Been doing some research and can’t decide. Which surf casting rod would you buy if money was no object?

What size reel? What are you trying to catch?

I currently have 4:

• heavy: Penn senator 4/0 wide, custom rod from Capt. kurt in Galveston (rip)
• Med heavy: daiwa saline 50 on a St Croix Avid casting rod (heavy, https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/st-croix-avid-surf-casting-rod)
• Medium: Avet MX on Offshore Angler Ocean Master (med heavy, https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/offshore-angler-ocean-master-surf-casting-rod)
• Light/spinning: Daiwa Saltist 5000 spinning reel on St Croix Mojo (https://m.tackledirect.com/st-croix-mojo-surf-spinning-rods.html)

They all have their own purpose:

The heavy rig can be cast (not far), more often I'll kayak it out. The 4/0 wide holds 600 yds of 30# mono, which is like 800 yds of braid, depending on how heavy you want to go. I upgraded the reel pretty heavily when I was in high school, it has aftermarket pinion gears, side plates and frame, bearings and drag. It'll stop most anything (though I did get spoiled on PINS once).

The med heavy rig can be cast a long way, the daiwa sealine holds like 500 yds of 60# braid. Will cast an 8 oz spider weight and a chunk of mullet with no problems.

The med light rig is a lot of fun, good when the current isn't too bad. I live the abet lever drag reels, they're super easy to take apart, they cast a mile, and it holds I think 500 yds of 50# braid. This is my jetty machine

The spinning rig is new, I got it to throw giant plugs and spoons, but I also see it doing well for bull reds in the surf. But ultimately I got it to go after kingfish.

Thank you so much, atx_ben. I had been looking at the price and the length. Never thought about what I was going to use it for. Guess I gave myself away as a newbie.

No worries. There are a bunch of youtube channels I'd watch to get a sense for how people are fishing. It's cool to watch the east coast striper guys, and the west coast guys fishing for surf perch and stripers, too...they do things slightly differently, but a lot of what they're trying to accomplish is the same. There are also guys who fish rock cliffs in western australia. They catch tuna from shore, so their tackle is a little fancier than you need. And the surf fishermen in the uk fish with really different setups. All stuff to learn from.

Anyway, don't be ashamed about asking.

My best advice would be to spend $100-$200 on a Penn spinning reel and rod combo (battle 3 or fierce 2 are both solid choices), probably 7000 size reel and 10' rod. If you're handy with a bait caster, Penn has a couple of solid choices that you can really cast. Then fish it for a year and see what you hate. Here are two different ends of that spectrum:
https://www.tackledirect.com/penn-ssvi6500102h-spinfisher-vi-spinning-combo.html
https://www.tackledirect.com/penn-frciii8000102h-fierce-iii-spinning-combo.html

You can spend less, but in my experience the gulf is hard on your equipment. And it'll hold its value better if you decide you hate it and want to sell it on Craigslist. But the Penn reels will last if you take care of them, which I'd also advise -- learn how to work on this stuff yourself if you are at all inclined. The Penn Senator reel I have is 25 years old (parts of it are, at least), the Daiwa sealine is older than that (I originally bought it in a pawn shop and restored it).

Another thing you can do is check craigslist/facebook marketplace: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/3603492482995872

The idea here is that someone else has been using it for surf fishing, so it's not the worst place to start with your first rig

For surf casting on the Texas coast I run a Penn Squadron 12 ft heavy action with a an old Penn 6500SS on it. This year I also picked up an Okuma Rockaway 12 ft. heavy action and put one of my Penn Battle II 5000's on it. I would highly recommend the Rockaway series by Okuma. It has great parabolic action, throws like you wouldn't believe, weighs next to nothing, is extremely comfortable, and I picked it up for less than $90. As far as reels go, I am a Penn fanboy so I'm biased and I will always say go Penn. Plus I'm not taking my Saragosa to the beach to get sand in it ;-)

Penn reels are easy to work on and properly service after a trip, the price is right, and they last forever. If you are planning on hooking any sharks or big bulls I would consider something bigger than a 5K series. I have the Battle 8K's on my tuna rods and they are tanks, but heavy for casting all day.

Just my 2 cents.

Tom H.

I too am looking at rods. Thinking a little outside the box since the virus has everything backed up and forced me to look at all the options. I'm probably going to give one of the salmon/steehead rods a try: https://www.uglystik.com/uglystik-r...mon-steelhead-cast/1365093.html#start=12 Looking at the 9' extra heavy - up to 3 oz weight lure - and that's what I generally cast anyway. After a couple airplane crashes, chucking a car block is no longer fun, and I'm thinking a salmon rod could still put the lighter weight out there.

Let us know how the steelhead rods work out -- I was under the impression that they had slow action, since they have to fish with barbless hooks they need to keep a lot of pressure on the fish.

I will do that if I pull the trigger. That said - this isn't something I'll order - I'll have to see it in the store before I'll buy one. The specs on the 9' one I'm looking at (and there are 2 other 9's for throwing light stuff as you pointed out:

MODEL # USESCA902XH AVAILABLE SOON
QTY: $69.95 Elite Salmon/Steelhead Cast VIEW LARGER TECHNIQUE Salmon/Steelhead
ROD LENGTH: 9' ROD POWER: Extra Heavy NUMBER OF PIECE: 2 Piece Rod
REEL SEAT: Conventional More Specifications: LURE RATING: 3/4-3OZ LINE RATING: 14-50lb
ROD HANDLE MATERIAL Cork ROD BLANK MATERIAL Ugly Tech Construction GUIDES INCLUDING TIP: 9GUIDE TYPEStainless Steel
ROD ACTION: Medium Fast

Looks like I was wrong about the action You'd pair with like an Abu Garcia 7000 or similar?

Yep - I have the 146 Squidder I'm going through already. The specs for the 146 say line all the way down to 12 (a little light for me):



15 is what I'm thinking for all around flounder, sheepshead, redfish & porgy. Not looking for rays sharks or anything huge, been through that phase of life. It should toss a 1-3 oz is what I hope. I know I could do all this with spinning stuff, but I just don't want to.

Heads up yall, this one is on sale at Bass Pro Shops: https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/offshore-angler-ocean-master-surf-casting-rod

This is a great rod. I have the lighter one with an Avet MX and it is a surf fishing machine. Won't sling 8 + bait, you might check the heavier one if you're looking in that direction.

All in all, this rod has a ton of awesome features. There's a good review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-sIh2GNzpw

Those Penn Squidders are great reels. +1 on being able to do it with spinning gear but not wanting to I know they're better suited to a lot of applications, but there's something about making a great cast with a bait caster that feels right.

Absolutely. I was really good with them once, and if the Lord gives a little more time, I will be again. Thanks for your knowledgable input.

An aside: I note you lost your stuff in a flood - I did mine as well.