Had a post from a new guy, Matt, on the spare board (linesiders)...

This was his post:
Date: 04-19-2001 on 14:31

I am fishing the western part of long island sound and the Robert moses/jones beach area of the south shore and am looking to get into the surf casting area. I plan on throwing chunks/live bait instead of using lures, and am wondering the best direction to go as far as: conventional/spinning, 10'/10'+ (i want to be able to fit it in my car, so i guess two piece), custom/premaid, st. croix/lamiglas/other, etc.... I am looking to spend below $250-300 if possible.
Thanks for all of your help,
tight lines,
matt

And my reply,

Hey Matt,
Good news and bad news: First the good news, yep, you can do that for that kinda coin. I would certainly recommend custom over off the rack built. A Lami or St Croix would run more money but there are other excellent alternatives for less money like the AllStar/Breakaways and others. Depending on how you go on the reel will determine if you go over or not. As far as your area, I haven't fish it but others from the board have...

The bad news: This board isn't being used (because it was too slow) and the other faster board, where all the people hang out is at http://65.2.162.230/cgi-bin/StriperTalk/UltraBoard.cgi ... The other part of the bad news is that the registering function is broken and won't be resolved until this weekend... But I'll put your post up on the other board so others can respond to you... So come on over to the other board...
Thanks,

John

(Thanks for the heads up Slipnot)

sorry, wrong thread...

Hey kids,

Yep, saw Matt's post over at Soundfishing.com and some guy recommended a Great White reel and an uglystik and 20 or 30 lb test. Seeing that, I promptly emailed him since I was asked not to post on Soundfishing's board.

Anyways, I asked Matt what he wanted in a setup and what he wanted it for. He said he has a rod he casts light plugs. What he is looking for is something to cast eels and chunks. He also said he was comfortable with a conventional. Now I know a thing or two about spinning reels but nothing about conventionals. My guess was, that a conventional would be better for him. One of his worries was about his thumb getting torn up.

Anyways, since I couldn't help him, I figured the best thing I could do was to refer him to guys who could. I gave him the URL to this site.

So I leave it up to you guys. My personal feeling is, if he wants to cast bait with a light sinker like a 2 oz or 3 oz, the rod I use, a 10 foot St. Croix with a Penn 6500 would be fine. But it won't cut it with anything heavier.

Can ya guys help this fella out?

Thanks

Personally, I do about 5% chunk fishing so I really don't have a specialized rod for that but I do fish mostly eels when the big gals are around. I like the 1089 Sabre for most of my eel fishing. 9 foot conventional, good backbone, not a whippy tip but that's my preference. Alot of people prefer something a little lighter like the 1088... (BTW - the name "Sabre" is pretty much interchangeable with "Batson" now. Same blanks, different finish, Ford -v- Mercury sort of thing...) but I do use the 1089 when I toss clams

This rod will handle weight and bait but is not in the heaver class for a big 8oz plus half a bunker. A good budget reel for this setup would be the 6500TCST Trophy Striper: 150yds 20# mono, 4 bearings, and Power Handle (paddle handle stinks for bigger fish). They can be found for under $90 and the 1088/1089 for $170-200... The St Croix 10 would put you over the top but definitely shop a custom version. Also, if you are scooting around for prices on a custom, make sure they use Fuji guides & reel seats - they are better and do make a difference...

See Matt? Good guys here, I knew they could help you out!

BTW - I'm considering putting up my 1089 Custom Sabre for sale on the classifieds section. The only weird thing with it is that it does not have a Fuji reel seat. It has Fuji guides which is important but the trigger seat is not a Fuji... It's a nice rod which I only used last year that caught a bunch of fish over 20 pounds up to the mid thirties. My primary rod. It was built at Gil's in Wakefield and is the last custom rod I have that I haven't built myself... Otherwise, it is in greatr shape. I picked up a 1089 Batson (same blank, different finish) to put together this month....