MN Fisher

6

Some days it's 'Dazed and Confused'.

One of the things I'll be doing this winter is starting to add-to/upgrade my equipment. Currently I have one baitcaster, an Ambassdeur 500R that's a couple decades old. It works fine for what I use it for, drop-shotting, cranking and buzz-baits. I'm looking to get another baitcaster combo for heavier work, pitching mainly. The problem being is that I have a limited budget and I'm not sure which to get out of the following . For reels, I'm looking at: Abu Garcia Pro Max Daiwa CR 80 Lew's Laser MG Speed Spool MCS Pflueger President XT Quantum Throttle and for rods I'm looking at: Abu Garcia Vendetta Berkley Shock Lew’s Laser SG1 Your thoughts on the choices presented, or feel free to suggest something else entirely in the same price ranges. Thanks in advance for the assistance.

Last year it was the canoe and motor with two new rods/reels. This year it's mods to the canoe and starting to replace old gear. I have to do it slowly as being on a fixed income doesn't give rise to extravagant spending. Some of my lures are 20+ years old, three of my rod/reel combos are that old or older.

With the predictions of an El Nino this year, I'm hoping for a late March ice-out. I want to get in the water more than I did this past year.

Ummm - I'm back Summer became VERY crazy because of a variety of things. It was so bad I only got out on the water in my newly purchased canoe 3 times (THREE!!!). I was also running ragged enough to not even look at forums in my (very little) spare time. So sorry for the 'disappearing act'. Now that things have calmed down again, I plan on being here more, and on the water MUCH more when the ice clears next spring. One thing I am doing this winter - Canoe Mods. I'll be changing out the seats, adding stabilizers and a few other things to make it more fishing friendly. Glad to be back (finally) and hope to contribute more.

Smaller bays/lakes in the Minnetonka group are opening. Emerald, Seton and Black are open, however Cooks, Phelps and Spring Park bays still have honeycomb ice covering a majority of the surface. Since the launch points are still ice-bound, canoe or yak is the way to go to get into the smaller bodies.

No predictions yet, but Lake Pepin on the Mississippi has been declared ice-free - first lake in MN to clear. I'm thinking it's going to be at least a couple weeks for the main lake, week to week-and-a-half for the smaller bays/lakes. Once Emerald is clear, I'm taking the canoe out, I don't care about the big bays.

We're starting to see some melting around the shoreline, but I'm still seeing people on the ice. It's still going to be a bit before we have open water on even the smaller lakes/bays of 'Tonka even with the 60s and 70s predicted for the next week.

Welcome to MN - the state that's had snow every month of the year except July. We're past the average ice-out date for Minnetonka, and with 2-feet still in some places it's going to be a while before it's gone. Be patient and this too shall pass. If past years are any indication, next year we'll have an earlier than average ice-out and the ice-fishers will be complaining that the season was too short.

And she's not talking right now. Last I heard, even Minnetonka still has 2-feet of ice in places. At the rate it's going, it might be opening weekend or later before I get the canoe in the water. By contrast, average ice-out for 'tonka is April 14 - we're past that already.

Well, my yard has 17" of new snow from the weekend - so far. Flurries are still falling. I'm mostly dug out thanks to neighbors with snowblowers and a couple kids in the neighborhood I paid to clear some more. Truck is out and I ran a couple errands. Is it totally over? Nope - more snow predicted for Wednesday.

9.5" in my backyard already (it was clear ground yesterday) and it shows no sign of slowing down.

With a reel that old, good luck on finding anything besides replacement parts. Upgrades are few and far between for anything over 5 years old far as I found. Even replacements are hard to get, took me 2-weeks searching before I found a replacement handle for my 30+ year old Cardinal 562.

We got the snow coming. NWS - Today Snow. The snow could be heavy at times. Some thunder is also possible. Patchy blowing snow. High near 29. Blustery, with a northeast wind 20 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 7 to 11 inches possible. Tonight Snow. Patchy blowing snow before 2am. Low around 23. Blustery, with a north northeast wind 15 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible. Sunday Snow likely, mainly before 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 31. North northeast wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible. That's between 11" and 21" of NEW snow this weekend.

There's a break-apart diagram on Mike's - he may also have the parts needed for direct replacement Diagram - https://www.mikesreelrepair.com/content/schematics/Ambassadeur_BTC5500C4_0800_Schematic.pdf Parts - https://www.mikesreelrepair.com/reel-parts/abu-garcia-parts/

This is getting ridiculous. Original forecast was for 1-2 inches on Saturday, now they're saying 6-9 inches. Still 2-feet of ice on most of the lake even with the near 50 temps we've had. It's gonna be June before I get my canoe in the water (whine)

If we're talking spinning reels - I've been an Abu Garcia fan since my first 'real' reel - a Mitchell 320 I got when I was nine. Add to that, the Pleuger 640 I've had since I was a teenager still keeps going as well as the Cardinal 562 I got when the old 320 got wrecked in a move. Now I have two Abus and a pair of Pleugers and am very happy with all four of them.

Tomorrow they're saying we'll 'nudge' at 50 - then more snow on Friday? February just keeps on giving. (grumble-mumble-cuss)

Started off with an old Ambassadeur round-reel, now have a Ambassadeur low-profile. On my wish list is a Garcia Pro-Max. Guess I'm an Abu-Garcia fan.

Oh--Oh--can I pick Tahiti?

It's not the lures so much as the conditions. If you're tossing into even sparse weeds, you need the heavier line to get the fish out of there if they wrap around a few stalks of milfoil or a lily stem. Lighter line will snap and there goes both the fish and the lure.

Shhh - if you ignore the forecast, maybe like the 3-7 inches of snow we were 'suppose' to get, it'll go away and we'll have major meltage.

Longer than that. 25 years to hit 29" http://www.aikenslake.com/news/a-look-into-the-growth-rates-of-walleye

Check the guides often, use a diamond-file to smooth them out if needed