>>593264they sure do, it helps the fish to not swallow the hook. Gut hooking can be avoided with circle hooks. A lot of states such as mine make it mandatory to use circle hooks when fishing with any type of bait.
There are exceptions though for using streamer bait on bucktails, I use pork rinds and gulp when casting with bucktails.
>>593261I'll post some photos.
Basically my go to setup is a
1. Shimano Stradic 6000FJ with 50lbs powerpro, on a 11ft St Croix Triumph Surf Rod [cork handle]
2. Shimano Baitrunner 6000oc with 50lbs powerpro, on a 12ft Okuma Cedros Surf Rod
I use Berkley 40lbs Trilene for my leaders
I also use a Mitchel SportFisher 6100 lined with 100lbs berkley big game for shark fishing [classic reel absolutely love it]
I don't keep the reels on the rods, as I switch them out and reconfigure them based on where I'm fishing, and what I'm fishing for. I think the MSRP is a bit cheaper than when I bought them now, but totally worth the investment. My girlfriend usually uses the okuma rod and baitrunner when we fish as she likes to liveline mackerel and pollack, as well as fish with various types of bait, it's also a good setup for learning to surf cast with. [the reason the baitrunner has the right handed configuration]
For freshwater I use a Shimano Solstace 2500fi with 10lbs monofil on a Rhino Glow Tip rod [my walmart kit] I absolutely love this kit I've beat up a few 26+in stripers on it and it is absolute blast to catch american shad with. I paid maybe 60 bucks for this rod/reel combo. I also use this for sabiki when I'm fishing for mackerel, and it's handled it's fair share of "full trees" [pulling an entire sabiki of mackerel out]
When I fish freshwater my girlfriend usually uses it as I don't really use spinning reels anymore, I strictly fish with a fly rod now for freshwater, no matter what I'm fishing for. if we are using the canoe I will troll with the stradic on the triumph surf 8' tip I have.
