First, thanks for the input on do's and don'ts. Hopefully I can avoid being chucked into the Pacific on my first trip out (by other fishermen at least.) Now for the tricky part, adding the new tackle. I am pretty well tricked out for bass fishing or fly fishing. However, for saltwater well, the cupboard is pretty bare. I need an idea of what would constitute a good start-up kit (rod, reel, terminal tackle, etc...). Probably looking at surf casting and something for trips on boats like the Stardust. If the season is winding down for the winter, this would be a perfect time for me to get the gear and get used to it before things heat up again. Also, I'm in the Sherman Oaks area, anyone know any good, knowledgable tackle shops in that area. Thanks again.

Deaner,
This will probably be a pretty healthy post, so get yourself a cup of coffee right now... :-) Let's start with an overview of the rigs used out here. Probably the most versatile, and at least most used by me, is the sliding egg sinker setup. It's a lot like carolina rigging, only instead of the brass weight and glass bead, there's a lead egg sinker. And instead of a soft plastic lure, there's a bait hook. So it's an egg sinker above a swivel, with about a 2 to 4 ft. leader below that, going to the hook. You can fish both squid strips and livebait on this setup. Typically you'll fish between 1/2 oz. and 2 oz. sliding sinkers on this rig. There are a few variations of this rig which basically accomplish the same thing, like instead of using a swivel, you can use a split shot to hold the egg sinker up, or you could use a rubbercore weight. For stuff above 2 or 3 ounces, and deeper than about 40-60 ft. depending on current and stuff, we have rig number two: the dropper loop setup. This is another heavily used rig for all types of species. This is very similar to an amped up dropshot rig (you may not be familiar with that either, since it's a CA thing...). You typically put a 3-8 oz. torpedo sinker on the end of the line, and a couple feet up tie either a spider hitch, or a dropper loop (you'll have to ask a deckhand to show you, or look it up on the net, or stop in a tackle shop and ask them, if you don't know how to tie it) with your hook on it. For rockfishing, you can add one or two more dropper loops to it. You can also put a jerry's jig, or other heavy iron (metal jig) underneath it instead of the torpedo. The other, most simple, and my personal favorite, rig is flylining. Straight flyline is just a hook on the end of your line. You leave the reel in freespool and let that bait swim out away from the boat. This is when the fish are boiling (crashing the surface) and are very active, chasing bait and stuff. It can also be used to swim a bait through kelp to get those calico bass that are way in there. Fly line also includes adding a little bit of weight, like a splitshot, or a 1/4 oz. egg sinker, or even up to a 1/2 oz. egg sinker. Sardines are typically best for flylining because they're beefier and they swim better. These three rigs will get you through the day on the 1/2 day stardust, or 3/4 day seahawk here in santa barbara. Anything other than that, you can either fairly easily figure out how to tie from looking at somebody's rig, or the deckhands will tell you.

Now for artificials: Check out Rob's articles on this site about fishing plastics for calicos and halibut and stuff. It's good stuff and it will help you a lot in the learning process. Swimbaits (more commonly called plastics, or the rubber) are very useful if you know how to use em. They're also more fun to fish, and if you plan to release fish (I highly reccommend releasing calico bass) they typically don't swallow plastics as much as they do bait. Check Rob's articles for colors and stuff, amish Ed also recently posted a post on plastics on the main board, so check there too.

If you're gonna get serious about saltwater fishing (which it looks like you just might...) you're gonna need a few setups. A true tackle ho has 2 or 3 of everything, but for now, you'll eventually need to acquire these: a 15 or 20# plastics rod, a 30 or 40# jigstick, maybe one of your bass rods can be put to use for some open water calico bass flylining, a 20# bait stick, a 30# bait stick, and a 40# bait stick. For inshore, sportboat fishing, that'll get you through overnight trips. Calstar and G Loomis are very good rods, as well as seeker, old sabre rods, castaway (those are bass rods, but I've found their heavy crankbait rod perfect for light plastics), yada yada. Rob mentions gear in his articles too. 15-20# line will generally be your choice outfits for 1/2 day and 3/4 day. Unless you throw iron, then you'll go to 30 or 40. The Shimano Calcutta, IMO is a very good reel, but you gotta take care of that roller bearing. It's a good reel to put on your plastics rod, and/or your 20# bait rod. Progear reels are also sweet, they've got sizes for just about every application I've mentioned (they've got cool lookin handles too :-)). Penn makes solid reels, but they're customer service sucks. The good thing is that parts are pretty readily available, and they are fairly easy to work on. The jigmaster 500 is a good 30# bait reel. The 4/0 size will work for 40# bait. Another cool thing about Penn reels is you can buy accurate kits, or tiburon frames, and make them really sweet aftermarket reels. Down south for tuna, those guys get them "blue printed" to give them better precision (they basically rebuild parts of the reel with parts that are more exact to the manufacturer's blue print), causing them to perform better. But you don't have to worry about that, cause that's for the big gold reels. Newell reels cast really far, so they are good for throwing iron. The 332-5 is choice for surface iron. They are made of graphite though, which cuts down on weight, but you gotta take extra care when you wash em down afterwards. Hopefully I gave you an overview of what to expect. If I were you, I'd start out with the 9' plastics rod just because you can also fish bait on it, and you can cast in the surf fairly well, but at least once you get more into saltwater, you'll already have one of the rods checked off the list. Feel free to email if you need anything else.
-Brian

In your bass arsenal, do you have a 6 feet 6 inch or longer trigger or flipping stick? Rated at #12-#20 test? Also, any reel that can hold over 200yds of #15? The above set-up will handle 70% of your inshore requirement from baitcasting and plastics. The next step, depending on your budget would be getting a #30 set-up; least expensive is a Penn Jigmaster 500L ($39.99 on sale) and a 270 or 870 stick, like a seeker or old sabre ($75-$90). These two set-up should cover most of your requirements for your area. If you plan to go for Tuna in San Diego, heavier equipment is needed. If you are shopping for the gear, let me know, I can find you some decent deals as ther are other websites and friends whom alway has something they can part with.

OK!!! You already have some great information! Before I get rambling, I want to say what a great resource this site if for information like this! It's great to be able to rely on other people's experience for help!

OK...I've done a few seminars on selecting entry level tackle. I lead the Fishing Outreach Ministry for South Bay Community Church and I do a lot to help our beginners get started right! One consideration is to help them buy tackle that they can rely on for years of service.

My favorite beginner outfit is the Calstar 870 with a Penn Jigmaster 500.
Although the Calstar rod is a lot more money, it is really good quality and it's a rod that can be used for fishing everything from Barracuda to Bass, from Yellowtail to Yellowfin Tuna (small size of course) and so on. There is a bunch of different rods that you can buy but for your first rod, that would probably be your most versitile choice.
The Penn Jigmaster is a soild choice for a first reel. This reel in many cases can fish as light as 15lb all the way up to 30lb and in some cases to 40lb. Keep in mind that this reel isn't the most advanced, but they are easy to service and parts are available at nearly any tackle shop.

It sounds as though you may be a freshwater bass fisherman or something like that? If you are, you understand the ideology of having a particular rod for a particular purpose! Saltwater fishing is the same. I can tell you that I probably have 40 or 50 different rods and they all have a particular purpose. For instance, this Thursday, I will be using a select number of rods for a Shallow Water Rock Codding trip. Those aren't the same as the rods that I took out a few months ago for Tuna fishing out of San Diego. If you've read through the other messages, you've got a lot of great information about different types of rod/reel combinations you will eventually have to buy!!!! hahahahahaha! Just take it slow and choose your tackle wisely. The worst thing is to have to try and sell off stuff that you don't like or didn't perform well.

Good Luck and Great Fishing

Darin
aka Hookup90247

All right you've already got a lot of good advice, but here's my 2 cents anyways. Two set ups ( plus what ever bass gear you have i.e. 10 or 12lb, 6 1/2'- 7 1/2').

#1 8' Allstar, rated12-30lb (around $119) w/ a Diawa SL20sh ($99 - $110). This set-up will fish 12-20lb easily.
Uses: 3 B's, plus Tuna and Yellowtail up to around 30lbs.
This will cover bait and rubber well.

#2 8' or 9' Seeker with cork wrap, rated 15-40lb ( cost depends
on model, Black Steel is their best, and they are amazing, they go for about $179, their Classics go for about $129)
w/ Shimano TLD 15/30 (costs $99) This set-up will fish
just what the reel claims 15-30lb.
Uses: heavier applications for the 3 B's, same size + on the Tunas and Yellowtails.
You can fish bait, bigger rubber, and it will do for a jig stick until you can buy one.

Both set-ups can be used to expand in many directions. With them you are covered for just about anything (except for rock codding) within overnight range. With a little maintenance they can last you for many many years.

Amish Ed