Tiger Spinning Combo for surf

[FishinMich]

At the risk of sounding like a dufus, is it a bad idea to try my cheap 7' two-piece medium action Tiger Shakespeare Spinning Combo for surf fishing? I've had this pole for years, originally bought it for cat fishing. I think it came with some cheap 12 lb. test line but I plan on switching it out for quality stuff instead. It's a sturdy pole and I don't think it would be too stiff, but maybe I'm being too optimistic?

I plan on buying better gear but figured it wouldn't hurt to give it a try on something that I already have, especially since I don't have any surf fishing experience under my belt yet.

I'd like to catch some halibut, corbina, perch and anything else that will bite my line at my local beaches. Beggars can't be choosers!

[bones]

I'd say give it a shot as long as the drag system works well and it has a good feel to it. If you like the combo and you have a good feel to it you should be fine. A 7ft rod is perfect for the surf as long as it has a decent action. Med wt is perfect and should have enough backbone for some good hooksets. Just keep it out of the water and sand because the saltwater enviroment is harsh on the cheaper combos. I demoted a few of my old fw bass rods to the surf enviroment a few years back and one of them still works fine. I've gotten pretty good at taking them apart and cleaning them but eventually the SW will start to corrode the internal components but that's because I get lazy sometimes and don't wash my old gear off. Try to use the free showers provided down by the beach or the FW wash offs at the launch ramps to clean your gear at the end of the day. I use fw to wash off with and then let the reel dry off. They I use wd40 to spray down the reel and displace the water in the cracks.A little care and cleanup at the end of the day will keep your rig working fine until you decide to commit to a better quality rig for the salt.

Good luck!

[Granny Fish]

All good info Bones. :Wink: Take the time to rinse everything out and spray it like Bones says and you shouldn't have any problems with the reel later.

[FishinMich]

Sweet. Thanks Bones for all the info. you provided me. Can't wait to try it out this weekend... and thanks for the tip Granny.

I must admit, I used one of my freshwater rods (once) on the Redondo Beach Harbor but got lazy and never rinsed it off. Oops. Won't be doing that again.

[karlow]

6 lb test-------