Beach Fishing With Heavy Lead Weights

Beach Casting with Heavy Weights

Good casting technique lets you switch between a wide range of fishing weight sizes. Mastering just the basics frees you up to cast even 250g with relative ease.

Being unable to cast heavier leads usually points to something amiss in the key steps of your casting technique. Fix the weak spots, especially if you struggle with anything beyond the usual 150g. Nine times out of ten with fishing styles, all that is necessary for 170g or more is to make a few small alterations to the set-up and slow the whole casting action right down.  And if you do spend all day on the shore, practicing your surf casting, make sure you are well wrapped up.

Fisheagle Flotation Suit

Beyond the 150m, mark it is essential to match surf rod, reel, and line to the rig. The focus is the rig specifically, rather than weight size alone, because for really long-range beach fishing, sea fishing baits, and even the rig's design, can make a big difference to control and distance. Ultimately, it's all about speed versus air resistance.

A light beach casting weight must leave the rod at high speed, whereas a heavy one flies more slowly but with far higher momentum to achieve the same range. Why thrash when you could enjoy relaxed cruising? Other bonuses include less bait whiplash damage and more insurance against mistakes. Below about 125m, which is more than most anglers need or will ever achieve, the emphasis should be on skill and not fishing tackle.

Choose a Beach Rod with a Sensible Action

With few exceptions, an ordinary beach rod of practical action and stiffness will throw as much lead as you like. Most casting multiplier reels or surf reels filled with 0.35mm sea fishing line or thereabouts comfortably handle 125g to 225g of lead weight, so no worries or extra expenses in that direction either.

Greys GR100S Beach Rods

Why not stick with 150g all the time as many fishermen do? Depending on where you fish, and what for, 150g may be perfect. For winter fishing, though, especially in strong winds and wild water, increasing the amount of lead makes life so much easier. You will find 200g of lead weight flies serenely, where 150g gives up the ghost by about halfway out. Sometimes it takes even more lead to get a bait far enough then hold the seabed.

The strain of casting heavyweight leads is why so many anglers avoid long Continental rods for winter beach fishing, even though they swear by them for summer work. This doesn't mean that very long rods cannot cast heavy gear; some are rated for 250g or more.

Greys GR75S Beach & Euro Rods

The weak point is the man behind the rod. Working against the massive leverage of 15ft or more, few people are strong enough to cast more than 150g to full effect. On top of this, long rods themselves are so wind-resistant that it's hard enough just swinging them against a breeze.

Manageability alone justifies having at least one ‘ordinary’ (some might say outdated) rod in the armoury, underlining the value of staying below about 13ft. The ease with which they cope with all manner of conditions guarantees their popularity for the more rugged forms of shore fishing.

Extracting the best performance from leads and lead lifts, big and small, often involves nothing more than shifting your hands.

Breakaway Impact Leads

Therefore technique plays a big part. Mastering the basics will go a long way in your goal as a long beach caster, and with a bit of practice and persistence, you should be able to cast further than you ever have before without much problem.

And if you are looking for the right beach rod or wish to go that bit heavier, don't forget that we have a massive range of beach rods available from Fishingmegastore. Come and give them a try and our friendly helpful staff will make sure you have the right tool for the job.