the bad news is a decent popping rod will cost you your whole budget but on the flip side if your not going to be using it all the time then there should be heaps of cheaper options around that will do. as for the reel i've used a stock spheros jigging and got some horse sambos on it no dramas so it shouldnt really be a problem unless you want something with a bit more drag pressure for around the reefs. theres quite a few cheaper reels around now with 20-30kg of drag. I just got an okuma salina 2 to try and so far has worked good on sambos up to 15kg, they have 30kg drag and wont break the bank but its only early days for that reel so time will tell.

Get yourself a Daiwa Saltist 4500 and put it on a Catalina Pe5 7'6 rod.

For ~$650 great value.

a Shimano Spheros or Saragosa in the 8000 range on a Shimano T-Curve King Mack should give you a chance of stopping the smaller ones, if you want to have a shot at the larger models try a Spheros or Saragosa 14000-18000 with a Shimano Bluewater 15-24kg or even the T-Curve GT Special. Either combo will see you come in under budget.

"how heavy" do you want this outfit to be? Obvious choice with your budget for a "GT" outfit is a saragosa and a GT special. It'll be tight but probably doable.

A lot of the time we encountered spangos and goldies in the shallows. I was using 2-5kg stick with a 4000 twinpower running 20 or 30lb. That was ample (even overkill somewhat) for all but a couple of freight trains goldies who knew the score and where to cut your line with relative ease. I reckon a "bream" outfit running 10 - 15lb would be fine.

If you're not specifically targeting the bigger fish then I reckon Huggy is on the money. Something around the 8ft mark and a 4000 size reel (the Twin Power 4000 is a bit small for an 8fter) would be sweet. I used the 8ft Lemax Black Rose up there and it's a great rod for flicking poppers around and has plenty of grunt in the bottom end for any larger fish you get onto.

If you go heavy and you like the T-Curve option have a look at the Lemax FerariStik in the similar size (to the T-Curve) - reliable heavy duty rods with a light price tag which will leave you more $$ for a reel!

Craggles,

I've got a few suggestions and stock plenty of stuff that would suit!

Give me a call at the shop (if ya want that is) so i can ask more questions before suggesting, that budget will buy ya something very nice indeed!

I'm going up next month but will be booking another trip again around May......good time to be up there. Sounds like half of FW & my customers will be up there at the same time

I have a t curve jig spin 200 with a saragosa 18000. does the job well and is in your budget and good all rounder.

Just a thought.
Ted