The Essence of Fishing

High rated lines are designed for big fish. Really big fish. Usually for several hundreds pounds fish such as sharks, blue-fin tuna and swordfish. Most of the fishing rods used for this type of fishing are conventional rods paired with conventional/multipliers reels and are considered to be stronger and tougher then spinning rods. The main reason for that is when fighting big fish with a conventional rod, the line is pushing the guides against the rod and the stress in upon the rod itself. With spinning rods it is the other way around. The line is pulling the guides away from the rod and the stress is both upon the rod and the guides.

However, although spinning rods rated for 100lbs lines falls behind conventional rods when is come to fighting big fish, there is a demand for the first. The reason is that it is much easier and fun to handle spinning reel then a conventional reel. So, when choosing  spinning rods rated for 100lbs lines your attention should be focused on few critical parameters:

1. Guides Shape - the guides should be massive and big round circles, in order to contain the twist of the line when is comes out of the reel.
2. Guides Wrapping - In spinning rods rated for 100lbs lines the guides wrapping is most important. Take a close inspection on the wrapping and verify that there is an extra enforcement over the guides legs.  Try to apply some force on them with you hand and make sure they are fixed.
3. Rod Blank Pieces - if transportation is not an issue, always prefer on piece rod over two. One piece rod does not have, virtually, any breaking point. However, it will break if aggressively handled (I have just broke mine when tried to lift 12 pounds weight over the air).

Spinning rod rated for 100lbs line is only one side of the equation. For that kind of fighting you may need a tough spinning reel with stainless steel gear and shaft with massive drag surfaces and thick aluminum body. It goes without saying that the reel also should contain at least 300 yards of your 100lbs line.

If you catch anything big with spinning rod rated for 100lbs line I would love to hear all about it.

Many people are asking me through forums and here in my blog for surf fishing in lake Michigan including hot spots, casting techniques and rigs. Unfortunately, I cant help much since I have never got to fish at lake Michigan although it is one of the places I really wish to go and it is certainly on top of my list.

So, as for hot spots I cant really help. However, when it comes to casting techniques and rigs it is a diferent story altogether.  As far as my experience goes, casting techniques should be the same everywhere. Straight Off the Ground or Pendulum should be used when long distance casting is required and most often it is.

There are many sites that describes how to build surf fishing rigs and all the rig types are basically many versions of how to put together weights and baits. Some of the rigs can even be bought ready made. Here are some useful links:

1. www.fishing.sh/htmfiles/fishingrigs/index.html
2. www.fishsa.com/intrsurf.php
3. www.hatterasoutfitters.com/knotsrigs.htm
4. www.thefishingline.com/fishing10.htm

Enjoy fishing and as I learned from a friend, there is a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore looking like an Idiot.

Deep sea fishing or, as many times refered as deep water fishing is one of the most popular fishing style especially in north America and Australia. What makes it so popular is the chance to really fight all kinds of big fish such as Amberjacks, Groupers, Tunas, Sailfish, Swordfish and even Sharks.

Deep sea fishing tackle is usually divided into three main categories; Trolling, Baits and Jigging. While these categories have different fishing charactericties thus different fishing tackle requirements, they have one thing in common when it comes to rod. It should be designed for long and tough big fish fighting. 

Most of deep sea rods are casting rods designed for multipliers reels which, in many opinions, are stronger and tougher compare to Spinning reels. However, Multipliers are not ideal reels for every deep sea category. When it comes to jigging for example, when high gear ratio and easy handling is needed, spinning reels and of course spinning rods are better choice.

Choosing your deep sea spinning rod should be quite an easy task. Consider the following parameters when buying you next deep sea spinning rod:

1. Rod Length - the length should be about 5′9″ (1.8m) but no longer then 6′9″ (2.1m).
2. Rod Guides - the guides should be wide and massive, especially the first two which hold most of the pressure. Go for Fuji if possible.
3. Rod Material - fiberglass. If the rod weight is a factor then go for carbon however, they breaks more often then fiberglass.
4. Line Weight - line weight should be at least 20lb.
5. Gimble - don’t buy without.

As for reels, the market is over-flooded with models. Go for Shimano Stella or Daiwa Saltiga if money is not an option. Average quality Okuma, Quantum or Tica will do the job quite fine.