I am a recreational saltwater angler who fishes the Gulf out of Panama City and Destin. I charter and use the equipment provided. I will be fishing much more and want to buy my own rod and reel. I usuall fish for cobia but also enjoy dolphin, mackerel and tuna. I would like some suggestions as to which rod and reel to buy without the influence of a salesman in a tackle shop. I did use a Penn reel once that was very nice but do not know which model to buy or which rod to put with it. Any help would be appreciated.<br><br>
well if I were to live there in the gulf coast and were to fish various species like cobia, dolphin, tuna, etc. I would definitely have 1 all purpose rod, 1 trolling rod, a baitcaster, a spinning rod, and a stand-up rod.... well it also depends on the money you want to spend$$$ ... the all purpose rod that I would use depending on you casting skills if you can cast a conventional reel I would go with a penn 525 or 535 with a seven foot med. to heavy action rod ... it would be good enough for sight casting for cobia as I understand is the way to catch nice cobias down there and is good enough to tackle med. size off-shore species like med tuna to lrg dolphin, if you cant cast a conventional reel I would go with a shimano bait runner or a shimano thunnus( also a bait runner ) for casting for cobia and casting for small dolphin.... trolling rods I would go with a penn 545 or shimano tld 15, depending on what size you are trying to catch, I would definitely start out with those reels with a med. action 6 foot rod.... baitcasting and spinning I would definetly go with a shimano reel like for baitcasting I would go with a corsair or a calcutta (depending on how much you are willing to spend) and for spinning I would go with a stradic or a sustain .... .on the size of the reel and rod, that all depends on your taste ..... well hopefully I was some help to you, you can trust me on my selection I fished with almost all the reels out there, priced them all up and I try to get as much as possible out of my money and I also fish probably 150 days out of the year and those reels that Ive told you I still have them and fish with them all the time... hasnt let me down... well good luck and tight lines!!!!<br><br>
Fellow Anglers,<br><br>Thank you for your help and wisdom. I am about to load up my credit card and go fishin. I am sure I will have many more questions, line comes to mind, but I will cross that bridge when I get there. I hope to return with some great stories. <br><br>
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Glad to hear the board has given some help. Look forward to the storys to come in the future. Now get out there and go fishing.<br><br>Texas Gulf Coast Fisher<br><A HREF="http://"http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/ROSS6959"" target="_new">http://"http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/ROSS6959"</A>
or with my lightest outfit. Load onto the reels 40 lb, 15-20 lb, and 10-12 pound mono. You are now ready for most anything that swims by excepting a bill fish or other monster but so what that's part of it. I got spooled on my 40 lb last year and it's still swimming. George<br><br>George Van Zant<br><A HREF="http://www.bigfishtackle.com/georgescorner.htm " target="_new">http://www.bigfishtackle.com/georgescorner.htm </A><br>
about. That is what the board is for. The board gets a lot of traffic every day so don't be suprized if you have a lot of answers with differant opinions. That is what the board is for. Most of all Enjoy the board and did I tell you that is what the board is for.<br><br>to: gvanvant, Thanks for your input.<br><br>Texas Gulf Coast Fisher.