Best casting rod for striper fishing.

[carsonnash]

I am getting a vintage Bronson casting reel from a family member and would appreciate some ideas of what to buy Medium/heavy action rod. Cheap options would be great, no more then 50 bucks. Fishing for 30 ish inch rockfish on the Chesapeake Bay. Might do some trolling.  (Bronson Altoola is the name.)

[Yudo1]

Do you have a budget? What techniques would you be using, just trolling?

[carsonnash]

13 minutes ago, Yudo1 said:

Do you have a budget? What techniques would you be using, just trolling?

About 50 dollars. Mostly trolling maybe some bottom fishing. Possible that I might try to cast and retrive, but slim chances.

[Yudo1]

A lot of people really like the berkley lightning shock. I don't personally have one, but hear great things about the rod and it seems like it would work well for your intended purpose.

[carsonnash]

7 minutes ago, Yudo1 said:

A lot of people really like the berkley lightning shock. I don't personally have one, but hear great things about the rod and it seems like it would work well for your intended purpose.

Thanks. Still open to ideas, but I will look into it.

[fishnkamp]

What area do you live in, I am over near Middle River. If you would be interested we could meet up and I could show you what I use. Two of mine are the Lightning Shock rods.  There are some Ugly Stick striper series rods that Bass Pro carries.  A lot of guys use the shorter rods they call "boat rods" for bottom bouncing and trolling. These are usually considerably more expensive. A lot of the correct answer depends on what you intend to fish with tackle wise.  A good place to start might be a quick stop to Tochterman's on Eastern Blvd.(Baltimore City). They have been specializing in this type of fishing for decades.

[Deleted account]

9 hours ago, carsonnash said:

I am getting a vintage Bronson casting reel from a family member and would appreciate some ideas of what to buy Medium/heavy action rod. Cheap options would be great, no more then 50 bucks. Fishing for 30 ish inch rockfish on the Chesapeake Bay. Might do some trolling.  (Bronson Altoola is the name.)

Shine that reel up and display it on a shelf. It really doesn't have the features or ability to cast and or troll with. As far as a rod, anything MH will work for casting or light trolling. 

[carsonnash]

19 hours ago, fishnkamp said:

What area do you live in, I am over near Middle River. If you would be interested we could meet up and I could show you what I use. Two of mine are the Lightning Shock rods.  There are some Ugly Stick striper series rods that Bass Pro carries.  A lot of guys use the shorter rods they call "boat rods" for bottom bouncing and trolling. These are usually considerably more expensive. A lot of the correct answer depends on what you intend to fish with tackle wise.  A good place to start might be a quick stop to Tochterman's on Eastern Blvd.(Baltimore City). They have been specializing in this type of fishing for decades.

Ok, lightning shock sounds like the way to go. Thanks.

11 hours ago, reason said:

Shine that reel up and display it on a shelf. It really doesn't have the features or ability to cast and or troll with. As far as a rod, anything MH will work for casting or light trolling. 

I'll figure out what to do when I get it.

[Deleted account]

3 minutes ago, carsonnash said:

I'll figure out what to do when I get it.

You can fish with it, as long as you know what you are getting into. There were a couple of different Altoonas made (I'm a bit of a bakelite reel collector, horder actually), but you are probably getting a direct drive baitcaster with a heavy spool and only a tension knob, so you'll be limited to casting decent sized baits, no drag, and will need a supply of bandaids and neosporin  for your knuckles. 

[carsonnash]

On 2/27/2018 at 6:36 PM, reason said:

You can fish with it, as long as you know what you are getting into. There were a couple of different Altoonas made (I'm a bit of a bakelite reel collector, horder actually), but you are probably getting a direct drive baitcaster with a heavy spool and only a tension knob, so you'll be limited to casting decent sized baits, no drag, and will need a supply of bandaids and neosporin  for your knuckles. 

Ok. I would use it for my 6 oz lures so... I'll decide if it's worth it when I get it, thanks.

[MickD]

No drag?  Probably no anti-reverse?  If not, consider how badly your knuckles might get whacked when a big striper hits.  Don't ask me how I know this (with pike, probably much smaller than your stripers.)

[Deleted account]

1 hour ago, MickD said:

No drag?  Probably no anti-reverse? 

No anti-reverse. The gears are always meshed, the spool turns, the handle turns, in either direction. Some of these type of reels had a leather pad to thumb the spool as a "drag".

[MickD]

14 hours ago, reason said:

No anti-reverse. The gears are always meshed, the spool turns, the handle turns, in either direction. Some of these type of reels had a leather pad to thumb the spool as a "drag".

thanks.  I would not use this reel for stripers, I'd find a way to get a modern reel rather than try to control a fish like that with a reel with no anti-reverse.  They really are not that expensive, and I'll bet all of them, at any price, will perform better than the old reel.  Without knocking the skin off my knuckles.  But, different strokes. . .

[J Francho]

15 hours ago, reason said:

No anti-reverse. The gears are always meshed, the spool turns, the handle turns, in either direction. Some of these type of reels had a leather pad to thumb the spool as a "drag".

I have a smaller one, meant for steelhead and salmon.  Works the same, but it has a cork arbor.  I have no idea how they fished with these, but I dig having as a conversation piece.

[Darren.]

Welcome aboard!

 

Another vote for Lightning Rod Shock. I no longer have one,

but when I did I felt, and still do, it's a great value for the money.

 

I'm using a 6'6" Carbonlite paired with a Chronarch 50e, now my

only casting setup (save for a ML rod I swap with), when I go

striper fishing. But my spinning setups have been more than 

sufficient for what I need.

[Deleted account]

8 hours ago, J Francho said:

I have a smaller one, meant for steelhead and salmon.  Works the same, but it has a cork arbor.  I have no idea how they fished with these, but I dig having as a conversation piece.

A bunch of commercial blackfish (tautog) fishermen (and recs that want to look the part) from NY and NJ still use a sidewinder. These were the reel of choice in head boats in the north east from about the turn of the century to almost WW II. zero maintenance, or parts to fail.

 

 

[J Francho]

11 hours ago, reason said:

A bunch of commercial blackfish (tautog) fishermen (and recs that want to look the part) from NY and NJ still use a sidewinder. These were the reel of choice in head boats in the north east from about the turn of the century to almost WW II. zero maintenance, or parts to fail.

 

 

Probably similar philosophy as our centrepin fishing for trout.

[carsonnash]

On 3/1/2018 at 10:06 PM, reason said:

A bunch of commercial blackfish (tautog) fishermen (and recs that want to look the part) from NY and NJ still use a sidewinder. These were the reel of choice in head boats in the north east from about the turn of the century to almost WW II. zero maintenance, or parts to fail.

 

 

Thanks for the help. It will look good on my shelf.

On 3/1/2018 at 1:26 PM, Darren. said:

Welcome aboard!

 

Another vote for Lightning Rod Shock. I no longer have one,

but when I did I felt, and still do, it's a great value for the money.

 

I'm using a 6'6" Carbonlite paired with a Chronarch 50e, now my

only casting setup (save for a ML rod I swap with), when I go

striper fishing. But my spinning setups have been more than 

sufficient for what I need.

Thanks, Darren! I am going to polish it up and put it on display.

On 2/28/2018 at 8:28 PM, MickD said:

No drag?  Probably no anti-reverse?  If not, consider how badly your knuckles might get whacked when a big striper hits.  Don't ask me how I know this (with pike, probably much smaller than your stripers.)

Thanks for the help. I plan on using it as a display piece after learning more about it.