When I first started surf fishing in the 1980s, conventional tackle was far more common than it is today. I had barely gotten comfortable with a surf rod and spinning reel when my dad handed me a modified Abu Garcia 6000 mounted on a 9-foot rod and pointed me toward the surf. His advice was simple: Cast the bucktail he had tied on the end and keep casting until I stopped getting bird’s nests.
It was a trial-by-fire mentality, and it’s a wonder I didn’t give up on surf fishing right then and there.
But that’s how my dad taught me most things in life.
Eventually, I became good enough with conventional tackle that it became a regular part of my surf fishing arsenal, not just something I used when soaking bait. I plugged with it, and for many years nearly all of my eel fishing was done with a revolving-spool reel.
Over the years, I owned a pile of reels from PENN, Shimano, Daiwa and, of course, Abu Garcia. I fished reels with and without levelwinds, as well as models that came with magnets pre-installed and others that I modified myself.
While I loved my old 145 Squidders, Abu Garcia was where I landed most of the time. Its reels were among the most forgiving in the surf environment, and with a few modifications, they could almost be considered “good” at what I wanted them to do.
But somewhere along the line—perhaps when the wetsuit became more commonplace in my surf-fishing attire—the conventional reel got relegated to spot-specific applications. The simple design of a revolving-spool reel simply does not lend itself to being submerged or fished underwater. I remember having several lengthy conversations with the crew at Van Staal when they were still based in Connecticut about the potential for a waterproof conventional reel. To the best of my knowledge, those discussions never went any further.
And the wetsuit may also explain why I see so few other anglers opting for conventional gear these days. Aside from a few chunking purists who fish the open beach and several dinosaurs like myself who still prefer to jig deep-water outflows or the Cape Cod Canal with a revolving-spool reel, the odds are pretty good that the conventional surfcaster will eventually go the way of the dodo bird.
If you want some inspiration to dust off the old fiberglass Lami and Squidder spooled with pink Ande or braided dacron, give the 2-part interview that we did with legendary surfcaster, Frank Daignault.
* Lead photo by Frank Daignault.
Discover more from
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Where as I never adapted conventional reels in the surf. The caster that really motivated me to take up surf casting would tell tail of fishing conventional. There were tails and technique that don’t apply well to spinning. Although I’ve tried to adapt them they don’t work the same. And is on my todo list to learn this forgotten art.
I learned surf fishing using a penn squidder. I still use a conv. Reel today. I love throwing big wood in the spring using an old ambassadeur. I think that the lower retrieve ratio helps with big swimmers.
I love getting in tune with a big swimmer slowly cranking the handle of a conventional reel..