Ok, so experienced freshwater bass/trout (reel and fly) fisherman. Been offshore deep water plenty of times, mostly guided though. But little to no shallow saltwater exp. Going to Corpus with a buddy to fish this tournament on his shallow water, so targets are reds, trout, etc.

Given all my gear is freshwater except for a couple basic saltwater pier poles, looking for recs on a couple basic rigs (rod, real, line, leaders, jigs) so I don't look so green to shallow saltwater. Something I can swing by an Academy and grab without breaking the bank (as I don't foresee getting heavy into saltwater flats fishing anytime soon).

Jig recs from someone else going (have not google authenticity):

Super Spook Jr. bone white
Bass Assassin - 4 inch paddle tails: bone diamond, fried chicken, chicken on chain and electric shad.
Gulp: nuclear chicken, new penny or blue pepper neon.

TIA!

You could also pick up some spoons to throw.

I use em for bass as well and have good luck so its not just spending $ on lures for a one time thing.

Search www.2coolfishing.com for all your answers.

Great site meggy, thanks!

Pretty much narrowed down to some combination or the below based on those forums.

Rods:
Shimano sedona set up on a Academy 7' H20 rod with the micro guides
Penn battle combo with 7'rod for around $130
Penn Battle 2 - 3000 with 10 # Nanofil (Berkley line)
Lews Mach 1 spinning combos ($90)

Reels:
Cheap reel: shimano sienna $30
Mid range: penn battle $100
Battle II 2000 then American Legacy Fishing has it at $80 plus shipping ($12) (Amazon.com has the same for $75 shipped) (http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/penn-battle-ii-7-ml-saltwater-spinning-rod-and-3000-reel-combo#repChildCatid=1349069)


Lew's lite.
7ft medium lite for in the boat.
6ft medium for wade fishing.
Mono backing, crazy Alberto knot, 30# braid, crazy Alberto knot, 20# fluoro leader

NYAG08 said:

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Great site meggy, thanks!

Pretty much narrowed down to some combination or the below based on those forums.

Rods:
Shimano sedona set up on a Academy 7' H20 rod with the micro guides
Penn battle combo with 7'rod for around $130
Penn Battle 2 - 3000 with 10 # Nanofil (Berkley line)
Lews Mach 1 spinning combos ($90)


Reels:
Cheap reel: shimano sienna $30
Mid range: penn battle $100
Battle II 2000 then American Legacy Fishing has it at $80 plus shipping ($12) (Amazon.com has the same for $75 shipped) (http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/penn-battle-ii-7-ml-saltwater-spinning-rod-and-3000-reel-combo#repChildCatid=1349069)


Lew's lite.
7ft medium lite for in the boat.
6ft medium for wade fishing.
Mono backing, crazy Alberto knot, 30# braid, crazy Alberto knot, 20# fluoro leader

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Keep your receipt on the academy rod. Lol

It's their house brand rod. No one else has it. Lifetime warranty. Not! Better have the receipt. I broke one a month ago. Took it back and they wouldn't replace it without the receipt. I explained it was their rod and honestly when I bought it they told me it was free replacement no questions asked.

I bought four because of that. Finally a manager explained that they change models all the time and mine was no longer carried. ( it was only a few months old ). The new models were more expensive and I needed to pay the difference. What a crock.

I found the receipt and instead of a rod I got a gift card. Returned all their rods. Bought shoes as that's about all they seem to want to sell and bought quality rods elsewhere. These were $80-$100 rods. Not the most expensive but not the cheapest either.

Hijacked the thread. I'm sorry. I use to love academy. Im finished. They were bought out by a large corporation. Not the same. Their just a big dick's now

Penn battle 2500 at Academy. Use the Amazon price to get academy to price match with an extra 5% off.

Fill it up with 15 or 20 lb power pro line. 20 lb flouro for leaders. I like to join my line to leader with a tiny spro swivel.

Find a medium or medium light all star or h20 rod (7ft). They should have some for around $50.

Your buddy can probably cover you on lures unless you just really want to get your own.

Thanks for the recs folks. Thought I would summarize intended shopping list and setup gathered (along with basic price points):


Academy:

Rods: Lews mach 1 spinning combo and Penn battle || combo 3000 ~$250
Boots: Magellan wading ~$25
Line spooling: PowerPro mono 20lb backing ~50yards, spool PowerPro braided 20lb, 20lb flouro leader joined with a tiny spro swivel (leader 3-4ft)

Altogether setup ~$300

20 lb mono backing behind the power pro will eat up quite a bit of your spool capacity and isn't really necessary.

On the leader, 18" is plenty of flouro and easier to cast than a 3' leader. Those small spro swivels usually won't tear up your guides but I still try to not reel the swivel into the guides.

You can also tie your flouro line directly to your braided line. Avoids needing a swivel. One knot rather than two and better lure action. animatedknots.com