back when i pier fished exclusively, i had bought 3 Ugly Stik 8' Heavy casting/boat rods. had no problems landing bullreds in the 40-42" range.

after a co-worker introduced me to surf fishing i started going to the beach more and more. after Texas City pier, and San Luis pier were destroyed, and Flagship pier turned into an amusement park, i started surf fishing exclusively. occasionally i'll hit surfside jetty.

anyways, i can get about 80yds with the 8' Ugly Stiks using 4oz spider weights with cut bait. its a thick and stiff rod, so i don't think it loads up as well as a real surf rod. my reels are 2 Penn 545gs and a 555gs. all three are magged, never gets a bird nest. 130# braid, 50# Ande top shot about 50yds, 100# Ande shock leader about 15 feet.

recently, i've been thinking about getting an actual surf rod. went to Academy today to see what they had in stock. The Okuma Longitude 9' ($40) and 12' ($60) seem pretty good. Which length would you suggest?

If you are exclusively fishing the surf, then the longer the better. My suggestion is the 12 foot rod.

I have tried 10' - thru 15' fishing near water tower west Galveston near San Luis and access rd. #5 toward Surfside.
At my height of 5'8" the 15 was a little much especially casting from waist deep but from surf I thing my favorite overall was
a 10' Ugly Stik. I was shooting for a Breakaway that I saw at Bass Pro but my back problems began and now would be happy to fish inshore rods for specs, reds and flounder as favorites but honestly just to get a hook wet, I'd fish for basically anything.
Wish you well and if you can handle the cost, look at the Breakaway with examples on YouTube.

Get a kayak to drop baits and you won't have to worry about a longer rod. Save that money and get a shark rig

I'm like you Psalty, now I target smaller fish, under 20lbs, is my target weight, but we know how that goes. I've been fishing the Bayou and creek in Baytown while recovering from surgery. Soon I hope to start visiting the piers in LaPorte and Galveston again, targeting panfish.

I have been buying my lighter components from this Chinese outlet kind of site called Bang Good. They have a number eight stainless swivel that is cheap and small, with a 50lb class that last a long, long time. Fishing a few of the piers around Baytown and LaPorte, will help you appreciate the cost of tackle quickly. While on there I looked at the rods, I was looking for something telescopic to keep behind the seat of the truck. They have TONS of cheaper rods, most of them telescopic. I saw one that was salt water compatible, and somewhere had a brain fart and thought 3.? meters was around 8 feet. It is actually 11 feet, for less than $30 bucks.

I tried it out yesterday and was surprised, it balanced out well with a 4000 wavespin reel and tossing a one ounce weight was actually effortless. I'm pretty sure it will toss 2 ozs, but not sure about three. It isn't a shark rod by any means of the word, but I'm pretty sure it will tackle an occasional bull of the drum species with a little TLC.

Now that I have it I see it becoming a pompano rod to fish around the bricks on the seawall in Galveston near 91st st. I'm also going to order the shorter one, hopefully it will be closer to 7 ft and will become my truck rod.

I agree big time. The kayak was also a dream that pretty much vanished to go btb.
I thoroughly enjoy the video's of kayak fishing both hand paddle and foot paddling
and look forward to watching my grandkids get interested in that style.
Never did I ever think that back problems would come my way.
I look forward to whatever comes in as substitutionary methods but the grandkids have
become quite a big part of my life with also making soft plastics to hand off to folks I meet along the WAY.

xmatador, I wish you the best while you have it.

after doing some more research, i saw BassPro had their Ocean Masters on sale. went to the one at Katy Mills, they had 2 10' ($130) and 1 12' ($150) in stock. the 12' had a chip on the lower part about 1/8" in diameter. decided to get the 10' which was 4-8oz, right around the weight i cast, usually 4oz w/ bait, sometimes 6oz w/ bait.

i'll post back after i get a chance to go down to the coast, hopefully 2 weeks.

Good Luck man, looking forward to your report / reviews.

I have a 10 foot Power Plus Trophy Class from Bass Pro, and it runs 3 to 8, it takes at least 6 with bait to get it to load. I haven't used that particular one much, but do use the 7 and 8 footers I got about the same time. They held up very well over the past few years, and they set me back less than $40 a piece. They are my Gulf Pier rods, and I have been quite happy with them.

Okuma longitudes 12' heavy are some pretty tough rods and affordable.

A Breakaway LDX 13' rod with a Diawa Sealine X20SHA reel will change your life.
With the right tackle,proper cast and a bit of practice, you can reach the third gut without getting your feet wet.
Talk to Nick at Breakaway .

lots of the translucent rice noodle looking seaweed in the guts. towards the end of the trip, i practiced with just the weight. used the Hatteras cast. took a few casts, but i was finally able to load the rod properly, but my thumb wasn't able to hold it all the way through, scratched up my thumb a little bit. I think this OM rod will do much better than the ugly sticks(broom sticks).