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Newbie heaver set up

9K views 26 replies 19 participants last post by  Sandcrab 
#1 ·
I've always been a spin cast thrower but I really want to get into a conventional heaver. Any advice on a mid range reel for a beginner? I don't want a cheapo but I don't need to get into changing drag washers, mags etc, at least not yet. Also what length rod is best to get the hang of casting the conventional set up? Any one got an old set up they would like to sell? Thanks.
 
#13 ·
Very true that the Prevail is less $$$ about twenty dollars less. BUT you are getting a better rod and Fuji guides with the Battalion. Well worth the 20 dollars extra.

Yes you guide line back with your thumb... After a while it will become automatic and you won't even think about it
 
#15 ·
My first one was a 525mag and a Breakaway HDX.....Sometimes I wish I still had them. We get way too caught in "the latest and greatest"....
 
#16 · (Edited)
10ft one-piece Magnaflex and an ABU 10000 from 1985 $220

Do not miss the Magnaflex much, I left it by mistake behind a couch of an ex-girlfriend fifteen years ago.................. probably still there :)

In 1987 switched the Magnaflex for a Lamiglas 10'6" one piece and been switching it up ever since.....

In 1987 I paid $120 for the Lamiglas at Tackle Express in Nags Head which is now TW's Nags Head, it was my first custom heaver built on the OBX

Still have the ABU 10000.........it is pretty creaky though.........kinda like me:)

In 1989 a factory Fenwick SurfStick was around $180 retail but I am pretty sure the SurfStick Fenwick rods were wrapped in the USA in those days...which is why they were so expensive..... the blanks were $90.00 in the Merrick catalog I seem to remember Larry Haack telling me.

Leveling the line becomes automatic and after a few years you do not really have to look at the spool which is a big plus when fishing at night at the Point or when you are fighting a big Shark or something that is more copper in color....and especially Flatosaurus type critters which you need to keep your eyes on the water for so you can break them off as soon as possible:)

If I had to use my SurfSticks only against the latest and greatest.........I would manage to get a few Drum I reckon.............though I would be twenty to thirty yards inside of the monster casters using CTS rods and the like....you get what you pay for and if you want extreme distance...........distance does not come cheap......$650 or so I would guess for a new CTS stick and decent drum reel....
 
#25 · (Edited)
I have conducted extensive testing on both SL-X30SHA and SL30SH, I am not a paid professional, however I am a professional trash-talker:)

These tests were all done in a controlled laboratory environment at the end of Rodanthe Pier, under actual fishing conditions (There is a four Drum rod limit on the Rodanthe Tee at times when no one else is around)

Results are SL-X30SHA is a more forgiving reel and a great deal smoother when casting, if I was learning over, I would use this reel.

SL30SH due to its graphite spool (which is actually heavier than the X30SHA Aluminum spool) once you get it spinning 25,000 RPM and with only one white brake installed and a lot of knock in the sideplates, keeps on throwing the line off like a deranged banshee.....reel will moan when it is getting it out there.....

Prognosis.................SL30SH will cast perhaps 5-10 yards further, it is requires a bit more attention when casting and it can really smoke your thumb :rolleyes: if you are not careful, some right-handed casters also have problems with gear box injuries.

The furthest drum cast I have ever made in my life was with an All Star 13'6" 1509 with Competition Butt and a SL30SH on Rodanthe Pier October 2005, caught a drum on that cast too. I can buy any casting reel and have owned most of them at one time or another but I have SL30SH's on all my dedicated Drum rods at the moment...A tuned Abu 7000 will cast just about as well but it is lacking in the Drag and Clicker department..........I have cast an Akios 666 a few times it was similar to a really broken in tuned (ceramic bearings) Abu 7000C I have owned since 1986.
 
#26 · (Edited)
My brother gave me a Penn Battalion (new) and I like it. Have an ABU 8600 on it. I was a little skeptical about a production rod, but she casts fine .(8 and bait a bit too much, but I do it anyway...a rod's gotta earn its keep. )Am likely to use it for stripers this winter,too. I think it compares well with the TICA rods (which I have fished with the last ten years as a backup rod.)
Reel:agree with the SL-X30SHA...
BA

PS My brother has a bunch of Rainshadow rods with a variety of reels, but in my surf fishing sphere, I keep the better stuff at home...nothing breaks the heart like a grandson dropping an old Ambassadeur in the sand/surf...makes you want to say bad words.:eek:
 
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