Boatless Fishing Forum, Reports, Info

I am in the Jacksonville Area

I am a lifelong fisherman, however I have never used a baitcaster. I will explain what I need help with after I tell you how I got to where I am. You will not believe this story, but I waited until today to post this so you wouldn't think it was an April fools story.

I travel a ton. About 5000 miles a month to be more specific. We traveled the last 6 weeks up north in the snow and ice and upon returning home last week I needed to wash my car to get the salt off. So I did. After washing my car, it was wet (naturally) so I decided to hop on 295, go up two exits and loop home to dry it off. As soon as I got on the interstate I saw some toy that had fallen out of a truck on the side of the highway. I looked to see if there was anything else when I saw it. A fishing Rod.

i pulled over to grab it, thinking to myself, "It had to be run over. It's gotta be broken." Being on the side of the highway makes me nervous, so I didn't inspect it at the time. I got it home and found a few scratches, but nothing that would alter the performance of the rod or reel. I am a "walmart fisherman," so I have never owned a rod/reel combo worth more than $40. I looked online and found that this particular reel is worth $250. The rod is another $250. I found a $500 rod/reel on the side of the highway! What is more, is that literally twenty minutes earlier I told my wife I was going to Wally world to purchase a new saltwater pole for the summer!

I feel bad for the guy who lost it, but in reality, I am just excited I found it! I will mention the reel is a team Daiwa Luna 253. The rod I will be ambiguous about and say that it is a medium-heavy 7 footer. I am ambiguous because now none of you can claim it as yours!


I kid you not, I couldn't have thought that up if I tried! But now my problem.
I don't know what exactly this rod and reel are capable of fishing. I have done research and it seems like it is a perfect combo for fishing flats and saltwater/ brackish creeks, but i don't own a boat, nor do I have easy access to fish those conditions. I would be mostly looking to surf fish and to pier fish, but I am not sure if the set-up could handle that.

Also another problem is that I don't know how to use a baitcast reel well. I took it out to an open baseball field to practice (don't want to be learning when I am trying to fish) but I was unable to cast further than 25 yards. When I get the hang of it, what kind of range should I be able to attain with this reel realistically?

Another ignorant question I will put to you is this, is the lure weight listed on the pole a maximum sinker weight i should use for it? Will I break the pole if I go over it?

Should I maybe try to sell it and buy a nice (albeit not as nice) spinning rod?

Sorry I am a moron, but I am a lucky moron. And now I am a lucky moron with a super nice set-up. I wouldn't mind a little input from the experts though!

Mcjeff

I'm no expert but I would sell it and stick with spinners until your ready for the beach...If you become a surf rat then you'll look into conventional reels and rods....and you may still stick with spinners...they do a fine job for the most part

thanks for the input!

You could probably not ever replace that rod and reel for what you could sell it for, I'd most likely keep it, someday you may want b/c.
I gave up b/casters 40 years ago, with the exception of using live or cut bait fishing which I seldom do. Not knocking any of the Walmart combos, if that's what one's budget allows, but for not a heck of a lot more you can put together a very decent spinning rod and reel to have a lot of fun with.

As far as your distance with that b/c, you will get better with practice but you may want to keep your bait within the parameters of the rod so it will load up properly.

Sirsnookalot wrote:You could probably not ever replace that rod and reel for what you could sell it for, I'd most likely keep it, someday you may want b/c.
I gave up b/casters 40 years ago, with the exception of using live or cut bait fishing which I seldom do. Not knocking any of the Walmart combos, if that's what one's budget allows, but for not a heck of a lot more you can put together a very decent spinning rod and reel to have a lot of fun with.