Best Rod for a 650C

[fish-n-dive]

Hi all,

Whos got an opinion on the best beach rod that I can match with an Alvey 650C that I bought 14/15 + years ago and is still in the box ......never used?

Cheers

[Just_One_More_Cast]

Hi Fish-n-dive,

Can't give you a specific named rod to buy, but I used to do a lot of beach fishing until I moved inland and am now restricted to 6 monthly trips.

I have two surf rods and two reels - an Alvey 650C like yours and an Alvey 700.

Both my rods were custom made about 10 and 20 years ago. Each time I wanted a rod, I went to a "hands on" tackle store with a good reputation and each time they asked me three main questions:

1. What type of reel
2. What type of fish are you targeting
3. What type of area are you fishing.

There are several basic rules regarding rods for Alveys. They should have a very short butt, and a large fist runner a good distance from the reel seat so that casting is not inhibited.

My first rod is fairly long at 13'6" and heavy to allow for maximum casting with reasonably heavy baits and lures beyond the breakers in need. At the time I also did a lot of rock and sea wall fishing, so I wanted a heavy rod to winch the fish out of the water when necessary.

My newer rod is still 13ft long, but is much lighter. It is much more sporting on smaller fish and brilliant for bream, dart, whiting etc off the beach, and more pleasant to use all day. Alveys are very heavy reels, combine them with a heavy rod and you have a good test for your arms, shoulders and back after a few hours.

That said, my heavier rod probably still gets more use as I like to go out on the sea walls and like to chase bigger tailor, salmon, jewies etc off the beach. The lighter rod would handle most of these, but some of the bigger ones test it. Also when you put on a big bait or lure on the beach, you never know what you may get including sharks, rays etc. The rocks and walls definitely warrant a heavier rod as the bigger fish will bust you off on the rocks quick smart if you don't have the gear to control them.

In summary, find a good rod builder, give them as much info on what you intend to do and the Alvey will serve you well. I'm not yet 40, but have been using them since I was 12 and still believe they cannot be beaten for 90% of fishing on beaches and rocks.

[nigelr]

Depends on your budget and what you are fishing for, but the Wilson Live-Fibre range are hard to beat for 'power to weight', IMO. Make sure whatever you buy has a low winch mount, suited to your Alvey reel, find a decent tackle store with quality advice you can trust.
The Snyderglass Magraphite range are also nice rods that would be worth your looking at, if you can find them.
If you can afford it, go with a custom-built rod using Fuji components on a Live Fibre blank. Let your rod builder know what line weight you are going to use, eg 6kg, 8kg, 10kg etc etc, and also what sort of weights you are going to be casting, to help him determine which blank would suit your needs best.
Personally I like a 13' or 13'6 rod, keeps the line up out of the waves and makes things easier when night fishing!
Cheers!