Which forum should my post belong to? I have a questionf ro you, how long do you think I am ready to take up with the conventional gear? I know that I may seem a baby surfcaster to you, but I tend to be hasty with new flavors of the interests haphazaply (sp?). I want your insights (as experienced vets).

It's usually until one reaches 40 right ? ;)

Joseph, no reason why you couldn't start right now.

You just need the proper gear and a lot of time to practice. If you're near the water to practice, great. However, you should try to find a safe place that is not crowded - a large field like a high school football or soccer field.

If you're practicing with 5 oz bank sinkers - you have to be careful where those things land (whether they are attached to your line or "break #^&#^&#^&#^&) as they can hurt other people or yourself.

Easy does it....

Do you have the proper equipment?

Like a 10-12 foot medium heavy conventional stick, with a conventional reel loaded up with 25 lb. test MONO and three turns of 50 lb. mono shock leader??

Get Ron Arra's book and do some reading...

-B

No time like the present!!! Like Fishweewee says, practice, practice, practice! I just started this past season Notaro, and I still need to practice, it takes quite awhile to get pretty good with conventional gear, but man, when you catch a fish on conventional....you will think there is nothing better!!!:kewl:

I disagree - keep it simple. Run mono on a spinning real. You want your attention and focus to be on what you are fishing not how you are fishing... If you are "haphazaply hasty" you might take some of the fun out...

I agree with johnR-keep it simple-stick with the spinning gear and save yourself some headaches
chris

Start as soon as you can. Get a reel with centrifugal brakes , spool tensioning and mag casting control. tune the reel down to a slow crawl. get used to a smooth casting action vs a spinner. after a few weeks practice , ease off the spool tension. After a few more weeks , back ofrf the mag control. after a few more weeks , reduce the number of brakes. Once you master the conventionals , you'll only use spinners for very light stuff.

:huh:

my take on this is start as soon as you like pick a rod ypu can handle older penn's or a abu make good reels and yes mono on spinning reels dacron or the new braid on casting reels { casting into water so you don't burn your thumb} it's not as hard as you may think good luck :cool: :cool:

I started with 9' & 6500 w/#15 mono. Pick a calm day and take Salt's advice.

i have used spinning for a while. practicing with the conventional outfit is what i wanted to do before i can use it on the surf.

ben, i have ron arra's book. it's very informative. but i have no proper gear for the conventional. i have read ther whole book.

johnr, it might take a while before i can afford a surf conventional outfit. and you are right about keeping it simple for now. after reading saltheart's advice, that's kinda a little lengthy detail on how i am fishing with the conventional gear.

saltheart, thansk for the advice. if i can afford it, i will use it. it's funny that i dont see any chain sporting good that sells conventional surf outfit.

casting a 5 oz will takes a toll out of me. a heavy conventional gear, do you mean like a graphic composite, graphite fiber, fiberglass?

Originally posted by Notaro
casting a 5 oz will takes a toll out of me. a heavy conventional gear, do you mean like a graphic composite, graphite fiber, fiberglass?

It shouldn't, if you're doing it right...

i started throwing conventional in the surf when i was about 8 years old. my dad set up an old abu 6500 on what was actually a downrigger rod he found at a tag sale. he gave me a couple of jigs, pointed me to the surf, and said "learn!" no books, no advice, just trial and error. LOTS of error! it made me that much better, though, as i quickly learned how to pick even the ugliest of backlashes and i learned from my mistakes as well as the success i had.

i would advise you start in the same manner. tie on a jig, go to a nice calm area where you will not be distracted by breaking fish, and experiment. if you find you are having serious trouble, come back here and let us know. maybe someone can point you in the right direction. if you put the effort in your self, without being told exactly what to do when, it will help you become a better surf fisherman in the end. good luck!

It's no crime to run a conventional reel on a spinning rod. Try an Abu 6500 these are the easiest to start with. buy a pound of 15 or 17 lb line. When the line is gone, you'll know what you are doing. Dont start with braid because you will waste a lot of line at first. Good luck!

T-Lap.....don't ya hate those areas where the fish are a distraction???:laugha: :hihi: Just pulling your leg dude, that just sounded funny, finding that spot should not be difficult this time of year! Notaro, if fishing conventional is something you want to do, there is no time like the present to get started.:kewl: If everything was easy...life would be no fun at all!:happy:

Originally posted by longshot
It's no crime to run a conventional reel on a spinning rod.

Careful - the spine on a spinning rod is on the opposite side of a conventional rod. Might stress the blank...

-WW

Originally posted by fishweewee
Careful - the spine on a spinning rod is on the opposite side of a conventional rod. Might stress the blank...

-WW Won't stress the blank - it will theoretically cast more accurately :D

okay, should i buy a underpriced conventional surf setup first?

Originally posted by fishweewee
Careful - the spine on a spinning rod is on the opposite side of a conventional rod. Might stress the blank...

-WW

It depends on who built it. I like having the guide feet on the spine on both types of rods. Most of my rods have been built by two people---Bobby Tutorello at Causeway, and Mike Thomas at M&Ds, and both of them put both conventonals and spinning guides on the spine without my asking.

The rods I have that have guides on the opposite side were built by Donna Lilker at Donart and Dave Hammock at Murats.

Notaro,
GO FOR IT. I did it and I haven't regretted it for a second. One word of advice Saltheart gave me several years ago. Don't go cheap to start or you'll never be happy. Get something you'll be happy with for a while. You'll lose interest fast with substandard gear. An ABU 6500 is a good start, make sure you get at least a C3 and get the best rod you can afford. If your goal is to fish heavy jigs in the canal you'll probably want to start out with an ABU 7000 sized reel. You can get a 7000C and throw bearings in it for less than a 7000 C3 costs. Again, get a decent rod. There are soem decent factory rods out there for far less than a custom. I have always had good luck at M&D's, you caould always PM mikecc or any of the other sponsoring shops and they would probably be happy to help you out.

C3?
thanks, fishpart. im so broke now. i wonder if mikecc can hold my order until im loaded with cash in my account?

People suggest a calm day but in fact the easiest conditions to learn to cast a conventional are when you have a cross wind. Wind in your face is suicidal for beginners but wind from the side often saves you from some overruns. Wind from behind sounds good but its not as effective in catching the line which is what helps you avoid overruns.

Oh , on the rod question. It will not hurt a rod to cast with the spine at 0 or 180 degrees to the guides. Either is an acceptable build depending on what you are trying to achieve , max fish fighting or max casting. In a spinner it matters little. On a conventional , although you can go either way , I always prefer the guides on the spine to minimze twist.

The rule of thumb is to have the spine opposite the applied load for your most important concern which to me is when you have a fish on but to some it is during casting at the peak load when you starrt forward on the cast after the backswing..

That's a good point, Saltheart. I would like to use both for casting and landing a fish. I already PMed MikeCC about the abu 6500. He has them (6500 TCST).

Joseph-

I'd start with an Abu 7500 CT Big Game, without the levelwind.

Load it with 25 lb. test mono (Berkley Trilene is fine).

The 6500 is a bit tougher to control, take my word for it...

-B

okay, so i should try 7500? i once tried shimano caluclata and it felt great. that bas BC's.

For 30 bucks go to ebay, get a squidder... practice your thumb off.. when you master a squidder you can throw anything.... my 6500 is a cakewalk now.. but I still use my squidder with eels or on big nights.......
'hound

Originally posted by RIROCKHOUND
For 30 bucks go to ebay, get a squidder... practice your thumb off.. when you master a squidder you can throw anything.... my 6500 is a cakewalk now.. but I still use my squidder with eels or on big nights.......
'hound
one problem, i applied for a ebay membership on ebay and they denied me several times.

okay, i was wrong. now i am a member of the ebay.com.

I would recommend a Abu 6500 levelwind to start. Try to get one with Mag casting controls. The Abu 6500 C5 Mag is pretty nice for a beginner. Mike T has them.

Smaller reels are faster like Wee wee said but you can slow thgem right down with spool tension and Mag controls. Much easier to get your thumb over. You don't want to have to worry about leveling the line on the retrieve yourself.

I believe the best of the ABU 6500 size is the BG 6500 CL but that has no Mag control. Next best IMO is the 6500 CS Mag. Mike T might have all them. the Bg 6500 Cl has a bait clicker while the ones with Mag controls don't. If you are a bait chucker , I think the clicker is important.

Im only 18 years old , but ive been Surcasting since I was about 9 or 10. I used to go out with my grandpa and his buddies to Race point. I always used Spinning gear till he finally let me use one of his Convential Rigs. I can throw them pretty good now, I have 3 convential surf set ups. Mostly squidder and Garcias, all on custom wrapped rods which I did myself. Do what these guys are saying and go to calm waters and practice. I go down to a little pond in Easthampton all the time and practice my retreives and casting.

Good Luck Notaro:happy:

Im only 18 years old , but ive been Surcasting since I was about 9 or 10. I used to go out with my grandpa and his buddies to Race point. I always used Spinning gear till he finally let me use one of his Convential Rigs. I can throw them pretty good now, I have 3 convential surf set ups. Mostly squidder and Garcias, all on custom wrapped rods which I did myself. Do what these guys are saying and go to calm waters and practice. I go down to a little pond in Easthampton all the time and practice my retreives and casting all the time.

Good Luck Notaro:happy:

Carecrow, you have said it twice.:)

Mike suggests me a TSCT 6500. If I was going to fish on the herring run, I would need a conventional setup with a clicker, Saltheart. Lemme ask mike t. thanks.

alright, i am going to go with saltheart's advice.