If you are going to be chasing larger species from beach i would personally go a pflueger crank 12" for soaking big baits, wouldn't recommend it for flogging metals all day as its quiet heavy.

as for a reel i would go a spheros! same price range as a stradic but way more line capacity and can definately take some punishment (mine has been dropped anywhere you can think of and still doesn't miss a beat)

i also have a 10"3 starlo stick classic surf, not a bad rod at all but will have troubles getting the big baits out, use it for mainly metals/popper. (putting a stradic FJ on it soon)

hope this helps.

The combo you have is more than capable of handling a big mulloway (though the reel is suspect at best) & usually those fibreglass rods are very fogiving when it comes to throwing a big bait out. If you do want to upgrade though have a look at the Rovex Aureus 14ft 8-15kg model. I bought one as a cheapie for my young bloke as it was only $104 & matched it with a 650 spinfisher for another $99. It's actually a pretty good combo & has no problem throwing a legal size tailor out as a livie. The spinfisher isn't a light reel but it's tough as an old boot & the whole combo is actually light enough for me to hang onto for a few hours without messing with my already buggered back.

I agree with EKUl's assesment of the 10"3 Starlo Stik. Good rod for throwing lures & lighter baits around but certainly not up to throwing a big bait out. If you end up just putting a better reel on your current rod & buying a light combo you could do worse than the 10"3 or 9" Starlo matched with a 5000 Stradic.

Cheers for the feedback guys.

Do either the Spheros or 650 spinfisher come with a second spool? And for that matter am I correct in thinking that the stradic does? I'd thought a second spool was good to give me some options.

Thanks for lettting me know the current rod could handle going bigger, i don't really want to abandon that combo all together, so I may just look at keeping that in the rotation and getting lighter rod for flicking lures (which i quite like doing).

As for the reel, I was hoping, if possible to get a quality reel that can fill multiple purposes, i.e be light enough to flick lures comfortably, yet strong enough with enough capacity to fish for larger species. Is this possible or do I really need two different reels for this purpose?

Hey mate,

Don't think the Strad FJ comes with a second spool, i think you might have to buy separately.

it's always worth having a few combos on hand :)

Personally, i think the spheros is a great all rounder and have used rock/beach/boat for everything as far as lures/bait go, can stop most large fish with the 25kg drag on the 14-18000fb

Cheers

The last stradic I bought did come with a spare spool but that was about 3yrs ago now so things may well have changed. I'd call a couple of retailers to find out for sure. Don't think the Spheros has a spare spool either but again I'm not certain, the spinfisher definitely does not come with a spare. The spinfisher is pretty heavy if you want to use it for throwing lures on a lighter combo, it's more suited to bait fishing than repeat casting. I havn't used the Spheros but my mate has the 18000 & swears by it, though if you want an allround reel I think you would be better off with the 8000 size. Enough capacity & drag to stop even the biggest mulloway but still light enough to use for throwing lures.

If you want to focus on a combo for throwing lures at tailor etc then I'd look at the 9ft 5-10kg (15-35g cast weight) Starlo Classix matched with a stradic 5000fj which should come in at $300ish. If you want a rod that can cast a heavier weight & can stretch your budget a bit then go with the FWA Extreme 9ft 6-10k, 30-70g cast weight. I borrowed a mates (matched with 5000fj & 20lb braid) to use last week because everyone on here raves about them & I've been pretty impressed with it. Though it doesn't cast a 40g twisty any further than the lighter Starlo Classix as many claim it does (it's about the same), it does have lots of bottom end grunt if you really want to put some hurt on a fish. Won't be long before I add this same combo to my arsenal.

 Nothing wrong with the Stradic but if you can afford better then do it. the Spheros is ok too but I am no longer a fan of Penn despite fishing with a SS 650 for 30 years. Penn's gearing is terrible compared to Japanese reels and requires more effort. The new Penn SSV didn't improve this aspect which disappoints me. The yanks rave about it but the only redeeming feature is that it is water resistant. I'll stick with Daiwa or Shimano thanks. Here's a bit of crazy advice. A South Aussie tackle shop is selling a 2010 Certate 3000 for $350. Can you stretch budget? This is a great bargain. You may think that this is too small a small reel but it will balance with my 10' rod recommendation below. Only thing is line capacity but you have said you'll be using braid. There's not a lot of fish you really need more than 150 metres.

On the rod, while the Starlo is liked by many it didn't suit me. IMO the guides are not good quality. I bought a Starlo 9' and fished only once and the guides started to show signs of corrosion. Not good. The FWA rod has gone up in price not that long ago. These are mostly 9 foot rods and there's a Starlo 10'6" which you are looking at but it's just that little too long for my needs as I was looking for either a 9'6" or 10'. Anyway, it so happens Angler's Spot's owner is retiring and all his non Aussie stock is reduced by 50%. I bought a 10' Lemax Royal President  for less than $100. Max cast weight is supposed to be 120 gm but I wouldn't be comfortable with that. Still, it was ok casting 70gm so that I suggest is the comfortable upper limit. This rod is heavier in the butt with a light tip so catching herring on it was still a pleasure. The balance of the rod was such I was able to comfortably balance my Certate 3000 on it. I couldn't do that with Daiwa's Seajigger or ShoreJigger or NS Blackhole. Too tip heavy. According to Ben Derecki many guys have been using the Lemax at places like Steep and Quobba. If so then the rod will definitely handle tough fish. You can't get a better recommend than that.

Personally, I will get the Certate (or stick with the Stradic) and upgrade the drag washers to carbontex plus the Lemax President. At half price you can get both the 9' and 10'. Stradic and Starlo will total about $360 whereas Certate & Lemax will be about another $80 more (plus shipping) which for me is the better value. Spending an extra $100 now ensures you won't need to upgrade and waste money. Don't eat out for a month. Good luck

stradic doesnt come with one, neither does the spheros, but i did get a spheros 8000fb for $109.95 just then :) BCF having a discontinued sale.