Casting medium to large flies and droppers - usually done on bigger rivers and stillwaters with larger, heavier rods and fly lines and therefore larger, heavier reels to match
A 66, 76 and even up to an 86 rod would work as well, even better in some cases, but I chose a 7 rod because it works well for all the plastics [and it easily fits into my travel case and car!] and I also want to use it for other lures, which I will get into later

So, This is our basic rule of thumb for how to choose the sinker size and casting leader (or main line if that's taking the force of the cast) strength for surf and shark fishing: Sinker Weight vs Mono Casting Leader Strength 0.5 oz - 4-10lb 1oz - 10-20lb 2oz - 10-30lb 3oz - 20-40lb 4oz - 30-50lb 6oz - 40-80lb 8oz+ - 60-100lb Also, its useful to remember that a frozen whole bait weighs a lot more than a fresh one - this can be the difference between a rod breaking and not (we speak from bitter experience regarding this...) Know the difference between a Casting / Abrasion Leader and Top Shot If youre fishing offshore for tuna and game species, a long wind-on topshot of fluorocarbon (or mono) line between the braid main line and rig is standard, and it performs three main tasks: 1) To have extremely low visibility underwater thanks to the refractive index of fluorocarbon being closer to that of water, or clear mono offering a degree of stealth 2) To add stretch to the rig to aid landing a fish 3) To provide good abrasion resistance against teeth, skin and structure But, if you get a top shot like this added by a tackle shop, its normally around 30-50ft long depending on the shop and stated target species

The primary lure of choice is a tandem rig with a small shad dart of varying colors on top (usually a 1/32oz or 1/16oz), trailed by a small silver or gold spoon (I prefer a 1/16oz Johnson Silver Minnow or Nungesser shad spoons) about one foot below
Soft Plastic Lures Lure selection can easily be overwhelming with so many options it can be tough to know what to bring