REEL ON POPPER POLES
 

JUST WONDERING WHAT REELS YOU ARE USING ON YOUR 8'6 OR 9 ' POLES.I AM TRYING TO FISH LITE ON MY LITER POLES WHEN FISHING PLASTICS OR POPPERS.I USE A PENN PRION 2400 WHICH SO FAR HAS BEEN GREAT AND TROUBLE FREE CATCHING MAINLY SCHOOLIE FISH.I ALSO USE A PENN 5500SS.THE SS SERIES PENNS HAVE SOME ANTI REVERSE PROBLEMS BUT ARE 14.25 OZ. THE PRION ABOUT 12OZ.

Light reels
 

Hey, I have the Prion 1800 and it's a great reel. Every bit as good as my Shimano 4000 at about 60% of the price. The Prion is on an 8'6" graphite Fenwick salmon-steelhead rod that is great for schoolies, small blues, and it beached a 37-incher a couple of weeks ago. I use 14# Riptide SI yellow on it.

You need a good bearing in the bail to use a lot of the non-mono lines and the Prion has one, as do the Shimanos. With an SS, though, you'll end up with a fist-sized rats nest after about 5 casts cuz the line pick up roller doesn't always roll!

Light reels
 

BTW, I use a 4500 SS on one rod (9-footer), and the anti-reverse system in those things is really archaic. I've gotten so I can field-strip my Penns in about 10 minutes (slight exaggeration!!!) to fix the anti-reverse system.

The biggest problem I have had with anti-reverse is that the a-r handle loosens on the shaft that connects it to the inside mechanism. That and finding the long, U-shaped spring (that straddles the brass gear) to be stretched out a hair too much, inside the reel. Just take it apart, and make a drawing of components while you disassemble it the first time, and squeeze the spring so it grips the gear a little tighter, and the a-r will work fine every cast--at least mine (three reels, old) have.

A bunch of us down here in Southern RI were having bail snap back problems and found that reversing the two bail screws stopped the problem. Apparently they are not the same--one appears to be aluminum and the other is stainless. If you ever have bail snap back problems, try just reversing those two screws. It has worked every time among the old dawn patrollers down here.

As far as schoolies go I catch most of mine in the upper bay when i target them. I use a Shimano Sedona 4000 with a Ugly Stick Lite Intercoastal 7ft spooled with 12lb mono. The Rod is super sensitive and casts fairly well. The reel has all the features of its more expensive brothers like the stradic or sustain for a lot less money. I don't need to cast far when i am going for schoolies most are in less than 5 feet of water. I usually use shad bodies or grubs. But small poppers work good as well. This combo has landed fish from an 18lb striper to a 14lb blue. The reel costed about $50 and the rod was $45 as far as value goes it cant be beat. It fishes as well if not better than setups that costs hundreds more. If you have money to burn I suggest the new shimano stella paired with a Lamiglass XS-81MS 8ft.

Check out a Mitchell Nautill 6500 or 6500 GV. About $140. Braid compatable, smooth and supposedly waterproof. Good drag, instant anti-reverse. They give you two cheap plastic spare spools, one of which is too small to be of much use. Two year "no questions asked" warranty from Pure Fishing (Berkley, Abu-Garcia, etc parent company).