Wreck Fishing - Spinning or Conventional Reel

[Pajay 1962]

Growing up, my Dad and I had conventional rod/reel setups as we did a lot of wreck fishing, and the occasional bluefishing. Now that I've gotten married and have daughters that do a lot of freshwater fishing using spinning reels, we've gotten away from the conventional reels and only have spinning reels.

Last summer we had a blast wreck fishing, and now we're planning on doing more. So now I'm wondering if I should go out and buy conventional outfits.

My question is this: Is there an advantage to using a conventional rod/reel setup when wreck fishing, and if so, what is it? Also, if fishing for ling/sea bass, would you rig with 30# or go heavier on the line?

Thanks
Jay

[Jigman13]

Conventional. 30-40 lb braid with a 10-20 ft mono top shot... 40 lbs should suffice

[Gerry Zagorski]

Yes - conventionals are the way to go for bottom fishing... The reasons being, you need to keep your pole tip and line with just enough slack in it to feel bites and then a quick lift of the rod tip for a good fast hookset and to lift the fish out of the wreck.

It can be done with spinners just not as easily.

The issue is it's more difficult to balance and hold a spinning set up the correctly and more importantly, spinning rods are designed for casting. They have a soft whip like tip which helps for casting but it works against you when you need to get a good quick hookset and to horse the fish away from the wreck. T

Best of luck to you and the girls bottom fishing Pajay.

[bulletbob]

"Wreck fishing" is kind of a broad term.. Good stout spinning tackle will more than handle most inshore wreck fishing in NJ... Sea Bass, average size tog, school size Cod, Porgies, Ling etc.. However, large blackfish, or big Cod really require heavier tackle and conventional gear is certainly better.. Once you get in say 150 or more FOW, and might need 12 ounces of lead, spinning gear tends to lose efficiency.. My 31 YO son hates conventional and refuses to use anything other than spinning gear so I have a good handle on the limitations.. He would be in big trouble with say a 25 pound Cod, in 250 FOW even with our fairly heavy spinning gear.. However, 4 pound Sea Bass in say 100 FOW?.. No problem.. A lot depends on what you are fishing for.. Inshore Sea Bass, Ling, Porgies, no problem with spinners.. Offshore, heavy sinkers, big fish??.. Nah... bob

[Pajay 1962]

Thanks guys - good information.

One person mentioned using braided line - is this frowned upon on party boats? I was under the impression that this is a pain in the "you know what" to untangle on party boats.

Thanks
Jay

[Jpell15]

Thanks guys - good information.

One person mentioned using braided line - is this frowned upon on party boats? I was under the impression that this is a pain in the "you know what" to untangle on party boats.

Thanks
Jay

It can be a pain with tangles but you'll see a good amount of people using it on party boats that are bottom fishing....Use mono if bluefishing though, as tangles are inevitable and with the braid it's a nightmare.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Yep braid with a 10-15 foot top shot of mono.

[Capt. Lou]

No issues with using spinning for ur inshore wreck fishing.
The drawbacks R reels. generally speaking a good quality spin reel is required & u may have to spend extra bucks on a decent reel .
Many 7' Plus rods will handle this duty but ALWAYS select a fast taper with comparable power to line# test line ur using !
I prefer a 7.6 spin with a 3500 / 4000 series size hi quality reel loaded with braid & top shot of 30 to 50 mono depending on species & conditions.
Nothing wrong with wreck or any bottom fishing with spin gear now with many current model spin reels up to the challenge !
In fact in jigging I believe they excel do to the fact u can grip the rod in front of the reel & use the rear weight of the reel to lighten ur jigging stroke & simply said allows u to jig rod only & not heft the weight of reel on each lift !
Any fined tuned spinning outfit is up to this task easily !!