moving to houston by august.

i know there is a bunch of good info in all these saltwater threads, and i have been skimming over them quite a bit lately..

i have some abu 6500 c3s and some h2o mettles, for different types of fishing of course. and i figure i can use those in some situations... going to trade some of my 6500c3s for some penns and some bigger reels..

i feel like i basically have to learn fishing all over again.

any little basic starter tips you guys have for saltwater? jettys, ship canals, ANYTHING?

I've never really saltwater fished, so anything will help.

thanks guys!

The 6500's are great inshore and bay reels. You better keep them. I've used them offshore also, though I like a 7000 better. I'm not familiar with the H2O's.

i have enough of them from catfishing to spare a few for some bigger reels

H2O Mettles are great for trout and reds. Good reels that were real cheap when they were on sale at Academy. I have 5 of them. Ditto comments on the Garcia reels.

thats what i was hoping for with the H2O reels.. what kind of line do most people run when fishing for reds and trout? or is this the same old question with every fisherman? just up to preference?

Line depends on where and how you fish. Mostly I just use 20lb Powerpro or similar with about 14-18" of mono shock leader.

awesome. see, im learning already!

Just get you a few Cabelas salt striker 80's and put em on some pro angler rods! Then you can use the same rod and reel for both salt and freshwater.

i have the PA's and meat hunters in 10' so im oka there
got the baitcasting though.. so im probably going to go with some penns.. got a good friend that is gonna cut me a deal/trade for some bigger baitcasters

thought about getting a kayak too.

That was my recommendation! Get a kayak! So much more versatile for saltwater fishing. The 6500s will handle most fish you'll catch on dead bait up to bull red size. Depending on whether you're on shore or not that will change my recommendation too. I think you'll find jetties and piers are pretty crowded and a kayak is a good investment. It will also take you places in or off shore you can't access from piers like shell reefs and channels

so i guess i should hang on to some of my 7' catfishing rods if i get a kayak then, huh?

Depends on how big of fish you want to catch lol

big enough to brag about!! haha

....use the 6500's when you are drowning cut bait and use the H20's for pitching lures. Good thing about the Mettles is that when they start going South on you don't even bother trying to fix them. Just take it back to Academy and trade it in for a new one.

what kind of line should i be using when drowning the cutbait?
30-50 lb braid? mono? i figure i would need a smaller diameter so i can have more line out.

30 is better. You want to be able to break off the line easy if you catch a snag or hook into something thats trying to spool you. It happens, especially with baitcasters.

If you don't like the reels capacity with mono (I use 30lb test) you can use braid underneath with a top shot of mono and definitely a mono leader to account for abrasion resistance and teeth.