The penn spinnfisher rods are strong and light rods but the last time I checked I beleive the 9' was around $140. For a few extra bucks, you could start looking a St. Croix rods.

------------------
jerry@njstriper.com

It's my favorite surf rod (bait fishing) that I own...

Jerry's right, it's around $140.

I'm familiar with the Plugging opportunities that East Hampton and especially Montauk provides and I'd love to live where you live.
For bait on LI you want "at least" a 10' rod capable of throwing 4 to 8 oz of lead plus a bunker chunk. A Penn Spinfisher Rod would be pushing that limit. I personally have a 11' Penn Power Stick Spinning Rod with a Shimano Baitrunner Reel for Bait. Total cost for this combo was around $220.00. Some of the better rod manufacturers are Breakaway/All Star, Loomis, Lamiglas among others. But, my first bait rod was 10' Ugly Stick which worked fine for a few years before it broke in half. Cost of that rod was $65.00

Now, alot of guys where you live throw plugs instead of using Bait. In NJ we can get away with shorter Plugging Rods. On the flat sandy NJ Beaches where I fish, my rod of choice is a 8' St. Croix Ben Doerr with a Shimano Stradic 4000. This is totally the wrong rod/reel combo for your location.

First, are you comfortable using a Conventional? Are you afraid of getting a birds nest? My first trip to Montauk, I took my now discontinued Lamiglass XS10MC (10' Graphite 2pc. Conventional Rod) with a ABU 6500C3 Reel. I spent so much time not fishing because of birds nests (especially at night) it got really annoying. You can make your own choice.

Now I'm going to tell you that the longest, lightest 10' - 11' rod possible is the way to go. I don't know your budget for the rod/reel combo. I'd just say get the best rod for the money you can. I fish with Lamiglas Custom Spinning Rods in Montauk. I own a Custom made Ron Arra XRA 1322 11' 1 piece mated with a Mitchell Nautil 7500GV Reel. I use the Nautil because it's waterproof and I can't afford Van Staal Reels. I also have a custom 10' 1 piece GSB120-1L Graphite Spinning Surf Rod mated with a Mitchell Nautil 6500GV Reel. The off the shelf version of this rod is the XS10MS but it's a 2 piece. The 11' 1 piece rated 2 - 4 oz is the XS11MS.

I'm not bragging about my rods being custom and fish don't know the difference of what you are catching them with. But, I know that the rods I had made will give me many, many years of use.

The rated rods for the area you fish with Plugs should be between 1-4oz. Let's go back to my NJ fishing rod of Choice. The 8' St Croix I use is rated 3/4 - 2oz because we "GENERALLY" get smaller bait off our Beaches. Throwing 1 oz Bomber type Plugs are fine for here. Long Island has bigger Natural Bait. 2.5oz Poppers and shallow 2 -3oz swimmers are the plugs most often used. I'm using Montauk as an example because of some experience fishing there. The water is full of Vegetation and boulders. Sinking plugs get caught in the seaweed. 1 1/2 - 2oz Jigs are also used but retrieved quickly as not to drag on the bottom.

If you fish Montauk, invest in a pair of Korkers which are spiked shoes. Also purchase a pair of waders. Also, a good LI fishing message board can be found at Noreast.com. Look at the Alberto Knie Forum. Also stripersonline.com has a good Long Island Forum.

Good luck and have fun.

------------------
Berkeley Striper Club...
Seaside Park, NJ