# surf fishing poles any Idea what length?



## seacer (Dec 9, 2012)

New to surf fishing and I want to buy a pole what is a good lenght for surf fishing? 

Searacer


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## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

12', you can cast a 8' or 10' just fine, and a shorter rod is actually better for fighting fish, but a shorter rod lowers the angle that your line enters the water, what that translates to is more of your line is in the water for seaweed and other debris to get tangled on and more of your line will be rubbing on the sand bars which will increase the chances of your line getting frayed or completely cut off.


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## fishingcacher (Mar 29, 2008)

I use a 10 footer and it is fine.


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## pickn'fish (Jun 1, 2004)

Your rod length/action will be largely dependent upon which species you plan to target. What do you want to catch?...
Welcome to the salt...


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## Big Guns 1971 (Nov 7, 2013)

i use 10 foot stiff rods. 12 footers seem to limber for me. i will cast a 8 oz weight and 1.5 lb bait.


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## Surf Rodder (Jun 28, 2013)

I agree with what sharkchum said. I prefer my 12' Ugly Stick and I mount it on a longer length of PVC to lessen weed impact. When the water is clear of weed (and especially if green &/or blue) I prefer my medium/heavy 10' Ugly Stick. I typically take a whole range of rods and use what seems to be the better/best rig for the conditions.


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## iamatt (Aug 28, 2012)

12 foot ugly sticks and 10 foot. Cheap and decent rods. By the way. Wife must have been gone to let that many rods that look the same so close to each other out in the open! :wink:


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## ronnie collins (May 21, 2004)

15 ft. ugly sticks are my favorite. with 7000 to 10000 ambassadeurs. if you don't like the tip flex, just cut of a ft at the tip. they are tuff, you can beat them against something or run over them and still fish with them. they a little on the heavy side.


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## fultonswimmer (Jul 3, 2008)

My wife throws a 9' and an 8' pole with no more than 4 oz. spider weights and gets out as far as she needs to in order to catch whatever happens to be in the surf. Longer and stiffer does not mean as much in the surf as it might elsewhere. If you get a chance try out someone's pole(s) and buy one that you can comfortably throw without a lot of strain and work as it soon becomes less fun if you have to wear yourself out throwing out more rod than needed. If I need an 8oz weight to fish the surf I would wait until the hurricane passes and the surf lays down from the 10' breakers.


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## ellisredfish (Jul 5, 2005)

That is funny Fulton. I use an 8 footer and a two piece ten footer. I recently made a nine footer that is a joy to cast. I can cast as far as I need to with a two ounce weight. I don't care for catching sharks.


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## Timemachine (Nov 25, 2008)

3ea 13footers and 2ea 10' ugly stik.


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## Big Guns 1971 (Nov 7, 2013)

I dont like the ugly sticks due to them being to limber for my liking. I like to cast large baits and catch big sharks. I have 4 Allstar 10 foot stiff surf rods from the 1990's and everyone that uses them love how well they cast and how stiff they are. Remember we are not chunking lures or small baits like shrimp. It all depends what you want to do with them. For lures or smal baits a limber rod would work. I always use 8 oz spider weights and have for years. My baits will stick with 8 oz and would laugh at a 2 or 3 oz weight.


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## Yellow.mouth (May 10, 2013)

Seacer, still haven't heard what you are targeting? IMO around 10 foot is well suited for a lot of conditions and not too unwieldy, but as mentioned, when the weed is bad, the longer the rod the better in order to keep more line out of the water and away from the weed.


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## kneekap (Nov 13, 2012)

Like most of the different types of fishing; rod lengths seem to have shrunk from the old days. Back then, nothing could be called a surf rod at less than @14 feet. Lots of folks are now using 10 footers. I still like 14-15' to keep it out of the seaweed and abrasion. Seems like more distance on the cast when out deep with a longer rod. If you are yakking the lines out that won't matter much.


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## seacer (Dec 9, 2012)

The Target Fish are bull reds

Searacer



Yellow.mouth said:


> Seacer, still haven't heard what you are targeting? IMO around 10 foot is well suited for a lot of conditions and not too unwieldy, but as mentioned, when the weed is bad, the longer the rod the better in order to keep more line out of the water and away from the weed.


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## johnmyjohn (Aug 6, 2006)

Good info. Length does matter. There's more to it than just the casting. The difference between a ten footer and a 13 is be able to throw a bait past the third bar or landing on it. It also means spending all your time cleaning off seaweed when it's hugging the beach. It means changing your line more because it can suspend over the first few bars instead of buried under or rubbing on top of them. It means the more current your line catches the more it will pull loose, wind grab is bad but water is worse. Now the down side of length. I build rods and personally would not waste my money on portioned poles. Every joint is a weak spot waiting for a fish that's too big for it. I want my line, reel, hooks or anything to fail but the pole because I can keep fishing when it's over with. If you can't transport or store a one piece there's nothing you can do. Length gives you leverage to cast but if you find yourself bringing a knife to a gunfight it takes away leverage. Shorter rods are easier on your back. Longer rods cost more too. If you have one built: they clumsy and awkward to handle: most builders don't have the room to build one in: shipping one is ridiculous. So I take into affect the rod is for the convenience of the beach I say nothing under 10 foot , preferable twelve if you only have one or two. This is just personal thought and don't mean to go against others opinions. This is also for old school fishing from rod holders on the beach no yaks and such. This is probably the most important part, fish with someone else's poles to see what fits you if possible. People are built differently. If you have less than average upper body strength and chunking huge bait you have no business with a 14 footer with a penn 4/0 HLW loaded with 50 lb mono. I'm talking casting. It's not a man thing it's physics, you want to be able to enjoy yourself not be frustrated. Sorry for dragging this out.


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## Fishingmatt (Aug 16, 2012)

if seaweed is present, the higher you can get your line the better. For big sharks I prefer short rods with a lot of power as long as seaweed isn't around


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