Saltwater Spinning Setup

I am looking to purchase a new saltwater spinning rod and reel.

I will be using it for jigging on my boat, casting toward shore and hopefully some casting from shore in the future.

My "research" so far has me leaning toward a Trophy Titan XL 8' Power 2 rod. (used two Trophy Titan XL 10'6" mooching rods for 4 years and love them)

The reel is my question... the Shimano Saragosa line, looks interesting...a lot of models is a bit confusing...however, I am sure there are other reels out there I have over looked.

Any recommendations or comments on rods or reels appreciated.

What are you fishing for? Lures or meat?
If you're just after trout/slot reds/flounder, you don't need a big setup.

The Saragosas are great reels. A couple of others that you should check into are the Daiwa BG series and the Penn Battle series. Both are also excellent reels and priced lower than the Saragosas.

You wanna use a rod for trout etc.....a 7' ML UGLY STICK w/ a long handle. I lean towards the SHIMANO and the MITCHELL reels. For beach chunking, you'll need a rod longer than 7' and a heavier reel. The surf casters here will brief you more about this.

Another vote for the Daiwa BG (Black Gold) series of reels. Built like tanks and cheaper than comparable but much more expensive reels.

The new Penn Battle reels look pretty solid (https://www.pennfishing.com/products/battle-iii-spinning-1523128), also the Slammer series might be designed for what you're looking to do.

I have Diawa Saltist on my light surfcasting rod, it's been pretty dependable, but I don't think the drag is hefty enough for what you're doing.

There's a YouTube channel called Flying Fish TV (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYhWxDc-0DoXWfCL3cy-n6Q), he's a kayak fisherman in Hawaii -- so he kayaks out like a mile or so and catches 100lb tuna. He runs all Penn Battle 2s I think, and he's landing giant fish with very little leverage in a kayak while not, you know, falling into the water with 9 foot sharks. Anyway, the Penn Battle series is a good balance of power and price.

Also, no, I don't work for Penn

Penn spinfisher is the king!

Falcon inshore 7ft medium light rod paired with a Penn spinfisher VI 2500. Power pro 20lbs braid. Light, cast well, great for inshore fish, excellent for wading. Extremely easy to maintain. This is a rod combo built for lures.

Bait fishing. Spinfisher VI 3500, saint croix mojo inshore 7.5 ft medium, power pro 30lbs braid. Cast well, great for inshore, great for popping corks as well.

I'm far from an expert but I have been using a Tsunami outfit, for inshore fishing, that I got at the Walmart in Kingsville that they sell for under $60.00. 3000 series reel with a 7 ft rod. They sell for much more at other places. The reel is braid ready and its sealed not that a sealed reel is necessary but its a nice feature. I'm using 20lb Daiwa braid on one and put 30lb power pro on another. Have had no issues in 4 week long trips. Has done well on what I have been catching.


This red cam on tossing a little UV glue fly under a popping cork. I usually toss a fly rod but my fishing buddy has no waders and no kayak so we have been limited to jetty and pier fishing since the cooler weather hit.



For what its worth even the little 10 inch tourist trout, that show up under the lights, are fun on it.

i have been using allstar team rods 6`8` medium action about 79 bucks/paired with a shimano 2500 or 3000 size spinning reel spooled with 15 pound power pro super slick braid and a30 pound mono leader. you can catch anything that swims in our coastal waters without any problem. trophy trout to big reds or black drum it can handle it and cast like a rocket with light jigs or a popping cork which is my favorite method!