BreakawayUSA.com

Subsonic · Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 186 Location: Austin ,TX

Need some ideas on mounting this bad boy.
Im new to this site and never surf fished before. I live here in Austin, TX and looking forward to fishing the coast for some Reds , Texas Jacks and shark. I bought Nicks casting video for the hell of it and wamo i was hooked.
The next day i bought a 10'6'' ST. Croix med/heavy spinnning rod and matched it up with a Daiwa Emblem with 50lb power pro.
I would have got the Breakaway casting rod, but the St. Croix was on sale for 170.00. The breakaway casting rod with one of the new Daiwa reels is my next investment.

katguy · Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 8:56 pm Post subject:

id get rid of the power pro, sand chews up brad, and frays it really bad.

go with 20 lb mono for reds and get the 10-2 casting rod for sharkin!

not sure how to mount the cannon, dont have one yet.

Torpedo · Joined: 18 Apr 2005 Posts: 789 Location: Cotho del Diablo

Just Zip Tie it or tape it making sure its just behind the lip of the spool and free of the bail.

Clip · Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 37 Location: New Braunfels

Subsonic · Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 186 Location: Austin ,TX

Wow that was fast,
Thanks for the replies people.Just a couple more things i need to ask though. It looks like the cannon is directly above the spool when mounted, and does it have to be that way to work properly without problems occuring.
My other question is what would be wrong with a tough steel swivle to connect the power pro to the shock leader?

underdog · Joined: 18 Apr 2005 Posts: 378 Location: Plano, Texas

For long casting in the surf, use Mono instead of braid.
The connection to the shock leader is a problem, but the chafing of the braid as the line crosses sand bars is the real killer and will fail you when you need it the most.

A swivel will not wok for a shock leader to main line connection because the connection starts out one your spool when casting.
It will hang on the guides, cause unnecessary wear, and rob your distance. ( not to mention what it will do to your roller guide on the bail )

Uni to overhand is best, spit is the key to making it last.

Torpedo · Joined: 18 Apr 2005 Posts: 789 Location: Cotho del Diablo

Subsonic · Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 186 Location: Austin ,TX

Hey Torpedo,
Thanks for the reply,Ok so now i understand the logic behind a long shockleader . The leader takes on the burden of stress from the main line and rod. So mono line must be used!

The two knots that you showed me, are they the ones that you said would slip.

Nickaway · Joined: 26 Feb 2005 Posts: 3556

Good job Torpedo, you need to double the tucks if you are using super braid so it does not slip. Regards Nickaway

Subsonic · Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 186 Location: Austin ,TX

If the idea behind the shock leader is to take strain off the rod and main line, then a lighter line would be more preferable so it could stretch more.
I here that slipping is a problem with braids when attached to a shock leader,well i would think so when using a 50-80# shock leader attached to braided line that is the size of 10# test that could pose a problem.The two major size diffrences would cause it to slip IMO.
The other proplem that you have ,is the larger diameter line reducing the casting distance, with the huge knot itself, hendering the casting distance as well.
So if im going to handicap my line with knots i would prefer to go down in size slowly. Maybey spool up with 40# braided line, and to start the leader, 15' of 25# super mono attached to that with 10' of 50# mono attached to the 20# with the 50# knot being outside of the tip top by 6"" or so.This would imo keep the biggest knot outside the rod where it belongs ,and increasing your casting distance . Of coarse the 25# mono would be the weak point but it would be plenty for a 6-7 foot black tip.

underdog · Joined: 18 Apr 2005 Posts: 378 Location: Plano, Texas

The purpose of the shock leader and the rules behind it ( 10 * your lead weight and 2 times the length of your rod and back to the spool + 5 turns ) is to prevent a breakoff during the cast that could cause damage to vehicles/property around you and probably prevent killing some kid down the beach. During a power cast, without a shock leader, the weight can breakoff with speeds around 200 mph and will cause damage.

It is also a great aid when you get your catch close in and it is no longer supported by water.

Your proposed step down method will still have a knot that will have to pass that will still slow down the cast.

If you really want to use braid on a long rod in the surf, try it, but monitor the part that crosses the sand bars closely. It probably will look ok right up until the time it starts to fail. And it will.

Torpedo · Joined: 18 Apr 2005 Posts: 789 Location: Cotho del Diablo

Subsonic · Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 186 Location: Austin ,TX

Hey Torpedo,
Thanks for all the info ,and the tapered shockleaders are defiently the way to go.Thanks again.

Big John · Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 10:45 am Post subject:

Definelty stay away from the braid. A couple years back, a well known superbraid came out with a new version that was suppossed to be more resistant to abrasion.

I went to Roy's and paid $25 bucks to spool up my big mama surf reel with the 80lb stuff. Went out set up for big reds / small sharks.

Reeled in one very nice red on cut skippy in a couple minutes.

Waded out to the second bar so I could cast my 5 + large bait past the third. Snap! My leader and rig went flying to Puerto Rico.

I look at the end of the line, abd it was frayed up bad. Cut off 30 foot of braid, tied up another shock leader and rig, put on a new bait, walked back out, casted into the thrid gut, and about 10 minutes later, wham! My pole doubles over, I grab hold and the fight is on for about 2 minutes with a serious 6 foot + shark. Then, snap. There goes another $10 or $15 worth of rig, and a good fight ended early. Again the last 10 foot of the line was frayed awefully.

Repeated the same, hooked up to a nice red, got him to within 40 feet of me, and the now frayed line snapped when it hit the top guide on my rod.

Repeated this twice more loosing a couple more big fish. Now down over $50 worth of tackel, and having cut 200 feet of line off the end of my sppol, I took that junk off, sppoled up with 20lb Big Game and have never had another breakoff from frayed line.

It is great for chunking lures, but that is about hte extent of it. Anything else requires mono.
_________________
____((___(((____((___\o/___((___/\___/l___(((

Help, SHARK!!!

kweber · Joined: 20 Aug 2005 Posts: 112 Location: Hondo Tx

Nick's cannon really works! put one on a 13ftEagle Claw and can get well over 100 yds. this is an OLD fiberglass cheap-o. also have one on an 8ft Browning rod.