Decisions Decisions

Decisions on what manufacturer for my new fishing gear. I have had custom made rods with Daiwa spinning reels and Shimano trolling reels for the past 12 years. With just the general maintenance, both have served me quite well over that time, both have little issues which I would expect every manufacturer would. I am not desperately loyal to either since neither sponsor me or offer a direct discount of any kind. I do get a pretty solid discount on the Daiwa products, since I am a nice guy I guess.

The most major issue with Diawa spinning reels is the bail roller tends to lock up. That is not a major issue if you know ahead of time because you can take the reel apart and lube it with some of that expensive PTFE or some alphabet lubricant to keep it right, but you have to use the not so tight Loctite(R)on the threads to be able to maintain it down the road. None of the manufacturers seem to have a handle on that, use of alphabet lubricant stuff to make maintenance easier. Since they don't work for me, I can fire them, but I can mention that they might be able to make an improvement of two.

I was thinking US manufacturers this time around, but it is hard to tell if the US manufacturer manufactures in the US or not. I do know that our stimulus money has stimulated US manufacturers that manufacture most of their stuff outside of the US. So I would not like to be dumber than a politician and let anyone think that I have a clue where any of the stuff is actually made. If anyone does know of a real made in the good old US of A reel manufacturer that some one could afford their product, let me know.

The kids at the dock have fallen in love with the Penn products that were formally made in the USA which are now made in Asia mainly and only marked up about 8 times instead of the normal 10 times. I guess that is a step in the right direction. The Penn Battle reels seem to be preferred by the kids and cost about 30% more than the Daiwa with just about the same issues, a little more drag issue than roller, but close.

Since I am a little anal about having my stuff match, I would consider a matching rod if the same company can provide both with about the same level of quality. I am not particularly a fan of lifetime warrantees where you spend a good portion of your lifetime taking advantage of them. I prefer stuff that tends to not break very often to stuff that does break pretty regularly on a charter boat.

So the basic requirements are reliability, durability, kick butt looking and cost, pretty much in that order. If anyone knows some industry rep that thinks he or she has such a product have them shoot me an email or leave a comment.

Flatlines, the 30 foot Proline of Doc and Jerry, is scheduled to go on the hill this week for some badly needed dusting and cleaning. Doc wants me to work this boat into the charter mix somehow. That may be a bit of a challenge since its biggest selling point and clean head or potty, has a bad macerator pump that is a challenge to get to. So I could use some ideas for family friendly, once the toilet is fixed, adventures aboard the Flatlines. Flatlines, like Gale, Trainwreck or Bad Luck, is not one of my personal choices for a charter boat name, since flat lining is not just a fishing technique.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

Tight lines,

Capt. Dallas