New rod and reel combo for soft plastics

[Joshaldo44]

Hey guys am looking at giving soft plastics a go again so am looking for new rod and reel combo. I had a look in the latest bcf catalogue and saw the shimano ax spin pack for 59 or the shimano fd pack for 119. Anyone had any experience with these? Is the fd worth the extra? Cheers

[killitfillit]

You should save a bit longer and spend at least a couple hundred and get a decent nice to use combo that will last.
For a low budget set up i suggest a symetre 1000 reel and a 6'6 to 7 foot graphite rod with some braid.
The nicer it is to use the more you will use it and the more you will catch.

[tunaticer]

Gotta agree with kf there, a Symetre 1000 or 2500 matched to a 1-3 or 2-4 rod is the go. Don't buy extra cheap as they are just that, awful to use and you will not enjoy the experience. Shimano Raiders, Berkley Dropshots, Pflueger Trions are all excellent rods around the $100 to $130 mark and well worth investing in. The Symetre is a good honest reel running at about $140ish area that will give you many years of top service, they handle like a $400 reel and are very nice to use. They are a 6:1 retrieve ratio so you can take the setup out and comfortably spin for macks and tuna as well.

[Mrs Ronnie H]

Hi
I have a 7 ft live fibre 2-4 kg with a small penn slammer, Love it but at the end of the day comes down to personal choice.
Go to your local tackle shop and try a few combinations first before you decide. Save a little longer to get what you really want.
Ronnie

[Joshaldo44]

Thanks heaps for the replies guys, really appreciate it. How much mono should I put on the reel before putting braid on? Is uni knot ok to join it all? Cheers

[Mrs Ronnie H]

Hi
On my slammer I have only a small amount of mono just to cover the reel spool. Same almost with my overhead-- 500 yards of fins and made the rest up with mono. About 10 mts if that. Uni knot is fine to join. i still use a swivel to join my leader-- even on my overhead.

Good luck and let us know what you come up with.
Ronnie.

[softplasticsdude79]

i would definately go a better combo than a cheaper one.

daiwa legalis are great reels and bcf have been doing them for $130 lately.

[Mossy247]

I run a sedona 2500, a diawa crossfire and a pfluger asos all reels under 100 bucks, no need to spends 150 ish. I always used the 60/40 rule, 60% budget on a rod, pfluger trions, shimano raiders all around 110 bucks. 40% on the reels. Look after it and it will look after you. Tight lines - mossy

[Joshaldo44]

Hey guys I grabbed the sedona 2500 with the 7 foot graphite sahara, very happy with it :-). Are size 1/0 gig heads big enough for 5 inch jerk shads and flick baits?

[Mossy247]

Hey guys I grabbed the sedona 2500 with the 7 foot graphite sahara, very happy with it :-). Are size 1/0 gig heads big enough for 5 inch jerk shads and flick baits?

Mate would be going with a 3/0 or 2/0 for a 5 inch profile would be using the 1/0 for the smaller 2/3 inch stuff.
Tight lines - mossy

[Joshaldo44]

Thanks heaps for the help guys, will grab me some 3/0 and 2/0 hooks. Also when I put the fireline on it did not completely fill the spool. Does this matter? Hope not, don't really want to do it again haha.

[Mossy247]

Thanks heaps for the help guys, will grab me some 3/0 and 2/0 hooks. Also when I put the fireline on it did not completely fill the spool. Does this matter? Hope not, don't really want to do it again haha.

Did you lay down any backing line like about 20 meters or so of a mono filament I use an 8lb or so.. (normal old school fishing line) ???? Always a good idea to have backing in case the braid gets down low on a good fish it will start slipping etc, the mono gives it something to bite into. Good chance you'll have spare room on your reel just need to remember that the fireline is pretty thin in diameter and you will be able to get a fair bit of line on. Need to be careful not to overspool them but you'll be fine as I assume your running 150yds of fireline?

[Joshaldo44]

Yeah mate I used 12 pound mono for backing. Put about 15 metres on then I spooled the 150 yards of fireline. Can't wait to get out on the boat and get some flatties

[Joshaldo44]

Ok I ended up grabbing some 1/6 3/0 berkley gigs. Will they be good for the 5 inch plastics in about 2-2.5m of water? Also will the size ones be good for the 3 inch shrimp? Thanks for any help, just trying to get it right. I also have some 1/8 jig heads, will they be heavier enough?

[Jackson 53]

Try to fish as light as possible (1/8 oz is fine) as long as the lure reaches the bottom.

For Flathead you need to get your soft plastics to the bottom so change to heavier jig heads (1/6, 1/4 oz) weights when there is more tidal run.