Thread: Manawatu surfcasting tips

I have not done much since moving to the South Island but when I was up north this is what I had good sucess with.

A rod with a good backbone, a 2 piece is stiffer than a 3 piece in general, I used a custom built 1 piece in the end.

A rod matched to the weight your casting, I always liked using 6oz sand grabbers so picked a rod to suit.

A reel that worked and had nice smooth drag, it also needed to hold 300m of line.

I used 8lb main line with a shock leader, the shock leader was long enough to have 2 rounds on the reel and for my casting I layed out about 5 meters on the ground behind. This would get me casting between 120 and 150 meters with 1 bait on a ledger rig. I've caught 5kg snapper up 90 mile and a 10kg ray along with a 8ft bronzey. All on 8lb main line.

If I was targeting Kahawai I'd use a whole pilli on a running rig, use bait cotton to hold it together.

Light main line increases casting distance, shock leader stops you breaking the main line under load.

Finding holes can be hard it the sea is flat, your better to look when there is a bit of a role on, watch the waves, watch were they break, look for gaps in the waves where the water is deeper. Waves are formed as the water gets shallow so if there is a gap in the waves, thats were Id start.

When I was serious and before I could cast the distance I put a wetsuit on and walked out as far I could to cast.

Practice casting up the beach, the last year I was up there I went to the national surfcasting comp, that year the distance cast that won was 210 meters (sinker only .3mm line min which was 6lb)

Keep at it, you will get better