I am looking for a rod to use for surf fishing on the WA coast beaches (such as at Westport or Grayland). Last year, I used a medium action 7-foot spinning reel, and found myself undermatched against the waves and sinker.

There are a number of reasonably priced surf rods available on the Internet (such as Ebay). These are the larger 13-foot or 15-foot surf rods used on the East coast. But I am not sure if these rods are overkill when fishing for the redtails on the WA coast. Maybe a shorter 10-11 foot rod might be better?

Any advice from surf fishers out there would be appreciated.

oops. typo.

I used a 7-foot spinning ROD.

I haven't done it for years, but here's what I used when I did...

A nine foot medium heavy spinning rod of no particularly high quality, I believe it was a Diawa, and a large capacity spinning reel, again of no high quality, I think it was a Ryobi, of all things.

I rigged with 17 lb. mainline, attached to a three-way swivel, 1 1/2 oz. dropper weight on about ten inches of dropper line, and three feet of ten pound test leader. I had these cool hooks that have two points and are very long and narrow, with a safety pin like apparatus on the back.

You'd slip the safety pin through a whole sand shrimp, from head to back of thorax, and then clip it on. You could probably get away with an egg loop on a regular old hook, too.

I fished incoming and high tide, not casting far. As the waves would come in, I'd cast into the flat spots between waves, in only two or three feet of water, and tighten up and let the current push the bait around a bit.

You have to keep a tight line, as the bit is very quick...kind of "tap...(one second pause)...tap", and that was it, bait was gone if you didn't stick 'em in between taps.

That was good for a limit of redtail surfperch in about two hours...including the first half an hour to figure out how quick the bite was.

BTW, if you have a clam gun, bring it and get your own shrimp...you'll go through dozens.

Good luck!

Fish on...

Todd.

I had some success with the big surf sticks, though I'd say it was despite the size, not because of it. Feeling the bite was only really possible with the largest of redtails. On several occasions, I would reel in to check bait and I would discover a fish had been on for quite a while.

Personally, I found that my Bush Point setup ended up being far more appropriate for surfperch than the big 15' rod. After all, surfperch rarely exceed 3 lbs. My setup consists of an 8.5 foot Berkley IM7 spinning rod with a medium-sized Shimano spinning reel loaded with as much Fireline as I could put on it. Fireline is great due to the extra distance you get on casts. For surfperch, I put a one-ounce claw weight on a slider and bait it with mussels, clams, or shrimp.

Save the 15' rod for bank fishing for Columbia sturgeon or using Crabhawk traps.