I'm really new to saltwater. The only thing I've ever done for saltwater is surf fishing at Torrey Pines Beach and fishing off the docks of a yacht club in the San Diego Bay.

Well, I'm getting a new rod this week given to me by Amp2564. Its a custom wrapped Calstar BT 6480. What reel should I put on it for using irons(throwing and yo-yoing) and maybe live bait?
One of my friend's said get a 336 Newwel. Another friend said since I am just sarting REAL saltwater fishing and have never used anything bigger than a 6600 Abu, he said get a Jigmaster 500.
Or, should I just stay with my 6600 C5 MAG Abu Garcia reel and put that on my Calstar?

Thanks for the help

For a 6480, you need a reel that can handel 30 to 40# test for slinging the Iron. My personal favorite is the Daiwa SLX 40HV. This is a great reel, with big drags, and it cast like a dream.

The jigmaster will work well for you and last a life time if you take care of it. You can't beat it for the price however I would recommend a 332 Newell. It's a great reel and it will also last a life time. I recommend the 332 over the 338. The 338 is basically the same size as Penn 500. The difference in the 332 is that it's slightly narrower than the 338. It was modeled after the Penn 99. The original version was a Newell 300C in the 99 size. Carl Newell also made a conversion kit to narrow out penn 500's to the 99 size as well. He called the "Albacore Special". That kit hasn't been on the market for about 15 years. I really like those reels. I like them so much I that I have 7 of them. Not for sale. Sorry! But the 332 is just as good and slight in size makes the 332 just a little lighter. If you don't take my word for it go ahead and take a few trips on the Sport Boats and pay close attention to what the skippers and crew fish on thier personal jig sticks. Better yet just ask them and I bet they will say "I use a Newell 332". These guys are on the water all the time and more than a jog fishing for a lot of these guys their way of life. They demand a lot from their tackle. Good luck and Congrads on the rod.

thanks guys. my other friend told me to get the sealine also.

i'll shop around and figure out what i'll get after i see how much money i can make from baseball umpiring.

I told you to get a newell 332 not a 336. But if you dont want to spend that much just get a jigmaster you can get them for about 50 bucks. The jigmasters are a little heavy though and the gear ratio is really slow and you want to be able to reel really fast.You definatly dont want to put you abu on that calstar for saltwater cause the drags can only handle about #15 line and you wanna use at least 30 for throwin jigs. call me I might be able to hook you up with a deal on a 332. Your abu and the bps rod would be a good calico set up though.

whoops. my mistake jimmy.

did u get my e-mail?