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Tackle for Bull Reds??? #613949 09/17/03 03:35 PM
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jwt6862 Offline OP
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Is a medium weight rod with an Abut Garcia reel and 12lb test with a heavy leeder enough to catch bull reds in the surf or do you need heaver surf rod type tackle?

Re: Tackle for Bull Reds??? #613950 09/17/03 04:01 PM
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Cochese Offline
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Heavier gear is probably "safer", but I was going to use a set-up similar to the one you described, this weekend

Mostly because I don't own any heavier gear


Matt "Cochese" Zuniga
Re: Tackle for Bull Reds??? #613951 09/17/03 04:20 PM
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heisenberg Offline
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When I fished with Kevin McCoy recently we used Curados with 14# test. We caught about 25 oversized reds with no brakes. Of course all but 2 were released.


David
Re: Tackle for Bull Reds??? #613952 09/17/03 11:55 PM
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pscottjr Offline
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There are some experts here that can really answer that question. However, I have used heavier tackle than what you describe, with some luck. I have also used exactly what you described with the exception of the line weight. I would up your line weight to 17#. Be prepared to use your drag...I love that sound!!!

I think many times it is not always the rig you have, it is how you bring in that bad boy. The temptation is to drag that fish up ASAP. Hell the fun is in the catch. I have lighten my drag on occasion when fishing for trout just to have some fun. And BTW others around you think you got the fish of the day when you do that. Hear it scream!!!!

Good Luck.

Scottie

Re: Tackle for Bull Reds??? #613953 09/18/03 01:53 PM
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jwt6862 Offline OP
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Thanks for the info guys, I'll just make sure I've got pleanty of line spooled and get ready for a good long fight. Im gonna go give em hell this weekend. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Re: Tackle for Bull Reds??? #613954 09/18/03 01:55 PM
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jwt6862 Offline OP
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Thanks for the info guys, I'll just make sure I've got pleanty of line spooled and get ready for a good long fight. Im gonna go give em hell this weekend. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Re: Tackle for Bull Reds??? #613955 09/18/03 02:05 PM
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txfishermann Offline
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Now I use a Jarvis Walker 7000 with 350 yards of 25 pound test and a abu 6500 with 20lb test. You can buy a combo rod/reel at academy or maybe bass pro for about 50.00. Just make sure that the reel has a high capasity. If the reel already has line on it peel it off and go with some big game 15-20lb test. You will also need an assortment of spider weights and some circle hooks. Make sure you do not get the break away spider weights. They do not hold and they are twice as much. When I first started fishing for them all I had was a 6ft berkley lighting rod a iron man reel. It worked ok but I would have to wade out neck high a couple of time and I had to stop the spool a couple of times and hope they did not break off. Other wise they would have spooled my line. Most of my fishing has been in a pass and not the surf. I feel in the surf you do need something bigger then a medium rod with 12lb test. It mostly depends on which beach you are fishing and how the weather is. If the is not much of a tide and no sea weed you could just about fish with anything.
Hope this helps you and good luck for your quest for a bullred.

Nothing beats hookin up with a 40in+ bull red zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Re: Tackle for Bull Reds??? #613956 09/18/03 04:43 PM
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Mo Offline
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are you fishing boat , pier or beach?
What beach? I am a beginner on this
redfishing myself. I understand that on some
of our texas beaches you can wade out
100 yards and still be only waist deep.
Are you going to wade and fish with artificials or sit on the beach with bait?
Line capacity is sometimes more an issue than line strength. Line strength is certainly an issue if you are going to
be fishing off a pier. You have to have
the equipment to keep them out of the pilings.
Lots of reds have been landed on medium
gear with 12 lb test ( and lighter) but
some situations demand heavier gear.
My fiancee landed a 41 inch red last year
on 8 lb test, but we were able to follow the
fish with the boat for 1 hour while she
wore it down.
good luck MO



MY BACKYARD , 20,000 ACRES , NO MOWING smile
Re: Tackle for Bull Reds??? #613957 09/18/03 05:29 PM
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This is only 2cents worth - nothing more. When folks tell me that they had 30# line snapped I normally question (in my own mind) the quality of the knot, and the condition of the line...I truly feel you MUST retie at least 3' up after every fish..and look at it after every other cast at least!! Also think MO has a very good point...amout of line is possibly more important that size..unless you are fishing rocks, piers, pilings, jetty where they will break you off - I really feel an inadequate knot accounts for more losses than anything else...unless you literally get spooled....or have it cranked down to NO drag at all.

Re: Tackle for Bull Reds??? #613958 09/18/03 08:42 PM
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Mo Offline
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Bobaloo--
I feel the same way when I hear stories
of snapped line. I alway want to ask
how tight the drag was. When I get hung
up with 20lb test and a fresh knot, It is
h*ell to break!!
A lot of the stories I hear are from
Lake Fairfield , where the redfish must
be on steroids. I saw a report made by a
guide up there in which he claimed that
3 fish broke off in one morning. Wouldn't
you be checking drags and knots and line
after losing one fish??
Good luck
MO



MY BACKYARD , 20,000 ACRES , NO MOWING smile
Re: Tackle for Bull Reds??? #613959 09/19/03 05:13 AM
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JWT...... WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO FISH? I and the wife will be at Port A. If you are in the area stop by and say hi. We will be the ones with the big red tarp. We will be around the 80's marker. Between casldwell pier and beach access road #2.

------------------
Alex


Alex
Re: Tackle for Bull Reds??? #613960 09/19/03 02:04 PM
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txfishermann Offline
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babaloo1, which type of knot do you you use?

Re: Tackle for Bull Reds??? #613961 09/19/03 05:30 PM
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jwt6862 Offline OP
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Im fishing the jetties down in Surfside. Im from that area so I go there alot.

Re: Tackle for Bull Reds??? #613962 09/19/03 06:37 PM
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Coastal Quest Offline
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Same question. What is the best knot to use. Also to swivel or not to swivel? Size of swivel ( I use 17# test / 30# leader ). Gonna fish Rockport the first and last week of October.

Re: Tackle for Bull Reds??? #613963 09/19/03 06:37 PM
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bobaloo1 Offline
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I generally only use 3...Palomar and improved clinch to about 30-40# and uni-knot on mono over that. I use the first two even on offshore braid and have never had it fail. The only time I lost a big fish offshore was when I tried to tie a clinch on really big mono - I was new to it and didn't use enough wraps, and it slipped...you could tell what happened as the line was all kinked up where the hook used to be. It doesn't take much of a nick (or abrasion) for the line to give out on a really big fish...my daughter caught a 5# black bass in a kid fishing tourney at Purtis Creek using a perch rig (4# line and #8 hook)...it took forever cause it just kept taking drag...anyway, that reminded me about drag, small hooks and small line will land anything - with everything being equal and the fish staying in open water.

Note: I use swivel if there is a chance of twisting, etc. If just using live bait and slowly retrieving...I would do this - Just use hook on line...no leader or anything. One other "secret" is to thread one of those orange/red beads onto the line before you attach the hook...don't know why, but your hookups will increase many times more than if you only have the hook!! If letting live bait sit on bottom...use swivel...the bait will swim around and tangle and twist everything.

[This message has been edited by bobaloo1 (edited 09-19-2003).]

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