Rods and reels

[ictalurus]

My favorite reel is the Shimano Stradic 2500, which is a nice light weight reel with a great drag system. Mine are all 4 yrs old or older so I expect to have to replace them in the next year or two. I'm not willing to pay the asking price for the newest model Stradic so I'd be interested in hearing what others would recommend in that reel category.

I've been curious about the bionic blades. I like that they made the reel seats more open now, but I haven't actually tried one.

Don't dump your old Stradics. Send them back to Shimano for a cleaning, and they might offer to update your reels to the current model for a little over the cost of the cleaning. I did that with an old Sahara I bought on eBay for $25. After abusing it for two years, I sent it in to be cleaned, and they sent me a new one for $10 added to the $25 cleaning fee. That made me a big Shimano fan because I ended up with an $80 reel for $60 total after using it for two years.

[MetroMan]

6'6", & 7' rods work well for me. The smaller one is a "berkley lightning rod", used for regular bottom fishing and for flinging small lures. The 7 footer is an ugly stik striper rod that I got from redfish12. I use that one when I target bigger fish. I've yet to land a decent fish on it, so I have no idea how it really fares.

I want to get one more rod for the yak...a carrot stick or something equivalent.

As for reels, okuma avengers. Ranging in size...abf30, 40, & 50. Can't beat em for the price.

[surfdog]

ive been using a shimano 6'6" med fast with an okuma advenger abf with 10# fireline crystal for top water and lures and a quantum tenacity IM7 7' med fast with a penn LL 4000 with 14 # FLC for bottom fishing. also use heavier 7' med hvy rods rated to 30 and 40# line in the spring and fall when going after large specimens

[Memory Maker]

Redfish .......... noticed you traded to a Hobie ........... but you're right ....... there are better yaks for the surf but who around here launches from the surf .....

South American fiberglass or Kevlar are amazing ......but I haven't seen one around here yet ...... would love to see one and try it out ..... might be my next one ........

[DOGFISH]

Redfish .......... noticed you traded to a Hobie ........... but you're right ....... there are better yaks for the surf but who around here launches from the surf .....

South American fiberglass or Kevlar are amazing ......but I haven't seen one around here yet ...... would love to see one and try it out ..... might be my next one ........

I know, I was looking at the Kaskasi (spell ?). That looks nice. I have had one back surgery. I have often wondered how the peddle motion of a Hobie would affect my back. Seems like alot of motion right in the lower back area.

[mmanolis2001]

Put me on the test drive list if a Kaskazi Dorado II appears mysteriously at a dealer around here. Those are very nice kayaks.

[Redfish12]

Those things are sweet!!! Kanvery worked a deal with a shop in Florida to sell them up here but no one was interested last year. Maybe you can talk him into it again this year?

[mmanolis2001]

Those things are sweet!!! Kanvery worked a deal with a shop in Florida to sell them up here but no one was interested last year. Maybe you can talk him into it again this year?

Would that be VentureSport, Inc? i was just browsing there site

If i had $2000 burning a hole in my pocket i would jump on one. I have been drooling over these for some time now. I love the videos of the crazy Cape town boy's launching these in the nasty african surf. They got some skills over there.

[Pinch]

Just bid on a abu garcia 6601 LH reel on ebay and won for $35 anyone know anything about them?

[ronaultmtd]

Classic round reel- old school, higher line capacity than the 5500. Retail is $120

[Redfish12]

C3? Nice snag, they are great all around reels. I can service it for you, I'm familiar with Abu's.

[Pinch]

Yes its s 6601c3 I think ill look at the picture again. This will probably become my drum reel

[MetroMan]

Put me on the test drive list if a Kaskazi Dorado II appears mysteriously at a dealer around here. Those are very nice kayaks.

That is one sexy kayak.

[kanvery]

The dealer I was working with was a private dealer, importer/exporter and if anyone was serious I may still be able to work something out. I can try to get one up here in the next couple of months. Again, if anyone is really serious.

[jsquare]

Yes its s 6601c3 I think ill look at the picture again. This will probably become my drum reel

The 6500 series abu's are nice and they won't break the bank. The actual Made in Sweden ones (as opposed to the wal-mart ones) are pretty darn good reels for their price point and popular for everything from catfishers to trollers to bottomfishers.

I've use a 6500 c3 for everything from chunking in the bay to bottom fishing from party boats. Would recomend a power handle and drag upgrade (check out smoothdrag, i think).