Boring what rod question

Hi,

I posted this up on Niall MacKellows guest page but was hoping someone here might be able to help.

I've been using an old floppy silstar which is fine for lobbing but I want to upgrade to rod which I can start learning power casting with. I fish the Shannon Estuary which has strong tides and mixed ground and I would need to contend with decent sized bull huss and conger but there is also good sized ray on cleaner ground where I would need to distance cast. Can someone recommend which penn rod I should go for to match my penn 525 mag.I am 6ft and 12 and 1/2 stone.

Thanks
Donagh

Hi Donagh

I am using a Penn Vendetta 12.6 foot rod with a 535 for rough ground fishing and find that it is quite good but the tip is a bit floppy given it was probably designed for match fishing rather than the big 'uns you are after... so steer clear of the Vendetta (nice rod, just not stiff enough).

FWIW...

Donagh now I can return the favour, I am into distance casting, I have looked at the penn rods, and feel there is better for that little bit more money,after all you get what you pay for,have a look at the century kompressors m8 and if I were to shose one for what you want it would be the kompressor sport this will handle anything your after, I have landed 18lbs thornback on this rod and is good for alround distance teamed up with your mag it should do the job cheers m8 rod.

Rod and kieran thanks for your replies. I'll have to look at other brands but I thought penn would be a good starting point as I could compare prices with veals and my local shop. Niall MacKellow got back and suggested a sidewinder (said he used it in demos to cast baseballs) which I may be able to get test drive of this weekend and Veals suggested a villian as it would be a good transition from my floppy stick but could still handle the rough stuff. Local shop gave no advise.

Donagh

In the end I bought a penn Villian (Groundcaster) in steves in Limerick which with money off was about the same price as Veals and he'd just got one in so I had it straight away. It's well worth dealing Irish tackle shops to see if they can match prices. I saved alot on P+P.

I've only had a quick go but it has made a huge difference to my casting. I'd also recommend anyone who gets a 525 mag to tune it with red label before they even think of using it.

Donagh

I agree some of the local tackle shops are starting to do good deals on rods to compete with the mail order companys .