# Offshore fishing gear - taking stock.



## Guest (Apr 11, 2011)

I mostly fish offshore and this is what I use:

2 Diawa 5'10" 12-20lb rods matched to 2 Shimano Symetre 4000 reels with 300yds 14lb Fireline.

In the kayak, these are my 'heavy' trolling rods. Always have lures or dead baits rigged for travelling. I use them in the stinker as well out to the 90m line chasing snapper. I've caught everything on these. Notable catches being a 35lb Spanish from the stones in Bundy, 40lb Samson fish in 84m off Moreton in the stinker, 126cm Mahi Mahi at Hutchison shoals on a floater in the stinker. None of these large fish were chased and it was merely a matter of working hard and tiring the fish out. I have caught many, many, many snapper on this gear. I originally bought them to chase jacks. Never caught one on them though&#8230;

1 medium soft plastic rod 3-5kg not sure of brand, matched to a Shimano Symetre 4000 reel with 300yds 14lb Fireline.

This gear gets a similar workout to the ones above, but usually has a slug on it in the yak. Or a dead-sticked plastic if I'm drifting.

1 light soft plastic rod 2-4kg not sure of brand, matched to a Shimano Symetre 2500 reel with 300yds 6lb Fireline.

This is my fun gear. I flick small lures and plastics from this one and probably am enjoying it the most at the moment.

We used to use 30lb and 50lb lines out in the stinker and found we could present baits/lures better on the lighter lines. It was more enjoyable and we have found that 14lb Fireline breaks closer to 30lb anyway. The Fireline doesn't seem to remember the twist like mono does and we haven't had any problems with it. Since moving to the yak I am trying to get even stealthier. It's proving to be a fun odyssey&#8230;


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## KingDan (Feb 25, 2011)

Thanks Indiedog for starting this post, I can't help you much but this post is very informative for me. I am looking at starting to chase pelagics and this is giving me a good guage on what gear I still need and what I can use.

Cheers
Dan


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## ArWeTherYet (Mar 25, 2007)

No the TSS4 and ABU aren't suitable. I'll give you 50 bucks for them so you can buy yourself a shiny new made in china reel from Kmart. No need to thank me happy to help out.


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## Guest (Apr 11, 2011)

Indie, from my experience a bit of tlc before and after a trip goes a long way. I rinse all my gear after a trip with warm fresh water to remove the salt and any grime. Then a good spray with WD40 to drive any excess water out. It also helps to keep the water off for the next trip. If the reel starts to get a bit sticky in the drag, clean the washers, (if they are dry washers make sure they are dry adn clean from any finger prints when you put them back, if they are wet washers give them some good quality grease) then put it all back together the same way as it came apart. i don't have the incination nor the gear to service my reals properly internally but it's inexpensive to get them serviced professionally after a season and does wonders for the longevity.

My theory is to go for line capacity. most fish we get in brisbane fight fairly cleanly so you can let them have their head on lighter lines and just wear them out. but you need the capacity and smooth drag to be able to deal with a blistering long run!


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## ant (Aug 28, 2008)

I'm a big fan of the Penn spinfisher 650 ($120) matched with a $70 6 foot one piece ugly stick 6-10kg used all year round for everything. Uncomplicated, easy maintenance and won't break the bank.   
Cheers
Ant


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## KarlD (Apr 20, 2010)

I generally take 3 rods when I'm after kings and Jews, 1 heavy, 1 mid and 1 light for bait or Flattie hunting.

7th livefibre 10-15kg with Thunnus D 12000 50lb braid for live baiting.

7ft Raider heavy snapper 5-10kg with baitrunner D 4000 30lb braid for trolling HBs, SPs or if I want another bait down.

Then either a
7ft pflueger 3-6kg with symetre 4000 14lb braid for fun with SPs, flattie hunting and catching yakkas 
Or
6ft10 sephia with a sienna 1000 10lb crystal fireline for bait squid and yakkas.

Haven't been offshore yet catch most of mine in the harbour or around the moorings.


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## spooled1 (Sep 16, 2005)

I'd temporarily retire the TLD and use the Salina II 4000 matched to a (new lightweight) 6 foot 30lb jigging rod running 30lb braid.

That one rig alone should cover everything from mackeral to snapper, cobia and tuna for the change of season and lead you to big jewies in winter and spring. If you get a kick arse jigging rod you should be able to cast 1/4-3/4oz jigheads, troll liveys and also drop jigs on that one combo. Sure you'll have tradeoffs to make but you'll cover the bases.

A better autumn-winter option is to still go with the Salina rig above and have a lighter more specialized SP snapper setup running 10-20lb braid as your #1 SP flick rig. Then, when the snapper are fully on the chew and every other species has buggerred off, go with a 2nd and maybe even 3rd light snapper SP rig.


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

I'm more of a spin man but I love my saltiga 63 rod, I got it second hand so it wasn't that expensive.
I use it for jigging and live baiting and can cast a 3/4oz sluggo. I have a 4500 daiwa on it.

My casting rod is a nitro viper, this could be in the range you are looking at. I have a 3500 daiwa (with 20lb) on this and it is a great rod. Both the above rods are 2 piece and can be stowed easily if needed. I'm use to using these for kings but would imagine they would be even better on tuna. I did get a small YFT on the viper at SWR and it performed excellent.


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## ArWeTherYet (Mar 25, 2007)

indiedog said:


> You are the Abu expert. How do your reels hold up long term? Mine is getting on and still doing okay but it's only really been thrashed in the surf for the last couple of years.


No expert. Only own a 6500c4 and a inshore bait caster. Both very easy to maintain and always get wet.......every thing gets wet in the Kingy. The C series ABU's are worth upgrading the spool bearings and drag washers and you'll have a very good reel.

Have a Stadic 1000 and light spin rod for little fish, a Certate 2000 with 3-6kg rod for flicking plastics at medioca fish, a ABU inshore with a light Tcurve for trolling lures (doesnt cast so good), a 6500c4 (usually same rod as previous or a shorter heavier one of the same make) for casting slugs (great for casting), light baiting and trolling and a Ocea Jigger with 30lb line and rod for wishful thinking. Usually only take 2 rods at a time.

Just use warm-hot water when washing your reels down. Soap will dissolve the oil and grease.


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## kodaz (Jan 1, 2011)

Mate the American avet reels are superb value for money and are built to last.

I've got 2 avet reels for trolling - an MXJ with their magnetic cast system for ridding birdsnests when casting, and a regular SX. These reels are 100% annodised aluminium with carbon fibre drag washers and max out at 14lbs drag which is way more than I need for yakking. I've spooled them with 50lb suffix braid with a 10m 30lb mono topshot for a bit of stretch to reduce hook pulls, I've got 500m of braid on the MXJ and 400m on the SX.

Price wise, I got the MXJ for $200 and the SX for $150 US ebay.


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## stinkfinger (Apr 13, 2011)

for offshore Ive got a pelagic 7ft 10-15kg spin rod which honestly is a great rod for the price. A tad heavier than the more expensive but strong. Ive got on this a daiwa 4500 saltist spin with mono 25lb at the moment. ive picked up some big bonnies with this rig so far. Ive also got 7ft 6-10kg over head 'Ian Mundy' carbon rod which I will be using my old style mid 80's 7000 abu (no plastic here) reel which i have not used since new so I am keen to christen it. I also use a berkley III 2-6kg 7ft spin rod which in my opinion for the cash is a very nice rod indead with a sol 2500. I use this for plastics and livies. I have a 6'6ft raider baitcaster with a daiwa coastal inshore overhead i use sometimes, more so in the estuaries but have used off shore and it handles well to. I just need to get more terminal tackle now because ive concentrated on estuary fishing in my yak more in the past, i need to get some bigger, heavier gear. All of my fishing though is with plastics and hb's.


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