Double delight.....

[Teifi-Terrorist]

Hi Ugie Fisher,

yes, it sure is. I can't say that I have given it a true bashing as yet, but the first season went by with me being quite impressed with both the airlite rods and reels. I probably prefered my slightly softer HLS, but somebody decided to dismantle that in a car door last year! ~# :>

The airlite reels are quite big in relative terms, but look the part and I'm more than happy thus far. The airlite reels were an upgrade from the T7's I had before, which did eventually start to play-up in the drag department, which was quite common by all accounts, unfortunately.

TT.

[zulu]

TT
can i ask you what reel would u buy if u were buying a reel at the moment
im thinking bout the shimano biocraft
i want to get something decent sick of crap reels

[Ugie Fisher]

TT, i had the same problem with the drag but with the T6 so now i have a T7 but want to get a new one so we shall see what comes through the door in the deals.:> About the rods do you prefer to fish with a soft rod like a Diawa or a stiffer rod like a G.loomis because i have seen people withboth sides and they both have good point for and against?

[Teifi-Terrorist]

TT
can i ask you what reel would u buy if u were buying a reel at the moment
im thinking bout the shimano biocraft
i want to get something decent sick of crap reels

Hey Zulu, a reply to your email will be with you today as for the reels; the shimano isn't a bad reel at all, actually they have rarely made a bad reel. For the value terms some of the okumas are also worth looking at, and for a mid-priced reel I don't think you'd go far wrong with the new airlites - it's the spare spool price that often kills the deal with these mid-range metal reels though. Another option is the snowbee XSD. I got these for some of the boys that came on the Grande trip last year, and I was really impressed with them for the money. Check this offer out:

http://www.sportfish.co.uk/product/3...ge_System.html

£55 for the reel and 4 spare spools! With extra spare spools being just £5.60!

TT, i had the same problem with the drag but with the T6 so now i have a T7 but want to get a new one so we shall see what comes through the door in the deals.:> About the rods do you prefer to fish with a soft rod like a Diawa or a stiffer rod like a G.loomis because i have seen people withboth sides and they both have good point for and against?

Hey UF,

I hate fast/tippy rods for night-time sea-trout fishing, they do more harm than good! The people that usually argue the point for the fast rods pontificate that they kill fish easier/quicker. Bollocks! If you get a middle-tip rod with a backbone (and that's where the killing section would come from) then it will kill a fish faster than a tippy rod, because the whole length progressively loads into the fish, and will subdue the fish quicker. With a tippy rod, unless you are really using excessive force, you tend to only have a couple of feet really working for you, compared to the softer rod where the blank will just keep progressively bending as needed.

Further to that, the softer rod doesn't tear out the hook-hold, which a fast/tippy rod tends to do - the softer rod acts as a shock-absorber, counteracting the lunges of the fish, whereas the faster rod meets force with force, with the inevitable consequence.

Also, the faster/tippy rod tends to throw tighter loops than the softer rod that would open up the casting loop, this, in turn, leads to more tangles, which is the last thing you want at night. The softer rod also makes for easier roll casting. All in all I would leave the fast rods for daytime fishing, or lake fishing for rainbows! But this is just my view! :>

Having said that, I certainly wouldn't go for a through action blank, as this goes to the other extreme, and casting large flies etc. becomes a real pain. A decent middle to tip action is the key, and the blank action that I would always look out for in a decent sea-trout rod.

TT.

[Ugie Fisher]

Well TT, i have to say that i agree with you 100% on that. I use an 11'3"#7 Diawa Whisker at night and it is magic for freash fun fish because they have softer mouthes, and the rod is so soft a bend gets put in it with the wind blowing on the blank. But i was just cheking to see if you had any more to add to the argument that has put a "damper" on a losts of nights on the ugie debating. Some very interesting points

Cheers UF