I would use 12-15lb FC Rock by sunline I think for the flathead and 20lb for Jacks.
Simply purchase good quality equipment, mid range and above and your options will be almost endless. There are plenty of Diawa reels and Shimano rods to choose from at your price point.
Lures are a personal thing. If you had little luck before and are unsure how to use them I would suggest to start with 3 to 5 inch curly tailed grubs then progress to the paddle tailed style of lure. The curly tails do not really need a specific action to be imparted with them to work. Use these till you gain a little more knowledge and confidence simply buy letting them sink to the bottom for your Flathead and slowly retrieve them or a slow lift and let it sink back to the bottom on a 3/8 oz jig head. For Jacks use either hard bodies or plastics with a worm styled hook to avoid the snags. I have a preference for the Z man range of plastics and the TT Headlockz range of jig heads.

[Jigsrule]

Like sevric said, flathead and jacks require different outfits. I catch all my flathead on a 7ft nitro rod, stradic 1000 ci4, 4lb nanofil, 6lb FC leader, tt jighead 1/8oz 1/0, and zman 2.5 inch grubs in pink and motor oil. This outfit is light as a feather but very strong and has landed flattties up to 65cm. The outfit will set you back about $500 but there are plenty of cheaper options out there. Cant help you with a mangrove jack outfit as i have never caught one

[Daintreeboy]

Sevric's post is spot on bar one thing. With the change you can get a top quality cast net for when you want to do some real fishing ;D

[shincism1]

If you're looking for one that will do both. I know my daiwa Aird comes with two spools could spool two different lines and run a a little smaller rod. 2-4kg? Be a bit more fun. Although I have caught a jack on my symetre 1000 with 6lb line. Was sketchy tho.

[Tumbo59]

Hi Harry,

Mate, I am looking for the same thing as you so I contacted a mate who works in the tackle industry. Now his advice to me was to look at the Diawa Generation Black 'Wild Weasel 1 piece and match it with a Diawa Freams 2500 reel and run some 6 to 10 lb braid. The rod is in the 2-6kg range. In his words that would make an excellent quality budget outfit and it should be priced between $300 to $350.

Well, this morning I went for a look at my local tackle shops and of course none of them had that reel or rod in stock but one of the shops had a Diawa Black label SSS6101MLXS in stock and I had a bit of a play with it and a Diawa Caldia, I was most impressed until for the salesman quoted me $620 for the combo. This was well outside what I wanted to spend, but now that I am home and have researched it all out on the internet I want that rod and reel. The rod is rated at 5-12lb.

Think I will see if I can buy that combo a little cheaper on monday then all I have to do now is to get it past the missus.

[TrentC]

I just picked up a great combo at bcf today and happy with the price after quite a few recommendations on here.

Shimano Symetre 2500 reel + Shimano Sahara 3-5kg spin rod (plus a free shimano t-shirt). I'll use this rod for a bit but most likely upgrade to the Pflueger Trion 2-4kg.....nice rod for around $125.

The combo I got was $149 when the reel alone normally costs that.