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Author Topic: Fishing Equipment Reviews  (Read 54160 times)

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Offline VillainousHero

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Re: Fishing Equipment Reviews
« Reply #30 on: December 10, 2009, 11:17:42 PM »
For you Ice Fishing Folks.

Product name: Thorne Bros. Custom Ice Rods
website: http://www.thornebros.com

What it is or whats it use is: Custom Ice Fishing Rods.  These are premium equipment that mimics the high end summer rods that a lot of people demand for in quality.  Each rod blank is unique and has the correct rod bend, unlike your standard retail rods that may be cut offs of the same original rod blank.   They have several handles to choose from: tennessee, standard, hidden hood, and locking tennesee handle.  They don't label their rods for power, rather that their Panfish Sweetheart Plus rod is equal to a light action rod.  The Perch is equal to a medium light and the Walleye comes in medium and medium heavy.  

Price:  Depends on how much you want to customize, but around $60 to $100+.

Reason to buy or not buy the product - what was good or bad about it - overall review: Yes.  You get a full length rod action and shrink it down to a miniature version for an ice fishing rod.  Making these rods, the most responsive rods you can get for ice fishing.  They will put your name on the rod and make the line guide wraps in whatever color thread you want.  Thorne Bros. also makes sure the line guides are placed on the rod's spline.  This reduces rod twists as you're hauling in the big one.  The only shortcoming is that their handles can be off set somewhat.  If it bothers you that much, they can work on it again.  It's not that big of a deal, when you're catching fish, you forget about it.

Your grade from 5-1 stars (1 being the worst and 5 being the best): 4.0


« Last Edit: December 10, 2009, 11:33:25 PM by VillainousHero »

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fish4keep

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Re: Fishing Equipment Reviews
« Reply #31 on: February 19, 2010, 11:17:16 AM »
Anyone using Boca Orange Seal Abec 7 ceramic bearings? Just wondering.  I'm sending out 3 reels to a friend for service and upgrade to Orange Seal.  Will put up a review once I get them back and take it out for a spin.....



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fish4keep

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Re: Fishing Equipment Reviews
« Reply #32 on: March 05, 2010, 02:51:58 PM »
Anyone using Boca Orange Seal Abec 7 ceramic bearings? Just wondering.  I'm sending out 3 reels to a friend for service and upgrade to Orange Seal.  Will put up a review once I get them back and take it out for a spin.....

Took out one of the reel for a few time to the local park.  The freespool is definately alot smoother than the stock bearings.  But when I casted it, it didn't seem like I got more distance than the stock bearings.  I heard that the abec 7 needed to be broken in first but it's been a few trip already and it's still the same.  Is it worth the upgrade? I didn't think so afterward. But I got them at $18 /pr which is about the same price if I ordered a pr of bearing from Shimano. 



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Offline VillainousHero

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Re: Fishing Equipment Reviews
« Reply #33 on: March 06, 2010, 08:21:59 PM »
Took out one of the reel for a few time to the local park.  The freespool is definately alot smoother than the stock bearings.  But when I casted it, it didn't seem like I got more distance than the stock bearings.  I heard that the abec 7 needed to be broken in first but it's been a few trip already and it's still the same.  Is it worth the upgrade? I didn't think so afterward. But I got them at $18 /pr which is about the same price if I ordered a pr of bearing from Shimano. 

You never mentioned what kind of reel you upgraded the bearings on.  Anyway casting distance is governed by order of lure weight, rod length, line size, reel drag, spool weight, then bearing.  Improving the bearings should allow to to pitch and flip with a lot less effort.  If you didn't get a lightweight spool and didn't take your drag all off, then you might not get the casting distance you were looking for.

The orange seal has orange seal on the bearing shield.  Maybe the bearings are rubbing up against it so therefore you aren getting the casting distance you ought to.



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fish4keep

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Re: Fishing Equipment Reviews
« Reply #34 on: March 07, 2010, 06:51:53 PM »
You never mentioned what kind of reel you upgraded the bearings on.  Anyway casting distance is governed by order of lure weight, rod length, line size, reel drag, spool weight, then bearing.  Improving the bearings should allow to to pitch and flip with a lot less effort.  If you didn't get a lightweight spool and didn't take your drag all off, then you might not get the casting distance you were looking for.

The orange seal has orange seal on the bearing shield.  Maybe the bearings are rubbing up against it so therefore you aren getting the casting distance you ought to.

I upgraded my Core 51, Chronarch 101B, and Curado 201E7.  When I have time, I'll take the stock bearing (which is still good) and Orange Seal out at the same time using the same setup (lure, line, and drag).  I'll just swap them out after a few cast to see if there really any difference. 



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Offline VillainousHero

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Re: Fishing Equipment Reviews
« Reply #35 on: March 08, 2010, 01:13:54 PM »
What kind of rod you got the test run on?  What type of line and how heavy?

It's always kind of hard to tell unless you have identical setups side by side.  Then compare the upgraded one right next to the stock one.



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Offline VillainousHero

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Re: Fishing Equipment Reviews
« Reply #36 on: March 17, 2010, 12:29:54 AM »


Product name: Shimano Curado 200E5/E7 and Citica 200#
website: Curado E

What it is or whats it use is: Baitcasting reel, low profile.  Use for whatever crank, spinnerbait, T-rig, C-rig, or Wacky rig, style you want it for.  While the Curado can cast 1/4 oz. weight decent, the Citica really needs a lot more effort.  Not worth it for the Citica and better suited for the 1/2 oz. lures.  HEG desing maybe more efficient, but seems to make reel more lopsided to handle heavy side.

Price:  Citica retails $120, Curado retails $180

Reason to buy or not buy the product - what was good or bad about it - overall review: Maybe.  The wider spool is not as efficient as a slightly more narrow spool.  While both Curado and Citica E series are huge improvement over their predecessors, they fulfill a totally different niche.  It's more like these reels were intended for the heavier line and more power fishing styles.  The Curado has almost eliminated the handle backplay.  The Citica still has evident handle backplay.  Citica is also a pain on the maintainence.  The star drag can lose some parts easily and you have to hold the whole handle assembly down as you try to put the handle nut back in.

Your grade from 5-1 stars (1 being the worst and 5 being the best): 4.0 for Curado.  3.0 for Citica



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Xyang22

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Re: Fishing Equipment Reviews
« Reply #37 on: May 09, 2010, 12:59:07 AM »
now thats what i call a real fisher men..

i have a ultra light st. croix 5'0 rod with a trion gx-7 reel with 2 lbs test line

perfect for panfish fishing.. i've got 1-2 lbs large mouth bass with no problem with this combo..
as long as i set the drag to a point that wont break my line than almost any fish i can drag out of the water..
but it'll be a crazy long ass fight..

but i used different rod and reels for different fish specimens..

i have 4 rod combos.. for different type of fish im going after..


i usually used my 7'0 rod and my baitcaster whenever im out fishing..



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Rockstargenes

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Re: Fishing Equipment Reviews
« Reply #38 on: July 12, 2010, 10:50:06 AM »
When people Gives reviews it is very helpful wether it's a good review or bad review. So i will give a review also.  
I'm not a pro fisherman nor do i get a chance to fish much.  My review will be base as if i was a rookie.

Fishin Pole: Pflueger President 6'6" MH fast action.  $49.99
Reel:Abu Garcia Black Max LH reel $49.99 but got on sale for $39.99
Total cost: $89.98 before taxes

Pole:
I found the pole at gander mountain and it was the only pole.  I can't seem to find any where online or else where.  I'm assumming it was part of a Combo pflueger release in the past.   I don't know how to rate poles but i enjoyed it.  It's light and does what it needs to for me.  

Reel:  
The reel is pretty easy to use.  Has a brake system which helps me out alot with the back lashes/fish nets.  Has this switch on the reel which i think is for pitching but i don't use it but nice to have. 5 ball bearings not as smooths as i like it to be but feels good enough for me.  

pole and reel together:
the reel and pole feels pretty light to me.  casting distance is good.  i can cast this as far as i can cast my buddy reel and pole which is a Shimano Crucial and Abu garcia revo sx ( i think $300 plus set up).  the pole is not as  light as the crucial  and the feel of the reel is not as comfortable as the revo sx but  small and light enough for me to fish all day. been using it for about a month now and it's been great.  caught a pretty big smallie over the weekend.  i won't say how big  the smallie was because we had no scale and i hate when people over exaggerate on how big their fish was.  This set up had no problem muscling the fish in.

Conclusions:
I would recommend this setup for any one who is looking to get started in baitcasting and looking to get a set up under $100.0 with a left hand reel.  the reel is inexpensive and works great for the money.  the pole is hard to find so most likely you won't find it. if there was a rating system i would give it a 8.5 out of 10 as of date. will update later if needed.


« Last Edit: July 12, 2010, 01:54:30 PM by Rockstargenes »

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Offline VillainousHero

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Re: Fishing Equipment Reviews
« Reply #39 on: July 14, 2010, 12:59:42 AM »


Product name: (Curado 200E7 upgrade) ABEC 7 bearings
Price: $17 + postage

I decided to order some ABEC 7 bearings from biggreenfish.com.  When I took the  bearings out from the package and gave it a free spin test, I can see how smoothly these bearings were.  The bearings easily free spin for about 24 seconds.  I added some Xtreme Reel+ oil to it and the bearings free spin time dropped to about 14 seconds.  Compared to stock bearings which had like no free spin, but will have about 4 seconds free spin with Xtreme Reel+ oil applied to it.  I measured my spool's free spin with the stock bearings and had about 14 seconds of free spin.  I replaced the cast control bearing first and did a quick spool free spin and the time jumped up to about 24 seconds.  I replaced the side cover bearing and the spool free spin time jumped up to 55 seconds.  Free spool spin was impressive and I was in a slight euphoric state.  I also noticed a more hollow audible sound with the new bearing noise.  Sounds more like a robust engine now.  After about ten minutes when the Xtreme Reel+ oil has settled into the bearings the free spool spin droped to about 28 seconds.

Casting test with a 1/4 oz weight on 7' medium Avid rod.  I've had some trouble preventing backlash on every cast as I'm trying to adjust for this light weight.  After a while, I could manage to cast about 25 yards decent.  It's not much of an improvement of achieving casting distance compared to the stock bearings where I can achieve a little more than 20 yards.  A few more attempts and I got more use to it and starte to get closer to 30 yards of casting distance.  I decided to go for a long cast and managed 35 yards.  Pretty much now, I'm convinced that the bearing upgrade did it's job and I'm satisfied with the backyard casting test.

I changed it up to 3/8 oz weight and went through pretty much the same thing.  Only I notice that the 3/8 oz weight achieve better line management.   Casting distance was on par the 1/4 oz weight.  I got my long cast of about 35 yards, but with a lot less effort.  This is still an improve casting distance over the stock bearings that would achieve just a little over 30 yards.

The 200 size spool is still a clutz for light weight.  The two bearings upgrade was only nominal in changing my opinion on it.  Nonethless the upgrade did prove to me the merit in longer cast distance as well as smoother and less effort.  My original intention was to do the bearing upgrade on the Citica 200E, but figured the test would be better for the Curado instead.  Minimal cost to improve performance and it was a very easy task to accomplish.

Recommend to a friend?   Yes
Buy again? Yes
Your grade from 1-5 stars (1 being the worst and 5 being the best): 5.0



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i_am_sam

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Re: Fishing Equipment Reviews
« Reply #40 on: August 10, 2010, 02:35:10 PM »
Looking into buying a good Pitching rod. Any recommendation s?



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blablablablabla

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Re: Fishing Equipment Reviews
« Reply #41 on: August 10, 2010, 03:09:35 PM »
Looking into buying a good Pitching rod. Any recommendation s?

go shopp'n, pick up a few rods, get a feel for what you like.  Its all personal preference.  The difference between a good rod and a great rod is what you think of it, don't let your mind distinguish which is better let your hands do all the work.     O0  ( that's what she said!)   :2funny:



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ricqik

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Re: Fishing Equipment Reviews
« Reply #42 on: August 10, 2010, 07:24:32 PM »
Too bad I know nothing about rods.



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agentx

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Re: Fishing Equipment Reviews
« Reply #43 on: August 10, 2010, 08:39:22 PM »
Looking into buying a good Pitching rod. Any recommendation s?

ugly stix works great for pitching into cover.
love mine for that



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fish4keep

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Re: Fishing Equipment Reviews
« Reply #44 on: August 11, 2010, 12:56:12 PM »
ugly stix works great for pitching into cover.
love mine for that

Isn't an Ugly Stix too soft to be pitching into cover????

I currently have a 7'6" Shimano Crucial Flipping Stick.  It does the job but I wouldn't mind having an extra few inch to the rear grip so it'll tuck under my armpit for stronger hookset.....



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