A unique website dedicated to fishing information from Florida's Northern Big Bend. This includes the area from the Econfina River west to the Apalachicola River
After reading all these posts, I've come to the conclustion(s) that:
I have the wrong weight line on each of my rods.
I am using mono line and should be using braided
I dont have enough line on any reel I own.
I am using the wrong types of hooks.
I bought the wrong reels.
Thanks for the inspiration
MJ
Time is the most precious commodity we have in life, stay focused.
Didn't someone direct us to an article about a guy over near JAX, catching a good size tarpon, on a Zebco, here a while back?
A reel is only as good as the amount of line on it, and the operator of the drag- Big ones or little ones. JMHO
We got 2 saltwater Zebco's, we bought 10 or 12 years ago. 'Have caught reds and some big trout on them. The grandkids use them, when they come down. One of them brought a 36"(hit the shift this time, Wevans) plus king up to the boat over by Larark reef last year. Of course, I boached the landing net thing, and it threw the hook. I'm still trying to make up for that one.
My other reels are 35 dollar Shakespeares'. 'Work good, last a long time,
if you keep them clean and lubed. When one breaks down, I buy a couple more.
But, then I'm just cheap.
I think we also have to remember the amount of use we give our fishing equipment, when we choose what to buy, or what we claim is "good".
I tend to buy cheap electrical tools, because I don't use them very often.
If I needed those tools for almost everyday use, I would buy the best I could afford.
Fishing tackle is like that.
Didn't mean to sound arbitrary, TC. And, you're probably right about, hanging something heavy with a '33'.
I do have a dumb question about braid, since I've never used it- Can you use it on a spinning reel? I mean, I'm sure you can, but how does it cast? 'Looks like it would be easy to get a birds nest with it. 'Seems it would be a good backing for mono, though.
Enquiring minds want to know..
qoutrage,
I use braid on several spinning reels and usually a 2-3 foot leader of flurocarbon. Has been working real well. I have been doing it for a year or so and have never gotten a bird's nest I couldn't fix quickly. Braid doesn't seem to knot up as easily as mono does in a bird's nest. The only complaint I've had my wife got spooled before I could help her out. Ended up landing the fish; but, it's hard to get the braid to "catch" the spool again. I've heard that you should put double-sided tape around your reel before spooling on the braid to limit "slipping". Haven't tried it but seems reasonable.