Penn conventional reels! Agh!

[broadway]

       Determining how far you need to get your bait out will determine if the reel or the rod is the right gear for the task, but I did alright casting a 113HSP last year with a bait and 8 (bunker head or chunk with an 8 oz bank sinker on a 3 way) ...and I'm no pro at all.  The furthest was about 3o yards or so.  Use the 7 footer and the jig to start, but you'll get it.
Dom 

[CapeFish]

Seriously, you will never learn proper surf casting technique with a 7 ft boat rod, you are going to frustrate the living daylights out of yourself. Go and join a club or go to a tackle shop that can help you with the right rod. 

[wallacewt]

i live in southwest australia and dont have any idea about clubs in socal.some one on here may help,sorry

[broadway]

        Capefish,  I agree with ya on that, but it's a place to start.  The rod won't load right and the reel isn't the ideal casting reel, but if he doesn't need to cast far (like jetty or pier fishing) it'll work.  If you need to get out past the third wave or a sand bar I would say he's gotta go with a 12 footer and a better reel for casting.  I don't know fish Tacos budget, but if money is an issue than make do with whatcha got.
Best of luck,
Dom

[blktwr2660]

Hey Guy's, Been awhile (Biz and all that)Saw this post and had to chime in.Back in my surf casting days I use to fish what we up in the N/E use to consider VALHALLA for STRIPED BASS ,CAPE COD,there was no where on the coast or anywhere salt or brakish water flowed you couldn't catch stripers.One of the best places if you didn't have a boat or a 4x4 was the famous or infamous(if you ever fished it you would know what i'am talking about)was the CAPE COD CANAL.We fished every thing from live herring to 6-12" swimming plugs,eel skin rigs(a art in itself)bucktails(3oz-8oz)bunker chunks,Mackrel(caught in the spring than frozen)fresh squid(locally caught,what a trip)sandworms up to 16"long(will leave that for a other time."THOSE BOY'S COULD HURT YOU BIG TIME )We didn't have big budgets at the time but brought the best rod & reels we could afford even if it ment giving up lunch for a month(fishermen,go figure  ).If you wanted to catch trophy striprers you had to have a Penn 140 or a Penn 500.The 140 was loaded w/20lb test ande mono,the 500 with ande 30lb test.I'am not going to go into much detail here about fishing the canal but you need to at full moon tides the water flowed at 12-16 kts.I had the honor of fishing shoulder to shoulder with some of the beat fishermen in the area. :)If you wanted know just how far these guy's could cast a lure,bait,whatever hold on to your hat,between tides(could only fish from slack till 2 hrs.up or down the tide)the guy's would compete in distance casting,average w/ the 140 was 150 yds. w/ a 2oz lead,w/ the 500 it was 100yds. ,they did this day in day out.When I told one of the guys that was greatest casting feats I had ever seen he just smiled and said its no big thing(yeah,right .The rods they used were custom rolled(by them  )lamiglass 1165's 11'6" long,for serious casting were distance is a factor don't use anything shorter than 10'.Once you have your tackle laid out go and practice, pratice etc. etc. etc.Sorry for beening so long winded.Thanks Alan