Advice for rod/reel setup for new 8 year old angler!

[OhReely]

From Walmart - Penn Rival or the tried and true 309. Either one on an Ugly Stik.

[jerconte]

When is his B day?  I am in Canada now but I can dig around for a useable Diawa reel when we get home.  A Ugly Stick is a good choice for a low end rod.

Can't go wrong with Diawa reels but I would go with a 500 Jigmaster or 113H Senator but I am a "Penn Person".

Bday is on the 17th. I went with an Okuma Cedros CJ-c-601h for the rod. I'm gonna give him my Penn 555, but since a lot of folks are saying jigmaster I'm thinking i'll go with that if the 555 is too high of gear.

[jgp12000]

I have to ask because I know some folks call stripers rockfish, google is showing all varieties of rockfish. I use a 6500C3 for stripers, but not a budget reel. With the 500ft depth I assume you are talking about Rockfish  

[jerconte]

I have to ask because I know some folks call stripers rockfish, google is showing all varieties of rockfish. I use a 6500C3 for stripers, but not a budget reel. With the 500ft depth I assume you are talking about Rockfish  

Location is the Central Coast of California, mostly out of Morro Bay. Catching Vermillion, Copper, Bocaccio, Blues, Gopher, Cabezon, Lincod, etc. Typically we're fishing 200-300ft. Sometimes 60ft, sometimes 400-500ft.

[Keta]

The "rockfish" on the left side of the US are "sebastes" not the same as stripers.  There are many varieties, blacks,blues and others  in shallow water, yelloweye, shortraker and others found deep with many species in between.

[Gfish]

I had key manual for Rockfish. There are so many species that one of the main starting points was color. Not even certain about this, but when in doubt look for "cheek" spines. I.e., spines on the gill cover(operculum).

[Keta]

Rough or smooth between the eyes for a few.  In the last few years they have split blues into decon and blue rockfish, something I thought should have been done years ago.  They are as alike as largemouth and smallmouth bass, close but no cigar.  They school together but are not the same fish.

OCEAN (Oregon Coalition Educating ANglers) has passed out rockfish ID cards for years.

https://myodfw.com/articles/rockfish-identification-tips

[jerconte]

Rough or smooth between the eyes for a few.  In the last few years they have split blues into decon and blue rockfish, something I thought should have been done years ago.  They are as alike as largemouth and smallmouth bass, close but no cigar.  They school together but are not the same fish.

OCEAN (Oregon Coalition Educating ANglers) has passed out rockfish ID cards for years.

https://myodfw.com/articles/rockfish-identification-tips

California still has "Blues" in the same category as "nearshore rockfish". I'll look into that!

[Keta]

In Oregon decon rockfish are a sub limit with blues and blacks.

Decon Rockfish
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastes_diaconus

[jurelometer]

When is his B day?  I am in Canada now but I can dig around for a useable Diawa reel when we get home.  A Ugly Stick is a good choice for a low end rod.

Can't go wrong with Diawa reels but I would go with a 500 Jigmaster or 113H Senator but I am a "Penn Person".

Bday is on the 17th. I went with an Okuma Cedros CJ-c-601h for the rod. I'm gonna give him my Penn 555, but since a lot of folks are saying jigmaster I'm thinking i'll go with that if the 555 is too high of gear.

That's a really big rod.  Okuma made  some rods with the type of Alps reel seats that did not fit a lot reel feet, especially smaller to mid sized reels, or reels with extensions on the foot for the clamp to screw into which couldn't  clear the jumbo seat diameter.

You might want to check that the reels that you intend you use are balanced for the size of the rod and that the seat can hold the reel foot securely. I like that it is a fiberglass blank.

I am not denigrating the Jigmaster (that much ) but this community is the most Jigmaster-positive place you are going to find in the fishing universe.  The answer to many which-reel questions here is going to be "Jigmaster".

The Jigmaster is a nice inexpensive reel for casting monofilament in the 20 to 30 lb range.  Maybe two to six ounce payload.   Other uses are possible, but you are getting out of the sweet spot for this reel in terms of form factor and strength. 

-J

[JasonGotaProblem]

but this community is the most Jigmaster-positive place you are going to find in the fishing universe.  The answer to many which-reel questions here is going to be "Jigmaster".

I'm half tempted to put this quote in my signature.
I was asked today via pm, in response to this thread, "why the jigmaster?"

And I liked my answer. So I'm gonna paste it here.

It's a conventional without a levelwind, minimal number of moving parts, and a solid history of pulling in shockingly big fish. I believe they have been in circulation since the late 50s (and are still produced) so you can definitely find parts, and if you fish within the design limits you likely won't need parts. Of course they're also a favorite of modders like myself so lots of companies offer aftermarket upgrades for them. I have one whose only Penn factory parts are the bridge screws, yoke springs and handle screw. At 4:1 they're neither a fast nor a slow reel so they are quite versatile. And there's so many out there that they're by no means scarce and you can find them for cheap.

But I will not shy away from the very accurate assessment that I am in fact 'jigmaster-positive.'

[Gfish]

Cool. Deacon Blues; a song by Steely Dan from the '70's. A possible source for the name?. Blue Rockfish are my favorite for eating and love form large schools. Looks real hard to tell the difference without some experience.

I like the 501 and 99 size Jiggy's. The old-school post frame and single ring/side, not so much. But yeah, they don't seem to fail in the stock form too often. How about the lower geared Long Beach Live Baitcaster, the Jigmaster before they changed the gears and took away one ring from each side. Cool picture plates too. Somewheres around 3:1 gears though.