OK, here's my prob. I've snapped two poles in the past year. One, was my bf's fault, he decided to "test the pole's 'strength'" one day, and you can just guess what happened. And last week, I snapped another one. Please don't ask how cause it's a reallllllly dumb story. Anyway, as my name says, I fish mainly for sharks and rays, so a small pole wouldn't do. I usually buy heavy but cheap poles. My last was a Wal-Mart shakespeare combo. I used to think, "what's the point in buying an expensive pole if the wear and tear of sharks and rays'll just break it over time?" Well I learned the hard way, and the pole was gone in a month. Yes, I had that pole less than a month. Last time I buy a pole at Wal-Mart I'll tell ya that, I've learned my lesson. Anyway, I always see ya guys postin bout light/medium tackle. But does anyone know any good but not so pricey heavier models and reels? Made especially for my kind of fishing. I know deep sea poles would be great, but they're a bit pricey for my range right now. I need a lot of strength, but also I need sensitivity. I really can't pay for a two hundred dollar custom right now. HEEEEEELP, please?:)

Was that Shakespeare an UglyStick Tiger rod? They are cheap and actually perform quite well for such a relatively inexpensive rod. They have nice, fast tapers with a lot of backbone so you can flip baits or small jigs out and still get some good pull...

Turner's outdoorman sells "Californian" rods, both in the heavier e-glass sticks as well as the 12-20 # class graphite trigger sticks (which can actually be quite powerful) for much cheaper than the big names...They seem to perform well...

They also sell some other small name rods that seem like they might be built and tapered like many of the other west coasts rods but much cheaper with cheaper components like minimal wraps, cheaper guides, and eva handles...I forget the name...

St. Croix also makes great rods that are cheaper than the other big names with what I feel to be competitive performance...

If you can wait until the Fred Hall show you can go to the Turner's booth and find their whole line up on sale...I would do that, personally...

my $.02

-Mike Chung

When and where is that show at?

See www.fredhall.com for schedule.

Also, Seeker Rods makes some nice and sturdy conventional poles that are glass. Can pick them up at Sportmart, usually around $99 to $129. These rods are hard to break unless you do something silly, and they are guaranteed. Good for the pier for sharks and rays or for fishing rockfish from the sportboats.

-tree

Unfortunately, St Croix only makes lighter rods, and nothing you'd be interested in for sharks and rays. I agree that you should probably look for the Seeker rods. If you match a Seeker rod up with a Penn Jigmaster reel, you'll probably be good to go for under $150 for the whole package. I think Penn also makes some decent rods too, but I've never used them.

St. Croix actually does make heavy saltwater rods as well as lighter saltwater rods...

They have a premier saltwater series as well as the tidemasters which are powerful trigger sticks...

http://www.stcroixrods.com/stcroix/products/rods/prem.html

http://www.stcroixrods.com/stcroix/products/rods/tidem.html

Good luck searching for the right rig at the right price...

-Mike Chung

You said the magic words S.G cheap price but quality product...Okuma fishing is huge in the saltwater world selling more product then any other manufacturer in the world...They sell most of the product over seas though..Check the link below they stock a lot of stuff in So Cal...if you need help getting exactly what you want I should bew able to help.

John Lake
Okuma Pro Staff


www.okumafishing.com

Thanks everyone for those suggestions. I'll go check em all out and see what deal I can get for em. And as for the Okumas, yeah that is a good brand, and as for the sold overseas thing, I don't know about that. Boss bait and tackle by my house sells Okuma reels, so I guess they're not just overseas. I heard they've been sellin em here for the past 5 years. Anyway, thanks again everyone. Goin fishin now :)

OOPS, by the way, that post by squidhead was me. Didn't wanna confuse you guys. Accidentally logged on the wrong name. (That's my bf's):P

hey S.G.
the Fred hall show is in long beach,ca. starts 1 week from this wendsday and runs thru sunday. cya there
dbajimbo

Yah I know they sell them in the states for a while now....I was just saying that most of there sales are over seas not to many people in the states seem to know of Okuma....Glad to hear you have

hey sharkgirl, i read your post and all the replys along with it. they are offering good advice for upper-middle line stuff. turner's is a good place to buy stuff, but i wouldn't buy a california series rod from them. they are made with a penn powerstick blank. i have had bad luck with them. i would however recommend a shakespere tiger rod. i have a 6'6" that i use for albies. great rods for the money. also i would put the penn 500 series jigmaster with that rod, or an okuma, although the penn will last longer. or if you shop at wal-mart look for a shakespere tidewater casting reel. they are a good buy and pretty durable. but again, the 500 jigmaster will last longer. penn reels are a meat and potatoes reel with no frills. they are inexpensive and probably the best reel you will find for the money. that's why about 90 percent of the fisherman use them. a good rule of thumb to not buy any combo's from your "mart" stores. they are usually made for the occasional fisherman and don't stand up to much use. they are made to catch people not fish because of the small price tag. think of this, if you spend $40 on a combo, you are getting a $20 rod and a $20 dollar reel probably with one ball bearing and a crappy drag. the rod probably only has five guide including the tip. check out gofishin.com they have lots of gear at awesome prices. you will probably find what you want. but the set-up i would use, which i do is a 6'6" 15-40lb class tiger rod with a penn 501 jigmaster reel spooled with 30 lb test line. the great thing about these penn reels is they are very easy to upgrade later with accurate aftermarkert parts. it turns a good reel into a precision piece of equipment. let me know what you decide.

monster

Can't go wrong with the Jigmaster. Best bang for the buck in a 20#-30# reel, IMO. Same with the Ugly Stick. Not too expensive and you won't break one on a fish. Check out the Fred Hall show. Some decent deals there.

If you want a nicer stick at a good price look at www.bad-fish.com

Fishslayer

right on fishslayer, right on!!! can't go wrong with either of them, that's why it is one of my favorite set ups that i use for 80 percent of my saltwater fishing. i have used it a heavy freshwater trolling and catfish rod too! works great in every application i have put it to. i went to the site you suggested. man, you can save some money wrapping a rod yourself. especially if you have a little time to do it right. i wrapped a rod in highschool for panfish and trout. it was a great rod and was only 4 ft long. it was a noodle. so much i fact that if you has a trout that weighed more than a pound, you had a battle of your hands. i paid only $25 dollars in parts and stuff to get it the way i wanted it. the lake where i used to fish they regulars always wanted to try it out, and one guy offered my $100 bucks for the rod. i didn't take it because i loved that rod. it didn't last long thought because an idiot friend at the time tried to bend it tip to butt like you used to see in the uglystick adds. after doing that numberous times it shattered into four pieces. he ended up giving me his loomis out of guilt. i was pissed because the rod couldn't be replaced, but i still came out ahead with a rod that was worth ten times what i paid for the broken rod, until the next day i broke the loomis while setting the hook on a bass.

That story made me feel better.I thought I was the only one that ever broke rods. Haha.

Sharkgirl,

Don't know if it's in your area but you might give this a look.
http://www.sport-fish-info.com/dcforum/dcpages/DCForumID5/1209.html

If you get into building your own you can go as simple or as elaborate as you like, and I've built some pretty nice sticks out of swap meet "junk." Some tackle shops also have "blem" barrels of perfectly good blanks that have some sort of cosmetic flaw that prevents them from being sold for top dollar.

Also, there is a certain extra satisfaction to catching fish with a stick you built yourself. :D

I'm not affiliated, etc etc......

Fishslayer