My Rods/Reels - Opinions Please

[BREEZE470]

Would appreciate honesty but no laughing or fighting ...

As most of you know I am really new to this fishing business so obviously haven't spent thousands of dollars on top quality gear but think I have enough for the basics and to learn with... I also bought my kids a rod/reel combo each and hubby bought 2 new rods/reels (higher end Daiwa gear) but mine, mine & MINE are below.

Shimano Lipstick 6'8" (Pink) 3-5kg - an Okuma Femme Fatale Calynn 40 reel with Platypus Lo-Stretch Pink Line (10kg 0.37mm)

Shimano Lipstick 7'0" (Pink) 6-10kg - an Okuma Femme Fatale 55 reel - the reel came as a combo with the Okuma rod (which I gave to my MIL) so the reel has whatever pink line they used .. wouldn't have a clue.

For the Boat I recently bought 2 x PENN Senator Stand Up Sticks, 5'6"' and a 15-24kg rating. 2 x Abu Garcia JK6050 reels with Platypus Platinum 50lb (23kg) line for these.

I also bought 2 spare rods (Surecatch Sensor Tip II - 6' & 10-12kg) with no reels as yet ... Was thinking of setting these 2 rods up with braid line so any suggestions would be appreciated... just nothing over the top $$$ wise please.

And remember - no laughing - I'm just a beginner and I like my pink

[Kleyny]

what are you fishing for?

[sid_fishes]

anybody from little britain
sorry just couldn,t help myself
PINK is nice
SID

[iricangi]

Looks like you have a decent arsenal to cater towards anything you may encounter on your new boat.

Really depends on what your targeting i suppose.

Your 2 abu offshore setups are decent enough to troll and bottom bash with, with pretty much all round lb of line to handle even the bigger fish.

Havn't heard too much about the lipsticks apart from an episode in fishing australia on tv, they seemed to do the job.

How are you liking the okumas? I love my epix80 versatile for pretty much everything. I found though with mono i wasn't getting much performance in the range of cast length, i changed to braid and it was unmatched.

Anyway good luck nice to see what other ppl have in their collections, would be interesting to see who else has different rods.

[BREEZE470]

what are you fishing for?

Fish ... any fish will do


Figured I'd learn 'how' to fish before I start targeting anything specifically but wanted to have a couple of setups to cater for the basics.

I love my Okuma reels but in all honesty that doesn't mean much because I quite literally am a Learner ... my neighbours think it's hilarious that I spend a couple of hours a week out practising my casting (in the yard) with a sinker on the end of the line and I still sux at it ...

[Horse]

Your gear will be fine. Get on the water and use it. Your outfits will knock over almost anything you are likely to encounter. Have fun learning what works and what does not

Cheers

Neil

[BREEZE470]

anybody from little britain
sorry just couldn,t help myself
PINK is nice
SID

Are you making fun of me??
(it's ok ... I didn't/don't even understand it ... LMAO)

No doubt as I get better/more experienced my pink babies will be handed down to my 2 daughters to use ... although my 3yr old already has a little 3ft pink rod

[wilcara]

Hey - fish with whatever you like. I'll let you into a secret here - the only bit the fish sees is the bait. Enjoy yourself and keep practicing, your neighbours will be laughing on the other side of their face soon enough.

Lastly, I think Okuma are a great product and you won't go wrong. Later on you might decide with some experience that you need something bigger or lighter or stiffer or shorter - you will know.

(Just re-read that - keep it clean please!)

[BREEZE470]

Hey - fish with whatever you like. I'll let you into a secret here - the only bit the fish sees is the bait. Enjoy yourself and keep practicing, your neighbours will be laughing on the other side of their face soon enough.

Lastly, I think Okuma are a great product and you won't go wrong. Later on you might decide with some experience that you need something bigger or lighter or stiffer or shorter - you will know.

(Just re-read that - keep it clean please!)

Do I have to keep it clean?? That sounded like it could become a very interesting tangent ... haha ... My hubby just said nearly the exact same thing ... told me not to stress about what I've got and that with more experience I'll understand what he has been going on about ...

[Kleyny]

Now i know your after fish i think you will find in estuary environments you will use the lipsticks more than the other two. They are lighter to use for hours on end and will pick up more of the smaller bites but will also handle allot of the larger fish.

Personally i take the line off a combo and put line that i know and trust. Nothing worse than going out and hooking into a PB and loosing it due to poor quality line. so for roughly 16-20 bucks can save some heart ache down the track.

neil

[BR65]

Hey Fliphher, your gear will be right mate
If I can offer one tip, its to target a certain fish rather than anything that might come along, angler vs dangler if you know what I mean
good luck and have a ball

cheers
brian

[BREEZE470]

Hey Fliphher, your gear will be right mate
If I can offer one tip, its to target a certain fish rather than anything that might come along, angler vs dangler if you know what I mean
good luck and have a ball

cheers
brian

Thanks for the tip Brian ... definately don't want to be a 'dangler'

[tunaticer]

Flippher, are you mostly into bait fishing or getting caught up in the soft plastic craze like most people are lately?

If you are looking into the SP's I would recommend a 2-4kg 7' rod like a berkley dropshot for around $90 and an Okuma efs20 or 30 reel for around the $120 mark and spool it with 6lb braid. Very comfortable to use and not too damaging on the wallet.

If you are baiting the rods you are using will do the job nicely.

Jack.

[BREEZE470]

Flippher, are you mostly into bait fishing or getting caught up in the soft plastic craze like most people are lately?

If you are looking into the SP's I would recommend a 2-4kg 7' rod like a berkley dropshot for around $90 and an Okuma efs20 or 30 reel for around the $120 mark and spool it with 6lb braid. Very comfortable to use and not too damaging on the wallet.

If you are baiting the rods you are using will do the job nicely.

Jack.

Am using bait for the interim ...

Having said that, my 6yr old little boy has taken a shine to the look of the SP's and is spending his pocket money building a collection of Gulp SP's & Squidgies (sp?) suitable for catching bream and the likes. He has his Squidgy DVD and like all little boys 'thinks' he knows it all so I might have to look into that area sooner rather than later.

We'll give it all a try I guess and see what works best for us ... I really appreciate everyones' input, feel as though I am heading in the right direction. Now, just gotta decide what to target!!