help!!.....need input....

[billy10103]

Hey everyone,

Has anyone tried the 12' 2 piece ocean master surf rod made by offshore angler (bass pro shops)? If so how was it? Would you recomend it? Was there anything you didn't like about it?

Also the same questions for the new Penn powerstick surf rods...

All help is very much appreciated.

Thanx
Billy

[ZenDaddy]

Big fan of the OceanMaster Rod. Was my first casting rod for the ocean. If your looking for sharks and big reds a great rod. Feels good. Not as much play as some more expensive rods, but for the money you can't go wrong.

[billy10103]

Thanks Zen I very much appreciate it. I am gonna head over to bass pro in the am and get one. What reel did you use on yours? I am thinking about putting a smaller type reel like maybe a garcia 9000 or 10000 with either 65lb spiderwire or 65lb power pro.
Thanks,
Billy

[ZenDaddy]

Check BassPro for one of their combos. I got an oceanmaster already rigged up with a Penn Jigmaster. Much better price if I got them separate. If you are at the Grapevine store look at the back, right before the flyfishing gear, on the rack that's about eye level. Some pretty good combo's there.

In fact I just put about 200 yards of 30 pound mono and 150 pounds of the superbraid on mine tonight. Can't wait for my first trip down to the coast.

[GarFisher]

I only have one OC rod and its their big extra heavy model thats built like a telephone pole. If you're gonna use a Garcia I'd think their heavy model would be better bet. My OC is happily paired with one of my Penn 113HLW 4/0 wides and it'll fling some serious lead without really loading up. I may have to switch to a 100# shock leader before I try to put any real muscle behind a loaded shark rig.

[ZenDaddy]

Garfisher,

Can you cast a Penn 113? I saw a 113 and a 114 for sale at BassPro. The are attached to shorter fighting rods, but I may pick one up. Good prices - rod and reel 120.00 for 113 and 140.00 for 114. If I put the 113/114 on the Ocean Master will it cast?

[GarFisher]

I can cast my 113HLW an easy 60+ yards with a whole whiting and about 6or 7 oz weight. The problem is holding enough presuure on the spool when you cast. I figer a leather glove would keep the spool from slipping under my thumb and causing a bad burn. It also doesn't hurt that I'm 6'3" with big hands and can hold the reel. I've met people who can fling 4/0s a good 75+ yards that are average size. It just takes practice which I haven't had much chance at this year.

[gundoctor]

There are 2 OM 12ft casting rods. The 12SC is the heavy one and the 12SCM is the lite one. I use the 12SC on reels in the Jigmaster and up sizes. The 12SCM, I use for smaller reels like the 525 and squidder.
There are people(although not that many) that can cast a 114HLW. There are a lot more that can cast a 113HLW. The problem is there are d@mn few that can put more than 25# of pressure on the line with a 12ft rod.
Tie a fishing scale on the end of your line using your favorite 12ft rod, then let a buddy pull like he was a fish, It won't take long for you to find out that a 6/0 with 50# line ain't what you want on a 12 ft rod. It might make you rethink a 4/0 with 40# line.
If you cut the rod length in half and use the same effort pulling on the rod, you double the pressure you are putting on the fish. But if you double the rod length, you cut the pressure on the fish in half.
Except for abrasion resistance, 30# line is all just about anybody can justify for 12ft rods.

[billy10103]

Hey Zen,
Thanks for all your input, I live in Houston though. I didn't know that they sold that combo I have not looked at them in the store yet. I may go with that I've always liked Jigmasters and also the Squidder! I love the sound squidders make when you cast them. No I can't cast a 4/0 not anymore anyways. I got hurt on the job about 4 years ago and left with a real bad back. I'm trying to find a setup that I can cast with minimal strain on my back. Before I got hurt I could cast a 4/0 wide about 45-50 yds. with very little problem. I'm wanting to get a heavier line because I will be fishing off of piers and I know from experience that using 30lb. line on a pier is asking for trouble. I lost a real nice Blacktip one year due to that.

Hey Gun,

I never really thought about it like that but it makes sense. I had an Ugly Stick and a Tiger stick rods that I built. I cut the Ugly down to 8' and the tiger down to 9 1/2'. Now that I think about it the Ugly was a lot better rod when it came to fighting a fish but the Tiger was a better casting rod. I'm glad now that I did not go buy anything yet. I think I will go with a little bigger reel like maybe a Jig or a Diawa 50H on the heavier model. Is the heavier model a heavy rod or is light? For that matter are either of them very heavy?
Thanks again to everyone,
Billy

[LongRodMaster]

I have to agree with Gun Doc on this one to a point. I personally fish custom rods. I used to fish 10' to 11' rods and fished pier most of the time. My rods have gotten shorter with exception of a few over the years. There are alot of factor to consider when selecting a rod and reel combo. The first being what # line are you going to use and also what type of line. I personally prefer mono line { i will save those reasons for another post some time} You also have to consider type of fish your focusing on and where you are fishing from. Say I am focusing on bull reds and sharks to say 5' in length and fishing from the beach and will be casting out baits. {this just my preferance in reels} I would look for a long med action rod say 10 to 12' in length with a jigmaster and 30# mono. Looking to cast a 4 to 6oz weight. Note: I use a doubled over shock leader aprox 30' long so as not to snap off weights on casts. I can cast my similar rig 100+. One exception here would be if I wanted to go for some bigger sharks. You could use a 113HLW with 30# mono as well and still have descent castability. If fishing from a pier I now go with shorter rods Like GD mentioned not much point in having heavy # line if you cant make use of it with a longer more limber rod. My main Peir rods are 8.5' to 9' long and heavy action with 113HLW with 50# test. I like this set up for several reasons. 1 A peir is limited relestate and usually crowded so you need to put the pressure on the fish. 2 When you do get the fish to the pier you need to have a short enogh and stiff enough rod to keep it from shooting the peir and wraping the line around a pielon and direct it towards a pier net or rope gaft. As a happy medium I would suggest something around 10' med/hvy with a jigmaster and 30 to 40# test.

Just my two cents worth. If its even worth that.

P.S. if you didnt notice I love the penn jigmaster reels was my first surf rod reel and are tough to beat for the money considering they cast great and have a descent drag especially when you replace the drag washers with the newells washers. I also have no problem casting a 113hlw 75+ with 50# test and have little use for magging large bait casters. But then again I am a big guy and a cheap bastard to. LOL hope this helps.

[ZenDaddy]

LongRodMaster,

I fish with the jigmaster/oceanmaster combo. My first 'real' shark rod. Up to this point I've been using Daiwa Jupiter spinning reels. I've had good luck with them. Caught some big reds and shark up to 4.5 feet. All from casting on shore.

I was looking for a reel that I could Kayak out my baits (instead of casting) I saw the 114Pen combo at BassPro. Plenty of line capacity - but you can't cast. This would be okay if I was only kayaking. But, I have limited access to a kayak - so it would also help to cast. The 113Pen combo is 20 dollars cheaper.

How much line would I be giving up by 'moving down' from the 114 to the 113? If it's not a whole lot I may pick that up instead so I can cast?

With apologies to Billy 10103 for posting my questions on his post.

[gundoctor]

Is the heavier model a heavy rod or is light? For that matter are either of them very heavy?
Billy

I take it that you are asking about the OM 12SC.
Being a graphite rod, its pretty lite in weight compared to a glass rod. Its still stiff as hell. The 12SCM is even liter in weight and not near as stiff.

How much line would I be giving up by 'moving down' from the 114 to the 113? If it's not a whole lot I may pick that up instead so I can cast?

Line capacity isn't the only issue between the 113 and the 114 Penn. There is a major step up in drag capability, between 4/0 and 6/0. 113 is a 30# class reel and 114 is a 50# class reel.
Here is my thinking on approx max rod length for various line weights, without a fighting chair.
For 30#, up to 12ft.
For 40#, up to 9ft.
For 50#, up to 7ft.
For 80#, up to 6 ft.
A fighting chair lets you bring your leg muscles more into the fight, so you can pull harder.
Combo yak/casting rigs are like any other compromise. They don't do either job as well as a specialized rig. I would suggest two compromises.
The first is a 113HLW with 40# mono on a 9ft rod. (this will be pushing the drag capacity a little)
The second is, a 113HL with 30# mono on a 12ft rod.
A 9ft rod ain't going to cast as well as a 12ft one will, but it will allow you to put more pressure on the fish to justify the heavier line. So the question comes down to, do you want a long rod that casts well but has lite line. Or do you want heavier line on a shorter rod that don't cast as well.

I yak out smaller baits quite often on jigmaster to 4/0 size reels with 30# line. I just don't take them as far out as I do my 50# & 80# class stuff.

[LongRodMaster]

The Doc is correct the differance between a 6/0 and 4/0 is huge. You can beef up the 4/0 drag a bit by replaceing the drag whashers with ones for the newell.

Some people can cast the 6/0 I have a friend who cast his 6/0 almost as well as I cast my 4/0. I am not one of these people though.

[gundoctor]

The Doc is correct the differance between a 6/0 and 4/0 is huge. You can beef up the 4/0 drag a bit by replaceing the drag whashers with ones for the newell.

Some people can cast the 6/0 I have a friend who cast his 6/0 almost as well as I cast my 4/0. I am not one of these people though.


LongRodMaster, I/m going to disagree with you about Newell drag washers beefing up a drag.
IMNSHO, its a big mistake to replace Penn HT100 washers with either Newell or Smoothie drag washers. All the tests I have seen, back this up.
Newell has a pretty good rep, some of it is deserved and some of it is definitely not deserved IMO. In fact, I consider some Newell products to be very inferior to similar Penn products, drag washers being one of them.

Before Penn brought out the HT100 drag back in the 90s, changing to Newell washers was a improvement, but not any more.

[LongRodMaster]

Well I agree with you on the Newells I have no use for them my self. You could be correct I know one of my 113hlw's was pretty warn out when I replaced the washers and could be the reason for my thinking. I do how ever have to admit the penn washers are very tough I have bought some older reels where people never backed off the drag when storing them and was able to soak the washers and have them work well again.

Man I look forward to meeting you some time sounds like I would just have a good time discussing tactics and tackle with you even if not catching anything.

[ipman]

I picked up one of the OM medium action 12' a few months ago and am very happy with it. Previously I had only used 12' Ugly Stick spinning rods with Penn 850SS reels and those were great, durable combos, but heavy. The OM is much lighter, and stiffer.

I paired the OM with a Speedmaster and it was a decent combo, but not so easy for me to cast. Recently picked up an Avet 4.1 LX during the recent deal and put it on my OM. I'm very happy with this combo so far, although I think my casting will dramatically improve once I manage to burn through all the nerves in my thumb. Until then, the smooth freespool of the Avet is a bit of a liability.

I picked up the OM for around $110 online and the Avet for around $150.

[gundoctor]

Well I agree with you on the Newells I have no use for them my self. You could be correct I know one of my 113hlw's was pretty warn out when I replaced the washers and could be the reason for my thinking. I do how ever have to admit the penn washers are very tough I have bought some older reels where people never backed off the drag when storing them and was able to soak the washers and have them work well again.

Man I look forward to meeting you some time sounds like I would just have a good time discussing tactics and tackle with you even if not catching anything.


We'll have to do it some day. I would rather that while we are discussing tackle and What not, that we get interrupted a few time by a good fish or two. That makes it even more fun.

Those Penn washers you were able to soak and make work again were probably the old style. HT100 washers don't seem to be bothered as much by leaving the drag tight when you store them. They ain't as thick as the old style washers.
You still don't want to leave the drag tight though, it messes up the spring washer in the drag stack. That makes the drag a lot harder to adjust at lower drag pressures. The spring washer is the slightly bent one right under the star.
BTW: The first things I do to a "new used" reel is change the drag washers and replace any line that came on it. It don't cost that much and its good insurance.

[LongRodMaster]

All very good advise and I agree I screamer here and there would make the day much better.

[billy10103]

LongRodMaster,

I fish with the jigmaster/oceanmaster combo. My first 'real' shark rod. Up to this point I've been using Daiwa Jupiter spinning reels. I've had good luck with them. Caught some big reds and shark up to 4.5 feet. All from casting on shore.

I was looking for a reel that I could Kayak out my baits (instead of casting) I saw the 114Pen combo at BassPro. Plenty of line capacity - but you can't cast. This would be okay if I was only kayaking. But, I have limited access to a kayak - so it would also help to cast. The 113Pen combo is 20 dollars cheaper.

How much line would I be giving up by 'moving down' from the 114 to the 113? If it's not a whole lot I may pick that up instead so I can cast?

With apologies to Billy 10103 for posting my questions on his post.
Hey don't worry about it Zen I am learning from all of this too. Fire them questions away! lol
Billy

[billy10103]

I picked up one of the OM medium action 12' a few months ago and am very happy with it. Previously I had only used 12' Ugly Stick spinning rods with Penn 850SS reels and those were great, durable combos, but heavy. The OM is much lighter, and stiffer.

I paired the OM with a Speedmaster and it was a decent combo, but not so easy for me to cast. Recently picked up an Avet 4.1 LX during the recent deal and put it on my OM. I'm very happy with this combo so far, although I think my casting will dramatically improve once I manage to burn through all the nerves in my thumb. Until then, the smooth freespool of the Avet is a bit of a liability.

I picked up the OM for around $110 online and the Avet for around $150.
I know what ya mean about the thumb! Try this next time you are casting.
Turn the rod a little more on it's side and then instead of thumbing the line use your thumb on the side of the spool. Works a lot better with no burn. However don't try this with a graphite spool! lol Big mistake on graphite. I had a burn on my thumb for over a month.
Billy

[billy10103]

Gun,

Yes I was talking about the OM 12scm. Although I am rethinking and maybe gonna go with the 10' because I will be fishing from a pier and it is usually crowded, even on weeknights. Thanks again for yours and everyone elses help!
Billy