North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

gday everyone,

just wanting some advice on what setup il need up there as i've never been to the top end
i want a sort of all round combo for a bit of barra bustin and spinning pelagics and a bit of bottom bouncing.
was thinking about a stradic fj 5000 matched up with a 6'6" st croix premier spin rod 8-17lb.
does that sound like a well matched combo? any advice would be great.
also own a calcutta 100b which i need a new rod for. any ideas? was thinking to maybe get a st croix for that aswell to save on shippin.
maybe a 6' premier 4-10lb.

cheers lords

can't wait to get up there and try me luck with the

You are better off using outfits dedicated to barra, pelagics and bottom bashing. Use your baitcaster for barra, 4000/5000 spin gear for pelagics, and an overhead reel for bottom bashing.
Also looking at the stradic fj 4000 and fj 5000 but can't decide, the 5000 is exactly the same as the 4000 but has a larger spool fitted, a 5.8 instead of 6.2 gear ratio, and an 'egg' knob on the handle. The 5000 rips in 104cm and the 4000 only 94cm per turn. Some have expressed concern at the smaller clearance between the spool and rotor under load on the 5000, and possibly less casting distance due to the larger diameter spool. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

^^^
sound advice.
though when i get a a rod and reel, it becomes my favourite and i dont use another setup.
also the cost of top quality gear multiplied by 3 or so setups, i would be broke!
so i have opted for an "allrounder" setup, i went for a robust van staal vs 150 on a shimano power barra 641 5-10kg setup.
works well and is "perfect"for everything.

p.s van staal vs 15o is equal to about 3000/3500 size.

mako wrote:You are better off using outfits dedicated to barra, pelagics and bottom bashing. Use your baitcaster for barra, 4000/5000 spin gear for pelagics, and an overhead reel for bottom bashing.
Also looking at the stradic fj 4000 and fj 5000 but can't decide, the 5000 is exactly the same as the 4000 but has a larger spool fitted, a 5.8 instead of 6.2 gear ratio, and an 'egg' knob on the handle. The 5000 rips in 104cm and the 4000 only 94cm per turn. Some have expressed concern at the smaller clearance between the spool and rotor under load on the 5000, and possibly less casting distance due to the larger diameter spool. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Go the 5000, you will appreciate the larger handle.

BVD,
You will be better of getting the 7 foot model in spin if chasing pelagics with the outfit, the extra 6" has a huge impact on casting distance as does line size. 20lb would work well on this outfit whilst still offering a bit of grunt. In terms of a baitcasting rod avoid the 4-10lb stick it's too light to effectively work your average sized Barra hard bodies and the lure oversaturates the tip resulting in a lack of feel and dampening the action when twitching. I built a SCV 4-10lb blank up and it has turned out to be a costly and disappointing mistake. I think the 10-17lb stick may be a better choice and the lure weight specs fall right in the rods' sweet spot for the weight of most barra lures around the 80-120mm size.
Cheers,
John.

cheers for the heads up deep black

had already decided to get the 7' for spinning for that extra cast distance and i think il take your advice on the heavier baitcasting rod.
anyone else got any thoughts on what bc rod to get. probably gonna order tonight so it'd be good to hear what ya reckon.