Best Surf Fishing Rods and Reels

[luvtofish]

My significant other has offered to buy me a new surf rod and reel for my Bday! Wahhoooo....Any suggestions from the active surf fishers? Last I heard, people in the know were raving about Tica rods with baitcasting reels. Since I'm not great at casting, do you suggest I try a baitcaster or stick to a spinning reel? Who's making great surf reels these days? I'm currently using Shimano. Are there any combos worth looking at? I saw a Daiwa last summer that looked interesting. Thanks for the help, everyone

[Steve]

There are two equal classes, conventional and spinning. It just depends on what YOU want. I have thought about making the switch to conv, but I have a bunch of money tied up in spinning gear.

I like the conv because they take up far less room than the spinning reels. Same with the rods, smaller eyes.

I have Tica heavers (12'), Diawa tossers (7'-8'), and Penn conventional for the heavy short rods (5'-6.5').
Penn and Diawa make nice spinners, for a conv reel, others will post about them.

[Coop]

I like baitcasting...penn 525 mag and diawa 20's and 30's are excellent choices. Have thrown both and are great reels. I find the diawa 30 to large for my hand but others, its a perfect fit. The 525 and diawa's can be friendly to throw when set up right. There are more expensive reels that are also very good...avet mc sx are excellent. Not sure how friendly they are, but have heard they are easy to control, just a tad pricey...but worth the extra cash. The only negaive thing I see about the avet's is that they are not sand friendly.

Abu's are very good, but I have never really thrown one but have heard great things about those.

Like everything else, when you switch to something new, there is always a learning curve. IMO, its well worth the agrevation at times. It honestly doesn't take long to get the hang of throwing a baitcaster. Iam willing to bet you will never go back to spinning (surfcasting only) once you throw a 8nbait with a baitcaster.

You can start out with tica rods in the 11'-12' length...very good economy rod. You should be able to get a very nice setup for around $250.

BTW, you have a very cool significant other!!

[fishingeverynight]

Personally i use daiwas and some tica rods for the surf... I use daiwa saltist 30's on the saltiga ballistic (a little pricey combo) and i use it on a saltiga surf rod. But i also use alot of spinning reels including daiwa bg series on a 12ft daiwa and i use daiwa saltist spinning reels on tica surf rods also but thats what im comfortable with. Just find something that feels comfortable to you and that you want to use in the long run...

P.S. happy birthday mines on the 2nd

[Dixie719]

If the Penn 525's only had Daiwas clicker!

[ffemtreed]

If the Penn 525's only had Daiwas clicker!

Isn't that the truth!!

[luvtofish]

Thanks, everyone who gave input. It is truly appreciated. I'll post back with the results. May fishing fortunes smile upon you!

[Dave]

I use abu garcia reels, and i love them, the only issue i have with them is the pawl on the level wind models wear out quick and they are tempermental in the sand, I also use the diawa sha 40 very very good real at a decent price, a lot cheaper than the garcia's.