Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: CustomRetrieval on October 31, 2006, 01:09:52 AM
-
Hello All;
Another newb here, to the both the forum and fishing the mighty (if it ever rains) river. Over the last year I have been bitten by the fishing bug, I've successfully worked the lakes, mainly spincasting with lures, and now I need to catch something bigger....
I am wondering if anybody has some suggestions/ideas about what to look for in my first river set-up.
I think that I am looking for something that is multi-purpose (coho, steelhead, sockeye...), affordable (I'm a poor student), and fun to fish.
Is my best bet a level-wind reel on a 10'6" medium action rod, seems pretty general to me?
Whats the deal with centre-pin?
I think that I am going to leave learning to fly-fish until I'm back on the lakes next summer. I guess that means drift-fishing is how I'll start, unless there is another way, perhaps?
Also, I've read a bunch of articles on the main site, they're great, they make me want try asap.
Thanks for any and all feedback;
CustomRetrieval
/too bad I missed the event organized by fisherforever; as I've only ever flossed the river before
-
try a trophy XL for your rod needs as it's the best bang for the buck,for the reel if your on a budget then go with the abu garcia if you feel that you have a little more to spend then a shimano calcutta would be the next best thing,center pinning i think it's hard to start of with cause it's just you and the fish theres no ratio like baitcasters to aid you in pulling in fish and the drag disks to give you the stopping power.Oh yeah i forgot a center pin is definitely more $$$.good luck in your search.
-
d
-
Greetings dennisK, I`m not going to crowd this thread as to where to shop or not. The poster asked where a *poor* student can get set up and fish. At around $50 cdn landed for a new Abu 6000 no warranty as compared to minimum $100 +taxes (if you can find a 6000) or $150 cdn + taxes for a 6500 c3 I say risk the warranty and get the new 6000 reel for $50 from Ebay. Then spend $2-5 and put a bearing in the end of the spool that has a bushing and whoolaaa....You have the equivalent of an Abu Garcia 6500 c3 for $55.00 cdn.
Now even if you break your Abu 6000 reel, you still have saved over $100 cdn that you can use to fix it with. It is a free market system and most people who buy stuff off of Ebay use their local tackle shops as well, just ask Bob`s, West Coast, A&N and on and on how much I spend at those places..it`s not chump change.
I hope to help as many people get set up for fishing as possible, price can be a hindrance to people getting started. If Rod has a problem with me helping people in this manner he can let me know, until then if anyone needs a hand with Ebay and ordering reels send me an email. I will help you and your family get set up for a reasonable cost to get out fishing.
Cheers
Nuggy
I'm with Nuggy on this one. I've bought a 5500 C3 and a 6500 C3 on ebay for great prices, and no problems so far. If I do have issues, the $$ saved more than covers repairs that the warranty doesn't cover.
Make sure the seller ships it USPS and lables the package as $40 US or under, you'll avoid duties that way.
-
s
-
weizen: "I hope to help as many people get set up for fishing as possible, price can be a hindrance to people getting started."
If you're going to quote either Nuggy or myself, please get it right....re-read the posts it wasn't me that typed that. Although I do agree with the statement, please take more time with you're quotes.
As for advertising a business, can't see how you can justify that statment (whoe's business is he advertising anyway?). Alll Nuggy is doing (with my support) is helping a new poor student get into some cheap fishing gear....no need to get all worked up about it. ;)
-
d
-
weizen: "I hope to help as many people get set up for fishing as possible, price can be a hindrance to people getting started."
As for advertising a business, can't see how you can justify that statment (whoe's business is he advertising anyway?).
Nuggy: hope to help as many people get set up for fishing as possible, price can be a hindrance to people getting started - until then if anyone needs a hand with Ebay and ordering reels send me an email. I will help you and your family get set up for a reasonable cost to get out fishing.
Seems like he's offering a service as a reel broker to me.
ps. And if you think I'm "worked up" now you ain't seen nothing LOL. This is just level 1 :o
Cheeze you're fast on you're post edits...with all that editing people are going to wonder what we're going back and forth over....LOL, anyway, why don't we just agree to disagree with how new anglers buy gear, and let customretreiver decide what advice he takes from this thread and what he tosses away. I'm sure we could go back and forth all day, but it would serve no good other than to further hi-jack his thread.
-
gh
-
c
-
Isn't even an issue so long as you're jumping to the conclusion that he's charging....you back edited your other post to put a disclamer that you don't mind if he does it for free, just take some time and not jump to conclusions. As for paying to advertise on this site, that's Rods business, and i'm not going there.
If nuggy is offering to broker reels from Ebay for a charge he should pay Rod for advertising here, no? And it wasn't just for one person, he did say "anyone".
-
Isn't even an issue so long as you're jumping to the conclusion that he's charging....you back edited your other post to put a disclamer that you don't mind if he does it for free, just take some time and not jump to conclusions. As for paying to advertise on this site, that's Rods business, and i'm not going there.
If nuggy is offering to broker reels from Ebay for a charge he should pay Rod for advertising here, no? And it wasn't just for one person, he did say "anyone".
So your first assumption when someone offers to broker reels from Ebay for anyone on this site that they will not want $1 for his work? You think he will offer it totally for free.
-
So your first assumption when someone offers to broker reels from Ebay for anyone on this site that they will not want $1 for his work? You think he will offer it totally for free.
Why don't you re-read what he typed....You're going off and putting words in posts that arn't there. He never used the word broker...you started that one. All he is offering is to help people get set up on ebay that would allow them to buy gear at a reasonable cost. Carefull with your words again, and all that back editing of you're posts is starting to annoy me.
-
x
-
So your first assumption when someone offers to broker reels from Ebay for anyone on this site that they will not want $1 for his work? You think he will offer it totally for free.
Why don't you re-read what he typed....You're going off and putting words in posts that arn't there. He never used the word broker...you started that one. All he is offering is to help people get set up on ebay that would allow them to buy gear at a reasonable cost. Carefull with your words again, and all that back editing of you're posts is starting to annoy me.
You re-read it. it sounds like an ad to me.
Nuggy: hope to help as many people get set up for fishing as possible, price can be a hindrance to people getting started - until then if anyone needs a hand with Ebay and ordering reels send me an email. I will help you and your family get set up for a reasonable cost to get out fishing.
Oh brother....finish reading the part you didn't BOLD.
Anyway, i've had enough of this, i'm late for lunch.....later
-
c
-
Yo, you guys are scaring away CustomRetrieval. ;) I suggest that you agree to disagree with each other and I shall clean up the thread a bit so we are back on the right track.
-
Well I needed to put my 2cents worth in. As for nuggy he has helped me with advice about buying on e-bay. Bought a great reel for my brother on e-bay and saved alot. Now buying this reel has not preventing me from shopping at my local shop ( Hatch Matchers' fly and tackle ) in Maple Ridge. In fact I am there at least once a week picking up flies or leader and just about anything else and my brother is there as well, picking up a rod for that reel plus all the other tackle to go along with that. So nuggy please continue to help those that ask for help because it sure has helped me and I appreciated it. There will always be people out there that just like to get people worked up.
-
d
-
s
-
No money was exchanged. The only thing that was exchanged was free advice. Even gave free advice on how to go about getting the 6000 ungraded. It was a great help and my brother just loves his reel. As he is very new to fishing and did not want to spend alot of money ( unlike myself ) we wanted to try e-bay and with nuggy's advice we where able to make a great purchase.
-
I'd like to think about this paradox this way. Say someone wants to get into fishing but has limited money to do so and their getting involved in this activity is dependant on being able to get a rod and reel for cheap. So they go out and buy a rod for X number dollars off of ebay. The local tackle shop looses out on one sale but this person ends up getting really into fishing and in the end the tackle shop ends up with a potential life long customer. I'm sure most shops would rather also be the ones outfitting these guys with rods but a new customer that they wouldn't have otherwise cannot be bad.
-
Well put Biffchan. My local shop has now got one more long time customer in my brother and they are happy for that.
-
Keep in mind guys that for a someone new to river fishing it is a good idea to develop a good relationship with a local tackle shop. When I first started out I bought most of my gear from berrys. The amount of info that I got was priceless. You can't always get everything from the internet. Sure you may buy hooks from them later on but you could and may possibly get them off of Ebay as well. I am not saying that everyone should buy locally all of the time (heck even I will buy from down south sometimes!) but I can honestly say that I wouldn't have the knowledge or experience that I have now without these local shops.
-
LOL this was some good reading, Dennis K you sure get you knickers in a twist easy eh ???? first of all like someone else said , if you are gonna complain about people not supporting the sponsors then you need to get out your wallet and pay Rodney for a subscription !!!!
second I bought my first baitcasting setup at my local tackle shop, and I probably spend at least $50 a month on line hooks etc .. but when it came time for me to buy some real nice expensive equipment the first thing I did was go on e-bay , I ended up with a near new calcutta 250 for under $100.. this reel would have cost me around $275 at my local tackle shop... I even told the owner where I bought it and he said that it was a good buy for me, he doen't worry because he knows that I buy all my other gear there and I also send many new customers his way !! the thing is I am not a rich guy, but I like nice things.. so of course I am going to find the best deal possible when making a bigger purchase.. Nuggy was on here trying to offer some advice to a new fisherman, and unless you have some other beef with him that we don't know about then I suggest you get some help with you're anger problem !!
TR
-
:-[
I'm busy with work right now, but please put this behind and get back to assisting customretrieval.
-
d
-
hi nuggy
how do i add a bearing in the spool? any instructions? i have a abu 6000
Greetings dennisK, I`m not going to crowd this thread as to where to shop or not. The poster asked where a *poor* student can get set up and fish. At around $50 cdn landed for a new Abu 6000 no warranty as compared to minimum $100 +taxes (if you can find a 6000) or $150 cdn + taxes for a 6500 c3 I say risk the warranty and get the new 6000 reel for $50 from Ebay. Then spend $2-5 and put a bearing in the end of the spool that has a bushing and whoolaaa....You have the equivalent of an Abu Garcia 6500 c3 for $55.00 cdn.
Now even if you break your Abu 6000 reel, you still have saved over $100 cdn that you can use to fix it with. It is a free market system and most people who buy stuff off of Ebay use their local tackle shops as well, just ask Bob`s, West Coast, A&N and on and on how much I spend at those places..it`s not chump change.
I hope to help as many people get set up for fishing as possible, price can be a hindrance to people getting started. If Rod has a problem with me helping people in this manner he can let me know, until then if anyone needs a hand with Ebay and ordering reels send me an email. I will help you and your family get set up for a reasonable cost to get out fishing.
Cheers
Nuggy
I'm with Nuggy on this one. I've bought a 5500 C3 and a 6500 C3 on ebay for great prices, and no problems so far. If I do have issues, the $$ saved more than covers repairs that the warranty doesn't cover.
Make sure the seller ships it USPS and lables the package as $40 US or under, you'll avoid duties that way.
-
I go to my local shop for the little things, flies ( when I am too lazy to tie ) hooks, rigs, floats, line etc etc. Allot of my major purchases are either on EBAY, Cabela's, or down in Bellingham. If I can get a reel for $100 instead of $250 why would I pay the local shop that extra $150? For service? Not likely. I do spend quite a bit on gear at the shop as everytime I get out I am forking over about $50 a pop and this is probably atleast once a month, if not more.
Nuggy's a good guy and is always here willing to take someone out fishing and teaching them. Hey Dennis if you are going to bust him up I have a question for you. How many river cleanups have you been to in the last year? How many times have you volunteered at a hatchery? If you don't like these questions you should not have replied in the way you did to Nuggy. Its easy to criticize someone but when the roles are reversed its not so good is it?
-
Wow....hijacked... >:(
Getting back to what Customretrieval is really asking:
REELS
Judging by the posts here that actually have some substance, there seems to be a lot of people in favour of the Abu Garcias, and if you have the funds, to upgrade to a Shimano Calcutta.
From personal experience, I started with an Abu Garcia C4 6500 spooled with 15 lb test. I have tossed spoons, drift fished, and on occasion have bottom-bounced with it. I bought the reel over 4 years ago and it still works like it just came out of the box, spooth drag, smooth retrieve and mostly unscratched. The only problem I have had with it is that in the early years of my owning it, I didn't used to loosen the drag after a day on the water, which led to a flattening of the drag discs, resulting in me having to crank the drag down tighter to get the same resistence as when I first got the reel.
For the money, I think these reels are the best value for the money (personal opinion), given the choice, I would also go for the C4 ( http://www.abu-garcia.com/prod.php?k=50128&sk=46555&p=PUR4600C4 ) instead of the C3 ( http://www.abu-garcia.com/prod.php?k=50127&sk=46555&p=PUR4600C3 ) if you can spare the $20-30 more. The C4 has a higher gear ratio and I remember reading somewhere that the gears are made of a different, more robust material. Depending on the fish you are targetting, this will affect the model of reel you're looking for, have a look at the websites above and see the recomended line ratings for each reel. I've found that the 6500 will suit anything you are looking for, although it is a bit bigger, it can be used for chum and chinook as well as coho and steelhead. It's probably be a good standby for a starter reel.
The biggest thing you have to look for in the way of maintainence is that you don't submerge it in the river/salt water, keep it out of the sand, and generally don't bang it around. My C4 spent a summer up North with me buzz bombing for coho in the QCIs in the salt, I'm not gonna lie, I didn't take as good care of it as I should have, but it came out of the season in the same condition that it went into it with. Also wash it down with fresh water after using after most trips.
I think that's reels just abotu covered if you're looking for a starter reel.
RODS
It was mentioned in another post that Trophy XL rods are good. From personal experience, and after owning 3 of them (a 4 pc med-heavy levelwind rod, a 2 pc lighter levelwind rod, and a light-weight centre-pin) I can vouch for their reliability. I used these 3 rods for over 3 seasons so far. I have only ever snapped one of them (the 4 piece in somewhat of a boating accident...), but never on a fish.
Supposably Trophy has recently come out with a new line of rods that are meant to be quite impressive, has anyone reading this had a chance to try one out ? or at least see one ?
Trophy's are reliable rods and would probably suit our needs.
Another rod that seems to be liked by a lot of people is the Shimano Convergence. I have one of their spinning rods, and has taken some nice chum and coho with it, performed perfectly, so this is another good rod you may want to have a look at. I know a lot of people who swear by them in the salt as well as the rivers.
LINE
For fishing the rivers, I'd go with 15 lb test, suitable for what you're targetting, as far as the brands go, Maxima is a good brand a lot of people stand by including myself for the rivers.
Buy it wherever you want, it's all the same product.
Hope this helps.
-
I have 3 Trophy rods, one for barfishing, one for drift fishing and one for spin casting. All great rods for the money.
As for the Abu's I own like 5 or 6 of them. Every year something goes on them and always repairing them. I am going another route starting with Steelhead season. Time for me to start forking out the money.
-
we don't know about then I suggest you get some help with you're anger problem !!
TR
Anger problem, I have none. (TR - why are you using exclamation points - are you "angry"?)
Nor have I made any personal attacks (ie. name calling).
But it seems like a lot of you have a hard time with someone asking strong questions.
Here's a tip - next time your read something on the internet - pretend you are not using your emotions to filter the sentences.
Just read the w o r d s.
It just seemed to me that you went after Nuggy for trying to help out a fellow fisherman.. if you have a look back at his postings you will see that he has helped out a lot of people and never asked for anything in return ... and I think we have a hard time trying to figure out where you're "STRONG" questions come from; completely uneccessary.. and I am going to ask you one more time why you aren't willing to part with a few $$ for a subscription if you are so worried about Rod and his site and his sponsors.
TR
-
Hey CustomRetrieval,
I know your original post is in here somewhere :) Welcome aboard. I'm still a Newbie here but I've had some great advice thus far from guys like Thick Rick and Rodney. I purchased all my tackle from Army & Navy as they are just down the street from me, bought used waders and boots from FlyRod (Bare Blackwaters and Simms boots) and a Patagonia SST wading jacket from ....wait for it ....Ebay. I saved myself over $100.00 CDN on the jacket and it turns out the seller was in Vancouver so I saved on the shipping and taxes as well.
Anyway, to the point of your question, I am currently borrowing an Abu Garcia reel and rod combo which besides having too much line on the reel the first time I used it, has been just great. So far I've landed countless chums plus a 30 pound Spring last week and a 40 pound Spring the week before. I can see myself wanting to try out another reel at some point but for now, I'm set. If you have any questions, let me know. Happy to help you out if I can.
ps: I created a very cool little Ebay calculator in Excel the other day that takes the current exchange rate, the US retail price of an item, the Canadian retail price (plus applicable taxes, duty and shipping charges) and the Ebay bid price and calculates the CDN savings based on the current bid. I have everything shipped to a PO Box in Point Roberts, WA to save on shipping. I have purchased other gear from Highwater tackle in North Vancouver and some at Michael & Young Fly Shop. For the more expensive items, you can't knock Ebay IMHO.
-
welcome
Rod: I have a shimano convergence medium action. I really like it for steelhead but I am sometimes a bit worried when I am fighting a big angry chum.
Reel: I have a abu garcia 6601 C4 with 15 pounds test. It is really a great reel. The thumb bar is really cool to cast but I had to get used to it when it came to striking. My thumb controling the spool during the drift sometimes interfers when I strike, because my thumb position does not allow the thumb bar to come up.
-
Thanks for all the great advice. I almost bid on this reel last night, an Abu Tournament:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160044355393&sspagename=ADME:L:RTQ:CA:1
but I figured I should look into it a little more. I'm willing to wait several weeks so I'm sure something will come along. A quick question regarding reel handedness, is it the same as when using a spincasting reel? I normally reel with my left hand when spincasting and it seems like I might want to use my right thumb when baitcasting.
-
;D
Hey I saw something else there Bill ;D ;D ;D
-
I went down the Army & Navy today to check out some reels. I am impressed by the quality of their fishing department, affordable and diverse...
The Abu 6501 is definitely a nice reel. Now I just need to find a decent used one to pimp out. I was looking at aftermarket bearings and drag plates at http://www.mikesreelrepair.com/ (link found in a different thread) Is there anywhere to get these parts locally, an Abu Mecca perhaps?
-
I just realized that Mike's Reel Repair is in Abbotsford. Maybe I should have looked more closely before.
ummm, yeah.........
-
CustomRetrieval, email me for photos I have a lefty ambassadeur you may like.
pukapuka@gmail.com