So this is what I bought in southside-anglers!

Hey guys

Couldn't wait another minute to get my rod!

In the end I went for a 2 piece 10 foot Penn overseas spinning rod and a Penn captiva 2 CV2 6000 reel. 150eur for both, paid him 170 but got braid line, knife, tackle box and a shot load of weight/spinners/rigs etc!

Anyone any comments on what I bought? I know nothing about Penn!

Went out to dalkey and caught my first mackerel! Seemed to be a good fee out there! Much mate caught 6!

Only thing I'm not sure about is the braid. There was loads of tangles in it which was annoying and my finger was getting sore when casting it!

Thanks

Jimmy

hi jimmy,penn make good gear,middle of the road imo,as for the braid the secret is not to overload the spool(about 80%). and manually close the bail arm after each cast.

when i got my spinning rod and reel i put up a post about which line to use. a few people recomended barid but plenty said not to go near it as i was a novice. i ended up using mono and its fine, easy to use and cheaper than braid.
dunno if you were told this but theres a slightly different knot for braid than mono, i was shown it but cant remember it so someone might put up a link if you dont know it.
also, i was told to put a layer of insulaion tape around the spool before the line went on. it supposedly helps against corrosion from the salt and can double the life of the spool.
heres a link to a video, showing the pros and cons of braid with a tips on how to use it properly.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jHIAq60YR5Y

cheers for that man! I think he put nylon underneath the braid but I am sorry I went with it now! Last few casts I made last night it was screeching badly. I might bite the bullet and go for something else!

I was doing a bit of research on the reel i bought and a lot or negative, think I could have done better then the one I bought but maybe its not so bad!

cheers

Jimmy

Jimmy, when you say screeching do you mean when you retrieve or casting? Also do you know what breaking strength the braid is? I've found that sometimes lighter breaking strengths can take a little more getting used to but once you follow the tips on that Mike Ladle video that Red posted you shouldn't have too much trouble with it. Personally I much prefer using braid to mono for most of my fishing especially lure fishing although that said I still use mono on my multipliers. Maybe try to persevere with the braid for another little while and see if you can get the hang of it.

Red, the theory about insulation tape under a spool arises from braid use, not preventing corrosion. Basically, because braid has no real stretch, it doesnt grip onto the spool in the same way mono does. What can happen is that under pressure if the braid is just tied around the spool, the whole mass of line can rotate on the spool, quite freely sometimes, much as if you had a loose drag on the reel. What the insulating tape does is provide it a bed to dig into and grip solving the problem. Another alternative is to use Mono backing, followed by a single layer of insulating tape. Spools shouldnt really corrode to be honest, most are made from alloy or graphite.

In answer to Jimmy, your problem is most likely as mentioned above caused by slight overfilling of the spool. I had the same problem myself at the weekend on the boat and in fairness, I should have known better. Keep your line taut too when reeling in. Some cheaper braids are prone to those lovely wind knots, what kind of braid was it?

Your screeching sound is probably caused by the braid rubbing the rings on the retrieve? It happens, not a lot you can do about that.

what pete said about the spools not corroding makes sense now that i think about it . i was told by a member here(who shall remain nameless ) to do it. id already filled both spools with mono so didnt bother taking the line off to do it but was gonna give it a go when i refilled them. ill save myself the bother now.


one other thing,
braid, knife, tackle box and a shot load of weight/spinners/rigs etc for an extra E20 seems a bit cheap. i looked at getting braid a while back and even the cheap stuff was about that price alone. he might have done you a good deal tho after buying the rod and reel and hoped if you were happy you'd come back and spend more but it still seems a bit cheap.

Thanks for the replies guys! I'm not sure what type of braid it was but it wasn't cheap, nearly 30eur! Anyway, I brought my spare spool in today and got some mono on it, used it tonight and bagged 3 mackerel! The only difference I noticed was I'm sure I was casting further with the braid, would this be normal? The screeching was when I was reeling in, for all I know my line was getting tangled in the top of the rod!

Thanks for all the input guys!

Jimmy

What BS mono did you use Jimmy? Due to the much lower diameter of braid against breaking strain, casting further with braid is a given really. Braid under pressure will squeal a bit when wet on retrieve through friction at your tip ring primarily, its normal. Amount of screeching governed by speed of retrieve, pressure, type of braid and rod rings. Depending on the size of the spool he gave you 30 euro would not be a dear braid.

....it was a small enough spool alright, I'll have to be careful with it! I honestly don't know what the other spool was, it cost 17quid and will be enough for another 2 refills....and it's green!

He might well have figured I'd be back for more gear, after all, I did go back again yesterday!! ..and I am a terrible man for blowin' money on stuff once I get into something!

Can't wait to get out this evening! Get a couple of hours in before the game!

[quote="JimmyS
He might well have figured I'd be back for more gear, after all, I did go back again yesterday!! ..and I am a terrible man for blowin' money on stuff once I get into something!

Can't wait to get out this evening! Get a couple of hours in before the game![/quote]


another poor sod addicted to wonderful world of fishing, enjoy