redmeansdistortion

The biggest compromises are weight, line capacity, and the inability to use braided line. A spincasting reel that holds a large amount of line can easily weigh over 1lb, and even then it's only going to hold about 100yd of 15lb mono. The redeeming quality of spincast reels is they are simple for anybody to pick up and use. Spinning reels are easy to use as well, but they still do take a small amount of time to get the hang of. I haven't owned one in over 30 years, but I still think they would be fine for bait fishing under a float or off the bottom.

I've always heard saltwater sheephead were good eating. The freshwater drum (that we call sheephead up here) aren't, but they do fight pretty dang good. They come out when the streams are full of silt and I end up hooking them when fishing for steelies and smallies.

Here's my pike box. I also have another with an assortment of bucktails, spinners, Dardevles, and smaller swimbaits. The next one is a double sided box with steelhead drift tackle. Last is my brook trout stuff. You gotta pack light when hiking 50+ miles through the UP of Michigan, and those boxes are small and have my favorite brookie spinners and spoons.

I fish year round. During the fall, winter, and spring, I'm standing in waist high water fishing steelhead. When summer rolls around, they head out to the bigger lakes and that's when I fish other species. I've been out in the streams in below freezing temps many times, even a few this year. When the ice fishermen are all hunched over a bucket in their shanties, I'm enjoying solitude on the river.

And a light wallet after you buy them

You can't do anything about people parking in front of your home. As far as I know, the other side of the curb is city property and not yours. That's how it was put to me anyway when I had the same issue. I just politely asked my neighbors if they could please park in front of their own homes. No problems, they did. On another note, one of my neighbors had their late 20 something son living with them who was a heroin dealer. Every single night there were cars lined up out front of the house and he would make his trips to each car and they'd pull off. To make matters worse, most of his customers looked like high school students. I always saw baggies and syringes in the street when I'd take my trash to the curb and it made me angry. My neighborhood is pretty decent with a lot of younger families and their children. It's pretty saddening when you see kids out playing enjoying themselves while a drug dealer conducts his illicit business. Anyway, I got on the horn with the cops and it stopped in short order. His traffic went from 10+ customers per night to zero in an instant.

Amen.

I use Ugly Stiks for musky. They aren't sensitive, but neither is the hit of a musky

I love my Swedish made Ambassadeurs. I know there are better reels out there, but I love their timeless looks and the ability to get replacement parts for some that are long out of production.

That's me The cabinet is from my grandparent's first TV set, a 1948 Zenith. My grandpa gutted it long ago and used it as a liquor cabinet up until about 30 years ago.

Ceramics are noisy when run dry. I have ceramic hybrids in the spool, cog wheel, and level wind on one of my Abu reels and it sounds like a freight train without any oil. Oil quiets them down considerably without sacrificing much casting distance. Even then, for bass fishing you are mostly casting inside of 20yd, so oil them up if the noise bothers you.

My other hobby. This is a 3W amplifier I built to power a pair of Electro Voice coaxial speakers. It achieves a 'sound hanging in the air' effect you just can't go out and buy. Even though it only puts out 3W of power per channel, the speakers as so efficient it can still make your ears bleed.

FFO is Pure Fishing's (parent of Abu, Pflueger, Penn, etc) store, and they often have great deals on refurbs and discontinued models. Sometimes they have downright amazing deals. I was sad I missed out on the $80 Abu Records and $100 Inshore Classics. It's a good site to check regularly as you never know what they'll have.

You can still get them on Fisherman's Factory Outlet. I've accumulated a few over the years and never had any trouble with them. My usual ultralight brook trout setup is a Cardinal STX and a 6' Okuma Celilo and it has been flawless. I bought the reel maybe 10 years back for a whole $25.

It has to do with line capacity. One of the more popular surf fishing reels is the Abu 6500 Rocket which holds 275yd of 14lb mono. In the hands of an experienced caster, they can throw all the way down to the knot. Depending on line thickness, a cast can be well past 200yd, and some can even go out past 300yd if their technique is spot on.

The President is a nice reel, but for $70 to $80, you can find a Penn Battle II in the 2500 or 3000 size and it's a much better reel. It's a sealed design, has HT-100 drag washers, and is very easy to user service unlike many other spinning reels on the market. Replacement parts are also very easy to find should the need arise. Penn is very good about keeping replacement parts available long after a model is discontinued in much the same way Abu Garcia is with many of their Swedish made reels.

In beach and pier fishing, this is called a shock leader. Ideally, you want to use 10lb of breaking strength for every ounce of lead you are throwing. Fishing under those circumstances, you're really muscling it out there to get distance and using too light a leader can cause you to lose your entire rig on the cast. People casting that far use reels with a high line capacity as they are usually casting 150yd or more.

Double uni for me, haven't had a failure since I was a greenhorn at joining different lines a couple decades back. If it can hold up to an 18lb steelhead running 50yd+ down the river through undercut banks and logjams, I'm sure it'll hold up well to some measly old bass lol. For the toothy critters, I use a 100lb fluoro leader and join it with an improved Albright knot. Same kind the surf fishermen use with heavy leaders. It's pretty dang tough.

What methods and gear do my fellow steelhead fishermen use pursuing the chrome torpedoes? The season in my neck of the woods should be starting up soon and it would be nice to try something different. I typically float and drift for them and throw the occasional hardware. How does everybody else do it?

At least they taste good

For me it's always 3" tube baits and 3" grubs. I keep a large assortment of both in my vest in various colors.

That rod is on my short list for my new brookie rig. Oh yeah, hello fellow steelheader!

Try not to focus on distance. When bass fishing, you're usually throwing shorter distances towards cover mostly inside of 20yd or so.

What happened to me isn't a common occurrence where I fish. The vast majority of the time, I get a wave, a nod, and the age old question, "Ya catching anything?" lol

I've never fished a Tokyo rig, but seeing some replies in this thread made me think of something. I make slinky weights for drift fishing steelhead and I feel they might make a nice component for a Tokyo-type rig. Slinkies are nearly snagless and made from 1/4" paracord and filled with lead or steel shot. I use 3/8" steel shot for mine, with each ball weighing about 1/8oz. You can buy large quantities of steel shot cheap, and a 100ft section of 1/4" paracord is less than $10. You can make all you want cheap and it won't get hung up in heavy weeds or wood like a regular sinker does. I think I'm going to try it once the ice is off of the water here. Here's a good DIY tutorial https://www.fieldandstream.com/craft-steelhead-slinky-in-6-easy-steps#page-2