Travel Surf Rod & Reel

[hassihand]

I'll be heading to the Mayan Riviera (Nuevo Vallarta) early in May and in addition at least 1 chartered open water day, I'd also like to try my hand at fishing the surf.

Can anyone recommend a decent beginner's setup that is travel friendly? By that I mean something around 9 - 10' , 4 piece that will break down nice and small like the St Croix Triumph ($200-230) or Albright Explorer ($143 but back ordered in 9' and 10').

Since a rod isn't much good without a reel, line, and something on the end of it all I would really appreciate some expert advice on the rest of the kit.

I don't mind paying a little more for decent gear, but since this might be a 3-5 times/year setup I definitely don't need $800 worth of setup.

FWIW, I have searched extensively on AO and other sites like bdoutdoors and stripersonline but figured some Alberta based advice on what others prefer is best.

Thanks in advance!!
HH

[honker_clonker]

If you look at www.pechesud.com you will find a nice array of travel rods. I have the beastmaster bx6 and its a quality rod. A little soft as compared to a 2 piece surf rod but still a ballsy rod. I like the specs of the balzer rods but have never fished them. The nice thing is they are out of Canada so shipping is relatively cheap

If your going to be targeting bigger fish you will probably want to get a 6000-8000 size reel. More capacity, faster retrieve and a spare spool. Put some 30lb suffix 832 on one and 50lb on the other. If you can find one a stradic FI in the 6000 or 8000 size would be perfect and they are on sale since the new model came out. You can get a spool of 40 or 60lb mono at wholesale or cabelas for like 10 bucks, which should suffice.

Look through peche sud for lures, get some poppers (halco roosters are good) and some cuda tubes and you should be set. Roberts rangers and whistlers are good too if you can find em.

[hassihand]

Honker, many thanks...that is exactly the kind of reply and advice that makes AO what it is.

That is a great all-in-one and well designed site...I'll report back with the final setup.

To be totally honest, having never fished from an ocean beach I have no idea what I'll be targeting. Is it a big lure/big fish correlation or is the same as other fishing with 1000 variables?

Are steel leaders generally used or are the heavier lines you mentioned sufficient to tie directly on?

[honker_clonker]

Bigger fish will include ladyfish, barracuda, jacks, possibly roosters, hound fish and maybe cuberra snapper if you get lucky.You truly never know what you are going to pull in down there. They will generally range from 1 foot tens of pounds. I have caught 8 inch fish on 10 inch poppers many times. I would call small fish your reef fish and smaller bait type fish, these are fun to catch sometimes too.

For the most part bigger lures will catch bigger fish, but big lures will also catch small fish consistently. The average lure size I employ is at least 6 inches long and 2 oz+ for casting distance. Fast retrieves are the rule but switching it up can trigger hits. I tie my mainline directly to a 3' piece of 60lb mono and use a solid ring/split ring connection. Cast as far as you can and retrieve with the tip up, trying to keep the lure on the surface. The commotion will usually bring a violent surface strike, exhilarating.

If you get some bigger swim baits (think storm) and fish estuaries you could probably pick up some tarpon and snook if they're around.

If I put on cuda tubes and specifically target them, I will use a steel leader. Otherwise the heavy mono or fluorocarbon gets a nod.

Look for darker water, bait, rocks, any sort of structure and fish around it for better odds. Blind casting while between spots can also account for fish.

[elnino54]

Nothing wrong with the shorter Albright rods. I picked up a pair a couple years ago and took them to Cuba and Costa Rica. They work fine.....

[Okotokian]

I'll be heading to the Mayan Riviera (Nuevo Vallarta) early in May

Holy crap. Hope you end up where you are thinking you are going... The Mayan Riviera is on the Carribean coast on the Yucatan Peninsula. Nuevo Vallarta is on the Pacific coast next to Puerto Vallarta.

[bubba 96]

Holy crap. Hope you end up where you are thinking you are going... The Mayan Riviera is on the Carribean coast on the Yucatan Peninsula. Nuevo Vallarta is on the Pacific coast next to Puerto Vallarta.

I was thinking the same thing Nuevo is 20 mins from puerto Vallarta ....Mayan is on cancun side..

[hassihand]

Oko/Bubba....yeah bit of a mind-finger miscommunication there (too much Saharan sand on the brain I guess). Definitely gonna be at N.V.

Thanks again for the good advice guys.

[hassihand]

An update on the setup I chose...

Rod: Balzer Power Pilk 275. 9 ft, good for up to 4oz and breaks down into 5 x 2' sections. After much research and forum time I had originally chosen the charkbait Inshore Explorer, however their obscene shipping costs were prohibitive...much better deal at pechesud . com.

Reel: Okuma Cedros CJ65 (not the high speed "S" model). I searched high and low for a Stradic FI but wow are they hard to find! Lots of good reviews and the guys i bought the rod from advised that this is a perfect match. The only thing i'm unsure of is whether it comes with a spare spool as nothing is mentioned either on the okuma website or pecehsud...will wait and see

Line: None yet as it will depend on whether a spare spool is included or not. Will definitely go on the advice of Honker though and go w. 30lb (maybe 40 if no spare reel) and heavy leader. Will the big box outdoor stores spool the line for you if you bring your reel and purchase line from them? Gotta make sure that's done right

Tackle: Ordered a few Roberts Rangers in 2-1/4oz and 3oz and different colours, variety of kastmasters, krocodiles, other large spoons, some cuda tubes (to pair with steel leaders), and a few large floating Raps. This selection should cover all that the PV area has to offer from shore.

Anything I'm missing or that you'd recommend? The plan is to keep it as light as possible, just a small-ish shoulder bag with camera, long needle nose pliers, a fish grip and gloves and a few backup items (incl cervesas).

One question about the reg's down there: It states that fishing is not allowed within 250m of a swim beach. I don't intend to cast out into a group of people in the water, but how much is that enforced? Lets say I'm in front of the resorts but no one in the water for a reasonable distance...is that a NO NO? Can I walk to open beach from the Riu Jalisco? Really don't want to be renting a car or taking cab rides every morning so it would be cool if I could just take a short walk and start fishing. Also aware that no license required if fishing from shore.

OH, on a side note, we're also booked with Capt. Manny on the El Matador for a full day of hopefully monster tuna and whatever else is biting that day. Assuming we are catching, I plan on buying a cooler down there and bringing the frozen, packaged keep home. I've checked up on all that and besides the extra baggage $$$ it's no problem as long as it's packed right.

Thanks again for the advice and stay tuned for a long (hoping!) trip report in May!

HH

[FlYiNGuY]

One thing I'd throw in would be decent footwear and a few pairs of socks. (If you go that route) If you plan on pounding the beach all day you will be glad you had them!
I'm sure you have already found it but if not go to striper s online and look up HPD. He has TONNES of great info for the surf in MEX.
Be sure to post pics on your return!

[hassihand]

well noted....I'll be bringing along the NRS ATB's. Bomber boots and can go all day in them.

Are there any other critical items i'm missing?

Having never used braided line and hearing some horror stories about slippage etc. will the shop I buy my spool from properly spool it on for me if I bring in the reel? Should I go with a mono backing?

[honker_clonker]

Not sure where your out of but if your around Edmonton I would highly recommend going to Brian at the north side wholesale sports. He did a fantastic job on my Stella spools and my other reels. There was no mush on those spools, which was perfect because I got maximum yardage and hard spools with no slippage. The yellowfins didnt stand a chance!

Depending on how much you will be going (all day every day vs. a day or 2) you might want to look at getting a pair of fitted gloves. This is to save your hands from the repeated casting and moving around. The sand will chafe you up pretty bad so a nice pair of gloves can extend your longevity. It will also save your casting finger since you will be wingin lures hard all day. There are fishing gloves available, they are similar to waterski gloves. The fishing ones are a bit thinner but a thin waterski glove can be used.

[hassihand]

Almost forgot all about an update on this thread. As you can see I didn't have much success in terms of big fish but it sure was a blast getting up early a few mornings, having the beach almost all to myself and chucking those 3oz Rangers and Krocs WAY out there. I stayed close to the resort and as such didn't expect very much as opposed to venturing away to some of the more productive spots people were talking about.

Again, thanks to all the great advice given on here!

Early morning...hoping for something but enjoying it either way

http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l619/hassihand/P5060971.jpg

Tried a few times during the day as well when the tequila really kicked in

http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l619/hassihand/P5070980.jpg

Nothing of any real size, but did catch a bunch of these smaller anchovie-looking guys (no idea what they are, and they all went back happy and healthy). I'd get one almost every cast when I switched to smaller lures and shorter casts.

http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l619/hassihand/P5121160-1.jpg

And then it was time for our day on the El Matador w. Capt. Manny. Set out early for an 8 hour inshore trip...regretted that big time and should have gone for the 12hr offshore trip in search of Tuna and Dorado. I was the only one who fishes out of our group though and no one else wanted to go for the long trip so my hands were tied. The time of year wasn't the best either.
Bought live bait on the way out of the marina and set off...

http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l619/hassihand/P5111067.jpg


Deckhand Israel getting set up...these guys are real pro's. Highly recommended.

http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l619/hassihand/P5111058.jpg


Spent most of the trip trolling and pulled in a ton of other small "bait fish"...filled up his live well for the next guys at least :sign0161:

http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l619/hassihand/elmatador1.jpg

Managed to get a couple Yellow Jacks on the boat but that was it for us.

http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l619/hassihand/P5111095.jpg


While it would have been great to get on to a Tuna, Dorado, Snapper, whatever, it was still an awesome day on a great boat. I'll definitely be going back to the area during high season when a good catch is almost a sure thing!

http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l619/hassihand/P5111122-1.jpg