Light tackle choices
 

I know almost nothing about stripers. I lucked into one on a chunk a few years ago. That being said I am a good fresh water bass fisherman and it has dawned on me that slinging chunks from a bridge and waiting for a bite is not what I like nor want to do any longer.

To this end I bought a Tica 10'6" surf rod to throw eels but this rod is really heavy and doesn't seem cut out for working plugs and other lures in a more confined area.

Now my question! Can you use lighter bait casting equipment, similar to freshwater, for river stripers or other areas that are in-tight to shore? If so what would you recommend? Would a rod in the 7 to 7.5 foot range be adequate? If so what size line and reel to use? I am familiar with the Calcutta 250/251 and Abu C3 series reels, would these be too small for stripers?

Recommendations welcome - decent quality and cheap is appreciated!

I'd say for the cheapest and best entry for eeling and plugging would be a Tica or Quarrow from 8-9 feet with a Abu 6500 TCST reel if you are going to go conventional. Probably the best setups short of going custom.

For using a lighter setup for tight areas go with an 8 foot of the same with a mid sized spinning - 6000 size reel (Shimano, Daiwa, Penn) and you can throw stuff from sluggos to lighter plugs to smaller eels.

The thing for you if you got one on a chunk a few years ago is to not target a 50 pounder off the bat but to put yourself in the best way to get fish from the 20 inch range into the small mid size keeper range... Walk before you run, you will learn more and adapt better than jumping in with the big stuff - believe me - I tried years ago migrating from an 8 footer to a 12 footer and my catches went from decent to nonexistant...

If you go Calcutta, you might want to go with the 400 instead of the 250.

A 7 or 7-1/2 foot bassin' rod--maybe one rated for 1-1/2 or 2 oz at the top end--would work fine for inshore fishing. I'm not a freshwater expert, but I think some of those rods they market for Carolina rigged worms would work. I used to use an old Shakespeare "flippin'" stick that could handle about 2 oz. It cost me about $50. You could also look into some "inshore" saltwater sticks in the 7 to 7-1/2' range. You'd want a 9' plugging rod for the open beach, but a shorter baitcasting rod can be just the thing for bays, backsides of inlets, tidal creeks, harbors, etc..

Go Small
 

John makes a good point above, you won't always catch a giant cow when you go and some of the backwater/inshore areas may not hold super large fish -- although never overlook an opportunity for decent size fish to be swimming near and in the shallows.

but one thing that I have noticed with anglers is having rods that are too heavy when they are targetting areas that smaller fish are more predemoninat than the larger fish. the larger outfits don't provide the finesse that is often needed to work the smaller stuff effectively. If you can afford it, look at some of the 7-foot outfits that can throw rubber jigs and smaller storm shads, small poppers, small mambow minnows and cyrstal minnows. rods that can throw half-ounce jigs to 1 ounce jigs and plugs/1.5 ounce.

I use this type of spin rod from my kayak alot, catch a lot of fish up to 20 pounds, but the rod is suited to fishing cramped quarters, handles small fish and larger fish fine as well. I also use it in the back creeks, flats and estuaries when wading or from a boat.

For bigger water, have a larger rod like suggested above -- check with the shops on this site including Cape Cod Tackle, Saltwater Edge, etc. -- they can direct you to what you need.

just a thought.

8-8 1/2 ft tica
abu 6500
youd have a perfect combo, for plugs, small eels, bait, jigs. basically everything. filled with braid you can kill bigger fish with it too.

Batson 1087 w/ Stradic 5000.... it's my spring time rod multi purpose.

Good information so far
 

A stradic 2500 could handle a striper? I have four or five of them, so I could probably dedicate one to light inshore stuff instead of investing in a baitcaster for the light inshore equipment. That means I can invest in an Abu 6501 with a 9' rod for throwing plugs too.

Does that sound resonable?
A Stradic 2500 with(a yet to be determined spinning rod) for inshore
An Abu 6501 and 8'-9' rod for throwing plugs and Sluggos
A Tica 10'6" surf rod for throwing eels

I typically use Power Pro for all my fresh water fishing (except when bouncing the rocky bottom) so I will probably stick with that.

How much to striper plugs typically weigh?

Striper PLugs vary from 3/4 ounce to 5 ounces when ch#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g telephone poles...

A 9 foot spinning rod rated 1-3 would be an all around go to rod for light stuff like mambos / bombers and sluggos and work thru most plugs and to mid size eels - matched to a Stradic 5000 / Penn Slammer / Comparable Daiwa, ytou would have a great all around setup...

my bad the 5000, I have too many Stradics :spin:

Check with G/s ,,Denis or myself // thats most of our fishing ;;;:lasso:

I am a HUGE fan of Quarrow rods.Best rod you can buy for the money spent.For a custom that won't break the bank a Batson is the way to go.MikeCC built me a 1088 and its my most used rod.

I like the Spheros reels over the Stradics.Though not as refined as a Stradic,its cheaper and more durable.The 8000 is an ideal size for 8'-9' rods.And if using braid its great for 10'ers too.

That rod you got from me is a 1088, how's it working out for you Mike?

Dave great for the mid range plugs, rubber //

but you know I have more finess rigs for the small stuff /sometimes large :kewl:

I'm not sure what you are talking about:confused:


What model is that Quarrow SW1088 or SU1088? Any thoughts on the SU1087 or SW1087?

I've known clammer for 5 years now and I'm still confused :shocked: :hidin:

First, let us know what course you are thinking of, 8 foot or 9 foot, spinning or convench, custom or good grade off the rack - then we can narrow it down for you a little. Keep in mind that if (when) you get hooked on some bigger fish, you'll end up buying more gear anyway...

Mine too, good choice.

Hell, you built it :hee:

I guess I'm trying to get a feel for what I really want. I definitely want conventional. I have the spinning surf caster and that's fine with me. But I like conventional for accuracy and just the feel.

I thought I might want a shorter rod (I was initially thinking 7.5'), but after re-thinking uses of this rod, I might be best off getting a 8.5' to 9' so that I avoid the upgrade process you spoke of. I did the whole upgrade/upgrade/upgrade process with freshwater bass fishing and I'd like to avoid it with stripers. That being said, I still have to figure that I won't go striper fishing nearly as often as bass fishing so 300.00 custom rods are not practical. Those Rainshadow/Batson blanks are very cheap and I have a builder that could robably put them together inexpensively also. I could go stock and be happy, but I really like the light weight feel of custom.

As far as power, I usually tend to like a lighter power rod just for the added fun. However I don't want the rod to be overpowered by the average plug. That's why I am curious about the 1087's I'm not sure how a 1088 would feel with a plug.

I know I'm all over the place with my thoughtsd, but like I said I am still trying to figure it out and you guys have helped me a lot!

Thanks

I have a 1087 and a few 1088's. The 1088 feels good at about 2-2 1/2 3oz feels a bit over loaded. I plug plenty with the 1088, I have spinning and convench, one of my favorite rods...

SW and SU blanks are Batson Rainshadow blanks, not Quarrow rods. Quarrow sells finished rods, and I don't know the model #s. They are a very good rod for the price.

For an all-around plugging rod at 9', I would go with either the SU 1087 or the SW 1088. The SW 1087 tops out at 2 to 2-1/2 oz. I think you can throw 3 oz easily on the SU 1087. The SW 1088 is still soft enough to throw light plugs and you can probably push it to 4 oz. The SU 1088 is a very stiff rod and wouldn't handle stuff under 1-1/2 oz as well as either the SU 1087 or SW 1088.

Sorry, I meant Batson, not Quarrow.

Sounds like the SU1087 (topping out at 3 oz) is right inbetween the SW1087(topping out at 2-2.5 oz) and SW1088 (topping out at 4 oz).

Anywhere I could touch one of these blanks either finished or not? I'd really like to feel one before investing.

Mike CC at cape cod tackle, one of the site sponsors... Top notch...oops, just noticed you are in NH...

If at all possible, especially if you're heading to the Cape sometime soon, stop at M&Ds. M&Ds is the brick and mortar shop that's d/b/a CapeCodTackle online. He also is one of the few shops carrying the Quarrow line right now.

He doesn't have a lot of finished custom rods--just ones awaiting pick-up from customers, and he's back-ordered and not taking new orders until he catches up. But he has a ton of Batson blanks on hand ;)