Went to the Port A jetties Monday and fished from 10am to 10pm. Caught one decent Spanish Mack and several large perch. I hooked into something big but it broke my rod off at the ferrel during the fight. Saw a couple of guys land some 30"+ Reds around dusk in the same area. I decided I want in on some of that action. Today I bought a Shakespeare Alpha 12' rod and Penn 7500SS reel figuring it would be plenty strong enough to cope with large fish. I usually fly fish so this type of fishing is somewhat new to me. I could use some suggestions on what type of line (braid, mono, copoly, etc) and what weight (25lb, 30lb, 50lb)along with the best style of rigs to use.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Steve

well i would put 30# line on that bad boy and go to ur nearest bait camp or academy and buy yourself a couple of leaders along with a couple of 3 and 4 ounce spider weight's depending on what u feel u
can handle. after all that i would go to a wide open area and practice casting for a good hour or so, u don't want
to be at a jetty and have to be working on a bird's nest while every1 around u is reeling them red's in. and alway's be carefull on the rocks . hope this helps and good luck
john

I normally use 25lb mono with 4 or 8 inch leader. I was at Surfside jetty on Monday the 17th caught me Jack Crevalle, sharks and smack. 25lb line does the job for me but it all depends on the leader.

I've always had great luck fishing 15 lb. P-line. That stuff is brutally strong and is probally just as stout as other 25 lb lines pluss your knots cinch more tightly and the line itself has a better feel when rigging. The smaller diameter also makes it less visible for specks which can be leary at times. I've landed 30 lb blacktips and 40 " bullreds...not to mention a host of other rock dwellers

I use 20-30 lb mono with a 12 inch steel leader on jetties. I do NOT use spider weights unless I'm in the surf, though. Never had a problem otherwise. That Penn reel ( I am assuming you meant to type 750SS) will handle most anything you'll hook at a jetty.

30# Big Game or Ande will be fine for everything from big Bull Reds to smaller 3'-5' BlackTips. You will still catch your Specks and Mangrove Snapper on the same line. I've never had a problem catching Snook, Piggy Perch, Specks, Mangroves, Reds, Sheephead off the Jetties with 30# Mono. Now fishing the skinny water with spooked Reds a less visible line MIGHT make a difference. My advice is invest in GOOD steel leaders for your larger fish you want to target. Last October we hooked up 3 Spinners off the Jetty every bit of 6' long. The crappy (yet expensive) leader failed on all 3 hook ups. The crimps gave out on all of them and we lost all the shark after about 2-3 minutes. I used to build my own leaders when I fished more frequently in the gulf. That trip was a spur of the moment deal and I took the Rods & Reels to handle them just not the Terminal Tackle. Oh well that's why it's called fishing & not catching. Anyways............ As far as what broke your rod?? Could have been anything from a large Ray to a Shark or big Jack. I've had a couple of my friends (that live down there) claim some of those BIG Runs and smoked reels & broke rods are from the Porpoises (or Bottlenose Dolphins). You can let your imagination run wild if it never broke water for you to see though lol. I'm with OF though spider (surf) wieghts are used in the surf side of the Jetty or off a pier or wade fishing the surf. We use 2-3oz Egg wieghts or No-Roll sinkers they work well alsso. You can also search a "Lemon Rig" this is a popular way to rig your line off the Jetty. TIGHT LINES to ya and I hope you hook a SMOKER on your next outting!!!



Rob

Oh yeah one last thing............ Depending on what I'm targeting my leaders are a little longer that what OF uses. Normal Reds, Smacks, Specks, Flounder, Sheephead being the target species; I use 18" stainless steel leaders (or 40-60# Mono). If I have a BIG cut bait out for Shark or possible a large Bull Red; I'm using 36" Stainless or 300# Mono leaders...................TIGHT LINES!!!!!!!



Rob

Thanks guys for the suggestions. Spooled the reel up tonight with Suffix Superior 30# mono. I will look at either making or buying some good leaders before my next coast trip.
Just hope I can get some decent casts out of this beast!
Steve

Ditto on the lemon rig if the fish are holding close to the visible rocks. ( there are a lot more rocks out there than you can see).

Otherwise, I buy those flat triangular ( NOT pyramid shaped !)... weights or barrel weights from Academy to use on the bottom with a steel dropper rig, and I place the BAIT on the longest part of the rig...whereas most people place the bait on the shorter drop. I dont know why, but I seem to get more hookups and strikes that way.

Question on the lemon rig, is there some kind of weight added to the hook side of the rig to keep it down or does it free line? I looked it up on Youtube but it didn't show any weight being added.
Steve

Sounds like you got a set up that will work fine. I rig a little different but not substantially. The best part of fishing the jetty is that you can and, will if you fish enough, catch a fish that you can not land no matter what equipment you have save maybe a 9/0.

About two years ago, I was fishing outside the POC jetty, anchored reasonably close to the rock. The water was crystal green. Lots of small sharks were cruizing around, you could see there shapes down 10' or so. The hard part was not catching them. I hooked up with a fish. It slowly swam way down the jetty and then back up the jetty. After about 10 minutes it swam under the boat. Looking down in the green water, we could see the shapes of a couple small sharks and then the dark shadow shape of a fish (likely a shark) at least 7' long. It slowly began to swim offshore. Another boat at the end of the jetty had caught a shark, boated it and shot it with a pistol just as the fish I was fighting swam by their boat. The fish spooked and took off at warp speed. It spooled me in an instant.

that penn wont get a birds nest. try some heavy lures also