Thinking of going of the rocks this weekend and need advice on what set up I need ?

[Kennyfish]

Going of the rocks this weekend and need some advice of what set up I need for rough ground before I go and come back in about half an hour lol?

[adam123]

my set up is usually about 30- 40lb line straight through with a rig clip tied on the end and the rig is simply a 3 way swivel with 60lb rig body to a rotten bottom ( upside down rig clip) to 18lb line on the bottom eye of the sviwel and a 4/0 sakuma manta hook tied to 40lb mono coming from the other eye of the swivel. take plenty of weights, some people prefer spiders as they dont fall down holes in the rocks but i prefer the plain weights. also be prepared to loose lots of gear and try to take to much rather than to little.
The less gear you use for the rig the less you use. imho the simpler the better.

Rod and reel wise- not sure what gear you use but i would want to use a stiff rod such as sk4- 5-7 oz one of the numerous centurys; komp ss, wr300, eliminator or one of the apollos and reel wise something which can hold a bit of thicker line ;sl30sh, saltist 30h, penn 535.

[Kennyfish]

my set up is usually about 30- 40lb line straight through with a rig clip tied on the end and the rig is simply a 3 way swivel with 60lb rig body to a rotten bottom ( upside down rig clip) to 18lb line on the bottom eye of the sviwel and a 4/0 sakuma manta hook tied to 40lb mono coming from the other eye of the swivel.
The less gear you use for the rig the less you use. imho the simpler the better

Great stuff. What reel do you use? and no shock leader? I have bought a few long distance pulley pennel rigs with a size 2/0 kamasan hook, infact it has 1 smaller hook above it too.

Haaa I may sound daft but i'm new to of the rocks...Got to start somewhere.

[adam123]

I use a sl30sh and on the rocks and never use shockleader on the rocks mainly because i would spend all session re tying them and the fact that i am never really blasting baits out more like just lobbing them about 30- 50 yrds. also i would say that the 2/0 hooks are to small for rough ground, i would switch to one of the sakuma 545 hooks which are by far the best hooks i have used for the rough stuff- even though i have only just started fishing the rock edges

[Kennyfish]

I use a sl30sh and on the rocks and never use shockleader on the rocks mainly because i would spend all session re tying them and the fact that i am never really blasting baits out more like just lobbing them about 30- 50 yrds. also i would say that the 2/0 hooks are to small for rough ground, i would switch to one of the sakuma 545 hooks which are by far the best hooks i have used for the rough stuff- even though i have only just started fishing the rock edges

Ok that spot on so swivel in the end of the main line then rig on to that?

[adam123]

not a swivel a rig clip and then the rig just clips on that , there are many on the market but i tend to use the genie rig clips

[g-force]

Hi Kenny, sorry that we weren't able to hook up last weekend - should be out somewhere this weekend if you want to tag along? I'd agree with most of what Adam's said already except for the choice of hooks - I long stopped using Sakumas off the rocks as they lose their point very quickly and they don't bend out, they tend to snap. My personal favourite is the Mustad Powerworm in 4/0 & 6/0 for big baits; a lot of people also swear by Mustad Vikings.

About 75% of the time I'll use reels loaded with 30lb line & shockleader off the rocks as there are many venues where you'll want a bit of a chuck in order to reach holes, cast over ledges & weedbeds etc. The rest of the time I'll use 40 or 45lb straight through in the really heavy stuff, or where little more than a plop is needed.

Rig wise, as Adam said, keep it simple, the fewer bits & pieces the better - I can show you a few examples of what I use; flappers, clip-downs etc. I use a Breakaway fastlink on the end of my leader which I clip to a swivel at the top of my rig.

One of the most important things when fishing the rocks is the ability to get your gear up off the bottom & back quickly (especially if you've got a fish on), so you'll want a reel with a fast retrieve & a strong arm to keep crankin'!

Cheers, Gary

[Kennyfish]

Hi Kenny, sorry that we weren't able to hook up last weekend - should be out somewhere this weekend if you want to tag along? I'd agree with most of what Adam's said already except for the choice of hooks - I long stopped using Sakumas off the rocks as they lose their point very quickly and they don't bend out, they tend to snap. My personal favourite is the Mustad Powerworm in 4/0 & 6/0 for big baits; a lot of people also swear by Mustad Vikings.

About 75% of the time I'll use reels loaded with 30lb line & shockleader off the rocks as there are many venues where you'll want a bit of a chuck in order to reach holes, cast over ledges & weedbeds etc. The rest of the time I'll use 40 or 45lb straight through in the really heavy stuff, or where little more than a plop is needed.

Rig wise, as Adam said, keep it simple, the fewer bits & pieces the better - I can show you a few examples of what I use; flappers, clip-downs etc. I use a Breakaway fastlink on the end of my leader which I clip to a swivel at the top of my rig.

One of the most important things when fishing the rocks is the ability to get your gear up off the bottom & back quickly (especially if you've got a fish on), so you'll want a reel with a fast retrieve & a strong arm to keep crankin'!

Cheers, Gary

The only reels large size I have at the mo Gary are a Okuma Zorax which Has ben great tbh and a Penn 525 mag. Don't know if they are big enough?

[g-force]

Not familiar with the Okuma Kenny - you could at a push load the 525 with 30lb line but it'd only be good for shortish range stuff. I'd keep an eye open for a second-hand Slosh 30 or a Penn 535 (maybe have a trawl through the classifieds?) - you should be able to pick one up for about £40-£50.

Cheers, Gary