beach rods

[Cam]

Its been nineteen years since i hung up a pair of zziplex 2500 rods.Back in those days they were certainly not the most powerful rods,with the likes of quatras, dream machines, and ngs ,not to mention the pole vaulting dc6 from conoflex.The thing is they were fishing rods,and i felt them powerful enough to deal with most of my general beach work.The dc6 would be coupled to a huge mitchell fixed spool for wrasse fishing marks on the dorset coastline.The 2500 zziplex was the rod for me,most of the time.Now i am going to equip myself with a pair of rods and reels to once again fish ,from chesil to sowley.I always prefered 6500 sized multipers,with thirteen foot rods fished up butt.The question is do i want something very similar ,or do i look at these sixteen foot rods i read about.Do i think of the braid on a fixed spool option. I am thinking at the moment of no more than £250 per rod and a 6500CT OR a big pitts and braid.

[eccles]

Yes mate, It is now "fashionable" to have these wacking great long rods because it is supposed to be easier to distance cast with them. Personally I have found that if you have a good casting technique such as "off the ground" or modified versions thereof, one can still chuck well over 100 yds. In fact I regularly achieve that sort of distance with my 12 and 13 ft rods. "Shorter" rods are also easier to handle in a lot of situations and of course to transport. Earlier this year we had a visit from the former world casting world champ Neil Mackellow who reckons that actually 13 ft is the ideal length for most folk who want to do OTG casting.

[Cam]

ok so is there a rod for OTG casting from say the zziplex or century stable that would be similar to my old 2500s

[eccles]

Can't be sure my friend, I am a pensioner and funds don't run to that level of expense. Recently had a chuck with another guy's Greys GRX 13ft and was well impressed - got a 4 oz sinker out about 160 yds. I think you can find them for around £100. Don't turn yer nose up at Shakespeare - they have come out with their new all carbon "Salt" range this year - very light and easy to use. I was so impressed that I raided the piggy bank when HID wasn't looking and got one for about £60. I believe that Mike Thrussell had a hand in designing them and it is now my favourite rod although personally I would prefer a marginally stiffer tip as I think it would give me another 15 yds of chuck if I wanted. Having said that, a lot of my fishing is done under 100 yds so it doesn't really matter. When I got it, it was so light and slim, I wondered if it could stand up to me hurling a 5 oz sinker around 150 yds but it certainly did - wonders of modern technology I suppose.

[solehunter]

I too can vouch for the greys grx-s. Just bought 2 a few weeks back and for a £100 each you must not grumble. They certainly fly like the wind with easy wind up. Soft enough for light scratching and tough enough for rough stuff with 6oz and half a mackerel long range casting. Great reviews, fantastic rods.

[Cam]

i appreciate the replys,and i have also heard good things about these rods .i have decided that i will just have to plunge back in and get fishing .The greys rods sound like i could stretch to a pair and a couple of 6500s ......my missis is going to love this...22 assorted rods and now he wants beachcasters again...............yep

[lewis]

solehunter. what cast would you suggest for the grx-sbecause i've just ordered one and it said it can cast 4oz leads, but a bit worried because the reason i brought a new rod is because i snapped my last rod trying an OTG cast. so i assume by your message the grx-s can take a 6oz with large bait and strongly cast?

[solehunter]

Yes they can by all accounts. I`m no hard caster and only cast with an overhead thump really. The rods OPTIMUM casting weight is 5oz, but thats optimum, not max weight. I have casted a 50grm spinner on them with good distance, so yes they can cast large and small weights no worries. Bear in mind that i have only had my rods 3 or 4 weeks so i`m no expert with them yet but i`m confident in saying you will like them

[eccles]

Lewis, why would you want a 6 oz sinker on? Do you have really hairy currents to contend with over there in Godsport? Anyway, read my earlier post: When I did OTG with the guy's GRX rod, I belted it cos I wanted to see how far it would go with a 125 gm sinker. It almost disappeared so I reckon it was at least 160 yds maybe more albeit there was no rig on the end. Did not even creak from what I recall so I reckon they are good mate.

[lewis]

excellant thank you, was a bit worryed at first. cantwait until it arrives so i can try it out. do you use fixed spoon reels or multipliers?

[eccles]

I use FS on the beach cos I can't be bothered to get the hang of multilpliers at my age and I can get out as far as I want at Hayling. Do have a multilplier but it's me boat reel. I did actually try to cast it once a few years ago but soon gave up - can't be bothered to mess around untangling line - just want to catch fish.

[vax]

Cam, When i purchased my GRX talking to the shop owner he assured me that they will take a 6oz fully loaded and cracked out to 200Yds. If you have a good cast.
Have the rod, just need to work on the cast. I did find Eccles Salt very easy and light to handle.

[lewis]

i dont particularly need to use a 6 oz lead but read sole hunters earlier post and wondered if it could handle a 6 oz lead bcause after i snapped my rod i haven't been putting all my effort in to my casts fearing i will break another rod. i usually use a 4/5oz at most it's reasuring to know it didn't break with a 6oz. im not sure but you may need to use a 6oz lead off gilkicker point on a srong tide not sure i'd be able to catch one thou.
could any one suggest a good reel to acompany the grx-s i've bought the multiplier version.
was thinking maybe a daiwa 7ht turbo or a penn 525 mag

[RichardB]

Yes, at Gilkicker on big tides there is a pretty fierce run of tide. If weed is about too, you might want the option to use 6 ounces.
The reels you mentioned are good choices. I would also put in a recommendation for Abu mag elite, which I have used for some time and find easy to use and quite forgiving. Not the best choice if fishing really rough ground, but most of the beaches in our area have quite clean ground.

[lewis]

thanks richardB, i'll have to look into the abu mag elite.