Fast Hook-up & I was Gone Within The Hour!



I decided to dust off the cobwebs of my Hawaiian Custom Series "HCS" Prototype 13'3" Surf Rod & combine it with one of the newer Okuma Spinning Reels the Rockaway 8000 that was sent. I like the HCS Surf Rods as i have 4 of them, three 13.3ft & two 14.4ft rods. I needed to retry the Rockaway 8000. I used the HECK out of the 6K model as it had to be field tested years ago. But when i got my 8K spinner it has been tested in the field by others.



For an inexpensive spinning reel i'm still impressed. It's a long distance caster. Bet most didn't know that? Slow high oscillations & the line is tightly compacted. When you see this you know it's going to be rated to hold an immense amount of line. 570yd of 40lb braid & 305yd of 20lb monofilament. I opted for +500yd of 50lb braid. It's a great plugging & surf casting reel rated for 35lb max drag.



I still love my HCS Surf Rods! I took John Bretza out fishing & explained to him on what will make this rod stand out. After a few months i heard nothing back so i figured my idea wasn't worth a shot until John called saying the first Prototypes are being sent for my approval. I was floored! Changes were made & improvements added. As the final touch John had Okuma use my background picture of my favorite shore casting rocky shore to advertise this rod in their catalog.



For these rods the Rockaway 8000 & Blue Azores 8000 both fit well. But the Cedros 8000 looks & feels a bit "small" on them so i use the 10K & 14K units instead. The Makaira 10K also looks & feels good on both rods. I tend to use mainly spinners on them though they're rated to accept conventionals as well. The Tesoro12's seem a bit small on them but the Alijos14000 feels great. I know i'm spouting Okuma reels so just have to match-up your favorite models in size & line comparisons.



On the Papi'o i caught that White Jack Trevally couldn't generate enough power to counter this combo. I wanted to release it but had a hard time trying to dislodge the hook in its gill plates. So i decided to keep it to give away. It's always nice to once in awhile give fish to friends & neighbors.

(The hooks used were Mustad Ringed O'Shaughnessy).

Solid post. Nicely done.