[BigJeff823]

I baught a coventional surf rod the other day;it's a 10'Oceanmaster(10-30lb?test 1-4oz).I put my Abu-Garcia 7000 riged w/20lb Fireline.I was wondering how do you get long distance casts using a conventional rod/reel?

 

[SALTSHAKER]

Go to Gear on the sidebar and hook up with long caster. He has helped me out tremendously in the short time I have talked to him. They also show you how to in pictures... other than that, and I am no pro by a long shot...practice, practice, practice...gool luck with it....

 

[peter thain]

first of all you need a shockleader, multiply the weight you are casting by ten to get the right shocker for the sinker you are casting i.e. 5oz x 10 = 50lb shockleader. this needs to be long enough to go round the spool of the reel a minimum of five complete turns when the sinker is hanging at the right place from the top of the rod to cast.

set the sinker on a five foot drop and lay it on the beach so its pointing back towards your feet and underneath the rod. get the tip of the rod as low as you can, almost touching the beach and your bottom hand as high as possible. make sure there is no slack between the sinker and rod, back up until its tight then turn your head look up at around 40 degrees and cast.

take it easy at first until you get the hang of things and once you are happy with the cast you can start adding the power.

the best thing to do would be to see one of the guys on here for some personal tuition, they will sort you out much faster than trying to do things on your own.

 

[Connman]

Happy , 20 lb fireline is going to make the reel extremely prone to backlashing , you would be better off respooling with a line either mono or braid that is close in diameter to 20lb mono , approx .40-.45mm.
The oceanmaster is a good little rod and given time you may be able to ring 180 yards out of the outfit .

 

[BigJeff823]

Thats the same type of line I use on some of my spinning rods;I can get out at least 120+yds.On my spinning rods I like to set the sinker on the ground,holding the rod at a 3 o clock position,drag it holding the line on the tip of my index finger,lift,letting the line go at12-10 o clock,then it flys out there real long.You know.The same type of cast would work on a conventional,for the exception of using the thumb to let the line out.

 

[Sandcrab]

HP,

I use conventional setups almost exclusively to fish the DE surf - usually at night. It is hard enough to wade and cast with mono much less braid in the darkness.

If you plan on fishing the surf at night, I would go with mono. Braid would be impossible to play with (much less untangle) under the cover of darkness.

 

[BigJeff823]

I had no problem using my conventional rod;I used it at Matapeake yesterday.I can cast the same as I would with a spinning,but the thumming and the power I put on the cast is still something I need to work on.The long distance casting champ who has a rod called "The long distance ho" helped me out and gave me tips when the fishing was slow.That guy L can really cast,eventhough it was dark and I couldn't see where he casted.I might need to practice casting at a ballfield or someting.Thanks L and Husky;I took Huskys advice and that helped too.The brided lines are better,because if you happen to get a birds nest you can pick it out easeier.