Monday, November 2, 2009

New American Rodsmith Rod and now I need a new spinning reel

But not just any spinning reel. I need something very lightweight, as my new rod is a very lightweight rod with the rod blank though the handle. I got it at a charity raffle for a good cause, and got lots of other stuff with it. Cooler bag, a vented fishing shirt, t shirt, cooler bag, small tackle box, lures and a great Houston made American Rodsmith Rod.

It's for 8-14 test line, as I recall, so I'd like to run it with about a 10 pound test line. I happen to have some nice flourocarbon line laying about of a thin diameter but high strength, so that's an option as well. It will be perfect for salt or freshwater fishing.

SO I need a new spinning reel. Something very light. When I got the rod, I envisioned using a mint condition 70's Abu Garcia Cardinal 752 ultralight (for the seventies) spinning reel that has been sort of orphaned since it's long paired rod suffered a canoe related accident several years ago to several of the guides and has not been fixed yet.

But although tiny, it was made in Japan and is heavy and heavy duty. I recently bought a small Shimano ultralight reel that weighs two thirds less than what the Cardinal weighs. Still, the Cardinal has the uniquely located drag on the rear of the reel housing, and it's a great drag and despite it's small size, it really felt heavy and somewhat unbalanced on this lightweight rod I have added to the collection.

So a smaller and lighter reel may be in order. I'm looking for bargains, preferably new, something weighing less than 7 oz and is a high quality and durable spinning reel that has a great drag. Nice padded handle would be a plus.

Any recommendations?

2 comments:

  1. i have a similar rod and i use the shamano sanora 2500 works great for bass and trout depending on what your fishing for but it will pull in the big fish.

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  2. Thanks for the advice, Anonymous. That is exactly the reel I've been eyeing. The orange Shimano Sonora reel. I'm waiting until I can go to a bigger fishing tackle store and actually try it out because the local walmart has them all shoplifter protected in a blister pack and you can't feel what the reel feels like when operating.

    I did pick up, as I mentioned in the post after this one, a NIB (new in box) Garcia Abu Cardinal model 754. You can tell it's new. I got mine in the late 70's or early 80's, and this one is from the same era.

    However, I do have more than one spinning rod, and I've had my eye on the Sonora since reading several reviews about them. I have yet to own a Shimano product that didn't function flawlessly and wasn't top quality.

    Thanks for stopping by. Great minds must think alike.

    Just out of curiousity, what line test is your reel strung with?

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