I want to throw big swimbaits, need a Rod and reel to do so. Having a heck of a time finding the right one.

Suggested that I get 7'10 - 8 foot rod with some play at the
tip (fast action) yet has backbone to drive the hooks home. (med-heavy. I don't think they make those :o Will probably use 50# Power Pro braid or 20 pound Big Game line???

Now the kicker, not sure if I will like throwing big swimbait, unless of course I land some pigs, so don't want to spend a months salary on the gear, the swimbaits are expensive enough.

Have a pontoon boat so am close to the water for casting. What does everyone suggest? Links to where I can buy it on-line or specific models that are available from Outdoor Pro (Rohnert Park) would be outstanding.

Have been told there that there is no way I want an 8' pole. However I am getting a custom swimbait that is about 9" long and will probably weight about 3.2 oz. Don't want to make "California" casts but do want to be able to huck it a little.

Thanks a head of time. I have put off posting this for two weeks now while I have searched on my own and am about ready to give up.

John
(The YO-YO Guy)

"When I Grow Up I Want To Be A Kid"

http://www.bassanglerprofiles.com/johnstangle.htm

By the way, here is what I got from Bass Pro Shop when I emailed them:

"The closest combo I could get for you with the 8' guideline is this item number 38-930-628-00. It can be found on our Web-Site by keying the item number in the site search. The rod has a lure rating of 3-12 oz. Hope this helps."

http://www.bassproshops.com

Now, for some reason this is not what I imagined? Feedback, agree??

It's almost Saturday! Think I am gonna try Yorty Creek.

John

"When I Grow Up I Want To Be A Kid"

http://www.bassanglerprofiles.com/johnstangle.htm

Hey there John,

I just personally got a swimbait rod and reel. The combo I put together is a Diawa Heartland from Tackle Warehouse. Very inexpensive rod, but good enough to handle some of the big baits out there. I have to say it's not a bad rod for starting out. I think if I started to throw more swimbait I would upgrade to a more stiffer rod. Other than that, I have the new Shimano Corvalus spooled with 25 lbs of Berkeley transition line. So far I like the combo and I've been throwing the Huddleston swimbait. I haven't caught anything yet. I might switch over to FishJC. Well, I hope this helps you decide on what you want. Personally, I think you should determine how much you want to spend and how often are you planning to throw these baits. My whole set up is 69 for the rod and 69 for the reel. I would definitely say get the reel first and then decide on the rod. If you like maybe we can so how meet up and you can try my combo. However, I won't be at the BnT tourney. I have wedding to go to. Dam! I wish it wasn't someone close to me.

Thanks! What Heartland rod do you have? http://www.daiwa.com/tackle/rods/fw/hlb/index.html

How long??

That is about my budget $150 or so, and I totally agree, want to try it for a while and if I like it will certainly upgrade things then.

John

"When I Grow Up I Want To Be A Kid"

http://www.bassanglerprofiles.com/johnstangle.htm

Hey Binh,where did ya get your huddleston?can you get me one?thx Bill

http://www.bassanglerprofiles.com/billsweatt.htm

wI use a 7'0'' power 6 lamiglas competitor series..witha 5.1.1. Shimano Curado..this rod handles the L.A. SLiders, river 2-sea, and Mission fish very well for me....the Reel is the biggest part of the combop, make sure to get a 5.1.1 or slower as these baits will put to much stress ona 6.2.1...If you are loooking fora top of the line rod I would suggest going with the lamigals swimbait special, or ST. Croix makes a few rods that will suit these baits, including the "BIG JIG" rod in their legend tournament series, or a 7'3'' MH avid series..whatever you do get the best you can afford, and sticka toad:) ryan

I looked up that Lamiglas Swimbait special #XC767, this is nice, would be my first Lamiglas, probably the most expensive rod I will have purchased to date listing at $206 Retail.

Thanks, I have looked at everything you mentioned and am making good notes.

John

"When I Grow Up I Want To Be A Kid"

http://www.bassanglerprofiles.com/johnstangle.htm

You don't have too many choices for $150. But that doesn't mean you can't get a good setup :-)

The daiwa big bait special...get the XH $65.59
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpageRDCDAIWA-DAHSCR.html

A little more expensive and a stouter rod is the Okuma swimbait rod:
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpageRDCOKUMA-OGSBBR.html

Go with the 7' 6" Heavy $89.99

Your choice of reels:
The Shimano Cardiff 'A' series or the Okuma Induron. Both right about $100.

New to this board since December, but, almost just sent a personal email to you! SWEET info! Thanks so much! Finally, all the rods/reels you mentioned look like exactly what I need.

Also being new, one thing I have to overcome is backlashes with casting reels. I have two of the Cabelas Prodigy reels and just love them. They have the "Tandem Cast Control consists of two separate brake systems to prevent backlashes. Spool speed is controlled by a centrifugal brake at the beginning of the cast and an adjustable magnetic brake throughout the cast" which once I adjusted things right works so great, almost no backlashes now.

Why do I want to go to a Round Reel style of reel in lieu of the Low Profile style like the Prodigy? I am thinking lots of backlashes as it looks like the one's I use on deep sea charters and HATE! Spend more time fixing backlashes than I do fishing.

Any thoughts on the Cabela's Black Label II Casting Reel? The only reason I really chose that to ask about is it is very simular to the Prodigy's I have and has a 5.1:1 ratio. It looks like I need that 5.1:1 or slower right? If not I'm gonna get another Prodigy to fish more and prevent backlashes.

Thanks again everyone for the info! So much appreciate it!

John

"When I Grow Up I Want To Be A Kid"

http://www.bassanglerprofiles.com/johnstangle.htm

I have the lamiglass xc807 that I'm using for frogs, but I also have tossed the mission fish on it and it is great. It's a pretty sweet rod, I can tell ya more after this weekend if it can throw the bigger baits.

cz

I've never used any of the Cabela's reels :-( The main reason for going to the round style reel is 1)line capacity 2) drag/durability. I tried throwing a 9" Osprey on my Curado (against everyone's advice) and it just didn't feel like the reel was going to hold up over time if I kept using it for that purpose.

The whole point of throwing the BIG baits is to catch big fish :-) Sure you'll catch smaller fish, but if you do land that teener, you risk being spooled on a smaller reel.

The Cardiff is 5.8:1 and the Induron is 5.1:1

Don't worry too much about backlashes. Unlike most baits, most of the time you'll find yourself just kind of lobbing the swimbaits out there. I cast swimbaits sidearm 10X more than overhead. At least for me, it's hard to control a bait that heavy when I launch it overhead.

One more thing. I can't say for sure, but part of the problem you're having might be due to the fact that the round reels you're using don't have level winds on them. If don't know how to properly lay the line on the spool without a level wind it can cause you a lot of headaches! The round reels might not be as big as you think. I can easily place the palm of my hand over the sidecaps of my Induron 250 and Cardiff 301 and I have fairly small hands.

If I can make a recommendation... The setup I have been recommending to people lately is

Okuma Heavy Swimbait Rod
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpageRDCOKUMA-OGSBBR.html?from=calfish

Cardif 300 Reel
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpageRLCSHIMANO-SCCRA.html?from=calfish

There's a reason these products are constantly out of stock, its because they hit the sweet spot of price and performance. The Diawa Heartland is an ok rod but its not a good rod for heavy rubber swimbaits. Its a good rod for wood baits and small (less than 7") rubber baits. If you start throwing Hudd and stocker trout and osprey etc on the Heartland I can guarantee what will happen is you'll get drilled and swing and the fish will pop off. You'll think the fish just missed the hooks but what happens is the fish clamp down so hard on your bait that your hookset with a soft rod doesn't penetrate their jaw bone and the fish releases the bait. Seen it happen many times man.

I also would not fish braid on swimbaits. If you backlash a baitcaster with an 8oz lure and the braid eats into itself, you will get to watch your lure fly across the lake if it doesn't float, you just lost your bait.

I would also not recommend 20lb test mono. Start with 25 and go down once you get a feel for fighting fish on your rod. If you hook a double digit fish and your drag isnt' just right, you can definitely break off on 20lb. You may catch dozens of fish on 20lb and everything will seem cool and then you'll get that one huge bite and get sawed off and you will berate yourself forever for using 20lb. When big ones decide they want to eat your bait, they're gonna eat 25 trust me. I never fish 20 and everyone I know who has caught multiple hundreds of fish on swimbaits doesn't fish 20 either unless they are absolutely desperate to get bit in clear water. When I'm desperate to get bit in clear water, I tie on a 6' leader of 25lb triple fish florocarbon and I believe I can get bit just as good as anyone fishing 20lb mono at that point anyway.

Hope this helps man. If you want to see more rod reviews, check out that section on my site.

http://www.calfishing.com/reviews/rods/index.html

ok im new to swimbaiting but heres my thoughts. i got the heavy okuma rod and i have the corvalius 300 reel. i have thrown the 9" osprey, 8" mission fish, and the 9"castaic trout so far and i think the okuma is the best rod for the money. my whole outfit was only $170

Finally got my Swimbait set up. Got it all from Outdoor Pro in Rohnert Park.

Got the Shimano Clarus CSC-79MH. This is the 7'9" Line: 12-30#, Lure: 1/2 - 5oz, Power: Med Heavy, Action: Fast. I paired it with the Shimano Calcutta 250 round reel.

I did get to fish with my four-eyes on the same pole and the Shimano Citica low profile bait caster last Saturday at the Windsor Ponds. I really liked the rod, and would like it even more when a fish is on the other end }( The reel (Citica) sucked, then I broke the tip off the new rod. Bad day.

Outdoor Pro warranty replaced the pole Sunday and I traded the Citica in for the Calcutta then. Have not had a chance to fish the Calcutta but am positive I will like it much better than the Citica.

Thank you everyone for your advice. Off to do some California Casts
:D

John

"When I Grow Up I Want To Be A Kid"

http://www.bassanglerprofiles.com/johnstangle.htm

I learned from my mistakes, and now I dont skimp on anything. Dont try to get away with something, it will cost you. The first swimbait rod I bought was based solely on the fact that i didnt want to drive down the road with my slider window open with rods hanging through the cab ( I could only fit a 7 foot rod in my flatbed, so I bought a telescopic Lamiglas Magnum frog rod). The rod worked ok for a while, until throwing heavy baits finally killed the backbone. I lost 4 double d's on that rod in 2 weeks before I finally figured out what was happening. With heavy baits and big fish, the fish clamp down hard on the bait, so you have to be able to move a big bait that is clamped down hard in a big fishs mouth enough such that you can sink a hook. This requires serious backbone. Currently I have a Heartland only because it just sorta happened that way, and it hasnt cost me yet (havent lost a fish and have stuck 2 double d's), but I know I need to upgrade. The Okumas are where Im going, based solely on feed back from this site.

Now the reel. I started out using 6500 Abu's, they lasted maybe 4 months before the gears got worn out from throwing big baits. I upgraded to the now history Shimano Calcutta 400 and love the reel, youll never backlash. I kid you not, my buddy bought a brand new Cardiff much to my chargrin, and that reel died in 4 hours on the first day of throwing a Hudd. He immediately returned it and now has the Calcutta and is very happy.

Save your money and get the right gear, dont buy crappy gear thinking you will upgrade in time, it may cost you the fish of a lifetime.

And finally, heed the warnings of people on this site, I didnt and everything they warned about has happened to me and cost me good fish. These folks speak from experience and know what they are talking about.

Urban, read your post this afternoon, has stuck with me all day. So, returned the pole, ordered the Okuma GS-C-761H this afternoon! Now I wait again, for Scott Green to call me and let me know when I can pick it up.

John

"When I Grow Up I Want To Be A Kid"

http://www.bassanglerprofiles.com/johnstangle.htm

If you are going to be at the Delta Open and havent received your Okuma you can borrow mine to check out. You made a good choice

Thanks John, I got a store credit, so if it does not come in by the Delta (and I am not sure if I am going to be there or not but have it on the calender) I will be bummed. I can order it online for $89.99 + $13.00 overnight right now. ;(

Thanks again,

John

"When I Grow Up I Want To Be A Kid"

http://www.bassanglerprofiles.com/johnstangle.htm