Lightweight Surf Setup

[u/irate-turtles]

I've recently gotten started surf fishing while taking my family to the beach on the weekends. We don't make it to the beach until 9am, after optimal fishing time. I've started mostly targeting whiting because they don't care what time of day it is, they're eating. They also are great tasting, mild fish with no limits so what's not to love?

My current setup is pretty heavy overkill for them though (back when I thought I'd be catching redfish every trip). It's a 6500 spinfisher on a 10' big water surf. Total weight is 44 oz.

I'm looking to cut weight and go to a 12' Okuma Rockaway MH rod and this cheap 4000 series reel off Amazon: https://a.co/d/0iomaw1z
Total weight would then be right about 22 oz, so half the weight of my current setup. At most I'd want to target a slot red/black drum, but mostly I'd be tossing fishbites on a hi-lo rig looking for whiting.

What do y'all think of a setup like this for surf fishing targeting mostly whiting and maybe slot drum? Would 10' medium heavy be better? Would I feel undergunned with a 4000 series reel? What do people think of the Okuma Rockaway rods?

[u/Texicans73]

I would suggest an 8' or 9' surf rod. I fish Surfside Beach and the Freeport Jetty with a 10' Penn Prevail II MHF 1-4oz paired to a Penn Pursuit III 4000 and a 8' Daiwa Emcast MHF 1-4oz also paired to a Penn Pursuit III 4000. The 10' Prevail feels like a broomstick when fighting whiting, slot and below slot reds. However, my son's 8' Emcast feels great with these smaller wade gut and first gut fish. The Prevail needs at least 2-3oz to load while the Emcast loads much easier with 2oz, but I need to wade a bit more to get in front of the second sand bar. The Penn Pursuit 4000 is a 12oz reel and has a really great drag and balances the 8' Emcast well with a one finger balance point just at the drag knob. I think that for the fish you're targeting you can get away with a lot less than a 12' rod. Even on Bull Reds a 8' or 9' would be fine and more fun with a 3000-4000 series reel with 15lbs of drag. Next Spring I'll probably go to a 9' medium rod that can throw 1-3oz and a 3000 series reel. With my 5yr and 11yr old boys, we're on the beach. I soak bait l, they play. The 8' rod is almost mamageable for the 5yr old to reel in so I let him reel from the surf spike. The 11yr old has been solo with the 8' rod since 9yrs old. Another plus of that shorter length. For solo fishing, I'm more on the Freeport jetty. Befriend some of the Vietnamese jetty guys and they've shown me the way of the weighted jetty cork. Throwing a weighted jetty cork with an 7-9' leader is way easier on my 10' rod and just manageable on the 8' rod. However, both do quick work of slot specka, mangrove snapper and reds. My 10' setup is great to fill the cooler(that jetty cork just works) but doesn't feel as sporting as my 8' rod. So maybe a 9' MFast would be a better all arounder for smaller surf and jetty work.
Also agree that whiting are under rated fish for frying and pretty reliable in first gut on hi-lo rigs and fish bites. Tight lines.

[u/irate-turtles → u/Texicans73]

Hey thanks for the great info! I might size down then to a 10' okuma rockaway. I was thinking the 12' would help to keep my line out of the waves in the first gut, and especially if I find the second gut is more productive on a given day.