Goose52

I guess you've already made your decision but for next time here's something to think about. I understand the goal of trying to spread the filler spool of line across three reels; BUT, sometimes that can be false economy. Here's why: What do you think is the shortest amount of main line that you can live with? 70 feet, 80 feet, 90 feet, 100 feet? Let's say that it's 80 feet. So, at 80 feet you have to pull off that remaining mainline and refill the reel. So, 80 feet x 3 reels = 240 feel of line being tossed. Were you to spread that filler spool across two reels, you'd only be tossing 160 feet of that expensive main line. By filling two reels, you'd have 187 feet of line (still only about 62 yards - not very much at all) BUT, you would have line available for longer casts, AND, something many folks aren't thinking of - line available for re-ties / trimbacks. On a rod that I'm using quite a bit during a day I might be easily cutting off three feet or more of line due to re-ties and trimbacks. It doesn't take many days on the water to trim off quite a bit of line and soon you're at your 80 foot (or whatever) minimum. Up to you to decide how you want to spread that line out across your reels, but for me, I don't like having the minimum amount of line on my reel to start out, AND, I always want extra line for reties.

The 030 was my favorite size for light freshwater... The younger folks on the board may not be aware that these Shakespeare Sigmas were considered to be a first-class spinning reel in the '80s !

eReplacementparts.com - Pflueger SupremeXT Don't know which iteration of the Supreme XT you have but check out the above link...

Many folks just bring a 5-gallon white bucket and lid with them. Just before you launch, fill the bucket with water and place as far in front of you as possible. When you land, empty the bucket and you have a container to put some of your gear in as you're packing up. It puts around 40 pounds in front of you and might be enough to get the bow down.

Yeah - the Sigmas can still work, catch fish. I retired my last one a couple years ago but I keep thinking I'm going to put the "025" size (photo - bottom row, right) back in service one of these days.

Another one for A-Jay - NO LIKE is required...

This is me in the canoe on one of my little neighborhood lakes last October. I didn't know that someone had taken this photo until I saw it on the front page of our local weekly newspaper as part of a "why we live here" feature. The photographer must have been using a LONG lens since the dam of this lake was quite a ways behind me. I emailed the newspaper and requested a copy of the digital file.

That Flea Market post was the BEST post/advertisement I had ever seen in that forum. Your new combo looks very "MANLY" indeed...

Some of the comments about back-reeling and not trusting drags on either spinning or BC reels, along with recent threads about folks disdaining BC reel braking systems and maintaining that only an "educated thumb" is necessary...make me think of Fred Flintstone's car with the hole in the floor. Don't need fancy technology - just stick your feet on the ground to stop the car... Just sayin'...

Easy question. A few clicks in the spreadsheet results in: Bait: 5" single-tail grub Total: 528 Breakout: 478 LMB 49 Warmouth 1 Bullfrog

In Pflueger-speak, I do use "30" size as my standard all-around size..,but for the applications you mentioned and 6lb test (or 15 - 20 lb braid), I use "25" sizes. I'm considering a Stradic FK myself, if I decide to get one, it will be the 1000 size. I have always had a "25" size Pflueger on my grub rod - it works, reels in fish:

Scored a pretty fair deal on eBay recently. I got about $265 worth of tuning parts for $222: Avail deep spool ZPI 4bb handle w/Daiwa-style knobs 2bb cog wheel 1bb level wind kit Ceramic spool bearings Carbontex drag washers Ceramic pawl So, you're thinking, that's not THAT great a deal - $265 value for $222. Not THAT much of a savings................ . . . . . . . . . ................did I forget to mention that the deal included a relatively rare, mint condition (as in practically new) Abu Ambassadeur 2600C for FREE... I hadn't planned on buying anything but was cruising through eBay looking at the usual suspects. I came across a mint 2600C already tricked out with all the usual tuning parts, and including the original box, papers, and all original parts. WOW! I place a relatively low bid, thinking I'll get outbid in the last few minutes of the auction. There was only ONE counterbid, that bumped the price $10, and the auction closed at $222 - quite a bit less than just the REEL would usually go for. Happy Camper me ! Not too many of these around: Holy Thumb Bar Batman ! I have some muscle memory for these small Ambassadeurs and several times I caught myself reaching across the reel with my off-side thumb to push the clutch button like you would on a 1500 or 2500. I guess the PO couldn't figure out how to use a nut retainer with the stock Abu nut on the ZPI handle: Line on the reel, ready to go: Original box, papers, parts: The reel was WAY overbraked as I received it (the light Avail spool doesn't need a lot of braking). Opened the reel and found out that it already had the short/light brake blocks. I didn't have any lighter blocks in my modest collection so I just removed one of the blocks. Casts GREAT... I haven't caught a fish with it yet so I can't give it Goose's official seal of approval...but I did have it on the water today so I get partial credit... This type of reel might not be your cup of tea....but it floats my boat !!

Report back if it acts up again. I have a whopping $4.00 each invested in my two scales - if they each last a season then I've received excellent value...

Yeah , the Wenonah Fisherman is spendy for sure. AND, I was looking at the kevlar $$$ model. You get the extra length, keep the beam, and it weighs about the same as my 12' Radisson. BUT it IS hard to justify the cost when I can get the 14' Radisson for MUCH less and the weight penalty is only 7 pounds over the 12' model. It's sorta like the Curado vs. Antares discussions...

But Paul...how do you KNOW that they weigh 2.5 & 5 pounds? If each weight was only off by 3 or 4 ounces you could be at + / - a whopping 1/2 pound if using two weights and both weights were either light or heavy. Unless, you've taken them into a local market with a certified scale and weighed them... Cheap, flimsy switch that is making contact just with jarring/impact I guess! Of the 7 digital scales I've owned in the under $20 dollar range - all have been VERY accurate. However, switch gear and battery connectors have often been dodgy - a result of the cheap price.

A good starting point - sorta like A-Jay's and Fishing Rhino's boats. Have you measured the actual length yet? It looks a bit longer than 14 feet. Have fun !

I usually have a Pointer 78 tied on all winter. Since winter is often windy, I usually toss it on a 6'8" MXF spinning rod. If I do use a BC rod, it's a 6'8" MF. I'm of the school of thought that even though it's a treble hook bait...you go with a fast or x-fast rod to get a sharper jerk and faster tip recovery. FWIW

If I ever wear out this boat, I might move to a 14' myself, even though I fish solo. 14' would perhaps give me more options on gear and rod storage. I would still get a Radisson, or I've also been looking at a Wenonah that is a very nice boat...

Thanks for the report - good to know. I stuff this scale in a pouch on my belt pack and I can see how the "On" button could get pushed if the scale shifted around in the pouch. It should then auto-off but after a number of on and auto-off cycles I can see how the battery could die. As I mentioned earlier, I was also wondering about general battery life of the 2 AAA batteries as compared to the 9v battery in the Rapala scales. Anyway, so far, so good for me but I've only been carrying it around a few weeks and have only weighed a few fish with it...

Paddling: My total distance paddling probably amounts to a couple miles since I planned to motor it from the get-go. From my limited experience, it paddles OK....but like most short canoes with a wide beam it doesn't track as well as a longer boat. I can say for SURE that if you are paddling solo you MUST run the boat backwards; in other words you have to sit on the front seat - facing aft. This puts your body weight closer to amidships. The photos below illustrate this - note the position of the boat when I sit on the stern seat... The photos also show how small the 12' model is even with only one person in it. Punctures: All my lakes are mostly open water, although I do have a place that has some standing submerged timber where I could potentially run the boat up on a submerged tree (and did do that once). Otherwise, I just have to be careful on launching/landing to not hit any rocks or underwater structure. So, my water is open, and I do try to be careful not to hit anything. I do have dents and creases all over the bottom of the hull even with that careful usage - the aluminum is that thin. BUT, no leakage, no punctures, no tears after 6 seasons totaling over 350 times on the water. I keep saying that I'm going to keep some Gorilla tape in the boat in the event that I needed a temporary patch but never got around to it. Sitting in stern seat: Sitting on front seat - facing aft:

As you know, I have the Radisson 12' canoe, similar to the Sportspal 12' but with a lighter hull weight. I can say that while these 12' boats have two seats...they would be VERY cramped with two people, especially if both are fishing. If a two person capacity is important...you might want to consider the 14' model.

Just a follow-on to the "luggage scale" that I reported on earlier in this thread... Starting in January, I placed one of these scales in service ("Unit 1") and will use it as my primary bank-fishing scale for all of this year. Unit 1 continues to read dead-on the 9.80 pound test weight and we'll see where it ends up at the end of the year. Also to be observed is battery life (2-AAA) on this scale as compared to the 9v battery used on the Rapala scales. As shown in the below photo, I did have to remove the stock, small hook and replace it with 3 links of chain and a hook borrowed from one of my Rapala scales. So far, I'm liking this little scale. It disappears in the belt pack that I wear bank-fishing and powers up fast. I ESPECIALLY like the "Lock" feature (see the photo, top-right of the LCD display). When the scale senses that the load is static, it locks the weight and retains that weight until you clear it or after a set period when it will zero the scale. A handy feature that allows me to weigh the fish, get it back in the water, then record the weight. Perhaps other digital scales have this feature, but my Rapala scales do not. I've set a reminder in my computer for early December to report back on how the scale fared over a years service.

Shimano Digital Control (DC) braking is a type of braking system, just as centrifugal and magnetic are types of braking systems. One can can choose to use technology, or not. One can choose to use a braking system on a baitcasting reel, or not. Just fish...

WOW !!!!!! Bait Monkey been busy for sure...

Thanks ! On the water clarity, unless we have a heavy rain to muddy things up, the water here this time of year is CRYSTAL clear in all 11 lakes that I fish. In summer, the lakes are all different depending on a number of factors, with several usually remaining very clear all year, and some where the water will stain a bit (green). Except for the fall turn-over, the worst water clarity I have is usually about 3 feet visibility, and that's in only a couple lakes that have a heavy concentration of curly-leaf pondweed - when that stuff starts to die off in August, the water stains-up pretty fast.