Size recommendations for Daiwa Sealine and Ugly Stik Tiger
 

After doing some research online on bang for the buck setups for my kayak, I think I have settled on a Daiwa Sealine X-SHA and a Ugly Stik Tiger (either regular or Lite).

I'm ordering online so can you guys please recommend which exact model and sizes to buy?

This setup will primarily be to drift live bait for Yellowtail, White Seabass, and Halibut. It would be great if it could do double duty and be used to throw surface iron and yo-yo as well.

If anyone has any other recommendations in the price range (about $100 for Sealine and $60 for Ugly Stik Tiger), I'm open to suggestions as well.

Sealines are good reels. I like the 20 size for flyline bait, but you would be much better off with a 40 size for iron and dropper loop. The drags on the sealines need to be swapped out for carbon drags as they will start sticking very quickly. Before you buy a sealine, look at the seagates. The seagates are better reels, they are not as tall as the sealines, they come with carbon drags, the gearbox is rotated forward, they don't click when you wind and they are not much more money. Plus they have a 35 size, which is much better if filling with braid. For what you are looking for, the seagate 35 would be my recommendation.

I can not offer you any advice on the ugly stick as I have never had or used one. I hear they are a great value. I would get a rod that has a sweet spot at 30#.

The combo you're looking at will get the job done well at a bargain. I'd look at the Sealine 30 or 40. 20 too small n 50 bigger than you need. Tigers are solid fish killing rods, tough and hold up well for yak fishing. I'm not sure of the specs but 7' rated for 30 or 40 would be the go to. As for iron, this out fit would yoyo ok but not be too good for surface iron. A "do all" rod doesn't really exist. Mike

I'd check out the Sealine 20LW series. I find this reel to be very strong and I hook it up on an Sabre. the reel was about $170 and the pole I got on sale at Big 5 for $40.

I have a Ugly stick Tiger 7' MH and in medium or mediun heavy is best and I have it matched to the Daiwa sealine X SHA in a 50. 30 or 40 will work. I also have a 20 on a tiger 7' light but that is too light unless it's for rock fish or medium size fish. Yellows are too much for it , but the MH is killer for it's pulling power. It lets me reel in much faster than my Daiwa rod and sealine set-up. The Ugly stick Tiger is a super rod, for the buget price nothing comes close. You can get much better rods but not without spending more than 3 times the money (or more). They have much better guides than my Shimano or Daiwa rods. I installed carbon drag washers on all the Daiwas and that is super.

I have the 7' MH. No fish on that rod yet but yea, it seems to be the best tiger model for the lj area for those fish you want. Definitely a cool value at that price point. Guys in the gulf love that rod for its durability and catch a bunch of very nice sharks on them.

The only thing, the 2-3 times I used the tiger, the braid (65 lb pp) seemed to catch around the tip top more than it would with the other phenix psw rods I usually use. Not sure if that's something you guys have noticed with yours? Could always do a fast fix and swap it out for a fuji to see if that'd help, I suppose.

Thanks for the advice dmrides. A couple of questions....

Is the carbon drag in the Seagate as good as what you would typically upgrade the Sealine to? How much does upgrading Sealine drags cost?

What's the advantage of a gearbox rotated forward?

So Sealine's click when you reel even with the bait clicker off?

Thanks Mike. I figured one rod wouldn't do a great job at all three.

Do you mind giving me a quick "what to look for" in the optimum rod for all 3 techniques? I'm sure the info would help others as well.

I just picked up a 30 for flylining and 40 for dropper loop and yoyo fishing. Great reels for $100.

http://www.bigwatersedge.com/bwegall...0/IMG_1861.JPG

There are too many options to give exact rod n reel recommendations but i can give some generalities that work for me. For yoyo a 6-7' heavy action, glass or graphite, rod and a strong reel with good drags n 4:1 gears is perfect. Yoyo is not a subtle style. Drop in grind with little or no casting.

Surface iron does involve long casts. Some guys like shorter rods but I learned on sports boats and I'm comfortable with 9'. 8-9' 40lb rated with any good casting reel. From a sealine 40 to a new Trinidad.

For a live bait out fit for yrllowtail the out fit youre looking to get will work fine. Any rod rated to fish 30 or 40 will work fine. And a reel with solid drags and a couple hundred yards of capacity is all you need. Newer and more pricey gear is nice and can be fished harder with smoother drags, greater cranking power, and easier cast ability, but for 50 years huge numbers of every fish in so cal have been caught on all glass saber rods and Penn jig masters, 500s, squiders, and 4/0s. Mike

Ditto on the Seagate 35. A little lighter and stronger drag than the Sealines. They occassionally go on sale for under $100. If you go with the Sealine the 30 is a good size for YT and WSB.

When and where have the Seagates been on sale for under $100? That seems like a great deal.

I've been kicking myself since I didn't pick up a Sealine X-SHA for $89 when Turner's had them for sale at the Fred Hall Show. I haven't seen them on sale since.

The drags on the seagates are not quite a good as the Carbontex upgrade, but really close. The Carbontex washers are $20.

Rotating the gear box gets it out of the way. I cant seem to hold the rod the way I want to with a sealine. Makes the biggest difference when tossing the surface iron.

The seagates have the same silent dogs that the saltist does. The sealines do not and make a slight clicking sound. It doesn't make much difference and honestly you really only notice it in the shop. You won't hear it over your hooting and hollering when you're hooked up!

I've got a 30 for bait, with a 7' medium tiger, would get the tiger lite if I did it again. 40 or 50 with a medium heavy for iron

I only see one 7' Tiger Light (BWCL220070) and its rated Heavy and for 14-40lb test. This was actually the rod I was leaning towards. Is that the rod you're saying is too light for YT?

http://www.uglystik.com/Ugly-Stik-Ti...start=17&sz=16


On the 7' normal Tigers, there seems to be 2 different model numbers each for the M and MH. I can't see any difference in the specifications. Does anyone know what the different model #'s mean?

http://www.uglystik.com/Ugly-Stik-Ti...efault,pd.html


Why would you prefer the Tiger Lite if you did again for the bait setup?

You get what you pay for on those Ugly Stix. They can't take a beating at all. Easily broke the end off one rod in less than 4 months. The other the braid wore a grove into the the eye tip and thus would weaken the braid so that it broke, again 4 to 6 months.
I won't ever use them again. My Shimano's never have issues, but at three times the price. Love em

From my own experience and from the vast majority of people's reviews online, taking a beating seems to be what Ugly Stiks do best.

I have a 12 year old freshwater 6'8" M Ugly Stik and it still works fine. During the first years of ownership, I used that rod a lot and I was not gentle with it. I've hit it on things multiple times and now it's my loaner rod so it's always getting abused.

I also have 2 Shimano Crucials which I'm way more careful with. One has broken twice and the other once, so 3 replacements from Shimano in the last 4 years. My "Lifetime Warranty" that I thought I was paying for when I bought these rods have also magically disappeared. I love my Crucials; they are sensitive and light but durability is definitely not their strong point.

Obviously my statement above doesn't apply to all Shimano rods. Shimano makes a ton of different rods for lots of different purposes and lots of different price points. Even my own experience with my old freshwater Ugly Stik is not exactly applicable to a discussion on a modern Ugly Stik Tiger rod but the general consensus on Ugly Stiks seems to be they are really tough.

[QUOTE=CardShark;226763]I only see one 7' Tiger Light (BWCL220070) and its rated Heavy and for 14-40lb test. This was actually the rod I was leaning towards. Is that the rod you're saying is too light for YT?
The model I have is the BWC 2200 7.0, action medium light, 12-30lb. it is beefy enough further down but the 1/3 to the tip is super light and flexes a lot at the slightest weight. It would be fine with yellows below 15lbs but I would not have wanted to try and land a 20+lbs yellow. Also it seems too light for any heavy irons. I would opt for a Medium in 20 to 50lb range BWC220170 or BWCA0220170 Sports Chalet has then for $59.95 on line or $64.95 at the store.

Do you know what the difference between the 2 rods are? The specs look exactly the same

Found it....
Model #BWC220170 has all metal guides.
Model #BWCAO220170 is the same rod with ceramic inserts

What do you guys prefer?