shore/estuary fishing for cod

What’s most popular when fishing for cod on an estuary:
Two rods or one?
Pulleys or uptide/ up and over rigs?
Fixed spool or multi [mags]?
Braid or mono?
Pennels 2/0 or more or max 2/0s?
Peeler or if not available what’s the next best bait?
thanks in advance for any insights. I generally fish two rods and have tried each of the above in separate combos. And there have been good days and bad. It would be nice to see other peoples preferred setup.

What’s most popular when fishing for cod on an estuary:
Two rods or one?
Pulleys or uptide/ up and over rigs?
Fixed spool or multi [mags]?
Braid or mono?
Pennels 2/0 or more or max 2/0s?
Peeler or if not available what’s the next best bait?
thanks in advance for any insights. I generally fish two rods and have tried each of the above in separate combos. And there have been good days and bad. It would be nice to see other peoples preferred setup.

hi jet boy i think 1 or 2 rods depends on how busy you want to be and how much gold (peeler) you have. the set-up i use is 1 rod, 4/0 pennel set at different highs and snood lengths above the lead depending on conditions , fixed spool 40lb braid straight through to the rig itself. ive seen lots of different set-ups used by others thats just my way hope it helps

thanks for the feedback seanie,

i should have outlined i have a bit of fishing knowledge, but a relative newbie to estuary fishing particularly for cod. Last night was the fourth in total and first night out in two years since having two kids in the past two years. I have had to make do with fly fishing around local to home, its not the same as shore fishing.

I was out last night down south. 32 fish 4 keepers over 4 lb. Fish and chips for all the family tonight! And more for me tomorrow. Here’s the skinny;

Wind: not a buff, no rain either, perfect. Clear starry sky. Cold as ice.
Rigs: pulleys 3/0 and 1/0 top. 150g grip weights
Rods:
Set up one - MTI bass rod with Daiwa 7HT Millionaire Mag Reel loaded with 17 lb mono. Shockleader 60 lb.
Set up two – penn affinity rod with penn 525 supermag extra, loaded with 30 lb powerpro braid. Shockleader 60 lb.
Bait: Gold: 40 crabs, good size. Other – squid, mack, mussles, lugs.

Verdict: you can have as many rods as you like if your in the wrong spot or its just the wrong night. Last night was a good night and with two rods it was a very busy time. I didn’t have a chance to set up spare rigs with bait for nearly two hours [nor have a sambo, I was hank-marvin by the end of the night]. All the above was over a 5hr period. Great craic. No lost rigs al all!
Reels and line:
Next time I will defo leave the 7HT at home, 4 birds nests even with full mags on…. Complete pain in the rear. Or change to braid. The 525 never an issue complete gent of a reel but the braid cut the thumb off me near the end of the night as might be expected.
Rods:
The bass rod was plenty. The penn affinity is good for rough ground but too stiff for estuary work. Anytime I tried to give the tip a slight bend when setting it on the tripod, it would pull the 150g lead right out of the river bed.
Bait: I had a few takes on a couple of cocktails and frozen bait. But 95% was on the fresh crab.

Next time I will take a fixed spool, loaded with braid and the MTI rod. One rods enough. But last night was great fun after two years absence. I don’t think I could have handled a blank after so long out of shore fishing.

Thank for the insight seanie, I’ll try 4/0 next time. I had a couple of mustad 3/0 crab hooks left from last time I was bass fishing [still in the pack], I made up those rigs the night before and love the hook shape way better than the straight shank.

great session, ive been converted to those bass hooks aswell more power in them the way the hook point lines up with the eye any pics of the 4lbers

no pics, i tried with the camera phone but they turned out crap. pity . i'll defo bring a camera next time.