Bait or Lure.

My birthday is coming up at the end of the month so i thing i will treat myself to a new rod either a 10ft spinning rod and reel for bass or maybe a 12ft beach caster for bait fishing for bass.

Any ideas arguments over which type really torn between staying with lures or trying bat fishing?????
any help is greatly appreciated.

For my money (if money is no object of course) its a toss up between the Zziplex Powertex Bass for bait fishing OR a Mike Ladle Surespin 10/10 Pro. Im nearly drooling thinking about the Surespin, its such a beutifull rod!! I own neither yet but Santa has been duely notified
Lure fishing is going to be kinda slow for a while so go with something like the Powertex and save your money till March for the Surespin Problem Solved

Ya thats the thing im a lure fishing man at heart and all that stnading around with a tri pod isnt my idea of fishing i have a 11ft pier/rocks rod so im thiong that should be fine for and surf fishing? Will it be big enough not 100% sure. Yes i have seen that mike ladel rod looks the business iv seen a nice shimano steelhead spinning rod looks amazing too

Personally I'm much more of "standing around with the tripod" type , (still haven't quite managed to master the art of spinning for bass) and for years almost all of my bass were caught on an 11 foot rod, (and not an expensive one either) and it should be long enough. But, unless you're a very good caster, I think a pair of chest waders are essential - the bass can sometimes be very close in, but on a gently sloping storm beach they can be a reasonable distance out too. (I don't find that "third breaker" thing very helpful - where i fish there can be about 8 breakers!) With an eleven foot rod on a gently sloping storm beach I'd tend to wade out to just above my knees and cast, I'd guess, maybe another 80 - 100 metres and it seems to work well (mostly).

dont look like 100 meter casts to me

Well im fishing an 11'6 supercast at the moment for shore stuff - 6 inches isnt going to make a whole lot of difference. There is a certain something for me about fishing with bait for bass. Whatever about having it on the tripod, I just love it when they slam into it hard and you see the top of the rod going nuts, then you have the few secs of a lull before they hammer it again, half the time i can hear my heart pumping in my ear as im waiting for the second touch jesus who needs drugs, if you want kicks go bass fishing!! I will say that getting your hands on decent bait can be a bit of a nuisance. And if you do have to resort to buying it you need to be ready to remortgage the house at this stage!!! Provided you dont loose any lures its a far cheaper, more active way of fishing. But why choose one over the other?? Both methods are equally exciting and demand totally different approaches. I wouldt choose one over the other anyway.

I would suggest getting a 13' - 15' beachcaster - you would probably be better off getting a moderately priced good rod rather than a pricy top of the range rod since you are new to bait fishing. As Donogh mentioned bass can often be in close to the shore but sometimes you may have to cast out greater distances to get amongst the fish. Use the two rods, your existing shorter rod to fish in close and a longer rod for greater distance.

If there is a strong surf you will need a rod capable of casting 5 or 6 oz gripper weights.

all that stnading around with a tri pod isnt my idea of fishing

When beach fishing I generally use three rods, one in close, the second at moderate distance and the third further out. I can tell you there isn't much standing around - even if you arn't getting any bites you will need to refresh the bait every 15 - 20 minutes. I would often prepare a fresh pennel bait and then reel in one of the rods, change the bait, cast out, remove the old bait and prepare a fresh bait etc. If using 2 or 3 hook flappers you have to refresh all of those. Then there is always the missed bites or weed tangled in the tackle - if using grippers you will have to reel in, reset the gripper wires and cast out again. So the amount of standing around is minimal - I am usually knackered after a 4 or 5 hour session.

That sounds more like a a days work than a fishin session Rockhunter

you must get through some amount of bait with the 3 rods rockhunter but bet your nearly always on a bite. Basslover if your lovin your fishing and don't want to retire for the winter baitfishing is great fun and equally as mesmirising as spinning, it can be almost hypnotic watching the rods and the bites , I know a guy who's got a great rod for sale in the buy/sell section that would suit your needs

try both, spinning and bait, plugs can work very well even in dark,
log onto the world casting forum some good info on this actual thread.

steve,

I know a guy who's got a great rod for sale in the buy/sell section that would suit your needs

where is the buy sell section?? had a look but couldnt find it.

where is the buy sell section??

You have to be logged in to be able to see it.
That had me puzzled for a while - sometimes it was there and sometimes it wasn't - then I realized it only appeared when I was logged in.

till cant find this buy and sell place is it real its not that i dont like bait fishing its the fact iv got about 150 - 170 euro to spend on rod and reel and what i have seen is that i can get a much better spinning rod and reel for that price than beachcaster, maybe iv been looking in the wrong places

think you have to be on this site 6 months or have sent 50 types. your nearly there

still cant find it and im logged in so its probably due to the amount of posts like seanie35 said. only 25 more to go for me.




basslover, i just got a penn surfmaster 60 for 70euro and my rod is a 13" 3 piece that was 45euro. im very happy with the reel but the rod is a little light up top. im sure you could get a reel like mine and a slightly better rod for about the 120-130euro mark. as you have the spinning rod/reel already why not keep them for another while before you upgrade them and give the bait fishing a go. the spinning wont be great for the winter so youll have something to do while its bad. you can also set up the bait rod and start spinning while your waiting for a bite on the other rod.
just an idea.

think you have to be on this site 6 months or have sent 50 types. your nearly there

it must be the six months seanie, for i was looking at a post in it by a member with only 12 posts, so maybe the 50 posts rule was droped....

That sounds goo i was looking at a rod yesterdat a shakespear salt bass, its €65 its 11ft looks a really nice bit of kit and is light enough to hold for a session. Anyone have one or uses one????

Excuse the spelling thats what too many beers on a thursday night does to ya