Outer Banks

That's interesting, never heard of the cast cannon, but can see how it would help with heavy stuffs! What did you mean by this part : "I usually use 8 and bait for drum fishing"?

 

8 ounce weight plus a big chunk of cut bait. About 12 ounces total.

 

Yeah that's chunky, I'm gonna need a bigger setup for that!

 

We went to Atlantic Beach last October for our daughters 6th birthday. We drove up and caught a ferry and went over to Cape Lookout and Shackleford/Harkers Island cause she wanted to see the wild horses. We saw several and 2 walked within 10' of us. Over all it was an amazing trip, would love to go camp there sometime.

 

I have a 5000 series Penn reel on a 10 foot rod and a 7000 series Penn on a 12 foot rod.

 

I agree 100%. I fish conventional and mono for drum with my large rods. My 10’ spinner that I have 30lb braid I run a 40lb mono shock to the reel so the braid digging into my finger is a non issue. I use an FG knot from the braid to mono so it travels through the guides smoothly.

 

I also fish a 7500 size Penn Slammer on a 12ft rod for 8nbait. It's pushing its limit at times but it gets the job done. The 10fters and 6500 size Battles take care of the double dropper rigs.

 

Y'all are gonna make me spend way too much money!!!

 

I probably should use a shock leader but that was part of the reason I run braided on my larger rod, so I don’t have to. I usually try to catch a shark or a big skate on my bigger rod. With no shock leader, that’s one less knot I have to worry about, I run 80lb braid on that one.

 

It can get addictive and very expensive! I would like to have a nice conventional reel with a 12 or 14 foot rod, but you can get into the $500 range real quick. Once you learn how to cast a conventional, you can cast a mile! Big learning curve tho.

 

That is amazing and simple.

 

It serves a lot of purposes with braid. The top 3 I’d have to say is it protects your finger, provides enough stretch to keep from pulling/straightening a hook and it also helps the rod. The line stretches and helps load the rod better. No stretch can actually snap a rod, which I’ve witnessed a couple times.

My go to drum rod/reel is $1000 Conservatively, for a true 8n’bait entry level set up, a 12’ penn battalion with a daiwa seagate 20h would be the cheapest option that I’ve personally used, and they work quite well. That’ll be in the $300-350 range, before prices went up. I’m not sure what they cost now. When you get in the higher prices, the rods tend to be much lighter and sensitive while still being able to throw 10+ ounces and the reels have much better drag, bearings, corrosion resistance etc..

 

I'd love to have a setup like that one day! Unfortunately being ~4hrs from the closest saltwater, I can't justify it. One day though!

 

I'm 3hrs away and have wayyyyy to much invested. But its still a blast and a little piece if mind that you've got the gear to land that fish of a lifetime if you the opportunity ever presents itself.

 

I agree totally, better to have it and not need it! I'm definitely about getting good quality gear, I just waited to long to have it all on this trip! Procrastination at it's finest...

Still gonna shoot to get a 5000 series on a heavier action rod for this trip. The 3000 reel and medium action rod I have now is way too light for the heavier baits/lures I want to try.

 

I surf fished for a good while with wally world 8ft catfish rods. The biggest no name spinning real they had 30lbs trilene and bottom rigs that I had tied myself.

Caught plenty of fish. But I got to the point that I was going more often and wanted better gear.

The reel holds the line and you hold the rod, but you gotta find em to catch em.

 

That's honestly what I've always done in the past, minus tying the rigs myself. Which I'm definitely going to be doing this time. Definitely is my goal to get better gear for the long run and go more, even for just the weekend.

 

It's a good place to start.

 

I started out with Walmart rods too. I’ve been going on 3 or 4 trips a year for 30 years. I bought better equipment a little at a time as I got older and had a little more money. Good equipment will last a long time if you take care of it. Every time I get back from a fishing trip, I wash everything with soap and water. I dry everything down and pack my reels in the original boxes, inside a plastic tote with some of those silica packets. I keep my rods in a piece of 6” pvc pipe with caps on both ends. It takes a few hours to clean and pack up everything but it’s ready to go for the next trip and always in good shape. I have one of those blue water jugs from Walmart that I fill with fresh water. I keep it in the back of the truck when we are fishing. I rinse all my fishing rigs off whenever I take one off or we are finished fishing for the day. I have rigs with rustles hooks that are several years old.

 

That's a great idea, using the pvc pipe to store your rods. & I like the idea of the jugs for freshwater to rinse while fishing if needed.