1.) Daiwa Samurai braid on my VS 250

2.) Local Hooker custom 1 pc. rod from Goose Hummock

3.) GLoomis IMX 10'6 Surf Series

4.) Daiwa Saltist 4500 w/ Samurai braid

:rotf2:

Ditto:uhuh:

Jerry Brown solid braid:kewl:

Shimano Power Aero Albrid:kewl:

Daiwa Saltist 20H conventional reel. Not really new this year. I wanted to give it two seasons before I talked about it.

I decided not to maintain this reel, one drop of of oil on each spool bearing and one on the handle knob every month, that's it.

After almost two years, something finally started to go wrong, the clutch lever got stiff. I opened it up and found that there was some salt crap built up in the guts of the right sideplate. The backup (Abu style) antireverse was also stuck with crap. A good cleaning and relube made it like new again. Since the inside of the left side was sparkly clean, I assume the salt crud snuck in through the drainage holes in the bottom of the right side. This winter, I'll take it apart again and use silicone to seal these weep holes.

After using/repairing Abu level winds for years, it is a delight to just use a reel and not worry about it. The drag is sweet, strong and smooth, the reel casts very well and is comfortable in the hands.
What more could you ask for?

I never had a non levelwind Abu and nearly all the problems I had with those reels was with the pawls and worms and gears relating to the level wind function

Rods:

Shimano Terez: I was really taken away with the strength and back bone of these rods. More of a bait rod with its soft tip they can easily handle tuna to 300lbs. The colors are a little funky, but they do grow on you.

G Loomis IMX Surf: I took the 1325 11' model which is rated for 3/4-5oz. Like most loomis blanks this rod cast metal and bucktails a country mile. My only issues were I wish the rod was a little faster action and the bulky fore grip. The adjustable reel seat is pretty cool and the new k guides are awesome...everyone thinks there bent. I'm liking this rod a lot as i can both jig and plug with it. This is a two piece which I don't mind, but its price might be hard for some to jump on as I think they retail for $555

REELS:

Shimano Trinidad: I tried out the newer model which is a better and much sharper looking reel then the already great older one. I think like the sw this will be its last change as the reel is perfect.

Shimano Tallica ll: I am in love with this conventional reel. It is small enough to cast and fit in your hand tho this real is a two speed and equivalent to a 50. Talk about using the same reel for anything from sea bass to tuna...I love it

Shimano Bait runner: Now this is a real that has always performed great for me and never thought it needed any change. But what they did with it has brought it to another level. These much smoother slimmed out versions can even be used as a plugging reel if someone chose too.

Plugs:

Big Fish Double shot: What a pencil for where I fish. I took a lot of big fish this year on this one. It cast a mile and even tho it sinks like a rock it effortlessly comes to the top, even in almost slack water.

Left hook sm canal pencil: This little missile can reach places you never thought of. Even on a 1209 with 65lb braid. This pencil was perfect this summer as it was the perfect size with all the tinkers around.

Shimano waxwing: I tried the jr and at 1.5 oz this subsurface swimming jig cast pretty good. The best part was it seemed to really get bit. The negative side of it is that the hook up ratio can be tuff. I replaced the double hooks with a 6/0 vmc siwashi which help a lot. Anything else took away from its action

Allan's new pintail: Even tho it doesn't get as much attention as other rubber baits. This has got to be hands down the best top water rubber i've used. The new pintails are amazing and have some any options of rigging that they find a nitch in every application. Still a must have in my bag

Storm Deep shad: Kick @ss smaller shad. The hook seems to be a bit tight but a old timer told me to bend it of set and now it kicks @ss
Terminal:

Tactical clips: After dropping a pig last year on a breakaway. I vowed never to use another one. So this year I tried the 120lb tacticals which are just a little bigger then the 80lb BA. These clips are great. They can take a 9" shad with ease and will not give out. A big winner for me and hands down the best clip on the market in my book

Power Pro Hollowcore ace: I like this new braid off shore, but am still curious as to if it will perform on the surf. Being hollow I feel like it will twist on a spinning reel after many long cast.

As elite bags and belt: I love the bullet proof materials and big tubes on the bags and the belt keeps its spine after many days on and in the water. The Cobra was a great up grade on the most popular of the bags, and has some great added features like its extra pockets and spool dispencer...I really loved this bag

yuppie.

This being my first year serious fishing most stuff is new to me. I agree completely with M&D Canal pencils, these thing outcast anything and pull fish from beyond the middle of the ditch. When fish are a bit closer Big Fish Prey and Danny are almost unfair to fish. I also got a Saltiga 4500 a few weeks ago. Only have a few fish on that so far the biggest being a very big blue fish that didn't stand a chance against that reel. It cast's 50# power pro forever, great reel.

Northbar bottle darter. Most of my best fish fell to it.

tldbsg single foot guides for my 1205. It is like not having guides. Rod casts a mile and weighs almost nothing with my new to me this year Saltiga 4500z on it. If you ever fished a stock 1205 or one with typical guides, it is like a completely different rod. Held up to tossing 5 oz jigs and fish up to 30lb class in current.

Sebile floating stick shadd. Got it this fall, fished one outing. Caught one fish. On the way home my buddy stopped and bought "one of those expensive lures that catches bluefish."

You're confusing the ZeeBaas with the Van Staal. The VS is for the yuppie chardonnay and brie crowd. It lets everybody know that not only are you an expert angler, you're a style maven as well. The ZB is more of a blue collar reel for guys who fish with beat up plugs and wear dirty sweatshirts.:grins:

That was last year's new equipment, for me. I found that while it's great for plugging, it doesn't have enough abrasion resistance for jigging, and it undertests. The 55# braid broke before my 40# mono leader on several occasions, causing me to lose too much line. That kind of did away with the extra distance I was getting over Big Game braid. :(

I'm not going to run a 30# mono leader for jigging. :hs:

Ahh, I get it, also known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act tax rebate reel.

I bought a Quantum Cabo 40 midway thru the season as my every day spinning reel and this thing is awesome.

I still like my assortment of Okuma Epixor and Coronado reels but those are now for my sons and guests, I will keep the Cabo to myself!

Jerry Brown is still cheaper. (blue and yellow are stiffer than the white too)
Won't even consider it until Streamline tests its ABS.

Some new lines I've been using are working out well.

I was using diawa boat braid. It's a color change solid line that is very smooth. It tests close or under it's rating.

Moved to hollow core to using splicing over knots. The JB hollow 60 white is fantastic to cast and test well over that. It's more difficult to splice but if you splice a piece of 80 on the end for loops you only have to splice the 60.

Also trying some tuf-line hollow color change line which seems to be a nice line also but haven't used it much yet.

VS 200, love it. But should have gotten the 250. The price was right.

Diawa SP minnow. I haven't caught on it yet but ive got confidence in it already.

Sebiles, yeah they are like crack when the fish are in.

AS Elite belt, now that is a surf belt. IT gets nice and tight and you can hang a kitchen sink off of it.

AS Cobra bag. Its a damn good bag. I havent gotten a hook stuck in it yet. Good closure and lots of storage. The side pockets. One of them holds a pill bottle with swivels etc, the other fits a water bottle nicely.

Princeton Tec Remix headlamp. Great light. The white is bright and you dont have to cycle thru the white to get to the red. Its holds a charge for quite a while, but i did have to knock it around a couple of times to get it started.

11' Lami SS one piece. I really like this rod. Its great for plugs as small as an AH stubby and works up to around 3.5 oz. nice and parobolic for throwing eels.

GOOD:
shankas 14" rubber! big thumbs up
intova torch! small, waterproof, affordable. huge thumbs up
GRS slims! :btu:
CSW907 seeker! bomb proof rod! a new favorite.
commando bag! roomy, great quality and very well made. great guy to boot!

BAD:
samurai braid 50lb - many wind knots

Tallica 20 two speed, multi-species, the berries !
Shimano sustain 8000 nice and smooth.
Sebilles, hate to pay it they work.
Samurai braid, love the stuff.
Small salty needles.:uhuh:
Tactical clips.:kewl:
New stand up tuna stick with abalone wrap, very pretty, yet to hook up on it
St croix 9 foot legend. good and bad.

What are you if you own both a ZB and a VS?

Lucky
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

If I was lucky Eb I would have beaten my PB this year, Oh wait you have to fish to do that never mind

I got that new Aqua Skins belt this year too, and I love it. Great investment, it should last me a long time.

My canal bike (Bikes:rotf2:) were the best new equipment I used this season! Nice being so mobile!!:uhuh:

And likely single :rotf2:

Your either a guy who has too much disposable income or one who can't make up his mind.:)

I tried Tuff-Line braid this year.

Good - Absolutely no wind knots.

Bad - It has a covering over it that will build up at the roller bearing when it starts to wear down. Not a horrible thing to know that your line is tiring out I guess, but it was a little annoying.

Caught some nice fish on it and it cast well.

:uhuh::uhuh:

accurate boss 270 from charkbait at 200 bucks. without a doubt the finest reel I've used. maintenance free all season. silky smooth drag with plenty of capability, not bulky big large enough not to get lost in my hands. downs: if you love a lever drag for its adjustibility thru-out the range, this one is not it. took a bit getting used to engaging the lever drag after the hit because it's tucked in close to the frame and the handle is pretty large.

Seeker clb708 blank, acid wrapped, using the Al Goldberg recipe. very nice live bait rod. Far from state of the art but a great tool.

the best: JAWS ji7601 rod blank. Acid wrapped, bottom fish killing machine. so sensitive and powerful for a 10-20 pound blank. super medium action bending down into the reel seat on the big tog, fluke, sea bass. if I did not have so many damn rods already, i would buy a new 6' light 12-30, 7' 15-40, and 7 1/2' 30-60

put a full season on my ZB-27 (1st gen) that i got in the fall of last year. Im more impressed with it now after more time. amazing. smooth, consistent drag with never a stutter - from small to high 30's fish.... worry free after much swimmng , banging, dropping, etc... i dont care where they build them, blah blah, whatever else - for the kind of fishing i like to do - it does it very well and has needed no babying.

Afterhours needles - great build and superior finish..... for some reason I had not used any of Don's needles over the years - but this year they outfished every other needle in my bag by a wide margin, in many different areas and conditions.... super durable finish.

Sebile stick shad I was as skeptical as everyone else - but had nights/mornings at the canal when nothing else was inducing hits, but the sebile was a fish almost every cast. undeniably expensive, annoying to have to change hardware, but if you were to rate it by " number of fish hooked per number of casts factoring in price" it was still probably the most efficient lure i threw.

Samurai braid i know others have found it to not hold up well to abrasion while jigging, but i have not experienced that ( i dont fish the canal as much as other places) - and i love this line for plugging.


St. Croix Legend 10.5 foot, 2-6 oz amazed by this "do it all" rod so far. have yet to put alot of time or a good fish on it yet, but it makes me a much better caster than i really am, is extremely light and responsive. a pleasure to throw all night.

bite-sized Snickers the perfect thing to stick in a PFD pocket or plug bag pocket. wrapper stays water proof, just the thing for some fast delicious calories in the middle of the night. a pick-me-up when fishing is demoralizingly slow....

New to me this year:

NB plastic: these things work
Sharp Eye swimmers: these things also work
Orvis Mirage flourocarbon: I love this stuff, so easy to tie a good knot.
Hyperflex Flow 4/3 wetsuit: very comforatable and was warm enough up until last weekend (SAT night I froze).

Korker torrents: so-so. They are comfortable but you need to walk very carefully in and on the rocks (no support). Gonna go back to high top boots for next year.

Other than a Salty's darter I bought nothing new this year.