At the end of June, I bought two Quantum Boca set-ups, a 40pts and a Boca Medium action rod and a Medium Heavy. They are great eeling and casting rods and reels, a huge upgrade from the 6500SS' and much heavier/bulkier/longer-butted boat spinning rods I had gotten so used to over the years, the reels are smooth, cast further and the rods are so whip-light, so perfect for boat-fishing. Anyhow, on my way out the other night, I had both rods in the white plastic vertical rodholders, not gunwale rodholders, and after about a 12 mile run, I pull the rod/reel out and the bail on the reel is busted, it broke right at the junction where the bail wire meets the line roller. After all the reading of the brochure/owners manual, and how it speaks of how the bail is Nickel-Titanium and is warranteed for life, it still broke. I have had 6 Penn 6500SS' and while I have had two break, they did not break within the first month!

Quantum has a 24 hour guarantee, that if something breaks, they will fix or repair within 24 hours, so I boxed the whole reel up and sent it to Okla-Homa, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, ( I can't get Steve Martin out of my head from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels when Oklahoma comes up, sorry.)

I got the reel back yesterday, a brand new reel!, along with another reel bag, the reel tool and a new handle as I kept it all expecting them to put a new bail on the reel and send it back to me. So for the inconvenience of having to wait over a week due to shipping, I sent it 2-3 day priority and they sent it back UPS ground=slow, I got a brand new reel and now have an extra reel bag, tool and handle for my troubles, not too bad I'd have to say.

It has been hot, this weekend will cool off although not really enough to do a thing to the water temps. I will for sure be going out at night to stalk the big-uns and will be either surfing behind the boat during the day or getting some fluke/scup/seabass in the deep, cooler water and the rips, and getting the bluefish to pull on my line whenever I get the chance, I'm equal opportunity.

do you work bassy :)

I do work, I'm a M-F 9-5 guy and play on the weekends. I have time during the day to post and think, and I can type as fast as I think so the time I spent in the basement of the Junior High School in 7th grade did pay off, all the fff, ddd, sss, aaa really worked out, as here I/we are in the internet age and I can type my little heart away, so hopefully that covers that. And I only really get to fish on the weekends even though I got to fish last Tuesday night with a buddy out of the Merrimack and got to get into 2 hours worth of bluefish catching, some on here despise catching the things, but I love catching anything, anything at all, and the blues give nice fights on very light tackle, so that was good, and I was out Saturday and again this past Monday hooking/releasing sub-keepers and one keeper. Fishing in the daytime for bass is tough for me, I couldn't catch keeper fish in the daytime if my life depended on it, but at night it is a whole different story/game. So I work, I play, and I post, and the posting doesn't take long at all when the fingers can fly.

Spooled up my reels with new Ande Tournament 16lb test, it has been the 3rd time I've changed the line out in a month due to the high volume of fish caught on the lines, bluefish and bass. And I know that bluefish stress the line out from all the running against the drag they do, and all it takes is one or two bass over, say, 33 inches to stress the line out, at least that is my feeling. For the price of line, I can afford to make sure I can trust that my line will hold when I'm trying or going to turn that fishes head away from the rockpiles and into clear/open water where it can run all it wants and not cut me off on a rock(s). Oh well, thanks for asking. And for that, another goofy release picture, fish in the daytime, cools me off just looking at the water, ahhhhhhhhhh.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a184/thundra04struck/benlandingakeeper7-31-06002.jpg

haha, i agree... good to see you have your life vest on too ;)

im a 9 to 5 guy as well but am fortunate enough to be able to get in the water by 5:30 on the weekdays if the weather warrants a trip. still not all that comfortable fishing too much after dark so during the weekends its early early early.

home keys my friend.... home keys.

Almost NEVER without a jacket on. I can swim good, maybe even great, but when that water is cold/cool, and who knows what might happen, I want the Coast Guard to at least find my body, ha! Plus, I read all the time about guys, Charter Captains who drown when the boat goes down, because, get this, they can't swim!, but they don't wear their life jackets. Makes no sense as automatic inflatables are not that much money. It is like when my girl was surprised when I bought a VHF, and I asked her what her life was worth when the fixed VHF doesn't work and the cell phone has no signal/got wet, really?, what is ones life worth?

To be able to go fishing after work, what beats that, especially with the weather we've been having. Even not catching anything, just to be able to get out and see this . . . what a great life.

I find that hanging out around a good fish-laden spot from just before sunset and staying there until it gets dark out to learn the drift and where the danger areas are really helps, but then one has to be comfortable running in the dark and/or be aided by a GPS. For years I had no GPS nor did anyone else, we had to rely on just knowing the lit bouys or lights on shore to get us home, now I can go out and know that even in fog at night, I'm going to get home, so it takes some practice and getting used to. Then again, those with bad night-vision might never feel good about going out at night. I love it because there is no-one out at night and the fish filled spots are all mine. Sharing is sharing but the less riff-raff out there the better, right?

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a184/thundra04struck/Sunset7-31-06004.jpg

Bassy,

Enjoy your posts and photos........Thank you.


Not that I do this as I should but an old tooth brush and light soapy water helps once a week at all junctures on the exterior of reels. Where it broke was there a white salty build up?

Could be just crap metal and too many flexes but you never know.

Mike

Bassy:

i am strongly considering a CABO for my surf rods and looking at the 50. Seems very well built, but a little heavy at 24 oz.

Are you pleased with the reels ?

The reels are good. They are, I would say, mid-low priced reels. As one may already know, there are reels that go $39.99 all the way up to $500-600. I walked into the local B&T, not knowing anything about the smaller reels or rods and told my guy what I was looking for and what I had. I wanted a lighter, more flexible rod/fast tip and a short butt, and a nice smooth reel. The 6500 was and is big, it is a super tough reel for the boat and anything else really. It reminds me of a big Chevy 302/350 engine, it gets the job done, is reliable but isn't all that refined. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a reel so anything in the $100-150 range was good by me. The tackle guy pulled out the reel that he said I needed. As soon as the reel came out of the box he put his finger against the bail and pushed, the bail wire flexed and bent but didn't break. He asked, "Now how many times have you broken your bail?, and how much do they cost?" and I said I had broken some bails, not many, but they cost $25, and with the bail on the Boca, and on the Cabo, they were warrented for life and they shouldn't break in the first place. So for the money, around $120 new, and it comes with a reel tool, reel bag and one gets points from Quantum to get a free shirt or other gear online, I got two long sleeve t-shirts from buying two set-ups, plus the lifetime warranty on the bail along with the lifetime warranty on blank breakage on the rods, I thought it was and is a good deal.

I think about getting a Cabo in the 40-size, the idea of the drilled out handle and spool along with some more ball bearings to smoothen things out some more is very appealing for about $50-60 more, and I'd get a 7'6" rod, medium-medium-light for more sporting action, but I'm happy with what I have now. The perspective for me is that when I started fishing, my dad, notoriously cheap, or should I say, thrifty, would buy those cheap Caldor/Bradlees/Zayre/Ames (remember those stores?) combos, and while fishing, you would be reeling up a fish and the reel would seize, or something would go and the reel wouldn't cast or something, always something, would bust on the things. His rationale, and I'm sure we all know or have a father/mother who thinks the same way, is that, when it breaks, you just buy a new one. My thinking is this, 'Who wants to be out fishing, trying to have a good time or having a good time and then the reel conks out, even worse, when one has a fish on the line.' What good is that?, and it happened many times until I decided to get good reels and rods once and for all.

So I'd keep my eyes open, looking at all the boats that had their reels/rods out on display in the rodholders/rocketlaunchers and I'd see the gold Penn's all over the place, so I decided on getting a set of Penn's, the 6500SS', then I got another set with lighter rods, and another set with even lighter rods. Then it seemed that almost overnight, the manufacturers all got on the inshore tackle scene and now have reels that are made for big fish and can handle saltwater much better than before, so I'm happy with the relatively cheap Boca's. My buddy got a saltwater Stradic, about $160-180 or so and he likes it, it is a nice reel with a faster retrieve, something like 5.7 vs the 5.2 of the Boca. I'd like to someday get a reel that is the best, upwards of $500 or so, but for the money, I get a good reel and save the money for other things. And with the weight question, coming from lead-heavy 6500SS', the Boca 40's are like half the weight so I can't compare.

And thanks for the replies guys, this site is fantastic, it has been for as long as I've been checking out striped bass sites. Just to be given the chance to air out my thoughts I think is a privilege. It feels good to contribute and entertain.

Quantum is the new Shimano when it comes to custmer service. Shimano has fallen behind, at the moment.

Their turnaround isn't what it used to be...

Cabo > Boca

Cabo's are sweet reels for the money, I have a 40 and a 50, love em.

Cabos are sweet, I picked up the 40 this season and it is awesome, the only problem is that I have not been using it as much as I figured, so need to get some decent fish on it ... soon ... it can handle them.