Goose52

Time to get a bigger scale !

Hey Darren - too bad she didn't have a belly to match her mouth - she would have been over 10lbs! Thanks A-Jay - I have an 8x10 of that shot on my "fishing wall"...

I upped my LMB PB by 1/2 pound to 9.54 on August 28. The story is here: New LMB PB - 9.54lb - Not A DD...but Close!

I bought the same rod during the recent close-out at the St. Croix factory store. It does feel tip-heavy to me as well. All I've used that rod for so far is 3/8oz jigs and 10" plastic worms with 3/16 to 1/4oz weights.

Funny you should mention "floating fortress"...some of the locals have given my canoe several nicknames: flagship of the Lower Slobovian navy, the attack canoe, and the war canoe...

I generally tinker with my own reels...but when I want to make sure the job is done right - I have sent reels to Mike...

I'm part of the canoe crowd. I ended up with a canoe after studying all small watercraft from float tubes up to bass boats. The best solution for ME, was a heavily-accesorized canoe. I only fish my local, small (1 1/2 to 201 acres), no-wake lakes. Some of these lakes don't have boat ramps (like the lake in the photo below). I needed something car-topable without a special rack, modular, very light weight, with as much capability as possible. I wanted stability so I could stand and fish all day, lots of inboard storage, motorized, and little to no maintenance. I didn't want to have to buy a truck or other tow vehicle, I didn't want to consume a garage bay or driveway space with a boat and trailer, didn't want high expense and high maintenance, and didn't want to use gasoline. Taking everything into account, I ended up with my funky canoe. Trolling motor, outriggers, DI/SI sonar, anchor system, rod racks, etc.; it's not really a traditional canoe...it's a bass boat that you can car top... I've caught over 1,000 fish out of this canoe over the last three seasons. Try as I might, I still can't think of another watercraft that would meet my needs as well as this rig does.

I have 6 PQs - two 7.1s, two 6.4s, one 5.2, and one 4.7. A good value at $100, a great value at $80. As mentioned above, if you search for "PQ" or "Pro Qualifier" in this forum you'll get plenty of info. One of my 6.4 ratio PQ reels is the subject of the 5-Year test mentioned by K_Mac. This reel has been in service for over 3 years now, has caught fish on 294 days on the water, and has a minimum of 31,000 casts on it. It has brought in fish up to 48 pounds, including my LMB PB of 9.5lbs. When you add in the days/casts when the reel was used, but no fish were caught with it, it probably has over 350-400 days on the water and 40,000-45,000 casts on it. This reel is still in front-line service and is my most-used BC reel. The most recent test report (that has links to the earlier reports) is here: PQ Five-Year Challenge

Hey Dwight - it sure is HARDER to catch 8 pounders when you have a scale with you...isn't it!

Too bad some folks have problems with the Rapala digital scales. My primary unit has now recorded 477 LMB weights, plus some weights on other fish including carp up to 48 pounds, over the past three years - a new battery every year and it keeps on tickin'. This thread reminded me that I should do another pull test on both my primary, and back-up unit. My 9.574lb test weight was still on my workbench from when I prepared it for the pull test right after my new PB on August 28. Back then, Unit 1 (the primary) read that 9.574 as 9.59. Today, nearly 3 months later, Unit 1 still reads 9.59. Unit 2 (the back-up) reads the test weight at 9.54. Unit 1 reads a little heavy, Unit 2 reads a little light, but both units are less than 1/2 ounce off the test weight and within one ounce of each other. Good enough for me....

I have 4 of them - all bought at that $59 price point. Many folks are of the opinion that there is no better cranking rod available at their regular price, and at $59 they are a bargain. If you search this forum, you'll find a number of threads on these rods.

Rapala has two digital scales that they call "mini" - one that goes to 50lbs (the ones I have) and another smaller scale that goes to 25lbs. If you're asking about the 25lb capacity scale, I have no experience with that one. Since I occasionally catch fish over 25 pounds, I've never considered getting that smaller scale. However, if it has similar quality strain gages/load cell, it may very well be as accurate as the 50lb units I have...but I can't say for sure.

Darren - you bet - that's important for some folks. For instance, Fish Chris has mentioned that he has several scales in his boat that he has certified by the California state weights & measures outfit - important for him because he has the ability and water to catch lake record (or state or world record) fish. Just not a factor for me when in my little lakes we get jazzed with 3 pounders and a 14.5 to break the Tennessee state record is not a high probability...

Spring scales are more robust - electronic scales are often more compact. There are spring scales that would fit in a tackle bag easy enough but the lip-gripper scales might be a bit large to fit. For me, I wanted something reasonably accurate that would fit in a waist pack, so I went the digital route. Since I have the opportunity to catch fish as heavy as 50 pounds, I also needed a scale with a weight rating that high. I have been having outstanding results with the mini-Rapala scales - others have had problems with this brand. I can only speak for the two units that I have - on pull tests with known weights, they have been accurate to around .05lb (1 oz) at weights under 10 pounds, within .1 pound at 15 pounds, and within .2 pounds on one pull test at 38 pounds. Accurate enough for talking purposes. I perform pull tests periodically, and always after a new PB. This past August, I upped my LMB PB with a (measured at the lake) 9.56. Got home and immediately did a pull test - the prepared known weight was 9.574 pounds - the scale read 9.59 - the scale was .016 pounds heavy. So, I call my PB a 9.54. Some folks don't like digitals, and it's true that they can crap-out without notice. But, so far, I've done well with these. If one or both eventually break, I'll get a couple more - they are not expensive and do exactly what I need them to do. Regarding the ability to have a scale that can be IGFA (or state weights & measures) certified, it's not a factor for me since I think it's highly unlikely that my little lakes harbor any record fish....

I'm a big believer in matching - every rod should have a reel on it... Like some have said above - I buy equipment for the performance, and value, that it offers. Most of my rods are BPS, Shimano, St. Croix, and Loomis. Most of my reels are BPS, Pflueger, Abu, Shimano, and Daiwa. While some of my combos have rods and reels from the same manufacturer, it is mostly by happenstance...not by plan...

Too bad - perhaps you have a bad one. Have you checked/replaced the battery? My two units are (so far) scary accurate - this with load tests on known weights between 9 and 38 pounds.

There's been a number of threads on scales in the Tackle forum over the past year or so. If you search in that forum, you'll come up with some good recommendations. For me, compactness is important since I fish from the bank more than the boat and I need a scale that will fit in a waist pack. I have been having outstanding results with a compact Rapala digital scale. Not as robust as a spring-scale but compact, accurate, repeatable...as long as the battery is good... http://www.bassresou...ck-test-report/

Sounds like a nifty reel at this price point, Too bad that (so far) they are not offering a 50-size reel. I fish mostly open water, usually with 10lb YZ, and this 100-size reel has excess capacity for my needs. Same reason why I prefer a Curado 50E over the 200E. I guess what I'm still looking for is the replacement for the SOL...

I hope you and yours are OK Mike.... Goose / Wayne J.

Thanks RW! Someday, you will post some photos of your tackle room and we'll all be blown away... I have a label machine and use the plastic (not paper) label tape - I haven't had a problem with the labels coming off. I have boxes for: Cranks - shallow (0-6ft) Cranks - mid (7-13ft) Cranks - deep (=>14ft) Lipless cranks Minnow baits Topwater Jigs/spoons Spinnerbaits/buzzbaits Swimbaits/jointed baits Ultralight baits Terminal tackle There's lots of ways to organize with the plastic boxes - a MUCH better tackle system than the big 'ole hard multi-tray tackle boxes we used to use back when...

I live on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee. We have sub-freezing winters but the coldest my (insulated) garage has been is 33 degrees. I keep nearly all my fishing gear in the garage and haven't noticed any problems related to the cold temps. For dust, I have 10 rod rack positions in the garage that have a denim cover over the bottom portion of the rods to try to keep dust out of the reels - those positions are for combos that don't see much use. The "active" combos are on a round rod rack and are not covered and thus subject to dust. No problems yet, since I try to fish all those combos frequently. I leave all my reels mounted on rods all the time and try to fish through the winter. Some folks that take a break from fishing during the winter remove and store their reels in a dust-free storage area. On bait storage, I have my active baits in plano boxes, some new stuff on pegs, and other stuff in boxes under the workbench - see photo. Can't give any opinion on JJ's since I don't use it.

X2 on the Fuji o-ring hook-keeper...

I have a Recon(1) PHX-C682L (6'8" light-power BC rod). It's light, sensitive, seems well made. I don't have enough time on the rod to have any opinion about durability - but with a light-power rod fished with light line - I don't think breakage will be a problem. My only issues with the rod are that both sides of the split grip are too small in diameter for me, and it has the EVIL rear hook-keeper. Hopefully, they will be moving the hook-keeper up in front of the reel on the next gen rod. Having said the above, if any of the Recon1's show up at good clearance prices, I could picture getting a few more...

Thanks again folks. Still two more years to go! That's reasonable - you should enjoy using your equipment and if it doesn't feel right, then time to move on. Me - I tend to "use things up"...regardless of the creaks, rattles, and whines the article might make as it gets "more mature". Like our "new" car that's only 24 years old (our "old" car is 40 years old). Although, we might actually get a new(er) car sometime soon... X2. I'm an amateur reel tinkerer - when I have needed expert work done - I've sent my reels to Mike...