newbie with poppers
Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: Saltwater Fishing
Forum Name: Popper and Topwater Fishing
Forum Description: If you're into a bit of action on top, this is the forum for you
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=56542
Printed Date: 31 Jan 2026 at 10:04am
Topic: newbie with poppers
Posted By: Indica
Subject: newbie with poppers
Date Posted: 19 Aug 2010 at 10:16am
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hey all this is my first post on the forum, i tend to just read through everything and make my mind up from everyones opinions however i'm not sure what to do at the moment. i had jack all money but walked away from the auckland boat show with a 8'6" 10-15kg rated okuma x factor that i was advised by top catch as an ok/good rod for a low price to start with poppers. i also have a finor offshore 9500 i picked the year previously. im targeting kingfish from the rocks at the moment & i have the reel spooled up with 15kg mono- bimini - no name knot - 100lb mono etc. my main question is that i would like to run braid as i think 15kg is to light to target kings of the rocks and any heavier you sacrifice casting distance. dont really want to run anything lower than 50lb as rocks and braid as far as i'm aware dont mix to well. is 50lb braid way overkill for a 10-15kg rod? or would it be possible just with careful use of drag pressure and road angle etc? or would the rod simply blow out from to much strain?? any help would be great thanks |
Replies:
Posted By: JK
Date Posted: 19 Aug 2010 at 10:21am
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Hi Indica
I use to use 15kg mono for this sort of fishing and found it had some real disadvantages in terms of casting ability and also limiting action one can part on the popper.
Have since changed to 50lb braid and found it alot better. You could use 50lb braid on your setup but to keep things nice and balanced, just fish using 15kg equivalent drag settings that would be more suited to your rod - ie around 5kg-6kg of drag for fighting the fish. I haven't used the rod you have before but this would probably be a good starting point.
Hope that helps ------------- LedgeNZ LBG |
Posted By: Indica
Date Posted: 19 Aug 2010 at 10:44am
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hi jk thanks for the quick response. oh really had no idea that with mono it effected the action and castability that much. yeah thats what i was thinking with the drag pressures etc just keep it within the rods limit, only pain obviously is its hard to tell how high the drag is getting with a spinning reel especially considering the fin nors ample drag rating haha. nothing the hand cant help slow down if i'm nervous its getting a bit up there though! oh what brand braid would suit the brick casting style better? i wont have any problems with line capacity have just heard about certain brands being better / suited for spinning reels and casting etc |
Posted By: Capt Asparagus
Date Posted: 19 Aug 2010 at 11:15am
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With the big Fin-nor you have, line capacity with braid is not going to be an issue :-) Braid is way skinnier and lighter than nylon, that is why it casts so much better. 10-20% further is a rule of thumb, and much more immediate hook sets too. Like JK says just run it at roughly the same drag settings you use now...maybe a shade heavier won't hurt, and then if you need to really apply the brakes, well, you have that extra you can use on the drag. I used a 10-15kg kilwell rod for years poppering in the tropics, no problems loading it up with 50lb fireline and giving it death. Can't help with what brickbased fishoes need from a braid, but perhaps a slightly thicker brand like the black magic/surecatch stuff would help. If you get the stuff with the colour bands in it, you can tell how far you are casting and how far away your fish is too, which can be handy. I have always preferred using fireline for casting with spin reels, but am starting to try other braids. If you really want ot be sure, use 50lb fireline, but man, that stuff is thick as rope compared to the newer braids. It way over tests too... 50lb fireline is more likely to break over 65lb than nearer 50! |
Posted By: xsspeed
Date Posted: 19 Aug 2010 at 11:25am
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I have just bought some of the cheap pelagic braid off trademe for my rock popping setup, went for 40lb (reel is a vs55a which is 'rated' to 50lb braid but I think this braid I am using overtests a bit, - and have been told the reel doesn't like max drag that much - my popper rod is rated to 40lb braid also).
I got a 1200m roll for cheap so replacing line shouldnt give me sleepless nights.
With the fin nor you should be fine with 50lb, as mentioned just monitor your drag settings.
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Posted By: Indica
Date Posted: 19 Aug 2010 at 11:25am
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awesome thanks for the info, i would assume giving a 10-15kg rod with 50lb from a boat abuse would put the rod under much more stress than off the rocks due to line angle so that increases my confidence the rod wont blow up a lot more haha. thats good i was originally looking at fireline so will giv that a try first, the hunting and fishing shop up the road from me has suffix braid on special atm but havent heard of anyone on here using it on spinning reels so decided against getting it |
Posted By: JK
Date Posted: 19 Aug 2010 at 11:28am
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Just find mono a bit stretchy to get things happening with the action. Braid is much easier in that respect.
I use xzoga braid and find it excellent. Haven't used a lot of other braids other than fireline and rapala titanium for softbaiting etc and find fireline ok (and well suited to spin reels) but no issues whatsoever with the xzoga stuff so now use that for all my softbaiting (4lb and 8lb) and poppering (50lb) and really rate it. Using YGK for jigging which seems pretty good but havent tried casting with it so cant comment. ------------- LedgeNZ LBG |
Posted By: Indica
Date Posted: 19 Aug 2010 at 11:32am
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yeah i guess thinking about it the stretch would hamper things a bit what sort of price range does the xzoga braid fall into? |
Posted By: Fish n' giggles
Date Posted: 20 Aug 2010 at 1:01pm
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I got 300m of 40lbs Xzoga braid for around $100 from memory. They are good braid, haven't failed me yet. |
Posted By: Indica
Date Posted: 20 Aug 2010 at 5:28pm
| sweet as will spool it up when i next get the chance, thanks for the info everyone, now i just need a kingi to jump on and see what its like hanging on... havent caught a kingi yet unfortnately, cant wait to feel how grunty they are though! |
Posted By: mozz
Date Posted: 21 Aug 2010 at 10:14am
ive got the gps marks for 2 fin nors I threw overboard last week when you need parts for your one, they sink quite quickly
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Posted By: Capt Asparagus
Date Posted: 21 Aug 2010 at 10:50am
| Threw over deliberately or accidentally? |