WTB: ultralight casting gear
 

Got it into my head that I want to catch some corbina on light gear

Looking for a casting rod between 7' and 7'6" in a 4-12# class. Great if it has also a round casting reel like one of the smaller abus or a shimano corvalus.

Not looking for fancy stuff. Just want to toss a few sand crabs, not win a million dollars on some trophy bass casting $100 lifelike swimbaits.

It's an unusual class of tackle, though it does exist.


Primarily for kokes (kokanee salmon (landlocked lake salmon))


If you search for koke specific tackle you may find what you're looking for.

Thanks. I just think it would be a HOOT to hook up on some corbina on 6-8# line and a long, noodly rod.

I think there's more to be had for that length of rod in the 5'6" to 6'6" range, and I'm not averse to a short rod. I just want to be able to gently toss delicate sand crabs a fair distance at notoriously spooky fish, so longer seems better.

Maybe something built on a steelhead blank

I love surf fishing--there are way more choices in spinning gear for light line, longer rod applications. http://www.scsurffishing.com/forums/...e56debfb277426
Lots of good info on this site--plus the T&A factor on the beach is nice.:leaving:

I surf fish quite a bit targeting corbinas & croakers with fair success, never used casting set up but my go to gear is a Fenwick HMX 8'6" spinning paired with a cheap Okuma Avenger ABF30 Baitfeeder, 1/2 oz carolina rig with 10lb nanofil main line and 8lb fluoro lead, to a size 2 or smaller hook....

Have fun out there, those croakers can pull really hard, especially on light gear!!!

A longer Koke or steelhead rod is ideal to get a bait to land far enough away not to spook shallow water beans.


You can always land your bait well past the target when sight fishing and work your bait in with the waves.


They are particularly spooky fish, so having the extra length is quite the advantage, being able to place a bait far enough outside of the perception zone is key.


I would also recommend the stretch elastic thread to secure live bait to the hook, it keeps them alive much longer and allows them to move more freely.

I use a spinner for light line surf fishing as the performance per dollar ratio agrees with my budget better. A baitcast reel for finesse fishing will run you into the $400+ category. For targeting corbina I use 6LB leaders with a 1000 size spinner and a 6-10# rated rod.

Sight fishing the big one's in the skinny is the most challenging way but the most rewarding for me. For this I flyline sandcrabs on a #6 or #4 mosquito hook on a shorter 5-7ft rod. As they charge with the incoming set I'll cast "in the zone" and hope they pick up my crab. When the surf's flat I pretty much try to knock em on the head as they swim by and do head stands over submerged sand crab beds.

The easier way is to catch them is to bomb out a C-rig. For this I'll use a longer 7-9ft rod. Salmon rods work well for this here in SoCal. I've also taken 4wt fly rod blanks and built them for spinning reels. You'll catch a lot of smaller corbina this way but also have a chance at all the other surf species.

Flylining for them on an UL trout rod sounds epic! Like fly fishing on a tiny setup. I usually reserve this type of tackle for cheezing the opes.

I love surf fishing and spent many days and nights fishing from Mission Beach up to Del Mar. Blacks to Torrey Pines has always been my favorite!

I have fished shark, halibut, etc. but honestly my favorite is spot fin, yellow fin and corbina. Great fighters and good table fare.

My main setup is a spinning combo with a shimano sahara and 8lb mono. Classic carolina rig with 4-8 lb. leader.

I also have a micro-lite setup with an old penn z set up with 4 lb. mono.
I once caught a 6-7 ft leopard that took 30 mins on 4 lb. test!

I will typically bring two rods down in a back pack and bucket.

Here is a trick that I came up with about 10 years ago. I take a stainless steel utensil holder from IKEA and use this like a sand crab rake.
Scoop it into the sand, collecting crabs. Spin it a few times and it sheds all the sand out. Then I hand select the quality crabs. You are looking for crabs that are molting (soft) and with eggs. Discard the others. Then place the keepers in a quart cup. with some water and you are good to go. The quart cup can pack back into the utensil holder when your done.

Then careful placement of the hook into the crab, so you still have good movement and don't paralyze the crab.

I hope this helps!

Those roe laden softies are 1:1000. They are primo however.


Securing them to the hook with elastic thread will keep them from being short bit AKA sucked from the hook.

Great tips here. LOVE the use of the spoon holder for a crab rake. I usually chase them with my mitts, which is slow going (although it works), and its easy to smash them.

Sounds like spinning gear is a more plausible setup. I just don't like fishing it that much these days. Maybe i'm just a snob lol.

Any of the bass specialists got an unused setup lying around that would do the trick?

Bill Varney
 

Check out Bill Varney's web site...Tons of really good info here...:notworthy:
https://www.fishthesurf.com
And...Bill is a BIG supporter of CCA CAL...:cheers1:
As an example of his info...Here's a few pics on how to hook a sand crab from Bill's site...

I have one if you're ever in the LA area I'll gladly sell it to yah for 30 bucks. It's a 2 piece with 2 different rod tip actions.