Triton Man

I just got a new symetre and so far I like it and have no complaints. I took a close look at the pflueger purist as well and probably would have been just as happy with that one. I had a president once but the bail kept closing on the cast and causing my lures to go sailing away so I have avoided them since but everyone seems to say they are the best deal in a budget reel.

I did pick up a zara puppy because I've had good success with them from shore but not from my boat. Resisted buying anything else but a good price on those baits.

Reel in a bit slower, downsize the main blade a size or two if you want to keep the speed up, or add extra weight to it by pinching on a split shot to the hook or just ahead of the head if you dont mind how it looks. You could also put a couple wraps of wire around the rubber band that holds the skirt and it will be partially covered by the front half of the skirt during the retrieve. Are you using a trailer on it also? If so you might want to try without it and see how it handles. If no trailer fixes the problem then try different trailers till you find one that doesn't cause the problem.

I know very little about all the differences in each and every shimano model and only own a few but one of them is a new symetre FL size 2500 that I put on a 6' st. croix premier ML. They match very well together. I bought it as my trout/panfish rod but I am sure it will see some bass action with smaller lures. Since bass season is currently closed this rod has been the only one seeing any action so far this year. No complaints with the reel so far. One observation is it seems like the graphite frame doesn't feel as cold on my fingers as my aluminum frames. A positive in my eyes. I liked the price and the x-ship and also got it for 10% off.

As my family has grown I've had to cut back on my hobbies from when I was a single man. But fishing is definetly the main hobby. Hockey fills in the winter time once a week, skiing has fallen way off for me. I gave up summer hockey and a golf league to give me the most chance to fish and I go till the last lake freezes. Only ice fish a little bit.

I finally got a chance to test the 12# line a little bit. Only made a few casts with one lure but it does cast nice and the sensitivity seemed as good as regular braid. Pretty much the same as everyones first impression. Hopefully people will continue to post reviews after a few months use.

Thanks for the link. I'm sorry I missed that somehow. I even tried to do a search.

I have a pair pair of Maui Jim sunglasses that I like but are starting to get scratched up. They also dont sit tight to my face so I find myself straining my eyes because of all the extra sunlight coming in the sides and bottom. I have been looking at some Costa Blackfins with the copper lens in the polycarbonate lense due to cost and weight. But I was wondering how good the lenses and frame comfort is of these much less expensive Strike King glasses. $40 dollars is almost cheap enough for a blind purchase of them, but if they aren't worth it I'd like to hear that first. They have good reviews so far on TW.

Its about all I have ever used. I dont have enough experience with power pro to compare though. I dont think there is much difference between the two. I'm sure some one will tell you the difference is huge and you'd be a fool to use one over the other. Spiderwire is usually less expensive though. I've used 8#, 15 and 20# mainly, and 30#, all on spinning gear for spinnerbaits, spooks and frogs usually. I switched to a palomar knot from an improved clinch knot and stopped having my knots slip.

I dont think you are paying anything extra for this reel to be able to fish in saltwater. It is a very nice reel and would be a good match to a SC Premier rod.

I decided to exchange the 8# I bought and got the 6# after all the comments on here and comparing it to the line I've been using. Looked online at different line thicknesses and it seems like yo zuri just under rates their line. The thickness of their 8# (12# breaking strength) was the same as many others 12# line thickness. Same with their 4# breaking near 8# was similar thickness to most lines 8#. I dont know when I will string it up though since I had already prepped my rods for the season and try to get a season out of my line. I also just recieved my spool of 12# supercaster line and bought a 4# and 8# spool of p line fluroclear since there were lots of good reviews of that as well. I spooled the 4# on my new 6' sc premier med lite with new symetre 2500 and that line seemed like a perfect fit and so far is very manageable although I haven't caught anything on it to test sensitivity yet.

I read a lot of positive reviews so I decided to pick up a spool of 8lb hybrid since I like to use 8 lb on my spinning reels. I've been using spiderwire 100% fluro that was on clearance a few years ago so I stocked up but have run out now. I fish a lot but cant spend a lot so I hope this line will work as a good replacement. Does it feel and act more like a fluro or a mono? I wont get to test it for a couple weeks probably due to frozen lakes and bass season doesn't open until the end of April when I can finally test it for real.

Even more great information. Thanks again, I really appreciate all the info on their in house line of products.

Thank you DS40 for all the info. I shop at Gander Mtn frequently and always wondered about the rods and reels. I have a guide series rod I enjoy fishing with. I bought a GSX Titanium spinning reel that came with a free Gander Mtn Vortex rod a few weeks ago when their spring fishing sale started. Sadly I have already returned both. The spinning reel bail wouldn't close most of the time after only about 30 minutes of use and the reel seat screw was cut to short on the rod to even secure my new reel. I was disapointed but decided to upgrade to a Shimano Symetre reel and got half off the new GS Elite spinning rod. This rod is very similar looking to the *** *** rods but was $35 dollars less with this deal. My buddy bought the *** rod in a matching lenght and action and I will be comparing them if the ice ever gets off the lakes here in Michigan. My biggest concern with the GS Elite is the grip on the spinning rod. Its shaped pretty well to get your fingers closer to the blank but not sure it will be comfortable after lots of use. The *** grip seemed very comfortable and is tapered off at the top instead of boxed off like on the GS Elite. Hopefully performance is the same, actually, hopefully the GS Elite has better performance since thats the one I bought! The GS Elite is 40 ton Japanese Toray Carbon blanks vs the 30 ton in the *** but that doesn't determine sensitivity alone.

I USED to use the improve clinch knot with braid but occasionally lost lures because of it. Switched to the palomar knot for braid and haven't lost a lure since. Use it.