Surf Fishing, rod holders or not

[SURF_SNIPER]

Just wondering how other people tend to surf fish

Q. Do you use rod holders in the surf or like to hold your fishing rod?

if you could give a reason/ explanation or theory as to why it would be much appreciated.

Cheers
Drew

[blaze]

I general sit the rod in a pvc tube about 3' long, when I see a bit of interest I pick the rod up, if its a hot bite I hold it all the time. Must try the surf again, havnt been for a couple of years now.
cheers
blaze

[GutterGuide]

It all depends on the surf with me, and how i feel like fishing. If I take two rods i'll have the bigger one for the jewies, big tailor and anything else that in the holder, the other rod will be in hand working the break and gutters for other species with a slight smaller rig. keep bait belonging to the rod in the holder way out back as not to disrupt your fishing with the rod in hand and reduce the chance of hooking up at the same time.

[NeilD]

I use the rod holders at especially night with the heavy gear. It lets me have a sit down and a sip of a cleansing ale. If the surf conditions are fair I will also fish a tailor outfit in the holder while prospecting with a lighter outfit for dart etc.
I use a metal holder as I found the pvc was a good way to see an outfit head to NZ

Neil

[CHRIS_aka_GWH]

i prefer to keep my rod firmly in my hand.

i do though take a rod holder onto the beach (when walking a beach like sth straddie without a 4wd) it stands next to the gear with a lumo stick on it to mark the best point of the gutter (as seen in daylight) & also gives me a place to put the rod when cutting fillets etc.

You gotta have a hand on the reel in the surf, tailor run at you at lot, the surf can suck & pull metres of line ...

[SURF_SNIPER]

good ideas fellas, good points [smiley=cool3.gif]

[straddie]

I only target whiting, dart, tailor and jew from the beach.

Whiting and dart I only use one rod in my hands, if the fishing for those species is that slow that the rod needs to go in a holder I am looking for another piece of beach.

Choppers pretty much the same, one rod throwing metal or a pilly. If things are very slow might throw a second rod in a holder till things warm up then retire it as the bite comes on.

For os tailor and jew at times if the gutter allows use of a holder I will have one set rod and hold and work another in the current area of the gutter, but stay pretty close for when the hit comes.

[SURF_SNIPER]

straddie, you dont like to target bream and tarwhine?

[straddie]

No, not at all Drew, I specifically cast over areas I know they generally sit and speed up my retrieves to avoid them. The spikey buggers and I have an agreement, I try not to catch them and they don't spike me

[SURF_SNIPER]

HAHA ...... we have an agreement to... they spike me and i eat them. its a win win situation

[straddie]

Chris if I am running a rod in a holder I have an inch lumo taped to the tip, and am constantly watching that while fishing the second rod. You learn to recognise a rush from a tailor and respond the same a take.

Drew I much prefer to catch, handle and clean dart over bream, however eating wise there isn't much between them I enjoy them equally.

[jackash]

I prefer to hold my rod.... what always seems to happen is the one in the rod holder goes off, so u run over to that. End up missing that hook up then in your distraction you miss the one on the rod your holding.... Then dont get another bite. haha nah i prefer to hold just feel much more confident in not missing a potential hook up that way, and with the touch dont have to sit there looking at the rod tip all day.
Cheers,
Jackash

[SURF_SNIPER]

i wrap refective tape on my holders and a quick flick with my headlamp up the beach helps me to not leave any behind at night when i move gutters.

I have mostly PVC holders about 1100mm long and a few metal ones.

i find the metal ones to be a little hard on rods compared to the PVC but still work just as well.

I find drillind a 35-40mm hole abot 300mm from the bottom of them helps make it easier to dig them in and keeps them in the ground better.


Jack ash? why are you allways laughing in your posts? guess your a pretty happy fella

Drew

[SURF_SNIPER]

I also use lumo's but i use them about 1foot- 1.5 feet from the tip. this way they dont move around as much from the wave action when your trying to watch them in the darkness yet still buckle over when a big tailor/bream/whiting has a run.

after watching all the glow stick for hours i start to halucinate and think im seeing things, so the less movement the better

[jackash]

hahaha good moood...lifes good////habit