Help a newbie out...

[iceman]

So it's not like I haven't been fishing plenty of times before, but it's been a while and I've never owned my own gear...where should I start? I'm not gonna be all hardcore about it at first at least but I'd like to get a couple decent saltwater rods and whatever else I need. I guess a little checklist of shit to get would be helpful if someone feels like typing...I think I'll mostly be going for stripers but maybe some other stuff, fluke, I dunno, whatever comes around here in Buzzards Bay and a bit offshore.



Here's the rig:



So, any help appreciated.

[Denny1969]

Are you looking to fly fish or conventionally fish?

BTW Awesome boat!!!

Dennis

[iceman]

Well I gotta pick one or the other I guess, to start with at least. I was thinking conventional but I'm open to advice.

Thanks about the boat, yeah, psyched.

[DeeAre]

I'd definitely start by washing my favorite denim.

[frecnhy.]

-weights
-alot of lures
-but use squid or any live bait like sand eels etc. for stripers
-any kinds of pliers because a lot of those fish have teeth and it can be a bitch to get the hook out
-alot of hooks
-extra spool of line

anyone feel free to add to that, i'm being lazy!

[bushman]

A good hickory fish wacker, do not substitute a maul.

[idiot]

Sweet boat ice!

I don't know much about the flyfishing you would be getting into, but my dad lives in Indiana and goes up to fish on Lake eerie and Lake Michigan for Salmon and Walleye. He uses either a downrigger or diving plain to get bait down and trolls. I am guessing similar can be done for those stripers. All you need is a good solid saltwater pole (appropriate size to what you are looking to catch) and a good reel.

You would most likely want a couple of these setups to get more bait in the water.

And always an icechest stocked with beer will help on the slow days.

[Garth Bimble]

Here lies the body of Mary Lee; died at the age of a hundred and three. For fifteen years she kept her virginity; not a bad record for this vicinity.

Nothing else to add beyond that. Enjoy the boat.

[iceman]

I was kinda more wondering about brands and types of poles and reels more than anything else.

[systemoverblow'd]

There are slips right outside my office down in Fort Point Channel. When you coming and picking me up?

[iceman]

Well I gotta get some skillz with the boat but I definitely plan on bringing it up to Boston this summer when I do I'll let you know.

[DeathVan]

I was kinda more wondering about brands and types of poles and reels more than anything else.

Plenty of conventional Penn reels on halibut rods, many Ugly Sticks on charters. Tough shit that don't break.
and Shimano spinning reels on a wide variety of salmon rods, (seen more of these fail, typically due to poor maintenance).

-The range of options and prices is huge, in my experience an expensive rod does not catch a bigger fish.
have a tech go through your reels at the end of each season

It is all about the terminal gear/bait, speed, depth and most importantly the proper vibe (fish know what gear belongs to pricks).

Have fun on that sweet little boat!
-extend a trip and drive that baby up here, coho and kings will be on hook very soon

[auvgeek]

(fish know what gear belongs to pricks).

I've always wondered why I suck at fishing...

[idiot]

I was kinda more wondering about brands and types of poles and reels more than anything else.

Not sure about brands of rods, but I know my dad uses Penn reels and seems to like them. They are a little tougher to deal with than the traditional spincast reel, but for use with the downrigger or plane you only need to slowly let line out. They are similar to a baitcasting reel.

with fishing you can always go cheap or expensive with gear, but for ocean style fishing the reel needs to be quality more so than the pole. When spin fishing smaller gear the pole is important because of finess and feel. If you wanted to troll you would need a stiff pole (ha) so there would be less finess to deal with.

Those more in the know feel free to correct me. This is just my thought

[flatNshallow]

Dynamite.

(Hand lit stick to CO and ask: You wanna talk or you wanna fish?)

[skifishbum]

CAPTNICENOODLESBNW/ANUGLYSTICK
call me as my phone and contacts ended up in the river
I'll do my best to dissuade you from pursuing the fishes using a highly addictive, expensive, lifetime to master manner known as fly fishing.
"the world needs worm and squid dunkers too"

[Percy Rideout]

A good hickory fish wacker, do not substitute a maul.

Sage advice from a man from Muskie country.

[Sagamoron]

I can't cast conventional so I can't help you with that.
I like shimano for everything now, rods, reels and even some lures.
Avet makes nice conventionals I use for live lining and bottom fishing.
You don't need top shelf shit, but crap gear never lasts in Saltwater, ever.

Bass are in right now chasing herring all over BB, some blues are mixed in as well. Bottom fishing for Black Sea Bass is really good right now too same for scup if you have kids.

I think you can keep it pretty simple with lures. You can do it all with three maybe four

A few pencil poppers for when the fish are on top. I like them in yellow. Pencils are easy to cast, easy to work on the surface too and the fish love them.

Rubber Baits: Sluggos, Got Stryper, Hogy's etc. Doesn't matter which one I go with which ever one you can get cheapest. Get a bunch of different sizes. I like white and the bubblegum pink color, you will need a whole mess of them since they get torn to shit pretty quick but work really well. You drift them to bottom, rip them across the surface etc. I'vc caught everything from fluke to 30lb Stripes to 150lb + bluefin on the rubber.

Bucktails, Spro work well 1.5 to 2oz jigged across the bottom will catch you a million different things, Sea Bass, Stripped Bass, Fluke, Scup etc.... I tip them with pork rind or small strip of squid.

A couple of metals like deadly dicks and kastmasters are good to have around.

I like to use power pro braid on my reels with a leader of mono for abrasion resistance. You will need a few steel leaders for the blues.

Shoot me a PM if you want to talk, I can help you out. Are you on the water this weekend, might be around to show you a few things, talk you through it.

[iceman]

Thanks for the info Sag...kinda booked this weekend with the fam and heading to Foxboro for the lax tourney at least Saturday, then I go home for a bit but when I get back I'll drop you a line.

Dibs, I wondered what happened to you, I'll give you a call man.

[steved]

If there's a chance you might tie into some blues....leave the flyrod(s) at home...

[Sagamoron]

No worries taking my nephew to the Sunday games as well.

Thanks for the info Sag...kinda booked this weekend with the fam and heading to Foxboro for the lax tourney at least Saturday, then I go home for a bit but when I get back I'll drop you a line.

Dibs, I wondered what happened to you, I'll give you a call man.

[DeeAre]

poles are for skiing, rods are for fishing, no?

[Sublime]

Ice check out Shimano for the reels I have a Stradic CL which is amazing. Might want to look into this one http://tinyurl.com/7stfxng and spool it up with 25 or 30lb power pro. Reel is one thing you don't want to skimp on, it will last years instead of one or two seasons. Rods I prefer St. Croix not sure what weight you would want maybe Mushy might pipe up since I know he fishes more for Strippers and salt more then I do. Check into this rod http://tinyurl.com/bpyga8f

Hope this helps.

[warthog]

St Croix makes some awesome stuff for rods.
Redington or Red Bone if you can find them.

I prefer Shimano and Diawa reels.

For jigs and lures etc, find a good shop and pick their brain. If they are a good shop, they'll tell you what you need, and tell you where to use it.

I would leave the fly fishing for later. You need to do some catching first, to get back into it.

[TNKen]

Just bought 4 Avet SX 5.3 single speeds with lever drag for the tub. Haven't seen them, but the a similar Shimano was about $400. Was really considering the Accurate Boss 400x series, but again, a little pricey.

Included in this evaluation was the consideration of someone dropping a $500 rod/real overboard. Don't know how my friend watches someone handle a $2,000 Marlin setup on his boat and not freak.

Got the Avets through Baja Fish Gear at $147 each with free shipping and no tax.
http://www.bajafishgear.com/

Ordered some Penn Battle spinners as well for lighter stuff.

Ordered a spool of 1500 yards of 65# PowerPro braided line for the Avets. Will probably get lighter stuff for the spinners.

No choice on rods yet, waiting on reels to arrive first.

You will need to pick up a Bett's cast net with good sinkers. If you don't know how to throw, don't get anything over about 6 feet. I've got an 8 footer, and its a good size. Could have gone smaller here in freshwater.

Pliers and knives are throw away items. Never last around salt water. Don't spend money on high dollar items here.

Same for cheap rods and reels. Get something decent.

Mine is the Blue Vortex, your's can be the White Vortex. A swirling hole into which money and gear are sucked.