Boat/Uptide Rod for Cliff or rock fishing

All,
Does anyone use a 9 1/2' or 10' boat or uptide rod for fishing off cliffs or rocks?
I was thinking of getting a cheapie just for fishing for mackeral from the cliffs and some rock or pier fishing.
Any thoughts?

Eoin

sounds like a great idea. i presume you mean the likes of dunlickey and the bridges? it makes alot more sense to use a shorter more powerful rod for dragging strings of mackeral up a cliff, rather than the crappy 12 foot beach casters you gotta buy every year after the old one packed it in from a year af total abuse the summer before.......great idea man, and i was just strarting to scrape the pennies togther for a new crappy beach caster for this summer.....this is why i love this website, all the great ideas i never have!

Dunlicky, the Bridges and Kerry head would be bang on Frodo.
Was thinking of getting one but didn't know whether it would be woth it or not. But I hate putting that much preasure on a Beach caster. They are definatley not made for it.

The only thing is though could you use a big winch of a Fixed Spool reel on an Uptide or Boat rod?

Eoin

The foot of the reel should be fairly universal unless you are using a spinning rod which usually has a smaller reel mount. I use a Vulcan X and the reel mount is slightly smaller. I can still put a fixed spool on there, but it's a tight fit and the rod feels out of balance with a big fixed spool on. I did spin for a while with a SL20SH on, but it's a bit of a drama if you are fishing a light lead (1 or 2oz) in a head wind as it is prone to birdies. I've a spinning reel now and it feels much nicer.

Personaly I like to have as long a rod as possible for fishing Dunlickey so that I'm as far back from the cliff edge as possible when reeling them mackies up. :lol:

I was thinking alright that the rod would feel out of balance. However for winching up a bag of Mackeral for the freezer I don't think it would bother me too much if it saved the Beachcaster.

Is the Vulcan X a spinning rod?

ah donagh where's your sense of adventure? it could be the next big thing, extreme mackeral fishing, standing at the very edge of a 100 foot cliff cranking up a bunch of mackeral!.....ya i know that feeling when you peek over that ledge, and feel that weird emptiness! all along i used the cheapest beachcaster i could get my hands on, i couldn't even tell you what make it is, and a big dam reel, i found the big cheap dam and shakespeares good work horses for that kind of abuse, i hated the dig daiwas, i can't believe they rereleased them!
but i'm intrigued by the idea of using the uptide rod, the only problem i could think of is maybe that slightly shorter rod might be more prone to getting the hooks and leads snagged in the cliff on the way up? i know the difference is probably neglilable(sorry about the spelling?) when you take into the height you're fishing at and that. but that's the only downside that i can see!

the vulcan is the next step up from the sensor in the daiwa range, it's a twelve foot beach caster. i'd pick the sensor coz it's a good bit cheaper, but it's meant to be very soft, but there's tonnes of budget rods out there that will do, all have similar sized winch fittings

I was thinking as much about the Vulcan X. I doubt if I will be buying it somehow. I have an excellent spinning rod at the moment.
The next beachcaster I will be buying will hopefully will be a good rough ground rod.

Eoin

I was down at dunlickey last year, I had never been there before and I didn't realise how high the cliff was, I headed down from the car park wearing my life jacket and carrying my 9' spinning rod, when I saw where those mackeral bashers were throwing feathers from I went back to the car and swapped the spinning rod for a 12' beach caster and swapped the life jacket for a parachute :shock:.
Anyway, I found that you need the long rod to keep the macks out from the cliff on the way up, my beachcaster is a bit floppy which effectively shortened the length with a full house (actually half a full house as I only used 3 feathers) as it bent so much.
I reckon what you need for fishing there is a 12' poker with a wench attached. Get a very stiff cheap second hand beach caster if possible. Is it possible to get a 12' pier rod, even better a 12' boat rod :wink: ?

I thinkI just found that 12' pier rod!!! I was in Bonds fishing in Limerick and I saw a guy buying a shovel handle of a rod for beachcasting. Curiosity took hold and I examined the model on show. It was a twelve footer for use with a fixed spool reel and was rated to throw between 200g and 500g(no there was no deciamal points). I think it was made by Fishteck (not sure if that was right) but for €37 it has to be a must buy for cliff fishing and bullying conger from rock platforms.

Eoin

500grammes! mother of god that's close to a pound of lead!!!! but it sounds very interesting indeed, i'll have a gander at it over the weekend, that's if you haven't bought it already!!!!

When I was there Ger was ordering another bunch of them. Said they were in demand. Fellas getting ready for mackeral hunting me thingks.
So there will be one there for you alright Frodo. For €37 though you can't go wrong.

Eoin