Can someone help me with this rod?

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lxocallaghan
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Can someone help me with this rod?

Post by lxocallaghan »

Hello Pikers Pit,

I’m just reaching out for some help with a rod I’ve just bought. Basically my mate has bought an ugly stick gx2 9ft, and I thought I would try to buy along the same lines. We are most likely using live bait lakeside, and I forgot his was 9ft and bought a short 7ft Daiwa Ninja Lure fishing rod, so I fudged up. Could I get away with using this rod for lures and bait?

I was going to get a Sonik Magna 3000 or 4000 to go with it, but again don’t want to buy the wrong thing! Lure fishing does seem interesting once I get a bit more skilled but as a beginner would this work OK for bait fishing or should I just return it and get another one which is a bit longer?

I bought this basically because it had 5-25g casting weight, but realise now the power is in the action weight and rod length… Also if you could confirm if this would handle pike that would be great as there’s lots near me!

https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/daiwa-n ... 9EQAvD_BwE

Many thanks in advance!
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John Milford
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Re: Can someone help me with this rod?

Post by John Milford »

Your mate's GX2 will be 2.7m and rated for 15 - 60g casting weights.

Usable, at a push, for light bait fishing - but even his is a little short and on the light side for pike.

What line strength are you both using?
"He's some sort of lure savant. Or just has an unhealthy addiction to old lures. We are not quite sure . . . . . "
lxocallaghan
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Re: Can someone help me with this rod?

Post by lxocallaghan »

John Milford wrote: Wed Jun 22 2022 10:35 -
Your mate's GX2 will be 2.7m and rated for 15 - 60g casting weights.

Usable, at a push, for light bait fishing - but even his is a little short and on the light side for pike.

What line strength are you both using?
Cheers for the quick reply! I don’t think he was targeting predators as much, more so keeping the opportunity open if something did nibble.

Sounds like I should return and buy something a little more appropriate, like this one which is 9ft also and has a 50g max casting:

https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/daiwa-n ... k_products

He will be fishing on 10lbs mono, I have some 6lb mono for my old bait casting rod, but was going to get some 30lbs braided line with a Fluoro leader for this new one.

As you can probably tell I’m not very well acquainted with the best rigs/combos, we were just starting with floats and bait then looking at feeders or lures.

Thanks for all the help so far, bit complicated getting to grips with the engineering! Edit for braid weight and spelling corrections.
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John Milford
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Re: Can someone help me with this rod?

Post by John Milford »

30lb braided line is OK, but any mono below 15lb b.s. is far too light for pike. You would risk not only being broken off by fish, but also losing baited rigs in snags with the risk of pike swallowing them or even becoming tethered. Both mean a dead pike.

Please please do not use fluorocarbon or hard mono for any kind of pike trace - either with baits or lures. You WILL get bitten off if you don't use steel wire, perhaps not every time, but one time is one too many as far as pike are concerned.

Pike can and will bite through even 100lb fc and the risks with lighter bs fc is correspondingly much higher.
"He's some sort of lure savant. Or just has an unhealthy addiction to old lures. We are not quite sure . . . . . "
lxocallaghan
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Re: Can someone help me with this rod?

Post by lxocallaghan »

Thanks for taking the time to respond John, to be honest I am still learning and getting to grips with line/rig, the mono was primarily for carp/coarse fishing as we get started, would be much more careful if focusing on pike as have read their teeth are very sharp!

Ideally a 30lbs braid with an 80lbs fluoro and a titanium/steel tracer will do, and I’m looking at a Sonik Magna 4000 to house the line. Realistically I will only be catching small pike (if any) with the 7ft rod and a small lure (I have ordered a 6g blue fox shub) as I start out, really I just want to be prepared for a pike attack and certainly wouldn’t want the line to snap, leaving it for dead.

Appreciate the help, words of warning and advice. I am still just as confused to be honest but will get there eventually!
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John Milford
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Re: Can someone help me with this rod?

Post by John Milford »

No problem, we were all beginners once! :thumbs:

Your 7ft 25g rod is ideal for castiing small lures and with suitably strong line will handle the pike you are likely to catch on them.

If a larger pike turns up unexpectedly it should still cope with it well enough, although be prepared for some fun and games when one does!

You are right about how sharp pike's teeth are! Wire traces are the only reliable defence against them, despite what you may hear from some.

You'll need some good, long-nosed pliers for unhooking - and it is well worth looking for youtube videos on handling and unhooking pike before you try for them. They are very fragile creatures and easily damaged if not handled properly or are kept out of the water for too long. A good sized landing net and an unhooking mat are essentials too.

Just a final word of caution: Pike can become very dangerously exhausted if the water temperature is warm and dissolved oxygen levels are low. It is best to avoid fishing for them in such conditions and stick to the cooler months.
"He's some sort of lure savant. Or just has an unhealthy addiction to old lures. We are not quite sure . . . . . "
lxocallaghan
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Re: Can someone help me with this rod?

Post by lxocallaghan »

Much appreciated, looking forward to getting started now!

Will potentially look towards Zander and Perch until it cools off a bit, lots of great information on the internet which you’ve summarised and explained perfectly. Thank you for this.

I am grateful for the confirmation on it still being a usable setup, one which I’ll have to get accustomed too but it seems lures will be quite a fun experience! Will be careful of the pike, I did see some guy on YouTube catch 6 and cut his finger on the last, big ones seem lethal, really wouldn’t want to shed a finger.

I have looked at Amazon for 12” curved forceps but did see on YouTube a much beefier pair of pliers so that helps a lot to know that the extra weight will be worth it, especially when starting out.

Best go watch some videos on tracer lines also, just in case a pike does bite, again thank you for taking the time to ease my mind, it was beginning to get quite complicated, and post-purchase panic did occur at one stage.

My mate questioned the unhooking mat when I told him that with most permits it’s required, definitely a sound investment along with a suitable net, now where do I find a rubber one? 😂

P.s. sorry for the essay
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Re: Can someone help me with this rod?

Post by stubbojo »

sound advice there john , just a quick one if your targeting pike and just starting out use barbless or single barbless on your 20lb trace wire its less faff when your starting out and unhooking will be quicker for you ........
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