Rod and Reel suggestions for grouper

N

Nicolai

Guest
Curious if anyone has any suggestions for a budget friendly rod and reel. I have my spinning reel and rod set ups but I'd like to have a good heavy down rod for the big ones while fishing off my Jet Ski. I did find a rod that might work

https://www.amazon.com/EatMyTackle-Roller-Saltwater-Fishing-150-180/dp/B07NMRPDYR/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=deep+sea+rod&qid=1629647266&sr=8-4

Roller guides and only 5.5' good for 160 lbs just and a reel but the reviews weren't the greatest,

https://www.amazon.com/Burning-Shark-Trolling-Saltwater-Fishing/dp/B078Z73BTB/ref=pd_aw_fbt_img_1/146-6690476-2063460?pd_rd_w=Y0TtJ&pf_rd_p=0ac31943-e5c4-4aef-ab7b-6ab45d3ad9aa&pf_rd_r=NZ82ZBPA2FYZ1XF61TBX&pd_rd_r=35203c0e-ecd8-46c7-99cd-75f2940ebc49&pd_rd_wg=NFiWK&pd_rd_i=B078Z73BTB&psc=1

I have PENN, Daiwa, for my spinning stuff but the big reels are so damn expensive. Appreciate any input guys.
 
Stuart

Stuart

Aye carumba!!!
Staff member
I've had grouper snap 130 lb. roller guide rods like toothpicks. Most of them are carbon fiber/graphite and while okay for fighting big game on the surface, they suck for hoisting anything big up from down below. Go with a solid fiberglass rod with ceramic guides. It has more backbone. My favorite is a Star Rods Aerial series, EX50100RS, 5'9" -- handles 50 to 100 lb. line. Reel is a Daiwa Sealine 6/0 with 80 lb. PowerPro kevlar line. The whole trick with grouper is immediately getting them up off the bottom. If you don't, they cave you or cut you off on the rocks. That requires something with SERIOUS backbone to do.

www.starfishingtackle.com

About Star Rods

Star Rods are Trophy-grade Fishing Rods that Withstand the Rigors of Hard-fighting Gamefish. Star Rods are Handmade to Demanding Specifications, Using Premium Components.
www.starfishingtackle.com www.starfishingtackle.com
$149.

berinsontackle.com

DAIWA SEALINE 600H 6/0 TROLLING FISHING REEL - Berinson Tackle Company

A high quality Daiwa Sealine 600H 6/0 trolling, casting and deep water bottom fishing reel for using 40 to 80 pound test line.
berinsontackle.com berinsontackle.com
$60 to 90 bucks, used.

You can find the reel on Ebay, too. The Sealine reels are workhorses and bulletproof. I have several in different sizes. Have even caught marlin on my 4/0s. The reel was smoking on the initial run, but didn't fail. Had to replace the drags and good as new.
 
E

estevan

Guest
I don't care for the level wind reels. Eventually it seems to get in the way and if you pay attention you never need it. If you're in the Phoenix area, I highly recommend heading down to Phoenix Fishing Supply on 16th St and Camelback. Great guys and they usually have some used gear on consignment that will save you a few bucks.
 
Stuart

Stuart

Aye carumba!!!
Staff member
estevan said:
I don't care for the level wind reels. Eventually it seems to get in the way and if you pay attention you never need it. If you're in the Phoenix area, I highly recommend heading down to Phoenix Fishing Supply on 16th St and Camelback. Great guys and they usually have some used gear on consignment that will save you a few bucks.
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Sealines are not level wind. I don’t own a single level wind reel, other than my electric Daiwa Tanacom Bull. That's for the 51 and deep water. Helps immensely in over 265 ft.

Gowdy will do his best to set you up. All depends on what he has in stock. Lord only knows how much Dinero I've given him over the years.
 
Mexico Joe

Mexico Joe

Cholla Bay 4 Life
Nicolai said:
Curious if anyone has any suggestions for a budget friendly rod and reel. I have my spinning reel and rod set ups but I'd like to have a good heavy down rod for the big ones while fishing off my Jet Ski. I did find a rod that might work

https://www.amazon.com/EatMyTackle-Roller-Saltwater-Fishing-150-180/dp/B07NMRPDYR/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=deep+sea+rod&qid=1629647266&sr=8-4

Roller guides and only 5.5' good for 160 lbs just and a reel but the reviews weren't the greatest,

https://www.amazon.com/Burning-Shark-Trolling-Saltwater-Fishing/dp/B078Z73BTB/ref=pd_aw_fbt_img_1/146-6690476-2063460?pd_rd_w=Y0TtJ&pf_rd_p=0ac31943-e5c4-4aef-ab7b-6ab45d3ad9aa&pf_rd_r=NZ82ZBPA2FYZ1XF61TBX&pd_rd_r=35203c0e-ecd8-46c7-99cd-75f2940ebc49&pd_rd_wg=NFiWK&pd_rd_i=B078Z73BTB&psc=1

I have PENN, Daiwa, for my spinning stuff but the big reels are so damn expensive. Appreciate any input guys.
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Dude, literally sitting here looking at Amazon for the same thing!! LOL I guess we MIGHT be taking the boat this weekend... only if the wind report cooperates. Looking iffy right now.
 
N

Nicolai

Guest
Stuart said:
I've had grouper snap 130 lb. roller guide rods like toothpicks. Most of them are carbon fiber/graphite and while okay for fighting big game on the surface, they suck for hoisting anything big up from down below. Go with a solid fiberglass rod with ceramic guides. It has more backbone. My favorite is a Star Rods Aerial series, EX50100RS, 5'9" -- handles 50 to 100 lb. line. Reel is a Daiwa Sealine 6/0 with 80 lb. PowerPro kevlar line. The whole trick with grouper is immediately getting them up off the bottom. If you don't, they cave you or cut you off on the rocks. That requires something with SERIOUS backbone to do.

www.starfishingtackle.com

About Star Rods

Star Rods are Trophy-grade Fishing Rods that Withstand the Rigors of Hard-fighting Gamefish. Star Rods are Handmade to Demanding Specifications, Using Premium Components.
www.starfishingtackle.com www.starfishingtackle.com
$149.

berinsontackle.com

DAIWA SEALINE 600H 6/0 TROLLING FISHING REEL - Berinson Tackle Company

A high quality Daiwa Sealine 600H 6/0 trolling, casting and deep water bottom fishing reel for using 40 to 80 pound test line.
berinsontackle.com berinsontackle.com
$60 to 90 bucks, used.

You can find the reel on Ebay, too. The Sealine reels are workhorses and bulletproof. I have several in different sizes. Have even caught marlin on my 4/0s. The reel was smoking on the initial run, but didn't fail. Had to replace the drags and good as new.
Click to expand...
Stuart, thanks for the response! And to hear your fish are breaking 130lb rods!! Holy shit man! I will definitely pick one of these up without a doubt.

I never considered ebay for the nice reels either that's a great idea!!

Biggest grouper I've ever caught was 80lbs I wish I would have paid attention to the gear we were using on Ric Hammers boat but hell that was 2007? Never knew I was gunna go down this path gearing my self up and fishing on the Ski lol.

On the whole fishing line bit, I initially used power pro but it was a lighter line for fresh water and shore fishing, I recently switched to the Daiwa J-Braid 80lb for my big cat fishing adventures and so far it has been pretty good, have you had any experience with the J-Braid? I typically run a 250lb 3 way swivel off of it to some 100 lb mono for my hook when Im fishing for big uns.

Thank you for the advice again man it is much appreciated, hoping I'll hook up on one next time I'm down, I have a lot of ocean to explore to find some structure and reefs still.
 
N

Nicolai

Guest
Mexico Joe said:
Dude, literally sitting here looking at Amazon for the same thing!! LOL I guess we MIGHT be taking the boat this weekend... only if the wind report cooperates. Looking iffy right now.
Click to expand...
Lucky dog, I hope it goes well! I probably won't be down again till October.

I've been hitting up the CBSC on Facebook here and there and looks like we MIGHT get a fishing derby in October! Got my fingers crossed.
 
Stuart

Stuart

Aye carumba!!!
Staff member
Nicolai said:
And to hear your fish are breaking 130lb rods!!
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A live bonefish draws a wicked lightning fast strike. Ain't no nibble-nibble going on. It's dropped guys on my old boat to their knees, not kidding.

Again, it's more the construction of the rod than the rating. The graphite roller rods can't take that kind of hit. A solid Eglass rod can.

Haven't used the J-braid, but like Daiwa products. Have always stuck with the PowerPro because of its super thin diameter (cuts through the current) and the fact that it telegraphs the smallest of bumps and dings from over 250 ft. below. Very easy to tell it you're fishing over rocks, reef or sand or if you've got something playing kissy-kissy with your bait. Mono line doesn't cut it in either of those regards.
 
Stuart

Stuart

Aye carumba!!!
Staff member
Mexico Joe said:
Dude, literally sitting here looking at Amazon for the same thing!! LOL I guess we MIGHT be taking the boat this weekend... only if the wind report cooperates. Looking iffy right now.
Click to expand...
Was same last weekend. Audi said the forecast was waaaaaaayyyyy off. He went out, but not far. Said most boats were going out and turning around and coming back in within 20 minutes.

I used to hate that the most. Plan a trip, forecast/tides look good, get there and it's blown the F out and end up leaving the boat on the trailer!! Was always like torture for me!
 
Mexico Joe

Mexico Joe

Cholla Bay 4 Life
Stuart said:
Was same last weekend. Audi said the forecast was waaaaaaayyyyy off. He went out, but not far. Said most boats were going out and turning around and coming back in within 20 minutes.

I used to hate that the most. Plan a trip, forecast/tides look good, get there and it's blown the F out and end up leaving the boat on the trailer!! Was always like torture for me!
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The absolute worst Stu! For the guys that can leave their boat in RP it's pry not that bad. I've told Claudia that we should consider finding a place or friend that we can leave the boat during our high visitation periods that way if we want to come back to back weekends or twice in the same month we're not having to trailer the boat every time. We love October. I know we'll be down twice in October and definitely once next month in middle to late September. I told her that we could leave the boat in CB and one or two of those trips we could drive one of our Honda Civics down for convenience and good gas mileage. We've taken the 99 Civic that I just sold and the 2011 Civic that is my daily down twice and both times we got 35 miles to the gallon and I don't think the total gas bill exceeded $40 round trip! Claudia has a new 2020 Turbo Civic that we want to take on the open road and OPEN UP. I will let everyone know when that happens out of respect because we will definitely be upsetting some of our forum members with excessive speeds on MEX 8 from Sonoyta to RP. Leaving boat in CB and taking car is doable because once we're there Villa or Hippie can retrieve boat and launch us so no need for an SUV.

The PUERCO PLATA is only getting 9.5 miles to the gallon towing the boat. ATROCIOUS NUMBERS!!!! YUUUUUCK!!! LOL. We towed a CanAM Maverick RC to Hurricane, Utah in June and I saw sub 9... 8.5 miles to the gallon. The gas bill round trip was $400+... The problem right now with the tow rig is that I need to change the gearing in the rear diff. We pry have 3.90 or 3.70 gears in there, stock from factory. Above 70mph the truck starts SEARCHING for power.... OD, 2100... two seconds later, downshift into 3 3000rpm.... climb up to speed, upshift into OD 2100... two seconds later downshift into 3 up to 3200rpm back up to speed upshift into OD 2100... and repeat and repeat and repeat.... That's why we're absolutely sucking gas right now. Eventually I'm going to put 4.56 in there and hopefully it won't have to search the powerband any longer. We should be able to hold OD at 2300 and do 72mph sustained. All through Navajo nation and past the North Rim of the GC we were downshifting into 2 some of the time because you're at 5,000ft and the grade of the road doesn't look steep but you're climbing hard to get up and over the Kaibab forest and I felt so bad for the Sequoia. She was absolutely wrapped out for a good hour or two.
 
Mexico Joe

Mexico Joe

Cholla Bay 4 Life
Nicolai said:
Lucky dog, I hope it goes well! I probably won't be down again till October.

I've been hitting up the CBSC on Facebook here and there and looks like we MIGHT get a fishing derby in October! Got my fingers crossed.
Click to expand...
We'll see. No promises yet. Sunday looks to be our best chance according to Windfinder.com

On the other note of gear. I've been bleeding money recently because BOAT. So for this first outing I guess we're just going to roll with what we have for right now. RUN WHAT YOU BRUNG as the shit kickers say. I did just buy some new braid though. I like KAST KING braid. 8 strand. I bought 80lb for the level wind Penn and 50lb for the big spin reel set ups I have. Hoping to be able to at least get out 5 to 10 miles to some of those marks West of CB on the 270, 280 heading. I'd love to be able to get out to the 20, 22 but that's contingent on the wind. We just want to get our feet wet and start getting some experience.

This is what I'm looking at right now for another deep drop rig...

Chaos XS

Big Reel for Grouper

Grouper Rod
 
E

estevan

Guest
Mexico Joe said:
We'll see. No promises yet. Sunday looks to be our best chance according to Windfinder.com

On the other note of gear. I've been bleeding money recently because BOAT. So for this first outing I guess we're just going to roll with what we have for right now. RUN WHAT YOU BRUNG as the shit kickers say. I did just buy some new braid though. I like KAST KING braid. 8 strand. I bought 80lb for the level wind Penn and 50lb for the big spin reel set ups I have. Hoping to be able to at least get out 5 to 10 miles to some of those marks West of CB on the 270, 280 heading. I'd love to be able to get out to the 20, 22 but that's contingent on the wind. We just want to get our feet wet and start getting some experience.

This is what I'm looking at right now for another deep drop rig...

Chaos XS

Big Reel for Grouper

Grouper Rod
Click to expand...
Joe, I bought some of that Kast King line a few years ago, 40 lb braid. It worked great until there was any kind of abrasion or lateral force on it. I lost 3- $15 lures and decided I couldn't afford to use it anymore. Contacted the manufacturer and they sent me another spool that did the same thing. I brought it to my office to run some experiments on a tensometer we have. Sure enough, it would break right around 40# with only axial forces, but as soon as I applied any lateral force or abrasion it would break as low as 6#. I switched to PowerPro after that. I'll still use the Kast King with a long fluoro leader, but that's with homemade, lead jigs that only cost about $1.50 to make.
 
Mexico Joe

Mexico Joe

Cholla Bay 4 Life
estevan said:
Joe, I bought some of that Kast King line a few years ago, 40 lb braid. It worked great until there was any kind of abrasion or lateral force on it. I lost 3- $15 lures and decided I couldn't afford to use it anymore. Contacted the manufacturer and they sent me another spool that did the same thing. I brought it to my office to run some experiments on a tensometer we have. Sure enough, it would break right around 40# with only axial forces, but as soon as I applied any lateral force or abrasion it would break as low as 6#. I switched to PowerPro after that. I'll still use the Kast King with a long fluoro leader, but that's with homemade, lead jigs that only cost about $1.50 to make.
Click to expand...
Good to know. I've had the same Kast King 20lb line on both of my spinning set ups with no issue for about 2 years now. Caught the big dog Corvina with one of them. I bought another brand on Amazon and after one season of fishing salt the line completely faded to white. The product seemed inferior to begin with.

Then again. With the jet ski we were mostly trolling and bottom fishing introduces the opportunity for chafing now with the boat so I guess time will tell. Once I'm done bleeding money with the boat I will start to upgrade some of my gear.
 
N

Nicolai

Guest
Mexico Joe said:
We'll see. No promises yet. Sunday looks to be our best chance according to Windfinder.com

On the other note of gear. I've been bleeding money recently because BOAT. So for this first outing I guess we're just going to roll with what we have for right now. RUN WHAT YOU BRUNG as the shit kickers say. I did just buy some new braid though. I like KAST KING braid. 8 strand. I bought 80lb for the level wind Penn and 50lb for the big spin reel set ups I have. Hoping to be able to at least get out 5 to 10 miles to some of those marks West of CB on the 270, 280 heading. I'd love to be able to get out to the 20, 22 but that's contingent on the wind. We just want to get our feet wet and start getting some experience.

This is what I'm looking at right now for another deep drop rig...

Chaos XS

Big Reel for Grouper

Grouper Rod
Click to expand...
Those are some well priced get ups Joe, I tried looking for the Star rod Stuart mentioned but it's currently sold out everywhere! Damnit! The reels however are available for good prices, even saw one for sale in Flagstaff. May grab that 600h.

And I hope the weather is cooperative for you guys, be good to get a fishing report from you for this time of year to guage my productivity last week. I know it's a slow time of the year in general but I couldn't even find a pinto out and about. Got good rock bass 2lbs maybe, and some big triggers. It was real cool to see a 4' needle fish chase my rock bass up to the surface too! That spot I found that was productive was 30-40' which surprised me because every where around it was 60-70' so I think I'm on the right track in those regards.

Also curious as to why the pompano weren't going crazy when I was down may and June like usual.

Need to catch up with you and stuart in Cholla sometime.
 
N

Nicolai

Guest
Stuart said:
A live bonefish draws a wicked lightning fast strike. Ain't no nibble-nibble going on. It's dropped guys on my old boat to their knees, not kidding.

Again, it's more the construction of the rod than the rating. The graphite roller rods can't take that kind of hit. A solid Eglass rod can.

Haven't used the J-braid, but like Daiwa products. Have always stuck with the PowerPro because of its super thin diameter (cuts through the current) and the fact that it telegraphs the smallest of bumps and dings from over 250 ft. below. Very easy to tell it you're fishing over rocks, reef or sand or if you've got something playing kissy-kissy with your bait. Mono line doesn't cut it in either of those regards.
Click to expand...
I had a theory about that mono being the wrong way due to line memory and sensitivity, never considered the currents effect though great tip man!

I'd love to hook up on a grouper that wants to flip the ski over! I got an old 1lb lead head orange scampi jig I need to rig up for down there, it's my grandfather's and I can only imagine he either got it from Wally or his wife's uncle's cod fishery in Alaska back in the day. That Star rod is out of stock right now, but I'll see about another solid rod!
 
N

Nicolai

Guest
Mexico Joe said:
This wind report is moving so much it should be on Dancing With the Stars... Now Sunday looks hurricane esk
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Damnit man! I had a day that was 12ish knots, rough ride to the jetti and back. But got out that 5 ish miles. Rough coming back in again. Hopefully something will pan out.
 
J

JoseAz

Guest
So Nicolai, do you have a hand held GPs or something that lets you know how far out you are?
I have an aluminum V hull with a 5hp motor. Sometimes i go so far out i get scared,
Sometimes I'll just step out of the boat and stand in the 3ft of water :)
Technology is tough in a sloppy and wet little set up
 
N

Nicolai

Guest
JoseAz said:
So Nicolai, do you have a hand held GPs or something that lets you know how far out you are?
I have an aluminum V hull with a 5hp motor. Sometimes i go so far out i get scared,
Sometimes I'll just step out of the boat and stand in the 3ft of water :)
Technology is tough in a sloppy and wet little set up
Click to expand...
So the Fish Pro I bought from Sea Doo has a Garmin Echomap plus 62cv, it has navigation chart, fish chart, you can set way points and the whole 9 yards.

And the whole getting scared out there thing is good lol I too get scared, especially when I saw the storm clouds and lighting on shore lol or when the wind picks up. I'd rather be a little spooked than not just so that I can maintain my respect for the ocean and how easily I could lose it all out there.

I have no experience on the V Hull boats. This ski and my Kayak are the only thing I have ever captained. I did see someone in a tiny old wooden v hul with a small motor on it doing some work. How often do you go out? Be interested in hearing your experiences and advice
 
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