I have never been one for the most expensive tackle and have always enjoyed being a middle class fisherman. I would much rather say a few curse words over a broken reel than fall down on my knees in agony over a broken rod tip.
I currently have 3 full rigs when fishing: my oldest and smallest, but most reliable, setup is my 7 foot Shimano Solara rod accompanied by my Silstar 30 reel loaded with 8 pound Suffix braid. I have been using this setup for 8 years now and to this day I have never replaced the braid, fixed an eye on my rod or replaced any part of my reel; having landed my fair share of good fish. How many fishermen can say that?
My medium sized angling setup consists of a 9 foot platinum Loomis and Franklin drop shot edition rod and Shimano Sedona 4000 reel loaded with the Berkley Fireline 8 pound braid. I specifically enjoy 8 pound braid because of how thin it is, which means I can cast further and still enjoy the fight of a 500g stump nose. We seldom fish around jagged rocks and therefore I have never had the need for a thicker braid. It is also worth mentioning that I have never lost a fish on the 8 pound braid due to the braid parting.
My 3 piece rod and the biggest one in my bag is a 12 foot Pen with light, medium and heavy tips. I use the light tip when fishing in the surf for Kob and other edibles and use the Medium or Heavy tip from the rocks. I complete this setup with a Daiwa Grand Wave 40 Reel with 0.4mm nylon line.
I carry with me 2 backpacks when fishing. The one is filled with my 12 foot setup gear and the other my lighter tackle and artificial equipment. My big rod bag as I like to call it has regular sinkers and grapnels 4 and 5 ounce and my hooks vary from 4/0 to 6/0, I use 0.75mm leader line for my hook and have found this to be a thick enough replacement for steel traces when fishing for Shad. Then, of course, a rod holder cut from a PVC pipe, a chokka hammer and my buckle.
My light tackle bag has all my 1/2 ounce to 2 ounce ball and teardrop sinkers, many different hooks varying from no.2 to about 2/0. I use a 50 cm piece of 0.4mm Suffix shock leader fluorocarbon at the end of my braid. My braid scissors is a very important tool because as we all know our teeth might have easily cut through the nylon however we are not so lucky when it comes to braid. I have a pair of long nose tongs for removing hooks from the greedy fish, my trusty knife for cutting bait or if we’ve decided to keep one for tonight’s braai, all my artificial minnows, spoons, poppers, jig-heads and buck-tails/lead-heads, my head lamp for a night fishing session, latex cotton, measuring tape to ensure the tagged fish are properly measured and then most importantly my valid fishing license.
I welcome any comments on my gear or if you have any questions or queries let me know…