Spinning - What I use and why I use it

neilg

Sealiner
I have reserved the posts needed, so comments are open

I did the same type of article a few years back, this time it will just be a little shorter but more updated

I will update over the next few days, have to work in the week, study at night and then still get time to fish on weekends


:X I have now moved the pictures to another hosting site, hopefully it now works without any further issues


Light Tackle Artificial Angling - Part 1
http://www.sealine.co.za/view_topic.php?id=10103&forum_id=25

Light Tackle Artificial Angling - Part 2
http://www.sealine.co.za/view_topic.php?id=10231&forum_id=25

Light Tackle Artificial Angling - Part 3
http://www.sealine.co.za/view_topic.php?id=10849&forum_id=25
 

neilg

Sealiner
Rods and Reels
Over the years I have used quite a few rods and reels.
Rods ranged from 6.6ft light tackle to a 11ft Enigma built heavy spinning rod, then there was heavy R&S tackle, and for good measure some boat rods and jigging rods.
Reels, well it’s mostly been Shimano, Daiwa and Abu Garcia, from 2500 up to 12000 sizes.
I got rid of most of the heavy stuff and held onto the light tackle stuff, and then with some swopping got some more stuff light tackle.

As we go along you will notice that I’m not brand loyal, I buy what I like and what I can afford, keeping in mind that sooner or later I will want something newer again…
I maintain my equipment and have no problem coming home and servicing 4 reels cause they were exposed to the elements.
Look after your equipment and it will help you land fish, don’t and you’ll pay the price !

Myself and my son Ethan started spinning again, aim is light to medium spinning only.

Here is my current pairings, most of the equipment listed is older than 5 years

My Kit
7ft Elbe Interceptor (3/4oz) – Shimano Exage 2500 – Suffix Performance 13lb
8ft Daiwa Exceller (1oz) - Shimano Sahara 3000 – Suffix Performance 13lb
10ft Sensation Adventure (2.5oz) – Shimano Socorro SW 5000 - Suffix Performance 15lb
11ft Custom Built by Enigma (4-5oz) – will also use Socorro on it when required – amazing Rod !!!!!

Ethan Kit
7ft Elbe Interceptor (3/4oz) – Daiwa Exceller S 2500 - Spiderwire EZBraid 20lb
8ft Daiwa Exceller (1oz) - Daiwa Exceller S 3000 – Spiderwire EZBraid 20lb
11ft Sensation Adventure (3oz) - Abu Soron STX 60 - Spiderwire EZBraid 30lb

Other Rods
8ft Sensation Passion Stick (1 oz)
10ft Blue Marlin G3
9ft Berkley Air - broke and needs to be repaired soon, will let Ethan spin with it.
12ft Loomis & Franklin - also needs repairing

Other Reels
Shimano Baitrunner DL FA 2500, Shimano Baitrunner DL FA 4000, Shimano Slade FB 2500, Shimano Solstace 4000, Daiwa Regal 5iA 2500

Over the years I’ve had a good selection of rods, some have broken and some were stolen, my all time favourites will always be Berkley Cherrywood 6.6ft, the 7ft Elbe rods
And the Berkley Air 9ft and 10ft, for heavier the Enigma Custom is a monster of a rod that I used to bully under 100kg sharks with.
Over the years I’ve also had a good selection of reels aswell, all time favourites … the Shimano Slade FB 2500 (man I love this little reel), my very well used and abused (and now retired) Daiwa Exceller Plus 3000 and then the machine of a reel, the Shimano Stradic 8000.

The Stradic truly is an amazing reel, it’s well built and it’s SOLID, but they have become too expensive for me.
On my retired Exceller Plus I have caught thousands of fish, gears are still perfectly good but bearings (all still the originals) are done and the anti reverse doesn’t work like it should and the “ratchet” is on it’s end aswell. I have fished this reel harder than I fished any of my other reels, it really served me well.

I must also mention the Penn Battle that I had, very well built reel, and same for the Daiwa Oceano 4500.

About the Shimano and Daiwa argument … personal opinion, in smaller reels I prefer Daiwa because of the better line capacity, in the bigger reels I prefer Shimano.

If you look after and service them regularly they will both serve you well for many years

If you are asking why all my reels that I use are Shimano, well when you swop equipment you don't always get exactly what you were looking for, if I had a choice my smaller reels would all be Daiwa

Notice the reel covers below, I have about 6 of them, use them and your reels will look good for years, provided that you service your reels aswell ofcourse


pbt3i2Fg.jpg
 

neilg

Sealiner
Line

Because I concentrate on spinning I only spool the reels with braid, even the reels that I use for bait fishing have braid on them.

I have always used Berkley and Suffix braid, and had Jerry Brown and PowerPro on a reel or 2, but man braid is expensive.

I have given Spiderwire a go, havent used it for long, can say it's OK, but won't last like the Berkley and Suffix.

I know there are many newer and better makes out there, but this is what I trust and use at this stage.

I will hardly ever go over 20lb braid for myself.
Because Ethan is still learning I spool his reels (which he buys with his own money) with heavier braid.

Another reason that I use lighter braid is because of the line capacity PROBLEM with Shimano reels (which most of my reels are).
A 3000 Shimano takes substantially less line than a 3000 Daiwa, so to make up for it I go lighter.

A few months ago I removed Berkley Fireline from 3 of my reels, that line was 6-8 years old and still looked pretty good.

With braid, well you get what you pay for.

Now about the old man story, how to spool braid, let me tell you, based on experience you don't need a special spool, and you don't have to use insulation tape on the spool to prevent it from slipping.
Make a big loop in your braid and tie a 10 turn uni knot, now wrap that big loop around your spool 10 times and pull it tight, it doesn't slip, end of story.
All the reels mentioned above are spooled that way without any issues.
 

neilg

Sealiner
Leader lines

Well gone are the days of me making a long leader "to protect my braid" !

I don't like knots going through my guides, never have and never will.
So to deal with that issue I tie braid to a small power swivel and then use either green mono or clear fluorocarbon line - about 1 meter long.

Have caught many fish like this, not 1 fish have complained about it so they must be OK with my 1m "leader"

I use different breaking strain leaders depending on where I fish and based on what fish I'm targetting, generally I make my leader thicker than my braid for abrasion resistance.

My leaders are normally in the 15-25lb range, and sometimes I go down to 10lb.

When spinning I have a quick change clip so that I can quickly swop lures. Some people refuse to use them, again, no fish has ever complained to me about it.

Look at the pics on facebook of fish caught by "spinners", you will notice that most of those "spinners" use the quick change clips.
 

neilg

Sealiner
Tackle bags

of them I've had a good selection over the years, my word, come to think of it I had a truck load of them, from small to big enough to survive in the jungle for a year.

These days, it's always the bare necessities, so it's a small shoulder bag that can take a small tackle box filled with lures, my scissors, a knife, fishing licences and then 2-3 different leader spools, that's it.

When spinning you need to be mobile, and don't need a big bag that gets in the way

Total weight under 1 kg, small and out of the way.

For trips where we will use bait I have a bigger shoulder bag, but bait fishing is more static so that's OK, not used often.
 

neilg

Sealiner
Now lets talk about the most expensive part of fishing ... lures and terminal tackle.

We think we spend a lot of money on rods and reels till we add up the cost of our lures ... :X

Different Lures for different types of fishing
Bucktail jigs
Spoons
Plugs
Topwater lures
Midwater lures
Bottom lures
Soft Plastics

There are many makes, models, sizes and colours, most made to catch the angler and not the fish ... true story

It's an addiction I know, over the years I have bought a fair amount of lures only to ask myself later ... what were you thinking you idiot
 

neilg

Sealiner
Bucktail jigs

These are the most basic of lures and man do they work, I really mean that.
Because they are so "simple" most people overlook them.

These days the commercial versions have become quite expensive so I have resorted to making my own. It will save me some money in the long run, but it's also a good and fun hobby that you can start without it costing you a fortune.

You can read more about that here :
http://www.sealine.co.za/view_topic.php?id=107114&forum_id=78

The advantage of making my own bucktails is that I can choose colours of both the jigs and the bucktails.

For my fishing purposes I use 1/2oz, 1oz and 1.5oz.
My colour preferences are white, yellow, blue, green, purple.

I buy the jigs in raw form (tiny jigs), meaning not painted and no "bucktail"

I powder coat the jigs in Silver, White, Yellow, Black or Green.
For fun I have also played with 2 and 3 toned powder coatings.

Tails are mostly a combination , example Yellow over White, Blue over White, Green over White, Purple over White. I will also add flash into the mix every now and then.
The only 1 colour lures I make is all white and then a black head and a dark green tail.

So how do you fish the bucktails ... lol ... vary your retrieve they say ne.

It all depends on what you are targetting, where you are fishing, the tide and even water temperature.

In general I start very very slow, so throw, let it sink and hit the bottom, twitch up (about a 30-40 degree twitch) and then let it sink again ( you feel the bump when it hits the bottom), repeat the process.
From there I will speed up to quite fast, that way you can see what's our there and what speed the lure must move to get them to bite.
So to summarize, your first few casts go "too slow", then a few slow, then a few medium, then a few medium fast and then a few fast, repeat the process...

You have to keep the environment in mind aswell, if there's lots of rocks and you keep hitting the bottom you will be losing lots of lures, so there don't let it hit the bottom

In sandy areas don't be afraid to go "too slow" and let it hit the bottom the whole time.

The smaller swartkops leeries for example prefer a faster jigging action.

Cob, grunter, Steenies, Gurnard are mid to bottom feeders, so pointless having your lure come flying over their heads, this could very well send older fish into cardiac arrest caused by the scare it got from the UFO that did a a near miss Fly By ...

g438nRMl.jpg
 

neilg

Sealiner
Spoons

Like everything else, there are so many different shapes, sizes and colours, some are even painted in funky colours to catch the anglers and not the fish.

I have about 3 spoons that I will throw to target cob, and that's all I will use them for.
70% of my fishing is with bucktails, 20 % with topwater lures and 9% with midwater, 1% max is right on the bottom, meaning using spoons.

When I use spoons I tend to drag them on the bottom, and will never go over a medium speed. 99% of the time speed will be very very slow to slow.

I prefer the S-bend spoons to the V-back spoons, and the S-bend is not made to do drag racing.

In the surf the lighter spoons have their own action, how ... the waves hit them around, so you just retrieve it very slowly. Will always be a good lure to target Cobbies !

You get silver (and they must shine pappa) and then you get the bronze colour (they can be dull colour for dirty water and shiny for clear water).
Ofcourse for sales purposes you also get the 2 tone, which is silver on the 1 size and bronze on the either side.

Let me just tell you again in the words of an expert angler named Justin Bieber ... Despacito (means SLOWLY if you didn't know)

When I realised its a lure angling song I started enjoying it lol

0WdKy9Al.jpg


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neilg

Sealiner
Plugs

I have used them, and seeing a leerie hit that lure is an amazing sight, and your heart will beat faster than it did when you got your first land based fish.

Honestly, I don't use them anymore cause most of my fishing is in the river anyway and again, I prefer bucktails anyway.

They do have their place though, especially for the angler that needs to make a long cast and have their lure skipping on the surface.

Match your rod, braid and lure properly and you will see just how far a plug can be thrown.
Get a windknot during that cast and you won't even see how far a lure CAN go :X

Come to think of it, I have a few of them in storage, both the plastic and the wooden version, again personal choice, I prefer the wooden ones.

The plastic ones retrieve rate needs to be fast otherwise they sink.
The wooden ones float, so you can go fast, pause, go fast, pause, etc

Colours, well they come in various colours to catch fisherman.
The good old red head white body does the job.
A dark (purple) one is a good choice for cloudy / darker conditions.


YJRzv5Rr.jpg
 

neilg

Sealiner
Topwater lures

Now on this we can write a book, and I have no intention of doing that
There are some brilliant topwater lures out there, some dirt cheap and others that cost an absolute fortune.

I have a handful of topwater lures, mostly Storm lures because they are affordable.
I know Rapala make a few brilliant ones aswell, but they are very expensive (but they DO work)
There are many many good lures, but I try not to buy every lure I see these days ...

Double edged sword these ones, because most are very very light so casting distance is a problem.
Advantage ... Fishing methods and colours ... countless !

I prefer anything with a silver belly (just like a fish).

Again when I use them I start slow, so cast out, short jig, short jig, till I get it back to me
You can go very slow, slow, medium and fast so that they skip on the surface.
Drop your rod tip and you can even take the dog for a walk, just play around with speed till it does the doggy walk.

Throw them in the right place and YOU WILL get into Cob, Grunter, Leerie and Springer. Key is the right spot and the right retrieve.

Cob and Grunter go for a very slow to slow retrieve
Leerie and Springer, speed things up a little.

The more time your lure spends on the water the better your chance of getting a fish

Got an absolute hiding from a monster of a leerie a few weeks ago, I simply stood no change on a 7ft rod with a 2500 Shimano reel.
That Leerie had a wake bigger than a jetski and was determined to show me a 10 second quarter mile was a easy task for it, it emptied that LOW LINE CAPACITY Shimano grinder faster than I could say JOU MA SE ....
(That day I really did use some words I haven't used in a very long time)

Personal observation : Fish tend to prefer the bigger topwater lures (10-14cm sizes)

Again, every self respecting lure angler will have 1 or 2 of these in his/her arsenal of lures

Icp3hyoD.jpg


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neilg

Sealiner
Midwater lures




to be continued ...


Yes your eyes are not deceiving you, most of the lures below ARE ORIGINAL Ondas


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neilg

Sealiner
Lure Storage

There are many ways to store lures, containers work out quite expensive and ofcourse once packed (or hidden) away some never return from the dark ...

I make a few lures and use different lures for different styles of fishing, therefore I want them easily accessible

Here's my trick (that I saw someone else do)

I use a curtain hanging rail in the garage where I hang all my lures, still in beginning stages, plan on putting a few of them up in the next few weeks

Cheaper than containers thats stacked on top of eachother, and a easy way to quickly grab a few lures when you want to go fishing

H6xdToIo.jpg
 

neilg

Sealiner
Pleasure bud, still work in progress, sometimes you do without it being "appreciated", but that's OK, it's life.
Good for the soul ...
 

plugger

Senior Member
Nice post, good effort. On the quick change swivels I only use the Swanells (looks like a paper clip). My sons won't use any quick change swivels and tie directly onto the leader. They tell me that's why they catch more fish than me but the jury's still out on that one. I tie my leader directly onto the braid but short enough not to go through the eyes.
 

Ant86

Sealiner
Thanks Neil G, I read your previous thread a few years ago and it was great. Please can I ask that you also do a post on reading the water? ie What are the things you look for when you first set foot on the beach for a session?
 
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