ive been reconsidering the reel. i was looking at the line capacity and its not that much. i know abu makes goos stuff, but the specific one i was looking at doesnt hold the amount of line i want. for another $50 - $80 per reel i can triple the line capacity. im a braid guy myself so ide deffinatly be spending a bunch of money on line. although i could probably get away with backing alot of it with mono? (why would i wanna do that though? the whole purpose of a large line capacity is so that i can get baits waaaaay out there and still have plenty of line leftover for if a fish decides to turn around and run for 100 yards! i wouldnt wanna risk exposing the backer...) i actually use braid on all my bass and carp gear with the exception of my ultralite spinning rod. who knows? i dont know what im doing!!!

i surf fish alot off pins and mustang. if you wanna use braid for capacity thats fine try to have about 80-100yards of mono topshot 30-60lb though or the sandbars will eat your braid up after awhile and that gets expensive.

i can use florocarbon as a shock leader right (top shot)

on all my carp rigs i use 40lb braid with 30 yeards of 25lb floro as a shock leader.

yeah that will suffice for the capacity of your reel you wont be yakkin it out 400-600yards

Hey Chris

I did a lot more coastal fishing than freshwater fishing before I got turned on to carp and buffalo.

Any of the longer bass rods and reels do fine for most fishing, whether wading the surf for reds, trout, or any of the salty 'panfish' or kayaking the bays. I prefer the longer 7' rods, and use my old Curado with that, as well as Abu C3.
I wouldn't waste my money (again!) on the BCX model.
I also use a BPS 7' spinning rod with BPS spinning reel which works great as well. I usually use 12 - 15 lb test mono, but PP is also popular.

well after a bit of lookin' around and readin' up on some stuff, i think ive found a good rig for what im wantin' to do?

they got the 5'6" heavy action salt striker boat rod at cabelas for $99.oo. the first and last line guides are rollers which i dont really care for. (hoping they dont get clogged up with sand) but the reel seat is aluminum and it supposedly has alot of back bone.

im als0 planning on a 9/0 penn senator i think it was? they dont have it at cabelas so i think ill have to order it online or whatever? for line i was gonna go with like 500-600 yards of 80lb powerpro braid topped with 100 yards of 100lb flourocarbon.

i think that should be a fair entry level big fish in the surf rig. ill just rig up the bass gear a little heavier for everything else (kayaking bays/wading). i also figure i can use my 12' rods (40lb braid w/25lb floro) as bait catching surf rods for while im sharking!

brian we'll have to go out around galveston some time. i need someone to show me what im doing!!! ive only stepped foot on the texas coastline a total of exactly one time in my entire life....

Chris,

I wouldn't use a boat rod in the surf. Use a minimum 8' catfish rod without rollers. Yes, the sand will just eat them up.
Even with the 8' rod you'll be depending on kayaking your baits out. Its hard to cast out beyond the third bar with that unless you are wading out to the second, which I wouldn't try in cold, rough surf. Of course I wouldn't go out there in a kayak either! Better to get a 12 or 15' SURF rod for the SURF. Boat rods are for boats.