Livelining Rod & Reel Setup
 

What rod and reel does everyone use for livelining menhaden, scup etc.

I'm looking to get a setup for the spring and need some ideas.

G- loomis bluewater 6'6 heavy conventinal rod graphite(pool cue) rated 25-50lb test..Abu Garcia big game (black reel) 9000 spooled with 50lb ande with a 80lb leader of clear ande mono...vmc 3/0 or 4/0 treb hooks...

Talk to Mike at M&D's.

for a convench, setup, #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&s suggetion will be hard to beat.

If you like spinning reels, I'm a huge fan of the shimano 4500 baitrunner, match it with at 7ft med-heavy rod.

Thanks #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&....Do you have the model number to that rod? Is it the Pro-Blue Series rod model #PBR785C (6'6" 20 - 40line weight ). I don't see anything on their website that has the rating and corresponding length, the rod above is the closest I could find. Has the rod been discontinued?

anyone kno how the shimano thunnus is compared to the original baitrunner?

I think it's supposed to be about a thousand times better.At least.But I have never owned either one.

I like longer, I use an 8' foot or 7'6 on the boat. I have a custom 8 footer cut down from a 9 foot blank that is the balls. The sealine 7' mh is an awesome rod. I would never fish anything under 7', too short can't stand the way a short rod fights fish.

the thunnus 6000 is fantastic. my go to reel when targeting larger fish. i've got it on a penn power graph 7' heavy action 1-3. bills setup is nice if a bit beefy, unless your fishing nasty places.

I use St Croix Premier 7' conventional rod w/ 6500 size Abu and 50 lb PP when on a boat. The Daiwa Sealine-X boat rods are super for the $. I'll Uglysticks as well. I leave reel disengauged with thumb on spool let fish run a little bit and then cross it's eyes. :D

Thunnus is aluminum body with no flex - rotor isn't aluminum though costs 2 X more than std BR. All of the Thunnus are the same body just different rotor/spool on top. Baitrunners are graphite bodies that do bend under a lot of strain - still plenty tough and excellant for the $ (great for plugging as well). BR are tough enough that charter guys use them for schoolie tuna. :)

How much do you want to spend?

Mike at M&Ds has some Daiwa Beefsticks that are strong as hell and ridiculously cheap. You can use the savings to splurge on a reel. If you don't need a levelwind, the Daiwa Saltist is a good choice. Mike sold a lot of them to the commercial guys for yo-yoing. Or you can talk to Mike about a custom. The same blanks he uses for yo-yo rods should work for what you want.

I'm using almost the same setup and it was absolute killer last year.