Buying a fishing rod and reel

I originally posted this last year in August. Of all my posts this one has gotten the most positive reviews and seems to help people the most.  Since it is the Holiday Season, I thought I'd move it to make it easier to find. I hope this helps with gift giving


Every now and then I get asked for advice from friends new to fishing. Usually the first thing asked of me is to tell them what is a " good cheap pole". I always respond by asking how much do they want to spend. Usually the answer is " not much in case I don't like it or use it much."  I then know that I am in for a long talk instead of some quick advice.  For the most part this  post is about freshwater gear. There are some things you need to know before buying a rod reel combo. These things are consistent no matter who the manufacturer is.
1. Almost all manufacturers make gear that ranges from cheap crap to top of the line gear. Just because you heard that a brand has a good name, does not mean your going to get much use out of a $14 reel.

2. You get what you pay for. Again a fourteen dollar reel is not made to last. Many guys will tell you to get the best  you can afford. This is true to a point. Some manufacturers make $300-400 freshwater reels. Are they any better or last longer than a hundred dollar reel? I'm not so sure.

Rods

When buying a rod the cheapest rods are made of fiberglass. They are very bendable. For the most part the rod will bend a lot from a heavy sinker as opposed to just the tip from a graphite rod.

Next is a composite rod. Composite rods are made from a combination of fiberglass and graphite. In theory it has the strength and sensitivity of graphite with the flexibility of fiberglass

Most expensive are graphite rods. Graphite rods are more sensitive than either of the above. They are much lighter and stronger. Because they are lighter they are thinner also cutting down on weight. Not all graphite rods are equal. There are different degrees of graphite. Some are known as IM6, IM7, IM8. IM8 being the most expensive. Other times you will read thing like 35 million modules of graphite. The higher the number the more expensive. I believe that some of the cheaper rods in this category are very close to as good as the expensive rods but at 1/3 the price. More on that later.

Other factors in rod cost are: the handle. More expensive rods are made of cork. It is light and sensitive. The cheapest are made of foam. I personally like the foam feel. Many nice saltwater rods are still made with foam handles.

Another price point are the guides your line goes through. The more guides the more expensive the rod. You want a rod with at least as many guides as the length. This keeps the line flowing on the cast and so the cast will be longer. Also of course there are different quality guides. The more expensive the rod, the better quality guides ( in theory)

Reels
I enjoy buying rods more than reels. I don't know why since a cheap rod will certainly outlast a cheap reel. With reels you really do get what you pay for. Every spring when I was a kid my mom would buy me a Shimano reel from Bennys. It would always be under twenty dollars. The following spring when I would take it out of the shed it would be crap and I would get the lecture about taking care of my gear.

Truth is if you buy a cheap reel expect to only get one season out of it. If you buy a mid priced reel and take care of it, you can have it for years. Without getting to technical reels go up in price depending on how many ball bearings are in it. The more ball bearings the smoother the reel ( as long as these are good quality bearings).  Obviously a good drag is important and I would never buy a reel without a rock solid anti- reverse. Anti reverse means that when you stop reeling you can't reel backwards at all. If your reel will turn backwards, you can miss fish on the hookset, and it is bad for your reel.

Kids Gear

Do not waste your money on push button poles for your kids. Most are made out of very cheap material. The reel is sure to tangle on the inside. Besides, if your kid likes fishing they are going to graduate up to spinning gear anyway. I know you don't want to hear this, but its better to get kids better quality gear from the start. DJ used my combos since day one. Also if you have quality gear it will last longer because it is stronger and can better take the abuse from a kid than cheap Spongebob poles.

Actual Useful Advice

Disclaimer: I am not getting any money for recommending any manufacturers so these opinions are my own.

So it comes back to the question how much should I spend on a combo. My answer is the least I would spend is $60. In my opinion the mid range rods and reels START at thirty dollars each for freshwater gear. For that price you should be able to get a decent rod that will last for years and a reel that should last two to four seasons.

I'd say the best thirty dollar rod is the Berkley lightning rod and the Bass Pro graphite series. They are both 100% graphite and made with decent guides. I own a couple of both. The Bass Pro Rod is one of my carp rods so I know they are strong.

For a reel at this price I would probably also go with a Bass Pro reel also. Get one that matches the rod. If you buy a rod rated for 4-12 pound line, get a reel that made for 4-8 pound line. I would highly recommend you spend a little more and get a Shimano Sedona( $49-54). I have had two for years. They will never let you down if you take care of it.

I have some of this lower but still good quality gear, I have some mid priced gear and have had some really nice equipment For my money here is what I love the most for each fish I catch along with price. You will be surprised that most of my gear is not to expensive

the rod in the picture is a 6 foot medium light
Shimano Clarus with a Sedona 1500 reel. Cost total about $110
Its a great combo that fought this 31 inch striper on
six pound line

Trout/ Panfish and Bass fishing in open water ( not around lily pads and weeds)

Shimano Clarus- 6 foot medium light $ 60/ Reel Shimano Sedona ($49-54) I use this rod ALL the time. The rod and reels are both over five years old. I even used this outfit to catch a 31 inch striper last winter

Largemouth Bass-

Spinning  6 1/2 foot Bass Pro Tourney Special ( on sale at $29 last winter) normally $49, that was a great deal/  Reel Quantum Energy ( $60)( discontinued) with 8 pound line They stopped making this reel but I have had it over 10 years. It looks terrible all beat up from years in the bottom of a canoe, but it is a workhorse.

Baitcasting: If your new to fishing then your not going to use a baitcast combo. However if you want to buy one mine is a 6 1/2 foot Bass Pro Extreme rod ( $69 when on sale) and  aBass Pro Extreme reel ( also $69 when on sale)

Carp
Smaller fish average under 15 pounds

7 foot heavy freshwater spinning rod ( such as Bass Pro Graphite Series ( $24 when on sale) or Shimano Covergence ( about$40)  I don't need to worry about sensitivity with these rods so I use cheaper but still good quality graphite.            Daiwa Regal Plus reels ( $54) love these reels only had them 2 years no complaints so far

Bigger Carp    8 foot saltwater rods/   Shimano Baitrunner reels ( discontinued 100 dollars) These reels are great but they were discontinued by Shimano and upgraded to $180 rees. Out of my price range. When these finally break ( they are 10 years old)  I will buy the bigger size Daiwa Regal.

Saltwater:

I will try to keep this short. Most people when they get into fishing they start with freshwater. They start using worms or shiners under a bobber so I devoted most of the post to them.  Saltwater comes with its own hazard and of course that is SALT. Unless you know you will never get your gear wet do not use freshwater equipment in the surf. Even then wash it off with freshwater when done.

You really need to buy quality saltwater gear from the start. No way will you be able to get away with a $60 combo that will last more than one year.  The cheapest but decent quality surf  rod I know of is the Bass Pro Powerstick at $49. I have had one for two years and it is developing rust spots on the guides. To get one that will last for years you probably need  to spend near 100 for a surf rod.

For schoolie rods you have more selection. Schoolie rods run 7-8 feet. I have a couple of both sizes. You get much better casting range on an 8 footer.  For my seven footer I have Shimano Claus and for eight footer I have the Bass Pro Powerstick both with Shimano Spheros 4000 reels.

For reels I highly recomend Shimano Spheros( $79 on up depending on size). They come in all sizes from small schoolies to big heavy surf rods. I have three.   I have had them for years, no problems. My friend Jeff has a Penn Battle. He bought it this spring so durability is still in question, but so far he loves it. He gives it rave reviews.

My goto rod more and more is a ST Croix 8 foot surf rod ($179) paired with a reel to match the size. I have  a Cabelas Salt Striker Reel on it and 30 pound braid. The reel was only $54. It has a couple rust spots after only two years. I bought it because it is very light. My intention was to get three years out of it. I don't think that will be a problem, but I won't count on it making a decade.

 I use this outfit as my surf rod and anytime I need long casts even if I know I'm only getting big schoolies. It is super sensitive and extremely light. As I get older its a lot harder to throw my 10 foot surf rod with a big reel for five hours. This combo does not have that issue.

As you can see I am a huge fan of Shimano and Bass Pro gear. I do not believe in " brand loyalty". I have nothing against using any other brand. However, I have had such good luck with the Clarus rods, and Spheros and Sedona reels, I see no reason to switch when I need new ones.

So there you have it, a very condensed version on tips of buying a rod/reel combo. Any questions or comments feel free to comment below. I will try to respond quickly.

Things I am thankful for 2013

Last year I wrote a post about things I was thankful for in the outdoors. I am still thankful for all of those things. I am lucky enough to chase stripers, carp, and smallmouth whenever I want after work. I feel honored when I have a view of the White Mountains from a summit. So instead of rehashing the things I wrote last year. I thought I’d look back on some of my favorite outdoor memories from this year. Isn’t that what Thanksgiving is about. Being grateful for what you have and cherishing the memories with others.

1.      I still have to start with stripers. I’m thankful for the big striper that I caught in Narragansett in October. I’m almost as thankful that someone was there to take pictures of it.

2.      I am thankful for all the big carp that hit my corn during the spring including two personal bests. This was my best year in terms of the number of big carp I caught.

3.      I am thankful for the night DJ outfished me in Narragansett 19-5. I didn’t care that he caught more fish, I was just happy we had so much fun.

4.      I am thankful I reconnected with my cousin Mark. I had fun the two times I visited him in Maine and really enjoyed going to Florida with him and his wife Dotty.

5.      I am thankful for the alligator that blocked my trail while hiking in Florida. Sitting near such an awesome animal was unbelievable. That was probably my favorite thing to happen to me all year.

6.      I am thankful for the loons and bald eagles I saw at Wachusetts Reservoir.

7.      I am thankful for the two moose I saw in New Hampshire

8.      I am thankful for the two times Laurie came to New Hampshire. We always seem to do a lot of things. I get to fish. She eats fudge. We usually have really good luck seeing animals. We eat pizza. We hike out to waterfalls and ponds. She is usually up for anything.

9.      I will always be thankful for my friendship with DP. I have learned so much from him. Besides all the knowledge he has shared, I have fun just fishing with him. He talk about family, politics and have a bunch of laughs. We take pictures for each other when one of us catches a memorable fish. I do not have many true friends but Dave and Laurie are certainly among them

10.  I am thankful for my 2004 Santa Fe. This may sound odd, but I have put 200000 miles on it and I know her best days are behind her. I’ve had to put some money into it, but it has been reliable and always gotten me home. Of those 200000 miles many of those were driving to and from fishing, New Hampshire, or other road trips. It has seen western national parks and been to the Outer Banks, NC. It’s the first vehicle I have owned that I loved driving.

11.  I wrote this last year but it holds true. I am thankful for mountain lakes, summits, and waterfalls. I am awed at the site of them all.

12.  I am and always will be grateful to live in the greatest country in the world!!!

                            Happy Thanksgiving!

Breaking the Ice on Wintertime Stripers

Okay, there was no ice. I meant that the wintertime striper fishery has started. With most of the southbound stripers gone, the best game in town is the wintertime fishery. All along the east coat, there are places stripers winter over. The most famous of these is the Thames River in Connecticut. I am lucky enough to have stripers wintering over in Upper Narragansett Bay.

I've checked this fishery out a few times since mid-October. Last year, these fish were around all fall into the winter. This year, I blanked every time up until early this week. I am happy the fish are back. I caught three on Wednesday and seven tonight. I've been arriving late, and lucky to catch the fish as most have been caught just after dark. Some of the regulars have been averaging ten to fifteen fish a night all week. Lesson learned, I will be arriving earlier.

Welcome back my striped friends!!!

Florida

My cousin Mark and his big bass

Admittedly, a vacation to northern Florida has absolutely nothing to do with southern New England. I try to keep this blog about places that can be reached within a day’s drive of Boston. I went to Florida with my cousin and stayed at his house for a week. Because Florida is very far from MA I will not write extensively about it like I do fishing Narragansett and hiking in New Hampshire. I had a great time. I did a lot of fishing and one big day of hiking/biking. I plan on writing one quick paragraph about how the fish in Florida kicked my butt and a separate blog post about a state park near Gainesville. The park’s name is Paynes Prairie and it is a diamond in the rough.

I do plan on putting a few pictures of the trip below. My cousins do not have an email address but they do have a computer. This way they can see the pictures I took before I send them some by snail mail.

Fishing-

Dotty celebrating her big bass

Basically we fished four days in Florida. We were just south of Gainesville and two hours north of Orlando. We fished four days. Each day we put in a minimum of five hours but three of the days were more like eight or nine. We spent a lot of time using shiners. I had a few goals going into the trip. I knew there was no chance of reaching all of them, but any that I reached would really make my day. They were in no particular order

Catch a bowfin

Catch an alligator gar

Catch a monster bass (anything over 5 pounds)

Catch a red ear sunfish also known as a shellcracker

Catch a bass on any lure, just to say I caught a bass in FL on something other than bait.

Mark and Dotty with Dotty's five poundern

As I said the fish kicked my ass. The only goal I reached was catching a couple bass on plastic worms. I didn’t hook any big bass or mudfish. I had two gar hit my shiner. The first ran with it but the hook was not in its mouth. The other bit the shiner off leaving just the head on the hook. I didn’t catch any shellcrackers. I was told they are deep this time of year. I caught a few large pickerel. Five of which I would consider “quality” fish. Even though the actually catching was disappointing, I had a lot of fun. My cousin Mark and his wife Dotty did quite well. They both caught a five pound bass on shiners. Mark also caught a couple other bass around three pounds. We fished a river and two lakes in northern FL and took a trip to East Lake Toho in Kissimmee. The majority of big fish were caught in East Lake as were my two missed gar.

On the trip I saw seven gators. The air temp was a little chilly for gators. Many are not active this time of the year and hide in the mud. More on gators in the Paynes Prairie post.

A Day at Paynes Prairie

Paynes Prairie State Preserve is a 21000 acre natural area in northern Florida. It is just south of

Gainesville. It is roughly 45 minutes north of the Silver Springs tourist attraction.  The preserve has many different natural habitats so in turn; there is quite the variety of animal life. The environment ranges from pine forest to open swamp. There is a huge variety of birds. From wading birds to songbirds and birds of prey it is a birders dream. It also has some animals not normally associated with Florida. There is a bison (buffalo) herd on the prairie. Four herds of wild horses for a total of 36 individuals. 



Bobcat

My cousin Mark dropped me off before 8 am with my bike. I paid my admission and rode my bike to the Visitor Center. The VC didn’t open until 9 am. There is a fifty foot observation tower behind it. From the top I immediately saw the bison herd to my 2 o’clock. I got down from the tower and rode my bike on the Cones Dike Trail in the direction of the bison. I couldn’t see them from the trail.

After two miles of bike riding I decided to walk. I locked my bike to a tree. Almost immediately I spotted a bobcat. It was the first bobcat I ever saw.  On the trail I saw two gators. Both were in mudholes with bushes and reeds between the gators and me.  I really couldn’t get any pictures. Further along I came across four river otters playing on the trail. As I got closer they gracefully slid into the water. I turned around at the end of trail.

On my way back to my bike, I was thinking about how lucky I was. I already saw 2 deer (on bike ride to visitor center), bobcat, 2 gators, and four otters along with hundreds if not thousands of warblers.  At the last turn just before my bike, a huge gator was out of the water sunning itself. It was at least 10 feet if not twelve. Unfortunately for me, it was blocking the trail between me and my bike. I thought for a minute and came up with three options. Sit and wait it out, try to get around the gator by skirting the far side of the trail. The third option was to wait a few minutes and if the gator didn’t leave, try to get by it. Since I had no plans on being eaten, I chose option number one and waited it out.

I sat about twenty five feet from the gator. I took a ton of pictures. I would try to get pics of it from different angles from my side of the trail. Truthfully, I marveled at being so close to such an incredible apex predator. I just lived in the moment and soaked it in. After about 45 minutes it finally moved back into the water.

I got back to my bike and peddled the two miles back to the trailhead.  On the way back I spooked another gator that was sunning. It took off into the water before I got close to it. This one was a little more pedestrian, going about seven feet. After I got back to the trailhead I went inside the visitor center. I talked to the two rangers for a few minutes. I showed them the picture of the bobcat. They told me about a trail that was to far for me to get too (25 minute ride by car).

Turkey Vultures

Then I went to Lake Wauberg. I hiked the Lake Trail and then the Chacala Trail. After I got done with those two trails it was getting close to the time I was to be picked up. On my way out of the park, I saw a flock of wild turkeys right at the admission gate. It was a good way to end a great day.

If you go…

Paynes Prairie is in northern Florida near the town of Micanopy. It is easily reached from I-75.  It costs six dollars for a car. It cost me $2 on my bike. There is a campground for both tents and RVs. The campground cost $18 plus tax. The preserve does have poisonous snakes. I did not see snakes of any kind, but they would be more active during warmer weather. Obviously, there are alligators. The trail the ranger told me about was the LaChua Trail. You have to leave the main entrance and drive north on Route 441. It is 25 minute drive to reach.  The ranger told me horses are regularly seen from that trail. One ranger told me he hears Feral pigs in that area all the time. Grab a map at the entrance for all trails including the ones on the north side

Florida Pictures

I'm putting these pictures on this post so my cousins who have a computer but not an email or Facebook can see them. As I previously said, I acknowledge Florida has nothing to do with New England. No hate comments please