SirSnookalot

I use 15# braid for frogs in Florida slop and it's on a supreme 35, bit less the max drag of the same sized stradic but more than ample to handle bass. I do not use a dedicated combo for frogs, I use the same med 8/17 rod. Prior to freshwater use this outfit was used for snook mainly in the surf. Not enough line to use in the inlet, current is way to strong and the fish are very strong too. Even my 4000 reels locked down won't stop fish. I ran after that permit in my avatar nearly 300 yds to avoid being spooled with the drag nearly locked down, technique is what lands fish, the reel is not the most important component, especially in bass fishing. Bassn Blvd was with me the other day, I introduced to him to a guy that landed a 38# jack crevelle on a 50 year old rusted out Mitchell with a pos rod, he knew what he was doing. As Bassn is talking to the guy he then lands a 15-20# snook on that same outfit that I would't pay $2.00 for. Landing bigger fish is all about who is holding the rod and reel, not the gear itself.

Went offshore Saturday morning, 10-15 mph 3-4' waves with a drizzle after an all night rain. Looking toward the Bahamas a dark cell was approaching rather quick, the bite turns on. Bonita and kingfish everywhere as a torrential downpour starts with increased wind and waves, bouncing around in a 21' Polar wasn't easy to just keep your balance. We fished on with visibility probably measured more in inches than feet and caught our 4 king limit, plus a few bonita. Pics were impossible with the weather and my bontia was about the same as I posted last week, no need in posting another pic. The cell passes and we continue fishing, some more kings that we had to land without gaffing as we limited already. I never caught kings that hit the bait as hard as they did yesterday, usually it's a subtle bite. An hour later another cell worked it's way up from Miami, we headed in and I got to my car just as the heavy rain began. We had a similar day last year, heavy rain and tough weather and fish after fish with non stop action...........Bad weather, gotta love it for fish. Just a little sidebar, I normally wear deck shoes, not wanting them to get soaking wet I wore a pair of crocs, they were just great on a wet fiberglass deck, no slipping at all.

Setting the hook is about being in touch with your reflexes. With minimal fishing experience it becomes second nature and nothing even to really think about.

More about the rod than the reel for frogs, I agree that the 2500 reel is more than enough for bass. I don't see the need to jump up to the next sized spinning reel, line capacity and a stronger should be of no issue and most would frown using a heavier reel. If I were interested in ci4 and had plans of using the reel for larger species as well, then I'd pick the 4000, the extra 2 oz isn't much, most of my reels are heavier than 9.3 oz, to me that's light.

Only 2 things keep me from fishing, lighting and or my wife complaining, as I fish 7 days the latter is no problem. If the wind is too strong, I just make plans to fish elsewhere. Some of the greatest fish have caught have been when all the fishing indicators were against me, a line out of the water catches nothing. BTW, I am originally from Michigan, lived on Cass lake in Oakland county before I moved to FLA.

If I were teaching an adult how to fish for bass a senko would be my choice. An adult should have a bit more built in patience than a younger person. A senko or any plastic worm is about as easy as it gets for bass fishing, highly productive, with a greater potential for a larger fish. The worm can be fished in a variety of ways, with or without heavy vegetation, and no need for sophisticated equipment to teach new angler how to detect a bite and set the hook.

]I guess I have a tad of experience in this area, snook are very formidable much like redfish and ocean striper of the same size, pound for pound they do not compare to a jack crevelle or a tarpon. Back on subject, the stradic is really a fine reel, IMO they have the best line management. A little pricey for my tastes for a freshwater reel, my supreme has handle jacks, tarpon and snook as easily as my stradics.

In my part of Florida without a boat you are limited, but there are options like the Atlantic Ocean.

I've got a 5 1/2 lighting rod with an ul trion 4#, in the past I've used it with crappie jigs for mayan cichlids that can really fight hard. I don't use it anymore, when I find a needy kid I'm going to give it away. Maybe I'll use it today for a change of pace.

I won't rain on your parade, enjoy them. I wear progressive glasses and have had polorized lenses before. Excellent for fishing, but I did not like them for everyday wear and other activities. As I fish starting well before sunrise and don't always have the need to wear sunglasses (knots are easier to tie for me without them), I wear flip ups on my corrective lenses, my cocoons are several years old and work perfectly for me, I'm always flipping them up and down. I have a couple pairs of non polorized sunglasses for my other everyday activities, which I prefer, LCD displays are tough to see when I'm driving my car with polorized.

I've bought reels on Ebay stated as "NIB", whether they are refurbs or not I have no idea. I have no factual information indicating what a sellers profit margin is, being in business is about making a profit. For the most part the reels have performed as expected, down the road any reel can start to have problems. I have never been denied warranty work, even from Shimano, for a reel being purchased at a discount price from Ebay or any other discounter. I personally would have no qualms buying from any discounter if I felt comfortable with their reputation, including any repair facility for non warranty work, which I have done.

A reel should perform right out of the box without having to replace parts. I would send it in to Quantum.

Nice fish..... I've used Google earth to find new water before. My new car came equipped with a Navigational system, the map is always on, I have found places just driving around that I never knew existed.

Sounds like an isolated issue and not the way that reel normally performs. Before I would abandon ship on it, I'd send it in to Pure Fishing, a good chance it will be repaired or replaced at their expense. As a rule their customer service is excellent with a fast turnaround time.

Shimano makes a good product, that said my comparable sized supreme (35 or a 2500) has caught many inshore fish that can really test that drag, I have never upgraded a drag on any reel, but if you think it's makes a difference go4it. Having a drag problem catching bass with your supreme may be an isolated problem and not the norm. The purpose of a drag is not to stop a bull elephant in full gallop, but tire it out, you may be expecting too much. A simple phone call or email to Shimano will give you a definitive answer whether the saros has a waterproof drag or not, it's a very good reel. I own reels from quite a few mfgs, but I have more Pfluegers (5), Shimanos(4) and Abu sorons (4) than anything else, the drags on all 3 brands all work well, each reel is butter smooth. The max drag is a misleading number as you don't tighten it down all the way, the sorons do have the most max of those brands, as I say it doesn't mean anything, I'm setting the drag to the line. The Pfluegers and sorons may get a wind knot once in a while, the Shimanos have never had one, just the way it is, I don't make recommendations, it's your money. My soron 20 is probably my favorite of all, I use it for bass and inshore fishing. Not that I'm in the market now, but my next purchase may be a new stradic.

My mono leaders run all over the map depending on the cover and the species. I mention other species because I know Bleedingshrimp has mentioned redfish, 12 lb leader won't always get it done there. I'm a strictly a swivel user and my leaders are 2' or less, the stretch is hardly noticeable. Many people use straight braid and I catch some fish that are very line shy with steel leaders, I really don't put that much stock in being stealth for those reasons. My leaders are used to make hook tangles easier to unravel and quite often I pick up larger fish with my hand on the leader not the braid, in fact a swivel kinda makes a little handle. A leader will have limited stretch but enough to allow you with the aid or your rod to trampoline a decent sized fish up from a sea wall. I say decent I don't mean 15# but 7 or 8 is done all the time.

I use nothing but braid and always use a leader, have totally given up on fc leaders. When I'm fishing any kind of topwater lure I tie my leader direct with out a duolock, using an ordinary clinch. As said braid tangled in the front treble is a nightmare and a mono leader is so much easier to unravel, secondly a duolock or loopknot seems to catch the front hooks more so than the clinch knot.

Flukes are a very prolific bait for a variety of fish, this is how I fish them regardless of species. First said, if I'm fishing open water I prefer putting them on a jig head, if fishing a weedy area t- rigged with no bullet weight, as said having the hook perfectly centered is very important. I pull the fluke with an arm motion a few feet then reel up the slack on the pause, that's when I get a lot of strikes, I'm using that fluke as a subsurface lure.

Rooster has a good point, however most Pflueger combos I've seen come with a 2 piece rod, just not my favorite way to go. I use 2 rods close to $50 for freshwater, a clarus 6'6 6/12 and a calico jack( $55) 7' 8/17, both have been wonderful performers.

Worth take noting.

Capt Bob is not the only person that heavily promotes their favorite brands, personally I'm not swayed one way or the other. I'm not exactly sure what it is about a certain sector of anglers, but I've yet to see so much conservation and bickering about what's good and what isn't. As far as I'm concerned the only thing that matters is what the heck are you catching, the gear is really secondary. Take this in the spirit that it's meant, if one is going hawk a product back it up an impressive photo, a picture is worth 10,000 words. If Big O recommended something I'd take notice, he backs it up, but I've never noticed him even getting that specific on his equipment, when it comes to a class act he's the man.

Maybe I'll head up there, was going to fish Delray Beach as I did yesterday morning, 1 snook, 1 whiting and 1 blue runner. Tide change about 4:30, some 20-30 # snook on the incoming tide last week, but the wind was a lot stronger with more ground swell. Today and tomorrow are going to be short days, personal things on my plate to attend to.

Should have named the second pair Ted and Carol........."Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice", no clues, lol.

Depending on how close or far the fish is held from the body is going to make the fish look smaller or bigger. Only problem I see is you are too far from the water for a quick release, unless you mounted or ate it.

I hooked myself too this past week, I was lucky very minimal swelling. I poured some hydrogen peroxide on it when I got home and bandaid and neoseporin. I haven't caught sheeeeeet in the ICW lately even though the mullet are coming thru, many peeps think there is too much freshwater.