New to surf fishing and this forum

[gary]

I am new here. First post I think I have shouted a couple of times lol. I live on the Oregon Coast of the USA we call it the left coast. I have lived here for a couple of years on a private lot in a Motorhome. I have a boat and live in Winchester Bay near Reedsport Or. On the Umpqua river which is one of the best salmon fishing rivers on the West Coast. I am trying to find something to do in the winter. I bought a cheap 15' Okuma Rod and yesterday I put a steelhead reel on it and tried my first 3 casts yesterday The first two went too high and the third one was a heck of a cast I just tied a 3 oz pyramid weight on the end of the line. I had only about 100 yards on it. I stripped all the line off and had nothing left on that cast. I never casted that far in my life.  I have found my calling for winter now. Unfortunately the pole has a long bottom end below the reel seat. Hopefully it will work until I can find something better also the rod is fiberglass and very heavy. Today I purchased a used Alvey 700 E on e-bay today and will have it in about a week. Hopefully it will still work with the long bottom end til I get used to the reel. We have a Jetty and bar where I live with miles of sand dunes and beach. Most surf fishers around this area( Only seen a few) fish for Red Tail surf Perch. However we have had a large run of Striped Bass in the past and a smaller run now up the river. So I might try to catch some of those monsters this winter before they get into the river. I intend to fish the beach, the Jetty and rocky shoreline near here. We also have rock bass sea trout, striped perch salmon silvers and chinook Ling Cod and Cabazon. This is a long enough first post and may not be in the right thread but I will search this forum and glean all I can.

[Mauricio]

Hi, Gary. Nice to read your first post, what I hope will be the first of a lot, he he he.   Seems you lives in a great fish area, what ever is a bless for any reel and rod sportsman. Alvey Reels gives its best with short bottom end rods, but is possible use with the longs, if have few options to pick. I did a look at Google, and all the fish you related is possible to caught with an Alvey, sometimes with advantage over other tackle.

Hope you fish a lot this winter, and show us your adventures and trips with much pics and posts, as well as your impressions using Alvey tackle. If you have some questions, we are here to help you in what is possible. You can count too with the oficial Alvey Australia site, and Alvey USA as well.

[GeneB]

Welcome Gary and, the perfect place to post. Sound like you will have a smorgasbord of fishing to choose from. When I got my first Alvey reel, I had a surf rod with a long butt grip. I removed some of the butt grip and slipped a new reel seat up from the bottom, replacing the remaining 6 - 8 inches of butt grip. You might give that a try.

[gary]

Hi Gene
The 15' Okuma pole I bought is huge I had a pvc spike for the beach and the but of this pole will not fit inside of it. It is fiberglass and is huge and heavy. I only paid 35 dollars for it so I might cut it down.I think it has a rubber plug on both ends of each section so I might be able to cut off a foot or so and break the short piece to get the rubber plug out and reglue it inside the shortened butt. It is still going to be a bait only pole because of the weight and I bought a 700 E reel. I intend to use it mostly on the Jetty because I think I can sit on top of the Jetty rocks and drop it straight down in the rocks at the water or close where the rock bass and ling cod are. The Jetty is dangerous especially if I have to climb down the side on the slippery mossy rocks to get the fish out of them. I think I will be able to lift them out of the water quickly before they escape to safety in the rocks. This pole is too heavy to cast plastic baits or spinners it would wear me out. I think while fishing on the beach in the surf I will be able to stay further away from the surf to cast. 
I bought the Alvey because I went on the Jetty with a 3 oz sinker and a steelhead spinning rod with 300 feet of line and spooled it all out in the first cast. I have never casted that far in my life. I am pumped now. lol.

[Last]

 HI Gary ,      I  have one of thoes heavy suckers lol,    15 ft   Okuma  rods to.   yep its  heavy   and built for the  90 okuma  reels,   like u said  cast really well with a  eggg beater ,      I  have a  alvey 650 with the  UK  line release on mine so works great with heavy line and a 6 oz  sinker   for cat fishing   but  ya could  cut  off  the butt down to bout   8" handle and still  have over a 13 ft rod     or  just  tape over the okuma  reel seat  and   plug the end with a wood dowel   and  add a  new  reel seat  from   Mudhole     that  would  put your  fold down stripper  guide  at a better  distance  for  a   alvey  reel    you got  several  things  going  with  the   15 ft  okuma      let us know  how you rig it     ttyl  Last.  

[GeneB]

Not recommended but, this gent from Texas doesn't mind the rod. Probably not casting far. Our Red Drum (or Redfish).