The Newbie's Setup

I have, time and again, noticed on various forums that there is a constant stream of new anglers who look forward to fishing offshore but are not aware of what setups to use. Hence, being the very nice person I am, I decided, with my limited knowledge, to help out by making a newbie shopping check list!

1) Rod : For local waters, a PE 3~5 rod would suffice, be mindful to pick a shorter rod though, not all boats have enough space for you to cast (you don't need to, anyway), so a 5"2 or 5"8 would be more than enough.

Please note that I swear by spinning reels, hence all my examples are based on spinning tackle sets.

Examples:
Daiwa Monster Mesh (Jig rod)
Shimano JigWreX (Jig rod)
Shino Monster GT
Shakespeare UglyStik

2) Reel: a 4000 to 5000, depending on your preference, there is no right or wrong reel size. I personally prefer a 4500 for local waters while my dear Da Jie likes bigger spool size to spool more line into.

Examples:
Daiwa Crossfire 4000
Shimano Sienna 4000FB
Freams 4500 J
Shimano Stella 5000

3) Line: You can't escape it, braided line is the way to go, for starters, since you have more chances in "Sangkot", pick something fairly reasonably priced. For local waters, 30lb is a good weight.

4) Leader: FC leaders. Period. Enough said. You might want something cheap, but in my opinion, you already paid so much for the tackle and trip, why strive so hard to save that $10~$20 where it makes a difference?

I wouldn't go into swivels and hooks etc since it's pretty much down to your personal preference, some people I know like to go into over-sized swivels and such. It's really pretty optional from here on.

For a typical set up, please refer to my previous post.