Nice Reel, or Real Time on the Water?

In the latest episode, I was on the side of “spend more on the reel, less on the rod.” I was actually a little surprised to find most of you also “sided” with me. I really didn’t expect that. But upon reflection there are two important points I wanted to make that are slightly counter to my argument.

First, yes: spend more on the reel. But that does NOT mean you need to spend maximally on the reel. Like everything else around us, our surfcasting technology is improving yearly (though, not as fast as those boat guys). There are some great reels these days that you can get for less than $400- or even $200- that are more than sufficient for many (or even most) anglers. Especially if you’re 1) fishing just a day or two a week on average 2) never in a wetsuit or deep wading 3) take care of your gear. The classic brands like Penn, Shimano, and Daiwa have amazing options, but I really think you should take a closer look at new brands like Seviin, Quantum and the latest from Tsunami (has anyone used the more recent Okuma stuff? Let us know in the comments).  Yes, if you’re a wetsuiter or are playing around in rough water in waders, then you’re going to have to stretch to the upper range I mentioned- or jump even higher. But you don’t have to. For so many reading this, you could get years out of a $140 Seviin GW, a $189 Penn Battle V DX, or certainly a $344 Shimano Saragosa or definitely a $429 Tsunami SaltX II.

Second, I’ve fished with junk, and caught plenty of fish. If you get too caught up in “I absolutely need this X lure or X reel or X waders or I won’t catch any fish” then you’re already thinking in the wrong direction. Yes, nice stuff helps you catch fish- if nothing else durability means less down time, and comfort means you stay out longer. But for years I fished with inferior gear because I simply didn’t know any better. Unlike so many of you, I was stupid and really didn’t read enough, and there were no podcasts, no surfcasting on YouTube, and I was too intimidated to ask questions of seminar speakers at shows. So I just pushed on with junk gear- hell, for the first 3 seasons I didn’t even have a plug bag! But I worked hard and I observed and documented everything, and logged like crazy. So success came anyways, even when my reels were dissolving in my hands. Did I lose fish because my reel once ejected the rotor in mid fight? Yes. Did I lose fish because the bolt the drag knob screws down on snapped off? Sure did. Did my handle snap on three-different reels? Yup. But I’ll never forget that first 28-pound fish at my first “real” spot that I horsed no problem even though my old, very used, and very beat up Penn Spinfisher 450 was grinding like I was brewing from fresh beans.

Point is, you can only do what you can do. If you get too caught up on the stuff you “have” to have, you end up having to work more to afford to fish, and then ultimately miss out on the most important thing you MUST have to be successful: time on the water. So take a gander at those mid-price reels we have these days, and save the rest of your money to pay someone to mow your grass so you can stay up all night on Saturday, and sleep in on Sunday.