A question about surf rods

[greendude]

I read alot about rough terrain rods & rock fishing rods.
we (in Israel, that is) don't have categories like that. so I'd like to know what are the characteristics of those rods, and how do you fish with them?

thanks!

[geejayy]

the rods you are describeing are rods that fall under the general term 'beachcaster' but that term covers a wide variety of rods from the lighter bass/estuary rods at 11-13 foot casting 1-5oz or so.
through general surf rods 12-14 foot casting 4-6oz or 4-8oz or so and the, recently popular here in the uk,14-18foot long continental rods.
the ones you talk about being roughground/rock rods would fall into the
12-14 foot rated 4-8 or more ounces casting weight and have a powerful stiff action to cope with hauling fish / clumps of weed over and through snaggy ground.
they are usually teamed with a reel holding plenty of high b/s mono line 20lb as a minimum but 30lb is more often used.
this type of rod finds favor on the casting tourney courts as the stiff powerfull action will throw a lead a long way but only if you have the casting technique to fully compress the blank.

mostly for fishing the rocks a big cast can be a disadvantage as the further you cast the more snaggs you have to retrieve bach over and most rock marks have deepish water in close anyway .

i don't do much rock fishing , perhaps others here could add thier better knowledge to this thread.

[greendude]

I have a nexave bx 130f, that is exactly the rod you've just talked about - 13 feet, 4-8oz. but as I understand it - this rod has a softer action tip, and so is considered not a good idea for rock fishing?

here we usually use short and hard rods for fishing off of riffs.
2 sections 10 foot rods that cast 250-500 grams, a big reel and a minimum of 0.5mm mono line, usually 0.6mm (I use 0.4 26lb)

[geejayy]

yes personally id want something a bit stiffer than a nexave for heavyground/ rock fishing , i fish daiwa awb 129 but if i did more rough ground id want to upgrade that though it copes for the most part.

those 10ft rods sound like uptiders , and ideal to cope with casting the big weights you describe if the short length is no hinderance ,
here they'd be used to cast uptide from an anchored boat in shallowish water to put baits away from the disturbance the anchored boat makes .
but i don't think much more than 10-12oz ( about 300grm) gets cast.

[greendude]

we use the short rods for two things - large bait off a riff with a cast of 40-80 yards, or for greater amberjack from shore. I don't think these rods would be any good frm a boat, because they are usually very stiff.
mine is a cromoran that originally was ment for catfish...

[the pyromaniac]

Greendude, here in the States it's similar to how you described Yisraeli surf rods... Mine is a 7 footer, with a hard tip, heavy action, meant for casting up to 2 ounces. I also use it for catfish and have occasionally used it for striped (sea) bass in rivers.

[greendude]

Originally Posted by the pyromaniac

Greendude, here in the States it's similar to how you described Yisraeli surf rods... Mine is a 7 footer, with a hard tip, heavy action, meant for casting up to 2 ounces. I also use it for catfish and have occasionally used it for striped (sea) bass in rivers.

actually, I think I understand more or less the US way of fishing, and it's quite different. the rod I was talking about is 10 foot, with casting range of 9 to 18oz. that's what we call "ultra heavy rods"
by surf rods we are talking about 13 to 15 feet, sections or tele, with casting weight that averages out at 4-5oz.