Is there still a place for multipliers in rock & surf fishing?

[DJP]

The weekend I went surf fishing with my trusty old Daiwa sl30, loaded with 0.40 awashima mono and my old L&F 13ft6 rod... what a blast it was fishing with it in the windstill conditions off the beach. Fighting the fish was also a pleasure, nice stretch in the line, no worries of hooks pulling or the drag being too tight or loose.

This got me thinking, are there still people out there that only fish with multipliers and mono?
I don't see the younger generation which grew up with high end grinders as we have now ever learning the skill of casting with a multiplier... it just takes too many years, but surely there are some applications where multipliers just can't be beaten...

 

[huntley]

I use a grinder when throwing paddle tails and some flat spoons that weave and float in the wind and only because I do not fish often enough and find these two examples very difficult to control with a multiplier.
All my other fishing is with a multiplier and mono. I have found that mono is a lot more abrasion resistant when fishing around rocks and when spinning in crowd and a lot easier to untangle when someone throws over you.
So, in my opinion anyway, there is still a definite need for multipliers and I will keep using them.
I must also mention that I very really, if ever fish with bait anymore and if I do I stick to my multipliers.
Look forward to any other views on the subject.

 

[huntley]

Apologies not really but rarely, getting old.

 

[Spool-Song]

I never got to grips with casting a multiplier with confidence and getting he distance I should be getting. But I must say I still fish mine for sharkies and other big fish, the fight is much more solid on a grinder. My 5c worth.

 

[Dr halibut hoffman]

I was a grinder guy, growing up in jo'ies..But once the finer aspects of a multiplier was explained to me and I had a casting lesson or two with a mate, and grootvis gave me a saltist so I could practice with bait off season.. And I'm sold, never looked back. I only use a grinder for carp and bass, bait fishing or light spinning. But even then I got a xmaster pro10 and a chinese saltwater baitcaster for light stuff and even fishing the bass with a mates hand me down baitcaster and its a blast. Foul hooked a big old mirror carp on the weekend, thought it was the best bass of my life on the baitcaster and light mono, it was quite the fight. Dam steenbras those things..IMO Lifes better with a multiplier. You can't get around the bad physics and ergonomics of a grinder. And braid has its advantages, but as much it has its disadvantages..And I don't even want to look at the prices, last time I needed to buy a spool of braid was 2 years back, for my small multiplier backing. Since I switched to mono and multipliers my line expenses have vanished comparatively. Joh...and the difference one little neodymium magnet in the perfect position can make. For me once I had the feel of the cast, wind knots with grinders became far more of a problem than overwinds and multipliers.

 

[ShaunOelofse]

Just my personal experience and opinion so anyone is welcome to comment - I am by no means a pro angler but it is by far my favorite hobby and I do a fair amount of research before I part with my hard earned money!

I have always fished a multiplier (mono with braid backing) and 13.7ft rod - brilliant for edibles and handles non-eds fairly well - its my go to setup for just about everything rock and Surf.

About 3 years ago I added a big pit (I think is the terminology ) filled with braid and a 15ft XH rod - looking for some extra distance, the bionic finger is a nice plus. Honestly -
I don't think the thinner braid, big pit, large eyes and extra rod length gets any more distance than my multiplier on a shorter rod - not getting technical with rod Oz weights - but yes, using the correct sinker weights and streamline baits.

To be completely honest, I think it comes down to personal preference and feel. From my personal experience I cannot say that my 1 setup out performs the other for general rock and surf - I can say the bite and fight on braid is allot more direct and gets the blood pumping a bit faster but other than both setups get the job done consistently well!

 

[Stefan001]

Yes Dirk
Multipliers all the way for big sharks, catching steenies and sliding live mullet.
When I hook that shark or fish the multiplier i know its going to be landed.
I differ from Spoolsong with regards to the braid, I always have that fear in the back of my mind that the fish may come off or get cut off.

That said I only spin with braid and find that the more direct feeling on the braid gets a better hookup on the spinner or plug.
Whats better than wading to the back bank, waiting for the gap between the waves and launching the bait and sinker into orbit with a multiplier. Its at that moment where you know you are really fishing.

 

[Schabies]

I think its very much a confidence thing. I grew up with multipliers. Started with a Penn 85 Seaboy, then progressed to the Penn Jigmasters and the Penn 49’s etc. Later on came the Daiwa’s and Shimano's, which I still use for rock and surf angling today. I had a brief fling with a grinder outfit. Bought myself a top of the range Assassin and a Saragosa. However, I just never felt comfortable fishing with it and I never achieved better casting distances or results. Also, it felt a bit like I were betraying my roots. I know there are people who achieve incredible results with grinders. In fact, I presume sales of these outfits must be dominating the market since it has even become somewhat of a struggle to find really good multiplier rods in the stores. Anyway, each to their own!

 

[Dr halibut hoffman]

Agreed on finding a multiplier rod, but in the same light the grinder rods have moved away from the super stiff springy blanks I've found and moved more towards softer parabolic curves, and the latest fashion of reel placement is right on the bottom of the rod where a multiplier would sit, and also casting with a multiplier with a k series setup from fuji is an absolute pleasure. So the grinder rods have actually gone the way of where the multiplier rods ended up, as that gives the best fishing experience and casting. So not many multiplier rods, but half the rods out there you can just remove the bionic finger and its basically a multiplier rod again with better guides than we used to buy multi rods with on as a standard. So more a win than a loss. My best casting multi rods are built on blue marlin superslim 50% composite grinder blanks, go figure..I trusted the rod builder and he was 100% correct, best casting rods I have ever cast or owned.

 

[Dr halibut hoffman]

But ja I started on grinders, fished them for 20 years..Then one day I moved over to the dark side..With confidence on a multiplier, when you get that perfect cast and effortlessly the sinker or spoon flies for the horizon and the bearings sing that sweet song..and you feather the spool and place the bait or spoon right on the mark.. You just can't get that same level of satisfaction with a grinder, it just does not require or have the same finesse. Though grinders have come a long way and even the budget ones these days are amazing pieces of engineering and they are also a pleasure to use generally..Multis though the technology reached its peak decades ago and they are such a pleasure to use as they are so refined by now. If you bring your skill level up to match the gear, and when you do, its all downhill from there..
Its sort of like the age old boogieboard vs surfboard debate..whats important is that one is in the water having fun and riding waves..But once you get proficient, you just can't ride the same level of waves on a boogieboard, and you just can't ride as well, though everyone can get in on the fun. Eventually most wave riders end up on a surfboard, though more cheap chinese boogieboards are sold every year than surfboards could ever dream of. And like most grinder fishermen who cant fish a multi, when the s#its hitting the fan and the fish are going mal, and big and powerful, like when the waves are 10 foot and barrelling down the point, the grinder brigade are more like the doormats, just getting in the way a bit. Though I have many doormat friends LOL..I spent the time and effort, to learn how to ride a surfboard and my relative reward was greater for it.
And all those years I was on the rocks trying with a grinder, when I thought I knew what was going on, I was actually getting in the way a bit, and my fishing only went on the up and up when the guys with multi's took pity on me and also saw that I was persisting and not leaving the rocks anytime soon and they weren't getting rid of me, then they took me under their wing and showed me the way...
My biggest fish on my bio/profile here, was listed in the grinder days as " the one that got away that keeps me coming back for more" and nowadays I have a bunch of PB's that are pretty decent and pretty much all of them came out on the multipliers, before that those big ones it was pretty much touch and go and most were lost..Now I get them out.If I was to have taken statistics, it would have been night and day..Rough stats that I remember of big nasty fish hooked and landed on grinder, was 15-1 lost vs landed, on the multi with mono it must be more than 1-15 lost vs landed..I get out more than 15 big ones these days before I loose one. I remember loosing 4 big fish in a row once with hooks pulling while the fish is floating in the gulley, and loosing 2k's worth of plugs that season to bail arm closing in the middle of a cast and windknots and just out of frustration packed that afternoon grinder away for a year and tried multi's until I got it..and so happy I did.

 

[SPARRABOS]

Ek gooi n kraaines met n koffie maaler... Ons kry maar ou blanks en bou multiplier| stokke as ons nie gekoop kry... Sal met n multiplier gooi tot my dood... En nylon... Ons vang Mos genoeg vis en groot vis... :lol:1

 

[Dr halibut hoffman]

Ja I learnt that fishing the waters Sparra does, for a good few years, when you fishing treacherous coasts for big fish and hard fighting fish...there is no comparing the two types of gear. The one is a LOT more forgiving on the angler, and the other is a LOT more forgiving on the fish generally..Though with the braid you can put the hurt on the fish more, thought with the braid the fish can put the hurt on you easier in the same light, the lack of stretch can be positive or negative. Bite sensitivity on braid for bass or light artlure is unmatched, but with strong fish in among the bricks, the bungee of mono is very welcome and can be greatly used to your advantage. as well mono in the rocks if you take pressure off the line, slides, braid shaves and shears..

 

[Marthin]

Braid on Multip 90% of the time.
Off the beach, .50 and .55 mono, anything requiring a cast under 75m 50lb braid on multi.

grinder setup for the lightie

Well that was this december. I still prefer 80LB braid on a strong multi with good gears and a "smooth drag" for hard fighting fish off the rocks.

 

[Dr halibut hoffman]

Ja braid plus mono topshot on multi seems to be the best for fishing, but you gotta be on your game casting..Though overwinds are not harder to get out in braid, wet the line or a little lip ice and it pulls out knots most time.

 

[Limpopoking]

Started out with a multiplier as a kid, then didn't really fish again till I was in my late 30s. Stuck with my multipliers for a while then got into Jigging and popping in my 40s and went over to grinders... After a while, I went back to multiplier for jigging... Now I'm headed back to multipliers for popping and spinning. The only difference between the early days of multipliers and now is the line. I don't put mono on anything anymore. My multis are also mostly low profile bait casters.

 

[Marthin]

Dr halibut hoffman wrote:

Ja braid plus mono topshot on multi seems to be the best for fishing, but you gotta be on your game casting..Though overwinds are not harder to get out in braid, wet the line or a little lip ice and it pulls out knots most time.

Fish old upgraded 15/30s, speedmaster gears, machined spool, "other" drag etc.
50 and 80 pound braid straight on the spool fills them just right for me. .70 to .90 leader depending on what i am trying to get into a fight with and bob's ur uncle.  .80 leader mostly for cracker on there, with a short .70 trace... if i do get a hiding either the hook is bent open as was the case december, or the trace goes, better for the fish with only 30cm of trace.
Casts fine for most places i fish even from sand i get enough distance.  When it does overwind when u are a little excited, u will need a new sinker and redo your bait.
I wont use it if you need to get to the back banks wading at Macs for example, but for everything else works just fine for me.

 

[Tackle-holic]

I prefer multipliers for bait fishing and throwing lures.
I do vary between filling with braid and mono though. (I have spare spools)
I prefer the feel, the fun and the distance advantage a well tuned multiplier gives me.
A good cast is fun in itself

 

[rofflign]

I will always fish with a multiplier, I have tried using a large grinder before but it's not for me.I think with the Galjoen season upon us I will take one of my old Polly's out of storage and go for a session this weekend.

 

[fathom87]

Old multi myself but these days fishing with grinders simply easy and effective..just leader knot that is my nemis...lost good fish again just yesterday and almost my Century Kompressor and Ultegra 14000 setup...luckily leader knot went...multi these days more casting.
Had saltiga Surf 30 out for early parts of session but switched to grinder setup...simply works especially in windy conditions.got nice cobbie out though.lovely conditions yesterday Macs

 

[willem wikkel spies]

How long is a piece of string?
Multies for sliding on mono.
grinders have their spot in the industry.
long bank shots with small pencil baits for pompano work well.

multies do last much longer, compared to grinders.