Light Tackle Revelations
The last few years I have gone to great lengths to dial in my light tackle gear and wanted to share a few things that I have learned along the way. Keep in mind this is just my opinion and you shouldn’t stop experimenting with your own tackle to find what works best for you and your fishing style.
First off, as many of you have probably figured out by now from reading previous articles, when I’m talking about light tackle I’m usually referring to spinning gear. Not that casting gear isn’t utilized on my boat, but most of the time if fly tackle isn’t being used the egg beaters are the weapon of choice. Why? Well, they cast light lures very well and are simple enough to hand to a lesser-skilled angler and get them right into catching fish. When placed in the hands of a skilled angler, there’s no fish on the flats that is safe, simply because the range these outfits offer is unmatched.
I’m going to break down three different classes of spin tackle from rods, reels, and lines, and then wrap it all up with small common details that make a big difference.
Let’s start with the lightest outfit I utilize and then work up from there. This particular rod is a 7’ light power with a fast action, rated for 4-8lb line. This rod was originally put together for the purpose of throwing very light bucktail jigs. While it can launch a light bucktail a country mile it doesn’t quite have the power to punch the thicker hooks of my hand tied jigs through the tough tissue of a redfish’s mouth. What would often happen is my angler would get the eat and have the fish for the first run, but after the fish changed course it would come unbuttoned. So, it doesn’t quite work so well for its intended purpose, but it does do great work with most ned-rigged baits – which have hooks often made of much thinner wire. I also have found this rod to be quite handy on the rare occasion I need to live bait wary sheepshead with a shrimp or small crab. When I’m doing this I’m using a very light owner mosquito hook, around size one or two, so the only weight is from the actual bait itself. Hence, the reason this outfit works well. The reel I typically pair with this rod is of the 2500 size, and is spooled with 8lb braid. Leader size is 12lb fluorocarbon about, 3 feet long, stepped to a small section of 20lb fluorocarbon when needed.
The next outfit is the most often used spinner on my boat. It’s a 7’1” medium-light, fast action rated for 4-10lb. I feel that this rating could easily be 6-12lb as this rod does have some power but that’s just what is on the blank. It is paired with a 3000 size reel and spooled with 10lb braid. That is followed by about 2 feet of 20lb fluorocarbon but 15lb would be a great fit as well. This combo is the bread and butter which fits the majority of scenarios I find day to day. It throws everything from 1/4oz weedless spoons to bucktail jigs, and has enough backbone to properly set the hook.
The last outfit I will cover today is one that was originally put together to be the do-all type, but was too powerful for some of the lighter lures to be thrown with accuracy. So it sat in a corner collecting dust for several years until recently when I found a job for it. It’s a custom rod built on an American Tackle Matrix blank. From memory, it was labeled as a 7’ medium, fast action 8-15lb. Don’t let this rating fool you, it’s very powerful for its class. Recently I’ve been needing a heavier outfit to throw bulky artificials like the Z-Man Kicker Crabz to large black drum and bull reds, as well as something to better handle a teaser plug for jacks. For context, this is where I remove the hooks from a topwater plug to stir fast moving jacks into a frenzy and coax them into range for my angler to present a fly.
