...line weight and casting weight?

Thank you.

Rustam

Hi Rustam, nice to meet you on here.

As far as I understand it the line weight of a rod is a guide as to what breaking strain of line is recommended by the manufacturer for that particular model of rod.
The casting weight is again just a guide as to what weight the rod is intended to safely cast.

In my experience the casting weights of similar strength and action rods can vary greatly between manufacturers so are only a rough guide.

Dave. (from other bbs)

Just to make life difficult, the line bs recommended, unless otherwise stated, will be for mono. Use braid and you can pretty much ignore the stated bs range, since you'll almost certainly be using braid 2/3 times the breaking strain of your regular mono and then line diameter becomes more of an issue than breaking strain.
I think that rod manufactures might really be leading us towards a specific range of 'line diameter' when they talk about 'breaking strain'

Hi Dave. Fancy meeting you here and your membership number indicates you have been at it for quite some time.

I am interested in buying a Shimano Beastmaster SBM300MH spinning rod for general spinning as well as Mahaseer. For the latter I would be using 65 lb. Power Pro braid (Cabelas had run out of 80 lb. braid). Unfortunately, neither the Shimano U.K. site nor any retail sites I have come across mention the line weight. The casting weight for this rod is 15-40 grams.

Any idea if it can handle 65-80lb braid?

Thanks.

Rustam

Rustam,

I generally use Power-Pro in BS from 20 - 80lb depending on which rod I'm using and what species I'm fishing for.
65lb braid seems slightly heavy to me for a rod rated 15-40g, but there's no reason at all why you can't use it, after all 65lb braid only has the approx diameter of 15lb mono line.

Don't be fooled by claims of braid being abrasion resistant ......... it isn't. If you're fishing a rocky river you may want to use a length of mono or flourocarbon as a leader.

I have no knowledge at all of Mahaseer fishing but that rod sounds underpowered for such a powerful fish, unless you aim to catch the smaller ones.

"If you're fishing a rocky river you may want to use a length of mono or flourocarbon as a leader."

Yes, it can be rocky at places and I have ordered 1/4 lb spools of Berkley Trilene Big Game Fishing Line 40lb. mono and Sufix Clear Tritanium Plus Line 12 lb fluorocarbon.

"I have no knowledge at all of Mahaseer fishing but that rod sounds underpowered for such a powerful fish, unless you aim to catch the smaller ones."

Although I am a neophyte to angling, I too share your doubt on this. One friend over here says it should be sufficient, though he hasn't caught anything over 40 lbs.. Another friend recommends a 10' Uptide type rod. The latter has far more experience but I would also like to use this rod for fish other than Mahaseer. Unfortunately, he's not contactable at the moment and I am unable to ask him about its suitability for fish, other than Mahaseer.

Have a look at http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/ubb/ultimatebb...ic;f=1;t=016188 This should give you a better idea. I would prefer a two rod set up to start with for financial reasons.

Barring the two rods and a Baitrunner 10000XTE, I have ordered the remaining items from Cabelas.
The pending items I will be buying from the U.K.. I know I want a 10K Baitrunner and a Shimano Beastmaster SBM210M. It's the remaining rod that is proving to be a problem decision. Would it be better if I were to go for a SBM360XH or a SBM330XH/H for Mahaseer? These have a 50-100 gram casting weight.

Rustam

[ 10. July 2005, 06:57 PM: Message edited by: Rustam Bana ]

It's hard to sugest any specific rod without knowing about the species and the type of water, over here a general spinning set up for mixed fishing would consist of something like -

9 foot spinning rod rated to cast approx 15-45g
Medium sized spinning reel, something around the size of a Shimano 4010
12-15lb BS mono or 30-50lb BS braid

I find using longer rods or bigger reels for spinning to be a bit cumbersome and tiring.
The above set up would be fine for general spinning in the UK where fish would generally range from 1-15lb in weight, ocassionally a bit more.
I wouldn't fancy my chances of landing any reasonable sized Mahaseer on such tackle unless it was in open water and I was fishing from a boat.

My Mahaseer experience only stretches to watching a couple of videos, they were fishing a fastish boulder strewn river, and were using catfish type gear - 10 foot 4-5lb TC rods and heavy mono on a multiplier reel.

Hmm...

Mahseer...?

Mahseer, mahseer, mahseer...?

Ah yes, it's coming back to me...

No. Dammit! Gone!

Ah thats a helpful post Paul.No need to give away any secret locations mate just a general bit of advice.After all if the guy lives there he might be able to return the favour one day.

Rustam the rod you mention will not be up to the job.A large ball of ragi and some lead will weigh more than the rod can cast.I also found longer (12') rods far better for keeping the line out of the flow than 9' uptiders.IMHO Uptide rods are only good for uptiding! crap for playing fish on.

'No need to give away any secret locations mate'

Oh all right its India. Me and my big mouth Paul's still somewhere between Mars and Glastonbury, he'll be down shortly.

[ 11. July 2005, 12:51 AM: Message edited by: argyll ]