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What to improve first

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CityBoy

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Hi Gentlemen (and Ladies)

 

Been fishing in Maine for many years now and it use to be a lot easier. But now I realize that I have to approach this a little more seriously. 

First thing I think could make a difference is getting a little closer to the fish. From the beach I cast roughly 50 yards with this setup:

 

Sheakspeare Ugly Stick BWS 1100 (10' Medium-Hard action)

Cabela's Salt Striker SSM60A

Powerpro Super8Slick 50lbs

Stan GIbbs Pencil Popper (6.5" 2oz)

 

I realize that this is not very good and not far enough to really get close to the fish. Fishing mostly for stripers but would love mackerel if I could get at it too.

 

My question is, where do I start to try and improve this?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

PS: I know I need to improve my knowledge of lures too. Which ones to use when and how. So much to learn...

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I'm really into loooong distance bombing and can help you out. I hate to tell you this but your prolly gonna wanna change everything you got if you really wanna get serious about distance.

 

In answer to your question though...

 

First... I would change the lure. It's the cheapest, easiest, and fastest thing to change to gain distance. Casting jigs (metal lures) cast the furthest of all lures. A 3 or 4 ounce crippled herring will cost you about $7. By simply putting on the heaviest casting jig your rod can handle, you will instantly cast much further than the current lure you mentioned by many yards.

 

Second... Changing your line to a thinner (30lb or 40lb) line is quick cheap and easy and it will get you some more distance. Prolly cost you about $24. Honestly, 50lbs is unnecessary anyway. I use 40lb and no problems. Fyi... I bomb heavy jigs up to 8oz sometimes and catch countless large stripers (over 40") every year. No problems. Seriously... No need for 50lb.

 

But if you really wanna get serious......

 

I'd upgrade the rod and reel to something made for long distance. Let's say... a Shimano Ultegra and say.... an a longer surf rod around 11'. That costs a few bucks but you'll see a big difference in distance. Having the right tools (and knowing how to use them of course) makes a huge difference. Take yesterday for example.... Having the above mentioned tools, I was able to cast about 150-175 yards with my TFO and my Ultegra. Because of that, I was the only guy catching fish on the beach. The other guys just didn't have the distance needed. They just watched. Many times distance isn't needed. But yesterday it was a game of distance. If you couldn't cast over 100yds, you weren't catchin anything. Good luck!

Edited by night owl
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Thanks a bunch Night Owl, great info. I will change line and find a few of those lures first. I would love to be able to upgrade rod and reel to but sadly not in the budget for now, hopefully later in the summer. I'll post results. 

 

On a positive note, started catching them off the rocks for the past few days. Love to see them go after the plugs in the white waters. No keepers though, darn 28" limit. :(

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After 15 yrs. of conventional Im learning to cast a spinner for distance. Wow, what a difference. No Cannon here, mayby some tape on the finger. I can see where a Cannon might help as the release is a big part of casting a spinner.

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Edited by cheech
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Tis better to remain silent and thought the fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

12' daiwa mission x 3.5 test curve is my go to rod nowadays about 130$ I'm 60 and the lighter setup allows me to fish longer casting topwater plugs I also recommend the ultegra 5500 with 30# power pro if you're on the beach maybe 40# off the rock for stopping power last year I lost a lot of big fish because I couldn't turn them on 30# off the rocks but had no problem with the 40 

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The cannon allows you to hold the line for a longer amount of time, even though it's a split second.  You CANNOT match that with your finger, even if it's taped.  Probably not good if you're casting lures, too much time involved in setting the line on the cannon. All of 5-7 seconds  LOL.

 

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