fishing rods

Cabelas has a ton of combos and decent stuff as well. I fish just about every day. Get a two pc spinning outfit around 6'6" medium with a decent reel and ten or twelve lb line. I use either Shimano baitcasters or Okuma spinning reels.

Keep the receipt forever and if it breaks, send it back with the receipt (make copies). They have given me full trade in value for all six reels returned over the last six years and two rods. Full refund or gift card for the store while I am there.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...parentType=index&indexId=cat601233&hasJS=true
 
Look into building your own, it is much easier than you think. I have built a couple of rods, one 5wt fly rod and a medium action 7 foot spinning rod that I use for small mouth. I have no special tools or skills, just a card board box and some patience. I get most of my stuff from mudhole or hook and hackle.

If you are not interested in building a rod, look at St. Croix. They make the best rod for the money IMHO. I have a 6 foot light that I use for panfish and bass on smaller rivers.

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/s...1_74392_100002002_100000000_100002000_100-2-2
 
It was Compre? Good.
Been a long day and I didn't feel like an extra trip on the stairs :)
Not fair, Shimano naming all the casting stuff with "C" words and the spinning stuff with "S" words :(

Six reels in six years?
Wow.
I've flat worn a couple out, never thought of returning them...
Did return my new Shimano Spheros 5000, and the replacement is perfect.
I have an ABU Ambassadeur 4600 since '82 that is still going strong.
My oldest reel is my Penn 200 that I got for my JHS graduation in '69
Abu is red, in front, the Penn 200 is in the back.
OldAnglers.jpg
 
Oakietree said:
Nice kayak by the way. Is that a live well on back. I would love to see a pick of the tank well area. Prowler? 13 or 15? Is that fishfinder very water proof?
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No live well. Just a white milk crate.
For smaller live bait, I just use a store-bought insulated bait bucket with an aerator.
For larger bait, I used the 2.5 gallon bucket I put together below (also with an aerator).

Bait2.jpg


Bait4.jpg


The yak is a Prowler 13 Angler Edition.

The fishfinder is an Eagle 168 and is billed as "Completely sealed and waterproof, even for use in harsh saltwater environments." Only trouble I ever had with it is the fuse contact corroding. I really don't need the fuse with the power source I'm using, so I'll probably just take it off and straight wire the unit before I head out again. I power it with some home-made battery packs made out of PVC. Each holds 10 AA rechargeable. I have a battery charger that holds 10 AAs, so that makes life easy. You can see how I made a shelf for them in the forward hold. Also made a waterproof fitting for the power and transducer wires.

I may upgrade my fishfinder this year though and switch to a 12V battery. I'd like a little more resolution to see schooling fish more clearly. The 168 does give me a good sense of bottom contour, but I think I'm probably missing some fish because of the resolution.

And yes, that's a hockey puck under the fishfinder RAM mount. I needed to get it up a bit higher in the cupholder, and a puck was the perfect solution.

DryFit3.JPG


Fitting.jpg
 
Oakietree said:
I would love to see a pick of the tank well area.
Click to expand...

Just caught this one. I don't think I have a really good shot of it. Here are a couple that show it, however.

Kayak4.jpg


YakRack.jpg


That rack got shortened PDQ. I now have four boats on it in this configuration.

YakRack-1.jpg


Everything is locked off to the rack with plastic coated steel cables, and it all gets tarped, even though it's in fairly shaded section of the yard.

Tarp.jpg
 
Ebbtide said:
I have an ABU Ambassadeur 4600 since '82 that is still going strong.
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+1. I have an ABU Ambassadeur 5000 from '85 or '86 that I still use a lot. Had to replace the worm drive in it, but that's about it.
 
Guyon said:
+1. I have an ABU Ambassadeur 5000 from '85 or '86 that I still use a lot. Had to replace the worm drive in it, but that's about it.
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I found ball bearing levelwinds for the Abu's.
Considering upgrading the old soldier and the two saltwater 5600's.
One of the worm drives in the 5600 is on its way out... so if I'm ordering maybe I need 3 lol
 
Oakietree said:
I wasnt offended. I was purely joking. It was just made me sad that someone who makes some of the most truly awesome knifes I have ever seen fishes an ugly stick.

Matt
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Well now I'm sorry I have saddened you..Ha!!;) Actually I will be moving to N. Idaho near lake CdA soon so salt water gear will be pretty useless.. I will be looking into a decent fly fishing rig though...:thumbup::cool:


BTW I have one of the older Ugly Sticks, I think it cost around $80.. The ones I've seen recently cost less, and seemed cheaper. All I know is that thing is damn near indestructable, and the OP was looking for a rod after breaking his.
 
If you visit Bass Pro, check out their label IM6 rods. They are often on sale for 19 dollars .They should work for you and are much better than Ugly sticks, on par with lightning rods..

Edited because of moronic advice.
 
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Good point on 1 bass and one panfish rod.
The same reel can work for both.
Buy a reel with 2 spools and you are golden.
One spool with lighter line for the panfish rod and one spool with heavier line for the LMB :D
 
Forget my first post. Theres been many days where Ive walked stream banks with one rod and have targeted panfish and bass. Heres what I would buy.

Graphite . 6'6'' spinning rod. Light action. 1/8 ounce would be the weight Id be looking to cast comfortably. All rods are measured for the lure weights they were designed to handle. I would not pick a 1/8 to 3/8 for example, because 1/8 is as low as it will go. Pick something where 1/8 falls in the middle. Youll catch a ton of bass casting 1/8 ounce lures. Then you can go up in weight or down. Hope this makes sense.
 
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Ive decided to get a 7' bass pro bait cast combo mh for for pike and bass. and a browning ultra light rig its about 5' i think for my car to puts around the ponds at my lunch hour.
 
I agree with the light action spinning rod choice but would not go with that rod length unless I was fishing big water routinely. My big freshwater spinning rod is a 6 ft one piece All Star GT40x Moderate/Fast-Ultra Light with a Shimano Stradic 2500FH real and 8lb test Stren mono line. It is used primarily when I fish for trout in some of the larger rivers in my area. Sometimes I use 6 lb test on it if it is strictly trout or panfish. Why 6 ft versus longer? For me it fits 6 ft bed on my pickup and is about as long as I can go if I stash it inside the cab as a backup rod for the day. The All Star line is a good value at Bass Pro.
 
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