Salt Water Convert

Blanco Pescado

Junior Member
You guys have a great forum for information and I am glad I found this site.

I just got back from Puerto Penasco last weekend and had a blast fishing from shore with my 14 and 10-year-old sons. We fished from shore when the tide came in and landed some fish that I have never even seen before. Salt water rookies. I had sportsmans redo my bass reels with 10 pound test and needless to say we hooked in to a couple that broke my line and got my juices flowing. I am now a salt water convert and would like to chase the larger bad boys. We have kayaks available but do not have a boat. We used Kastmasters and Krocodiles and loved it. We are down in the Playa Dorada area near the Mayan.

I am looking for some advice on what kind of gear to get on a budget as I will be looking to outfit 3. I looked on FB and Craigslist and it was slim pickins on reels with a lot of older stuff. A friend suggested Ebay and I will look on there tonight. I love the adventure just as much as the fishing so if you have any suggestions for further down south spots that would be great. Been to Lobos but was not able to fish. My girls are shell hunters so if you have some good spots for that it would help keep the family happy.

My friend Chad Cemper gave me the Blanco Pescado name the first time he took me down to Choya Bay and saw my white feet. I am butt white and I had the ankle farmers-tan in my flip flops. Needless to say the name fit even though it is backwards. Anyway, your input will be much appreciated and I hope to bump in to a few of you fellow fishing dudes down there and trade some stories. Hook em and cook em.
 

Kelney

Well Known Member
You may get more feedback upstairs in the fishing forum. There is also some older post on shore fishing hat should help you. I was you about 16 years ago. I just used what I had for fresh water and got hooked on RP fishing. Even though I have a boat for offshore fishing, I still enjoy fishing on or near shore. My style of shore fishing involved wading out chest deep as I needed to cast out to the reef areas and the deeper and further out I was, fishing seemed to be a bit better. I did get hung up a lot which resulted in swimming out to where I was hung up and once I was on top of the lure, it would come unhooked. Anyways, that involved my reel being submerged quite often. I needed a good enough reel to withstand the conditions but not too expensive as I was pretty harsh on it. The Penn reels in a size 300 like the Penn Battle work great. I have several Cabela's Salt Striker reels that work great and are inexpensive. I don't think they make them anymore since they merged with BPS. After a few too many deep swims against currents, I realized that maybe I need to forego my style of shore fishing in lieu of an inflatable float tube for my fishing near shore..

Your lure selection was good. Those always work. I also use 1/2 - 1 oz. metal minnow looking lures. P-Line makes some nice ones. Others have good success with swim baits but I find that the tail gets bitten off to often. When the fish are biting, they will hit about anything. I also use 15-20 lb line.
 

Roberto

Well Known Member
Need not be fancy to have fun. I have used a Shakespere from Walmart. Has been immersed in the sea many times. I flush with fresh water and lube. still works great.
 

estevan

Active Member
I have a Penn Pursuit II 4000 paired with a 10' surf rod that I really like for shore fishing. I have 40 lb braid with a 20 lb fluoro leader. I'm able to chuck it out there pretty good and don't have to worry about breaking off too much. If you want to go cheap, the Shakespeare Tiger setup from Walmart is pretty good bang for your buck. They wear out quick, but you're only paying around $20 for everything.

You should definitely try the estuaries. From Dorado you can get to La Pinta pretty easy. Just head towards the Mayan golf course.
 

ckyevanjay

Well Known Member
Honestly I fished from the shore with heavier tackle (7ft rod, 20lb test, 4000 series penn) for about 6 years and over last year or two have gone to a basic Shakespeare medium 5 foot rod w 10lb line and its a much more fun. Hooking into smaller fish is much more fun and when you get a larger fish its even better. On my 7ft setup i was just ripping smaller fish out of the ocean without much of a battle. Head over to the mostly dead fishing section for more fishing action.
 

Ocean Diver

Member
You guys have a great forum for information and I am glad I found this site.

I just got back from Puerto Penasco last weekend and had a blast fishing from shore with my 14 and 10-year-old sons. We fished from shore when the tide came in and landed some fish that I have never even seen before. Salt water rookies. I had sportsmans redo my bass reels with 10 pound test and needless to say we hooked in to a couple that broke my line and got my juices flowing. I am now a salt water convert and would like to chase the larger bad boys. We have kayaks available but do not have a boat. We used Kastmasters and Krocodiles and loved it. We are down in the Playa Dorada area near the Mayan.

I am looking for some advice on what kind of gear to get on a budget as I will be looking to outfit 3. I looked on FB and Craigslist and it was slim pickins on reels with a lot of older stuff. A friend suggested Ebay and I will look on there tonight. I love the adventure just as much as the fishing so if you have any suggestions for further down south spots that would be great. Been to Lobos but was not able to fish. My girls are shell hunters so if you have some good spots for that it would help keep the family happy.

My friend Chad Cemper gave me the Blanco Pescado name the first time he took me down to Choya Bay and saw my white feet. I am butt white and I had the ankle farmers-tan in my flip flops. Needless to say the name fit even though it is backwards. Anyway, your input will be much appreciated and I hope to bump in to a few of you fellow fishing dudes down there and trade some stories. Hook em and cook em.
"chase the larger bad boys" --- well my friend to do that you NEED a boat we fished the shore, but then was invited by a friend to go with him on his boat, --- that did it ! --- the next week we went down to San Diego, --- came back with a new Sea Pro 22'er center console, what a fishing machine, --- in my opinion you just can not beat a center, and as you when you have 4 or more there is plenty of room, I never had more than 4 --- & when you have a fish that decides to start circling the boat to try & throw the hook, you can follow him pretty easily, --- then you can take trips to the island, ( one year we got into the Yellowtail big time ) the Caballos, go out to the various reefs, I can guarantee you will never be the same, --- and the fun & memories your two boys will get will never forget, --- if we were to get another boat probably be a 24' er.
 

Blanco Pescado

Junior Member
You may get more feedback upstairs in the fishing forum. There is also some older post on shore fishing hat should help you. I was you about 16 years ago. I just used what I had for fresh water and got hooked on RP fishing. Even though I have a boat for offshore fishing, I still enjoy fishing on or near shore. My style of shore fishing involved wading out chest deep as I needed to cast out to the reef areas and the deeper and further out I was, fishing seemed to be a bit better. I did get hung up a lot which resulted in swimming out to where I was hung up and once I was on top of the lure, it would come unhooked. Anyways, that involved my reel being submerged quite often. I needed a good enough reel to withstand the conditions but not too expensive as I was pretty harsh on it. The Penn reels in a size 300 like the Penn Battle work great. I have several Cabela's Salt Striker reels that work great and are inexpensive. I don't think they make them anymore since they merged with BPS. After a few too many deep swims against currents, I realized that maybe I need to forego my style of shore fishing in lieu of an inflatable float tube for my fishing near shore..

Your lure selection was good. Those always work. I also use 1/2 - 1 oz. metal minnow looking lures. P-Line makes some nice ones. Others have good success with swim baits but I find that the tail gets bitten off to often. When the fish are biting, they will hit about anything. I also use 15-20 lb line.
Thanks for the feedback and advice. I would like to get out to deeper water eventually but I have some gear to acquire first.
 

Blanco Pescado

Junior Member
Need not be fancy to have fun. I have used a Shakespere from Walmart. Has been immersed in the sea many times. I flush with fresh water and lube. still works great.
I did look at those and almost bought a couple but I wanted to see what everyone suggested. Looked at some entry level Penn outfits as well from Sportsmans Warehouse.
 

Blanco Pescado

Junior Member
I have a Penn Pursuit II 4000 paired with a 10' surf rod that I really like for shore fishing. I have 40 lb braid with a 20 lb fluoro leader. I'm able to chuck it out there pretty good and don't have to worry about breaking off too much. If you want to go cheap, the Shakespeare Tiger setup from Walmart is pretty good bang for your buck. They wear out quick, but you're only paying around $20 for everything.

You should definitely try the estuaries. From Dorado you can get to La Pinta pretty easy. Just head towards the Mayan golf course.
Thanks. I did look up some of those estuaries and have read some threads. Looks pretty promising. I like the braided line since I did hook in to some larger fish that broke my line.
 

Blanco Pescado

Junior Member
Honestly I fished from the shore with heavier tackle (7ft rod, 20lb test, 4000 series penn) for about 6 years and over last year or two have gone to a basic Shakespeare medium 5 foot rod w 10lb line and its a much more fun. Hooking into smaller fish is much more fun and when you get a larger fish its even better. On my 7ft setup i was just ripping smaller fish out of the ocean without much of a battle. Head over to the mostly dead fishing section for more fishing action.
I might do one of each since it was fun to fight the bigger fish on a smaller outfit for my boys. I wanted to get one to handle the larger bad boys as I am now excited to hunt the larger sea creatures.
 

Blanco Pescado

Junior Member
"chase the larger bad boys" --- well my friend to do that you NEED a boat we fished the shore, but then was invited by a friend to go with him on his boat, --- that did it ! --- the next week we went down to San Diego, --- came back with a new Sea Pro 22'er center console, what a fishing machine, --- in my opinion you just can not beat a center, and as you when you have 4 or more there is plenty of room, I never had more than 4 --- & when you have a fish that decides to start circling the boat to try & throw the hook, you can follow him pretty easily, --- then you can take trips to the island, ( one year we got into the Yellowtail big time ) the Caballos, go out to the various reefs, I can guarantee you will never be the same, --- and the fun & memories your two boys will get will never forget, --- if we were to get another boat probably be a 24' er.
A nice boat is on the bucket list for sure. I have a small 12 foot aluminum boat and did see a crab trap guy on one down in Lobos. Thought I might bring it down someday to use on calm days but I do not have room to store it.
 

estevan

Active Member
I might do one of each since it was fun to fight the bigger fish on a smaller outfit for my boys. I wanted to get one to handle the larger bad boys as I am now excited to hunt the larger sea creatures.
A medium or fast action surf rod (10'+) will give you the effect as lightweight tackle and you'll be able to cast a lot further. Especially with the braided line, although you probably don't need 40 lb like I use. I do recommend a mono or fluoro leader. It seems to help catch more fish and I'm less likely to break off from a little abrasion on the reefs or fish teeth.
 
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