# Surf Rods - What Your Opinions?



## Spec Chaser (Jul 7, 2006)

I was looking to order a couple of St. Croix 10' surf rods from Cabela's but want to see what everyone's opinion(s) about St. Croix and/or other brands that you have used for surf fishing. I am thinking that these 10' rods would be good for surf and the occasional freshwater bank fishing below Lake Livingston Dam. They run from $149-$249 which is not all that bad.


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## TomCat (Jan 6, 2006)

Drive over to FTU and take a look at what they have. Might save a few bucks.


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## srvfin (Aug 1, 2011)

Those are some good sticks... Pricey, but good...


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## fishingcacher (Mar 29, 2008)

The good news as they are stiff enough to get some distance. the bad news is they are not as sensitive as some off rods. If you are going after only big fish then maybe that won't be a problem. If FTU is close to you you might be able to find an FTU rod. They will fix it for free if it ever needs repair.


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## mullethead00 (May 31, 2010)

I know they won't win any awards, but I'm a fan of my Ugly Sticks.


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## BullyARed (Jun 19, 2010)

mullethead00 said:


> I know they won't win any awards, but I'm a fan of my Ugly Sticks.


2X. My 12ft Ugly Stik and 12ft American Rodsmith work great for me. They are all under $90.00. Just get the 12ft Ugly Stik, tough, durable, and great price!

=======


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## surfguy (May 17, 2011)

X3 on the 12' ugly sticks. I have 2 of them for 3 yrs now with no problems.
Not so hard to cast either.


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## Jolly Roger (May 21, 2004)

Spec Chaser said:


> I was looking to order a couple of St. Croix 10' surf rods from Cabela's but want to see what everyone's opinion(s) about St. Croix and/or other brands that you have used for surf fishing. I am thinking that these 10' rods would be good for surf and the occasional freshwater bank fishing below Lake Livingston Dam. They run from $149-$249 which is not all that bad.


great surf casting rods, but are east coast rods. Being that they are built to cast arti baits at stripers, blues, bull reds, etc... from the surf. For the money Ocean Master are great for Texas surf fishing, you can find them at Bass Pro. If you want the best look at Breakaway.

If you plan to spend a lot of time casting arti baits then St. Croix are a great choice.


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## histprof (Oct 30, 2011)

All depends on your fishing. Those St. Croix rods are nice, but may be overkill for tossing weight and bait. I've been buying some of that east coast style gear to experiment with. I am using the Okuma rods from Academy. I like them. They seem to work well with 4-5 oz and a finger mullet. I'm going to toss a few of those big striper and muskie lures with it as well and see what bites.

In the end, if it puts bait where you want it outbound and fish on the sand inbound, it is the right rod.


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## tank8677 (Apr 20, 2010)

i would suggest checking your local pawn shops for old harrington or harnell, those are the best surf rods in my opinion, it might be expense but well worth it..if not look in to gator glass or sea magic blanks and have it custom wrap it.


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## bigfost (Oct 11, 2004)

If you ever get over toward Beaumont I've got an 11' FTU built Gator Glass rod I'll sell.

Check out the Daiwa surf rods. They make rods in several price ranges, and they're all good.

I've never paid over $75 for a rod, and my rods catch lots of fish each year.


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## BullyARed (Jun 19, 2010)

I have couple brand new Daiwa 10ft surf rods $40 a piece since I now use 12ft Ugly Stik.


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## 535 (May 23, 2004)

doesn't sound like price is much of an issue, you need to look at Breakaway


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## gordaskipper (Feb 26, 2010)

*My advice...*

The last post is a good idea however if your not a rod builder or have someone with you that is not sure how you would know a Harrington or not? However I have several Harrington rods and they are by far the one of the better sticks. On that note what are you ultimate goals for surf fishing and what is the approach your attempting to achieve for yourself? Reason being is they can be considerable differences say fishing Galveston or Matagorda surf and mainly it's the wind. Surf is flatter in Galveston in the summer with lighter winds so you can get the the second gut and cast really well with the rods your wanting to buy. More information would be helpful to answer your questions. We all used Penn 12/0 reels a jet ski and custom boat rods to fish the beach in the day and short cast the Harrington's. We caught a lot more fish on the short cast every now and then a big shark to not to often unless we stayed for days.


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## fishingcacher (Mar 29, 2008)

If conditions are calm and the lines are not pulling I prefer the ugly stick due to the sensitivity to the bite but you lose some distance. Other than eyelet problems it is hard to break an Ugly stick.


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## Spec Chaser (Jul 7, 2006)

Thank you all for the feedbacks. I would agree that Ugly Stix would never win when it comes to looks, but it definitely last for a long time. I have a couple of Ugly Stix for about 20 years now and I still catch fish on them. I was looking for to add to more tackle to the mix so that I have the appropriate gears when we need them.


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## SurfRunner (May 22, 2004)

Breakaway!


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## bigfost (Oct 11, 2004)

I've seen a couple of recommendations for Breakaway rods. They may be good for long distance casting, and that's debatable too, but they're **** for catching fish. Their action is way too heavy .


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## 535 (May 23, 2004)

thats simply not true... they build everything from trout rods to the nuke

http://www.breakawayusa.com/products/rods-blanks/custom/


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## histprof (Oct 30, 2011)

The Breakaway rods are so far out of my price range that I can't even consider them. I am using the ugly sticks as all purpose rods in the 7' range, since I rarely finesse fish. For the long rods, I have a few Okuma Longitude from Academy and an Ugly. I like the slightly stiffer action on the Okumas but can't complain about the Ugly either. I grew up on fairly soft action tubular glass rods, so I'm OK with the Ugly Stick action. I also buy old throw away rods off ebay just to fiddle with. I landed a lot of fish this fall on an old 9' Ocean City glass rod that someone let go for $0.99.

Although I can't afford his rods, Nickaway at Breakaway has made some good youtube videos of the fishing down on PINS. For learning about surf fishing, I would list that as #2 behind reading this board, for sure. Good stuff.


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## bigfost (Oct 11, 2004)

jc said:


> thats simply not true... they build everything from trout rods to the nuke
> 
> http://www.breakawayusa.com/products/rods-blanks/custom/


I stand corrected. In years past, they only made the big surf/casting rods that had a very heavy action. They've obviously expanded their line tremendously.

I hate it when I have to admit I'm wrong. LOL


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## FIDO (Jun 14, 2011)

jc said:


> thats simply not true... they build everything from trout rods to the nuke
> 
> http://www.breakawayusa.com/products/rods-blanks/custom/


x2

You don't have to get the heaviest action rods. But, if you decide you want to learn to cast as far as possible, email Nick. You'll find yourself on a Corpus beach with Nick learning how to do it. I have one of his rods and have caught more pomano since that purchase in Nov of 2010 than in my whole life before that. I'm getting one of his plug rods next. He's one hell of a guy too.


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## CoastalOutfitters (Aug 20, 2004)

for custom 
harrington
harnell
gator
even all star sold a one piece blank and built their surf rod for academy for awhile


for price , get an ugly stik


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## Spectaker (Oct 24, 2011)

I'm budget friendly so my rods are cheap ones. I've never seen the reason to spring for expensive rods but I've never used them and only fish once every two weeks or so. I figure so long as they get the task done and do what they're supposed to do, why not spend the money on a nice reel instead or throw your savings into the gas it takes to get there. *shrug. Then again, I'm a bit of a penny pincher. Lol.


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## BullyARed (Jun 19, 2010)

Academy has rods riot sale. 12" Ugly Stik $79.99 is now $59.99.


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## troutless (Feb 17, 2006)

While we are discussing surf rods do any of you guys use two piece rods? They would be easier to carry.
I have a 10' FTU surfrod and a glass rod. I've done very little surf fishing, mostly BTB fishing with 7" Ugly Sticks with Penn's and Daiwa Sha 30's and have a Daiwa Sha 50 on the FTU rod.


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## bigfost (Oct 11, 2004)

troutless said:


> While we are discussing surf rods do any of you guys use two piece rods? They would be easier to carry.


Except for a couple of custom one piece rods, all my surf rods are two piece. Decades ago there were problems with two piece surf rods, but they solved that long ago.


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## Spec Chaser (Jul 7, 2006)

I went ahead and ordered a St. Croix 10' Triumph series from Cabela's last Friday, and it was delivered this afternoon after I made a trip up to Lake Livingston Dam this morning for the 2nd time ever. I just wished it would have been delivered yesterday which would have helped tremendously with my freshwater fishing today. I don't have much experience with many other surf rods besides....Penn, Ugly Stix, Daiwa, and Shimano; however, the St. Croix 10' is really nice IMO. 

They are light, not too bulky and has a good feel to them. And FYI, I met a couple of fellow 2coolers (Thomas and John) up there at the dam, and those 2 guys were killing the stripers up there. They were casting 15 footers which could easily get their lures literally to the foot of the dam. 

Tight lines!!!!!


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## histprof (Oct 30, 2011)

Congrats! Hope you get to wrassle something with it fairly soon.


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## Fishing4Life (Jan 4, 2012)

I have a 10' Tsunami surf rod. It's very light, small cork handle. It feels like a regular 7' inshore rod


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## goodwood (Mar 30, 2009)

if anyone wants a 9 or a 10 ft FTU surf rod pm me. I've only used it a couple times, practically brand new. These are the long handles that go for 160-180 new.


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