David Johnson
09-04-2004, 10:20 PM
The Gear That Gets It Done
I can atribute a lot of my success this season to all the great gear that I've got access to.
First of all I'd like to say how impressed I am with my Tekota Line Counter Reels by Shamano. I picked them up in July from Great American Tackle after hearing some great reports about these reels. I called Gary up and asked him to fill up a couple of them with 65# TUFF Line, before I could get in there and pick them up he had sold them three times to customers who saw them sitting there filled with line.
The drags are strong and smooth, the extra large handle is great for cranking and of course the line counters make it all so easy.
Another cool thing I notices about them was before I made it down here to Astoria I tried them out while doing some anchor fishing for summer steelhead/chinook. When on anchor I could walk them out 60 or 80 feet behind the boat and then after a fish was hooked the rig could be walked right back to the exact spot.
Also new for me this season was an Lawrance X18 color graph/GPS. It's easy to use, the screen shows up well and has great deffinition and the GPS unit is awsome for marking waypoints when fish are hooked while trolling so that the same spot can be worked over again.
This year was the first year I have ran a prop on my boat. Let me tell you, it has cut my fuel bill in half. So nice :dance:
For solid hook-ups I count on my Gamakatsu 5/0 hooks and the 65# Tuff Line. 50# Big Game leader makes sure there are not lost fish to break-offs, great insurence. My Loomis 1084's load up well for the herring bite.
Nothing can keep a person dryer than a full set of Grunden's Commercial rain gear. There's many a day when I am pelted by spray as the almost never ending wind of the Columbia blows it back into the boat. It's like standing in a car wash. Sometimes I almost need a mask and snorkal to travel from one spot to another. And many a day it has rained and those who are in cheap raingear or Gortex end up soaked through and through while I am dry as a bug in a rug.
All these things are great tools that make my job easier :dance:
I can atribute a lot of my success this season to all the great gear that I've got access to.
First of all I'd like to say how impressed I am with my Tekota Line Counter Reels by Shamano. I picked them up in July from Great American Tackle after hearing some great reports about these reels. I called Gary up and asked him to fill up a couple of them with 65# TUFF Line, before I could get in there and pick them up he had sold them three times to customers who saw them sitting there filled with line.
The drags are strong and smooth, the extra large handle is great for cranking and of course the line counters make it all so easy.
Another cool thing I notices about them was before I made it down here to Astoria I tried them out while doing some anchor fishing for summer steelhead/chinook. When on anchor I could walk them out 60 or 80 feet behind the boat and then after a fish was hooked the rig could be walked right back to the exact spot.
Also new for me this season was an Lawrance X18 color graph/GPS. It's easy to use, the screen shows up well and has great deffinition and the GPS unit is awsome for marking waypoints when fish are hooked while trolling so that the same spot can be worked over again.
This year was the first year I have ran a prop on my boat. Let me tell you, it has cut my fuel bill in half. So nice :dance:
For solid hook-ups I count on my Gamakatsu 5/0 hooks and the 65# Tuff Line. 50# Big Game leader makes sure there are not lost fish to break-offs, great insurence. My Loomis 1084's load up well for the herring bite.
Nothing can keep a person dryer than a full set of Grunden's Commercial rain gear. There's many a day when I am pelted by spray as the almost never ending wind of the Columbia blows it back into the boat. It's like standing in a car wash. Sometimes I almost need a mask and snorkal to travel from one spot to another. And many a day it has rained and those who are in cheap raingear or Gortex end up soaked through and through while I am dry as a bug in a rug.
All these things are great tools that make my job easier :dance: