Advice On Snapper rod and reel combo please.

[portluck]

Hi there,

I've not long ago moved to Port Pirie in SA and want to chase some Snapper in the Gulf. Some local guys have given me a few spots to try, but I'm really after some suggestions on a good rod and reel combo that wont break the bank, but good enough to get me started. Any suggestions or tips will be greatly appreciated. I'm looking around the $200 mark (if possible).
Cheers

[Noelm]

I guess a starting point would be to let us know whether you want a spin setup, or an over head, and roughly what size line you will be using, and whether you need to cast any sort of distance.

[Crunchy]

And plastics or bait?

[portluck]

And plastics or bait?

I've been recommended to use 80lb mono and 30 lb braid by the local tackle shop (which I thought a bit much ).

I'm thinking spin set up and wont need to be casting great distances out of the boat using bait.

thanks for your patience, as you can see I haven't got a clue

[Noelm]

Are you sure they suggested 80lb for Snapper?

[The Black Unicorn]

from what I've seen down that way it's pretty shallow and flat country. Any decent 4000 sized reel and a 6kg rod should sort them out. Probably wouldn't go much heavier than 10kg line. Probably much lighter actually.

[portluck]

Are you sure they suggested 80lb for Snapper?

Hi Noelm,
yep that's what they said. 30lb braid main line and 80lb mono leader. That's why I thought it was a bit heavy. But they do get em big over here ??

[portluck]

thanks one more drop. The lines suggested would skull drag them back to the boat I think.
Never having caught a big Snapper though, I'm taking on board all advice I can get.

[Still_Dreamin]

Ifish did an episode down at Arno Bay with Merv Hughes. From memory they were using pretty light gear. Might be worth checking the Ifish website and seeing if you can find old episodes to see what they were using. I did a charter out of Adelaide a few years back and after bagging out on King George whiting we chased snapper using the whiting outfits. Questioned the skipper and he said that is all they ever use. We didn't catch any monsters but certainly handled the ones we did get.

[Still_Dreamin]

google "Ifish Merv hughes Arno bay" and there a few hits for you tube. Looks like he is using a 4000/5000 size reel on a pretty light rod. guessing 6-8kg rod? in the bay up here I use a stradic ci 4000 on a 4-6kg with 12lb braid and 20lb fluorocarbon leader. Any heavier and it spooks the bigger fish on the shallow reef systems. Offshore I use a trusty charter 2000 reel with 30lb power pro braid on 8-10kg uglystick (from memory the rod reel braid was around $200-250) great easy to use and reliable.
Just my two cents worth....
Good luck

[portluck]

thanks Still_Dreamin, Great advice. I'll check it out.