Fishing gear you bought this season

[lew]

I ask this question here every year when the soft water season is coming to an end, and we usually get some good answers, and it may even help anyone looking to purchase some new equipment but isn't sure how well it works.

 

Tell us about the new fishing or boating gear you bought this season, did it work as well as you'd hoped it would, or was it no good at all. Would you recommend it, or would you advise others not to buy that product ??

 

Myself, the only major purchase I made this year was a Lowrance Globalmap 7200 GPS

 

I've fished with friends for a long time who had GPS units but never figured I really needed one, but boy, was I ever mistaken. I always thought I knew my way around the lakes I frequent, but this unit really opened my eyes and showed me stuff I never knew existed before.

 

The large 7" screen is excellent, the colors are brilliant and the detail is amazing

 

I bought the Navonics XL-9 chip for the waters I fish most often in Southern Ontario, plus it worked well on the Ottawa River too, and then I bought the Hotmap chart for Nippissing. That made a HUGE difference for navigating around all the sunken rocks in that lake.

 

Just a personal preference, but I much prefer the stand alone units rather than GPS / sonar combos with a split screen, and will be getting a Lowrance X510c sonar to work along side the GPS for next season.

 

This is the unit I bought this year and would highly recommend it.

 

 

 

 

So, tell us what YOU bought this year, was it any good, or was it a waste of money.

 

Rods, reels, tackle, electronics, whatever........

Edited November 20, 2007 by lew

[Gerritt]

Nice to see this annual post!! Seeing as how I was rigging out my boat this year I found a couple really useful items..

 

Rope Grippers

I added 4 of them... 2 on either side to hold my bumpers or fish basket... makes it a snap to move the bumpers if your dock location changes or dont want them flailing around while underway

 

 

 

 

Salty S10's I really like these little beauties.. I got a ton of different suggestions when if came to adding rod holders to the boat I am glad I made this purchasing decision, they are movable adjustable and convenient when you want them out of the way.

 

 

G.

[BFSC Kevin]

hmm.. a bunch of rods..

shimano crucial casting and spinning

quantum tour casting

fenwick canadian methods spinning

pete maina

okuma pro classic

 

all seemed to do the job ..

bought a curado 101d, great reel bassing/piking

bought chronarch 51mg, even better reel because of the all magnesium body.. bassing/piking

stradic mg2500 for drop shots or jigging

stradic 1000 for light gear

quantum engery pti 10 for lighter gear

abu ambass 5600 c3 or something like that for musky (i didn't like it too much, probably because this one was used)

okuma magda pro 30dx (x2) for walleye and salmon trolling

 

boat

- lowe 14 jumbo deep with 20hp merc tiller

- crestliner viking 165 dlx i think is the model. with 60hp merc side console

-rod holders, fixing, maintaining, installing stuff, cover,

 

electronics

lowrance lcx 25c

minn kota maxxum trolling motor

batteries

minn kota powerdrive w/ US & co-pilot

 

misc.

mustang classic float suit

nautillus nfs 2000 float suit

alot of tackle.. cranks, spinner, spinnerbaits, plastics

 

 

I don't think any of them was a a waste of money.. just money well spent..

nothing was in perticular to me was bad.. except i wished i got a cable steer instead of the powerdrive...

 

 

MAN I SPENT ALOT THIS YEAR!!!!

[irishfield]

POOR QC and part availablity from Lowrance..

 

50/200 HZ Transducer that didn't read water temp and had to be replaced with a new one (took over a month to get thru Lund).

102C that's screen froze constantly or showed 500 feet deep in 15 feet and had to be sent back for replacement

Took until the 2nd week in September to get the last network connector from Lowrance..thanks to them closing up the Mississauga warantee center and dropping Bay Distributors as a parts dealer.

Speed sensor from Lowrance is junk... reads 2 mph at 5 actual and then reads 60 MPH at 40 actual.

Fuel flow sensor is about as good !

 

Traxstech (Pursuit) gunnel tracks are the cats for quick change ups for any fishing outing...from Muskie to BOQ planner mast /down rigger style fishing. Really lovin those.

 

...and don't get me started about Lund's QC !

[cranks bait]

Being that this is my first year of really fishing, everything is new. That's what hurts the most.

 

-Lowe bass boat. Awsome for the summer shallow water fishing. Not so great in the wavy stuff, you get wet.

 

-Some cheap rods. One that really stood out was the D-shock rod that came in the OFHA membership kit. It is a nice rod for what it is.

 

-some not so cheap rods. Old Crucial Baitcast-alright. New Compre Baitcast-really nice feel, fights really well. New Crucial flippin stick-hasn't been used enough for me to tell. New Cumara spinning-this thing rocks!!! It is really nice. Very sensitive, great fighting power. Cost more, but for the amount I use it, well worth it.

 

-Reels Castastic, alright does the job. Phleugher triton, nice casting and drag. Stradic 2500 very nice drag system.

 

-lures I have a lot that have never seen a fish. Some favs. Reef Runner and Husky jerk.

 

-Cinkos, these are really amazing. I have to admit, with everything I have in my tackle box, these are all I used for 95% of my fishing.

 

-Save Phace Phish Hedz Mask. A really great purchase. I do not have a windsheild on my boat and take a beating all the time. It works amazing at keeping the face clean from bugs, dry and warm. A great investment!!! I recomend wearing a windproof balaclava with it though, as the cold air circulates around the mask making the edges very cold.

[ecmilley]

changed up most of my crankbait trbles to ultra-point ot triple grip ultra-point don't lose to many now, great hooks would reccommend them to anyone.

stradic reel can't go wrong, tried a compre 7ft rod with the stradic am very impressed with this rod in the $120 range.

9.9hp four stroke merc for the small boat, i love it can run around sturgeon lake for 2 days on 10 bux of fuel smooth and easy starting but it's a heavy engine.

salty rod holders and scotty rod holder both work great can't decide the better.

edit if i think of anything else

[solopaddler]

A CD with 1:50,000 series topographic maps for the entire province of Ontario.

Best $130 I've ever spent. I'm seriously into backwoods fishing and exploring

and have a accumulated quite a collection of the standard hard copy maps over

the years. At around 20 bucks a pop per map it was starting to get a wee bit

expensive.

Gotta love technology!

 

http://canadianmaps.ca/Maps/QVNON/ontario.htm

[Riparian]

I bought an Eagle Cuda 168 portable sonar system on sale from bass pro in the spring. My first sonar system. Ive only used it once, but I was quite happy with it. I hope to use it quite a bit ice fishing this season.

[mikeh]

I bought three new reels this year,

Daiwa Zillion 100 series baitcaster- awesome reel, very smooth, small size, casts a mile(not quite), has external adjustment for casting on windy days, $250 out the door at BPS sale, also 7-1 gear ratio.

Quantum Tour Edition baitcaster, doesn't feel as good as the Zillion but is smooth, and casts far, also 7-1 gear ratio,

Okuma line counter reel, i bought this for Simcoe to get the bait down to specific depths and haven't used it yet

 

two Quantum Tour Edition PT rods (med,hvy), very light rods, very happy with them.

 

a few musky baits, instead of Grandma's I'm trying Double D's and like them better.

 

I'm going to buy a ml 7 foot spinning rod in the spring as one of my two piece rods became a one piece as half of it flew out of the boat.

[Canuck2fan]

I bought a couple of rods that I really like

 

Bass Pro Wally Marshal Crappie pro 8ft really good deal when it was on special for 29.95 U.S. and would have spent double on it. Excellent for pan fish and on my last bass excursion this year I landed a 2.4lb smallie and one over 4lbs no problem.

 

11.5 ft Swan Noodle Rod Company Black haven't taken it out of the wrapper yet but used a friends and can't wait till I need to use this one.

 

Got a pair of Redhead Neoprene waders and so far have really enjoyed using them. Can't wait till it gets a little colder to see how warm they really are.

 

But the BEST fishing equipment I bought for sure enjoyment though was a shimano convergence 10fter and a Pflueger 6740 President for my dad to steelhead with. Seeing him nail his first rainbow in about 15yrs with that combo was priceless!!!!

[sonny]

To much stuff to list!!!! But the biggest purchase would be my humminbird 797si

[danc]

I bought some new line. Cabelas 6 lb. mono pro line, a few new Rapala Countdowns and a dozen or so jig flies (a local thing). Pretty much the same stuff I buy every year. About $75.00 worth total.

[tdotfisherman]

Well let’s see... this was my first year of buying my own equipment. In the past, I had only gone fishing up at other people's cottages, and usually just borrowed their rods, and used their tackle. This year I decided it was long overdue to go out and buy my own stuff.. now on to the list..

 

I bought 4 rods, 6'6" abu garcia, 8'8" shimano, 7' zebco and another 6' zebco for my spare reel.. I got an abu garcia specialist spinning reel, a shimano spinning reel, and a zebco spinning reel..

 

I laid out for a nice plano tackle box, fishing gloves, net, plyers, scale, file, etc.. and over the course of the year I bought assorted tackle.. everything you can think of.. spoons, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, crankbaits, plastics, topwater, jigs.. the list goes on..

 

All this fishing stuff put me back a bit (poor university student), but 2008 is really going to have some lavish purchases.. just need to save up some coin.. hopefully my woman won't be offended by the golden arches..

Edited November 21, 2007 by tdotfisherman

[Crazyhook]

nought a weighed musky lure made out of wood. Some fine fisherman kept pushing them on me and I am glad he did.. a 30 pounder was boated and the rest is history!

[lew]

[pikeie]

6'6" shimano compre- great rod i found, ive only used it for walleye so far and it is super sensitive

 

7'0 shimano crucial- by far my fav spining rod, used it plenty of times for those giant simcoe bass, some hawg river walleyes, i even got a 6.75 lbs largie on it fishin smallies.

 

7'6" fenwick hmg flippin stick- great rod for largies in the thick stuff

 

shimano symetrye (sp??) 2500- paired it up with the new compre

 

abu garcia 802 spinning reel- was a good reel untill the anit reverse went on it after a few months lol.

 

john spahr float reel- picked up this little beauty at simcoe bait and tackle from little john himself lol, has been great and is my first float reel, i would recomend this reel to anyone!

 

BARE cutthrought waders great waders

 

TONS of lures (to many to name)

its been an expensive year lol

[Garyv]

Mmmm lets see. After selling my Starcraft Salmon boat I spent some dollars on a Eagle 502I GPS bought the navionics great lakes card. Purchased a new Unidin VHF radio, bought 2 new bass/walleye rods a St Croix Avid and a G Loomis and picked up a used 70 hp Evinrude to replace the 30 Evinrude on my boat. Trouble with all this was/is I was to sick all summer to try any of the stuff so next year I won't have to spend any money on anything. Oh one other thing I had a custom Bimini top made for the boat for those hot sunny days.

Edited November 21, 2007 by Garyv

[Dondorfish]

Canon Mag 10 electric riggers with telescopic booms ( pair ) - awsome!

 

 

Don

[Gerritt]

well if were talking specifics... I also purchased a Stradic, 2 daiwa sealines, a Quantum PT, 2 Shimano TDR's just about every variety of Reef Runner made, and a crap load of mann's Stretch 20's.. 4 Salty's, 4 grippers, 2 anchor cleats etc... the list goes on and on... Including a New boat, trailer and motor...

 

I spent almost 700.00 just for the Quinte trip alone!... my payback for all that $$ a 3-4lb Walter...

 

 

Go figure..

 

That fish was worth about 175.00 per pound I figure... but he went back to be caught another day by a fisherman that spent even more...

 

 

again a great thread and look forward to it every year.

 

G.

Edited November 21, 2007 by Gerritt

[Terry]

I can't put my list

 

my wife might read it and kill me

but they are all good

[BFSC Kevin]

I can't put my list

 

my wife might read it and kill me

but they are all good

 

lol, terry you're too funny!

[Hooked]

Didn't pickup too much this year, but I like what I did get. Start off with this Daiwa Tierra 2500 spinning reel, awesome:

 

 

Landed 5 salmon this fall, drag handled like a champ!

 

and a Shimano Clarus 7' spinning rod, really like it. Also tried Spiderwire Stealth line, my new favourite super line and some P-line Evolution copolymer line, also very good line.

[Raf]

this was a slow year for new gear, I guess I just have what I need.

 

having said that, I got a pair of okuma convectors (30dlx and 20dlx - lefty linecounters) last xmas, both performed well. the smaller size caught a lot of trout in the spring. a new-to-me frabill net got slimed. knipex cutters came in handy a few times making hook-cutting a breeze. i found the daiwa regal xi (?) to be a great value for spinning reels (got a 2000 and 750 size).

 

lure-wise, the winners were homemade baits. diplip tied up a couple of monster 15"+ double blade colorado 10 boos that are just awesome in the water and a reel workout to throw.. they've been bit. i also got a custom 'hose' trolling bait that is just awesome. overall however, i've found myself simplifying and going back to the handful of lures that consistently produce - that means i still haven't caught a fish on those danged bulldawgs and the red october tubes i got at the odyssey hardly saw the water.

[ccmtcanada]

When this year began, I had literally a few cheap spinning combos. This year marked my first full year of fishing, so even though we didn't spend a TON of money, I did my fair share of shopping....

 

Fishing Rods

- 12.5' Shimano Convergence for hunting steelhead

- 7 foot medium/heavy Shimano Sojourn for shore salmon fishing

- I got this Shimano trolling rod with an Okuma reel for my birthday.

 

Boat Stuff

You may recall that Basskicker gave us this sweet canoe!

 

So I went out and bought this stuff because well...I'm lazy...LOL

 

 

In October, we purchased our first fishing boat...a 14 foot tinny with 18hp Merc.

 

That about covers it for major purchases....next year will be an expensive year though...getting our boat all decked out to our liking....

 

All the stuff has worked out great! I broke the Sojourn in the car door...so cant blame them for that one. New one is on it's way though.

Edited November 21, 2007 by ccmtcanada

[lew]

a few musky baits, instead of Grandma's I'm trying Double D's and like them better.

 

You'll like those Double D's Mike, their an excellent twitch bait and will definetely put a few extra muskies in your boat next year.