[master baiter]

this is my first time on the board for awhile............

here is my question..... besides of bait.....

if you were fishing the surf, not at the (point) in n.c. or in a crowd of fishermen, and the 50lb. big fish were in front of you about 100 yds. out.. you were tied on and cast out and hooked up with a 50lb. drum!
what is most important?
1) line, knots, hooks?
2) reel?
3) rod?
in my opinion line and knots, and hooks, are most important in the catching, (and releasing), of big fish.
the reel comes second--- ability to play a fish---handle his runs----and land him.......
the rod comes last....you can catch a huge fish on an oak branch if you got a good reel and line!
so why do good rods cost more than good reels? cant figgure it out.

 

[shaggy]

I'll give it a partial shot. Most important would be the knots, weak or bad knot, AIn't gonna hold, second would have to be the line, won't take much of a "nick" in it for a decent fish to break the weakest link(s).

Now as to the rods, certain rods toss certain weights of lead better than others (sweet spots) which helps maximize the casting distance under differring conditions. Light lead because of no wind minimal currents where four ounces would hold will cast better on certain rods, which, even though may be rated for 5 - 10 ounces of lead may "best" handle six ounces of lead and bait.

Depends on the backbone of the rod (my OM 11' 5-10 ounce rating cast the 6nbait better than 8nbait, but can handle 10nbait, so for those rods 6 ounce of lead seems "optimal", got one that 4nbait "optimal" and a couple, well just like to have the rods in the water. If you can't cast to the fish, you can't catch them.

Now reels, well, guess line, knots, hooks, rods and reels are all the most important part, because seperately, you can't do too much fishing, but put the right pieces together as a "team", and it is amazing what can happen.

Have Jeep will travel.

 

[Bassboy]

Id have to say the angler. Once we were fishin harrisons and this guy had been bottom fishing for about 30 minutes for croaker and stuff and he tied into a 55+ inch black drum and he fought it for atleast an hour an a half havin gotten almost to where we could net it 2 times during this but he ended up loosin the fish because he didnt know how to fight a fish he would just pull on it and when it pulled back he'd just let it take line as much as it wanted.It ended up spooling him. But the rod/reel/line this fish was hooked on and founght for at least an hour was a 20 dollar k-mart special that would prolly be more of a gotcha rod. the rod was prolly rated at up to 3 ounces and he had 14 lbs test on the reel bout 110 yds of it . so the tackle isnt necessarily as much of a factor as the person using it. Not sayin that anyone can go out and catch a HUGE fish on an ultralight but if you know what your doin then it sure helps

 

[Drumdum]

I'd say,in general you are correct Master Baiter.. There are times when the longer cast makes a difference,but most of the time it's where you cast,not how far... As far as reels,smoooooooth drags and line capasity are the most important factors.. Castability of the reel is important also because many with the smoother drags won't cast that well,such as the Shimano tld.. So you have to kind of meet in the middle.. Diawa and Penn being good examples..
The rod is important only for the cast,wearing the fish down,and the comfort of the angler during the fight,IMHO..
As far as the reel being less expensive,the newer production rods kind of put a damper on that... You can buy a good production rod now a days for about the same price as a good reel..
The ability of an angler to fight a fish is important,no doubt.. BUT there are times when the angler could be "outgunned"...For instance,you are on the beach with a reel that holds 100yrds of 12#test.. You're out there trying to catch bluefish and spainish,or maybe a trout.. That's all well and fine,but you cast the lure and a 30lb Jack Cravelle jumps on it.. No matter how good the angler that things gonna "dumpya".. Myself,I'd rather not bring a knife to a gunfight if ya know what I mean..

 

[Bassboy]

Drumdum i agree with you but the only thing is he got it to the pier 2 times and could have pulled on it a lil more and landed it but when hed let line out all he did had put the reel outta anti reverse and just let it go. which made no sense to me but yes he was way undergunned for that type of fish. but ive also landed 60 lbs cownose off the beach on the same type of rod when my friend beside me couldnt land on with a heavier rod so i still think it depends on the angler BUT you do need the right equipment to wear the fish out enough to bring it in. tight lines

 

[Drum Runner]

first of all love the name. the knots would definately be very important. rod and reel help get them in easier but ive seen big fish caught on wal mart tackle.

 

[AL_N_VB]

My .02 cents

Here is my opinion:

Landing large fish is the perservence,knowledge,careful tracking and experience of the angler.
Yeah,a blind squirrel eventually finds a nut and that 1 Large fish outta a million will hit a Blue lite special rod and reel,and depending on the skill,luck and conditions the angler faces...well the gear the aNGLER is using will predict the out-come.

So thats myinion regarding rod and reel...If you are serious on landing the Biggn,you really need to invest in quality equipent.

Knots and terminal tackle:Trial and error......Your knot is only as good as your mono.You can swear up and down that a particular knot tied is better than another,but if you fish with cheap line,your knot is not gonna matter.So listening to other experienced anglers(P&S.COM) or getting line advice from your local(local=sells and talks only fishing tackle) tackle shops.You should use this info to draw your own conclusions and buying line.
I am partial to Suffix Tritanium,but thinking of trying Silver Thread.

And the last thing on landing that large fish is the angler.Through experience,an angler will learn to land a large fish versus horsen them in.Fishing in large crowds is also an issue on landing large fish.You got to make sure you clearly have your fellow fishemen's cooperation when fising in crowds.This is where "whatchin ad learning" takes place.

 

[Topsailbum]

youre terminal tackle and the ability to rig same is most important. a $500 set up wont catch a fish if you dont have a clue how to rig it

 

[DOVERPOWER]

Mr Baiter you asked this,



here is my question..... besides of bait.....

if you were fishing the surf, not at the (point) in n.c. or in a crowd of fishermen, and the 50lb. big fish were in front of you about 100 yds. out.. you were tied on and cast out and hooked up with a 50lb. drum!
what is most important?
1) line, knots, hooks?
2) reel?
3) rod?

Are you asking wich one of these to save money on??


I think that number one would be most important Provided you could get your bait or lure to it.

I think a medium to large size surf "blue light special combo" in the hands of a above average angler could land the fish .....maybe even two or 3 times.

The value of good gear comes into play when after many seasons of use you can hand it down to your kids.

 

[master baiter]

good reply doverpower. i always use fresh line and am proficient at tying lots of different knots. for the surf i prefer 17# or 14# running line doubled to make a 2ft. bimini with an improved blood to my shock leader. my reels of choice are the 6500, 7000, and 7500 series abu reels(ct), but i also use several penn reels. 100yds is not too much of a problem to cast. all my rods are off the rack in the $100 range. except for 3 or 4 heavers that i started out with that seem to be more or less obsolete nowdays. i swear i think them rods will still be around 100 years from now. you could almost polevault with them! do the custom rods last longer than the production ones? i take real good care of my stuff

 

[Sandcrab]

The rod holds the reel...the reel holds the line...the line holds the fish.

 

[Bassboy]

And the fisherman/women holds the rod!!!... lol