2006...what Did You Buy...good Or Bad

[lew]

Hi guys, the 2006 fishing year is winding down very fast, and now we've all had a full season to test out any new equipment we got, so let's share our opinions on our new toys, and maybe help each other in buying new gear for next season.

 

I made the same post a year ago and we got alot of excellent responses

 

Myself, I added 2 more musky reels to the inventory this year and was more than happy with both of them. They both came on the recommendation of Robin who used them both last year with good results.

 

For jerkbaits where it's important to take up slack line quickly, I went with the Abu Garcia Big Game HS 7000.

 

It's a big reel but very comfortable to use all day long and with the large spool and power handle, the line comes in extremely fast, with little cranking effort. I wasn't too sure if I'd like casting with the side button, rather than a thumb bar, but I got so that I never even give it a 2nd thought anymore.

 

 

Next reel was a Shimano Tekkota 600 LC for trolling.

 

Like nearly everything Shimano makes, this reel is absolutely perfect and I can't a find a single thing I don't like about it. The drag is extremely smooth and the clicker is loud enough that there is no problem hearing it over the sound of the motor. The counter seems accurate and always resets perfectly, unlike others I've seen.

 

Large lures can be cranked in with no effort, even with the boat still underway.

 

Again, it's a fairly large reel, but comfortable and easy to hold while cranking in baits

 

Another excellent product by Shimano

 

 

The other item I'm very happy with is a Coleman Black Cat catalytic heater for my tent. Kinda nice on those cold rainy nights in May & September. I start it on Hi, then when the tent is warm I cut it down to low for the rest of the night.

 

The only complaint is it only lasts about 7-8 hours on the small tanks and I can't see any way of hooking it up to a larger tank. It'd be nice to put it on around 4:00 in the afternoon to get rid of any dampness in the tent and then have it run continously till daylight.

 

Other than that, it's a good buy

 

 

I also bought another 7' 6" Compre for trolling and another 7' 6" St. Croix for bootails, but everybody already knows how good they both are, so no further description is needed

 

So, tell us about your new gear, and was it good or bad, and worth the $$$$ and pictures if possible.

 

It may help the rest of us from buying an inferior product nest year.

[Raf]

Here are some of the bigger buys.

 

8' St. Croix Glass Composite muskie trolling rod. Handles the huge baits just great. Softer tip but tons of backbone.

 

8' St. Croix Premier MH muskie rod. I use this for bootails and straight line topwaters. I think I can launch a bait across Lake O. The longer length also makes figure 8'ing a breeze.

 

8'6" Shimano Clarus M . I really like this multi-purpose rod . I can use it to chuck spoons, pull smaller planer boards, long lining for trout and will hopefully try it in the tribs this winter.

 

2x Quantum Cabo CBC31PTS reels. These are low-profile saltwater baitcasters. They look like a bass reel on steroids and have more line capacity than my 6501s. I've stuck one on my jerkbait rod and the other on my topwater/bootail 8' rod. I fully expected to burn the gears out on bootails but she held up. The 5.7:1 ratio seems to make it easier to get those bootails "on plane" than my Abu 6501s and on the jerkbait side, retrieves line quicker. I throw jerkbaits as big as 13" and the reel handled those like a champ. I'd like to get a 7001 for burning baits but it just doesn't exist!! I've also used it for pulling dipseys in the spring.

 

 

My GF got fed up with rods down the middle of the truck and go me one of those strap truck roof rack systems for rod storage. No more rods banging around. They now suspend nicely from the ceiling of the truck. My cherokee is just long enough that the 8'ers fit lengthwise with a slight bend at the windshield.

 

I am sure there's more but that's all I can think of right now.

Edited December 6, 2006 by Raf

[Fang]

Quick run down

 

7'6" Fig Rig H Musky rod love it but now wnat the MH

Shimano Corsair 401 nice real

New Tourny Scum Frogs WOW! WOW! great hooks ups even better than the old ones

3 old green cardinal 4's look great in my reel case - won't use them

1 old green cardinal 3 same as above

13" Beagle stubborn as a mule but gotta love em!

 

As yet have not tried out the late season buy - Big Jon dual planer board mast

[Whopper]

Well besides the money that I invested in new musky gear this year I tried to keep it simple with purchases this year so that do more trips than usual.

One thing that I found that was money well spent and was very inexpensive was the intro to fluorocarbon for leaders and spooling a couple rods with fireline. For those of you still using store bought or steel leaders you may want to read JP Bushy's article in this months news letter. I had more than a few conversations with him over the past year about jigging technequies and this year was the first year using fluoro to make leaders for pickeral & pike fishing.

In July I had the pleasure of fishing a lake in NWO for mainly pickeral but the lake had a very good population of pike in it also so this is when I put to test what JP and I had talked about and what he has written in his article I was pleasantly surprised. Using the fluoro leaders fishing for pickeral eleminated breaks offs from both pike & pickeral while jig fishing completely for me and convinced my partner, my son, to follow suit after a couple of frustrated lost fish.

In years past I have been strickly a mono man but this year I also started using fireline on a couple of rods and have found it also rewarding for increase sensitivity and performance. Typically I try to use a light as line as possible which typically will lead to losing baits due to snags, well with the use of fireline line this year I have saved a lot of baits that I wouldn't normally be able to retrive due to the line strenght of the fireline, so I have saved some money there.

The cost of the fluoro for leaders and the fireline were both more than what they replaced but saved my money and improved my catching in the long run.

 

Whopper

[Eddyk]

I bought a blue Rapella.

[Terry]

lets think...will my wife read this......

 

might

 

 

 

 

I really didn't buy much...............

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ATV

 

underwater camera

 

 

new flasher for the ice

[Rich]

Well I bought somebody's old Abu C4 but I didn't spring the extra money for a reel that catches fish.

 

On the bright side I bought my first centerpin and float rod (Okuma Aventa, Quantum Cold Water 13') and I am very impressed with both. Actually impressed is the wrong word.. ADDICTED is a better one.

[Headhunter]

I bought a couple of the Okuma Convector reels this year, moving away from the Diawa Sealines, but only based on price! I like the Convectors mostly because of the big handle and turning radious on these reels, makes bringing in boards with large cranks a little easier than with the small handle/radius Sealines.

Outside of a few cranks, a couple of storage boxes for my large cranks, that's about it!

HH

[Deano]

Hi Lew

Bought: new GPS, second ATV, and lots of other fishing gear.

Sold: camp (fifth wheel trailer)

= only went fishing 6 times this past year, but did do a whole lot of exploring.

Just bought an ice auger, maybe i'll get more fishing this winter.

[Garyv]

First I purchased a new Truck Tent for the lakair trip which I never used and thought my daughter and son in law would but never have.

 

Then I found a pruchased a used truck camper ( I never should have sold the first on I had ) again for the lakair GTG this past June. Had a great time with it all summer. I like being able to bring the bigger boat Vs the 12ft. Alum I put on the truck rack if I tow the trailer. I recommend a truck unit to anyone that likes to stay at and fish a series of different lakes on a trip. They are great investments in my opinion anyway.

[outdoorguy61]

I just bought a Force10 marine barbecue that is extremely well built.

 

outdoorguy61

[Raf]

Gary, where did you pick up the truck-tent? Who makes it? Looks interesting.

[Fisherman]

First I purchased a new Truck Tent for the lakair trip which I never used and thought my daughter and son in law would but never have.

 

Then I found a pruchased a used truck camper ( I never should have sold the first on I had ) again for the lakair GTG this past June. Had a great time with it all summer. I like being able to bring the bigger boat Vs the 12ft. Alum I put on the truck rack if I tow the trailer. I recommend a truck unit to anyone that likes to stay at and fish a series of different lakes on a trip. They are great investments in my opinion anyway.

Ditto: The worst mistake I ever made was selling the slide in. Should have kept it for the "father & son" fishing and hunting trips, maybe I'll find another or build one to suit.

[Seahag]

St Croix Avid 6'10 one piece medium spin rod with a St croix reel.

St Croix triumph bait caster 6'10 one piece with Citica reel.

New to me 1996 Lund Rebel with 40 hp 4 stroke tiller

2 big john electric down riggers,

new salmon equipment

a rain suit from costco

head lamp.

minnow mate cooler minnow keeper

 

Everything i bought has exceeded my expectations. The rods and reels have fought big fish and handled them well. The sensitivity has caught the small tricky fish so often missed.

The boat has been the greatest investment ever. This thing is a power house.

The rain suit is incredible i highly recommend the wet skin rain suit with the zip in fleece liner from costco. 89.99 i even wear it skiing.

Everyone needs a head lamp. led head lamp has changed my attitude towards night fishing so much easier.

The minnow mate i have not yet tried. A client gave that to me as a gift and i'm excited to see how it works. It keep minnows a live in a cooler using a battery operated pump to circulate the water. Keeps up to 300 minnows a live for 5 to 6 days. "so it says"

 

can't wait to see what everyone else had luck with this year.

[Garyv]

Gary, where did you pick up the truck-tent? Who makes it? Looks interesting.

 

Cabelas in Dundee Mich, it's for sale. If you or anyone is interested just PM me and include your email addy and I will send you some more pictures.

Edited December 8, 2006 by Garyv

[smellin fishy]

2006 GMC Sierra standard cab, long box with 4x4

 

 

My first 4x4 that isn't my dads!

[fishdawg]

too much Hilights being:

 

Lowrance x67c Icemachine colour portable sonar - does triple duty (bowmount, ice or as a portable on a rental boat)

 

Garmin Etrex Legend Cx handheld colour GPS - sweet! still learning it

 

St Croix 8'6 Wild River Trout rod (spinning) - love it

 

7' Compre - Muskie - love it

 

a coupla more trolling rod combos, more salmon/walleye trolling baits & gizmos.........

[wolfville]

Some carp gears, in the following order (hope I remember everything right).

 

April:

-8'6" Shakespeare Agility Medium Spinning rod

-Shakespeare Agility Reel

-Cheap CT rod holder

< then with two months of happy carping thinking I won't buy any euro style stuffs>

 

July:

-Okuma Avenger ABF50 Baitrunner reel

<What did I say about euro style stuffs in April?>

 

July:

-85lb of maize

-too many things from Bulk Barns

 

August:

- SS rod pod

- 12'6", 2.75lb TC, Shimano Exage 7 pieces travel carp rod

- Fox hanger

- bunch of baiting aids like drills, needles, stops, ... etc

<I was laughed by Victor about the comment made in April too many times at this point, and made up my mind no more purchase this year.>

 

August:

- Two bite alarms to go with the other stuffs.

- Second bag of 85lb maize.

 

October: (got a business trip to UK.....)

- Shimano Baitrunner reel XTE-B 8000.

- Another Okuma baitrunner reel

- 14' Shimano feeder rod, 3/4 sections.

- 12' carp rod, TC 2.75lb, 3 sections.

- A bunch of other stuffs total worth about 300 GBP for the trip.

<OKay, enough for this year, or not?)

 

December:

- Two books by Chris Yates about fishing.

- Another order from US for carp tackes about USD 100 made today.

<Good thing is, my local swim is iced over now and I think I won't buy anymore for the year....>

 

Plus a few lures for other speices, an inflatable boat (inteneded for bass fishing but will use it more for baiting, I guess)

Edited December 6, 2006 by wolfville

[Cookslav]

Aside from a wack of Lures, and a new BPS 7' extra Heavy rod, specificly for trolling in search of toothy G-bay bigguns, I didn't buy much equipment this year.

Unfortunatly I bought it November and only used the rod for one weekend thus far.

It did get a lot of use and It served its purpose well, allthough its yet to be tested by a big o'll fish LOL...

next year It'll see some more action.

 

I bought a used Tent trailer for $300...can't beat that

Specificly for Fall Fishing trips, Maybe Lakair this year if time permits

A used Kerosine Furnace for the tent trailer for $40

That thing kept us alive on my steel head trip back in October...snow, wind and sub zero temps brrrrrr.

 

And a used 20' Travel trailer I have parked on the Bruce I picked up for Free...needed bout $300 roof repair and a little elbow grease, but she's done, and ready for next year.

 

 

Guess I'm thrifty?....My wife would say cheap...but I prefer Thrifty

 

But I did pick up a New water filter for my Anual Algonquin trip this year

http://www.epinions.com/content_81176333956

 

Well worth the $69 I paid at columbia Sports here in town...Its compact, light, easy to use and the water is much better tasting with out the iodine, not to mention much fastet then boiling.

I highly Recommend the Pur Hiker series....great investment fer sure

Edited December 6, 2006 by Cookslav

[Uncle Buck]

Wire Dipsey Combo (tekota 600LC, tdr with twilli tip)

Carp Setup (Quantum pod, zebco alarms, nexave 2.75tc rod, epoxor 65 baitrunner, whack of accessories for it)

too many reef runners/bomber long as/ manns stretch 20s

12 spinnerbaits from Northam tackle

bunch of stuff for panfish (micro tubes, slip floats, stops etc...)

Marcum LX5 flasher

fish trap pro

bunch of forage minnows, buck shot jigs and jigging rapalas for ice fishing

heater for ice fishing

st croix triumph light action rod

2 bps tourney special rods ML

1 bps viper baitcaster combo

jplugs/lymans/spoons for trolling

10+ musky lures

frabill arrerated minnow box

tackle bag and more plano boxes

Waders

going to be adding a centerpin combo before months end

 

i think that's most of the stuff...

now if only i could catch fish...

[mattyk]

I picked up a Shimano Citica 200 with 6:1 ratio. Its been a pretty good real. Im still trying to figure out the shimano break system. My next big purcahses will be the Calcutta 400 and St Croix Priermer MH 7'6 muskie rod. Cant waite.

[ccmtcanada]

Blyght and I picked up 2 $40 rod and reel combos from Canadian Tire. The only thing we've upgraded was some good quality mono line...1o pound test. Scary that we have been using those to land our Walleye this fall!!! We need to upgrade for next year, so this is a a great thread!

Edited December 6, 2006 by ccmtcanada

[Smokey]

I'd have to say my best investment last year was the Lowrance X67C ice machine. Like fishdawg I use it all year round, as a portable on the hardwater, convert to bow mount for summer and then a portable again for the annual flyin. Great little unit for the dollar and the colour screen makes reading the structure so much easier.

 

Also outifitted my boat this year with a mast and planer boards along with two cannon downriggers( Thanks KyleM ). Both great set ups, now if I could just find the time to get out and fish more.

 

I guess no bad investments this summer.

 

Oh yeah I also bought a 2 dollar lottery ticket that paid off. Thanks to Muskies Canada and Richard of Ottawa River Trophy Muskie Charters for a great trip, 2 days of fun times fishing and learning from the guide and my fishing partner. You can't really put a price on that but a great investment.

 

Mike

Edited December 6, 2006 by Smokey

[Pigeontroller]

My main purchase this year was a Lowrance LMS-332C GPS/Sonar combo. An absolutely amazing machine! The gps takes so much of the guess work away, I hardly use my old Hydrographic maps now. The Colour Sonar is light years ahead of my old 64x120 Grayscale Raytheon.

 

I also picked up a St Croix Premier 6'-9" XH jerkbait rod, this is an extremely stiff and powerful rod! Though I think the 6'-3" might have been a better length for me.

[Squid]

st.croix 7.2 extra heavy muskie rod and a calcutta 400 reel. A real nice combo. Next year I am going to be buying a Lowrance LCX-25C. Oh and I need a Frabill net for those huge muskies that I will catch next summer. Bunch of muskie baits.

Edited December 6, 2006 by Squid