Thread: First Time - Purchasing Combos for Pier & Surf

My girlfriend and I are visiting last week of August - first week of September. Wondering what anyone recommends to purchase Rod/Reel wise as far as medium or heavy and rod length, etc. Both plan on fishing quite a bit from the pier and I plan on doing some surf fishing as well. I've researched a lot on the forum and found wealth of information on this, but was wondered if anyone had a suggestions for a good combo that maybe could do both (pier and surf). As far as the surf fishing goes I'm not looking to try to catch any sharks, but whatever else I can. I do a fair amount of catfishing back home so I don't mind buying some new gear that I can use for that too. Any help would be appreciated and thanks in advance.

I saw 2 of the Penn combos from j&m on the pier yesterday. Looked good enough for pier and surf. The longer I fish the salt, the more I like penn. Visiting with the husband and wife, I cast it a couple of times. It did good. Well balanced and easy to handle jigging.

We are long time fans of Penn reels. Mostly good tools, plus I can do most basic repair/ parts replacement and servicing at the dining table. ( with a cold adult beverage and Patsy Cline playing in the back ground). For rods, I like to use my crappie poles in the surf, from 5' up to 7.5'. For fish 10 lbs. or more, a good catfish or striper rod. Good luck and smooth drags.

I'd suggest going by J&M and buying those Penn combos that Rich1 is talking about. I got the Battle II 4000 and absolutely love it. If I didn't already have king rigs, I'd think seriously about getting the Battle II 5000 combo for that purpose. They have good tackle combos for most budgets at J&M and the sales people know a lot about fishing on the coast---won't sell you something you don't need.

Use the search feature at the top right of the page to read past discussions on this subject.

Penn combos are great for us "Part Timer's". We have been using Penn Captiva's about 8 or 9 years now - 2-3 trips per year. They have held up fine, but I must say it was meticulous care that kept them running. It has only been in the last few trips that the handles have started showing some slop and play. Nothing yet in the gears or bearings - still solid and smoothe.
If you only drag bait, they will last a good while. But bubbles and gotcha's will wear out anything less than Military grade METAL. The Captiva's are hitting the bench, but will make the trips as back-up. It's still Penn for us - but we are throwing way back to the Z series.
Like Bo said, simple and easy to repair.

I just go to JM when you get dos and tell them what you want to fish for. They won't bullshit you and sell you crap you don't need.

I'm with Haywire I also use the Penn Battle II 4000 and 5000 Very good combos Penn Fierce are good combos and I've found the Penn Pursuit II to be the most economical combo that will handle most anything you'll run into on the pier and the surf except maybe for your Bull Reds and Kings though I have caught both of these with them but these would not be my weapon of choice for them

If you want the "best" rod & reel for both pier 7 surf (and money is not a big issue) I highly recommend the Penn Spinfisher V 5500 8' combo ($190).
Penn SSV5500802MH Spinfisher V 8ft Surf Combo
To make it even better, perhaps a 300 yard spool of 20# braid, or just 12#-15# mono.

Not a fan of the Penns with holes drilled all in the spool for surf fishing.
That just lets in sand and salt IMHO.

Thanks Pier#r! That helps a lot. I read the rod is a 2 piece, which I need for hauling purposes. I may have to pull the trigger on this. Thanks so much.

Originally Posted by Pier#r

If you want the "best" rod & reel for both pier 7 surf (and money is not a big issue) I highly recommend the Penn Spinfisher V 5500 8' combo ($190).
Penn SSV5500802MH Spinfisher V 8ft Surf Combo
To make it even better, perhaps a 300 yard spool of 20# braid, or just 12#-15# mono.

Not a fan of the Penns with holes drilled all in the spool for surf fishing.
That just lets in sand and salt IMHO.

I can second this from Pier#r. I have the Spinfisher V6500 10' surf combo. I'm planning on buying a second combo and then a pair of 7'-8' rods for the pier. Mine is an awesome combo so far. I'll be back down in a month to use it some more!