Para mi amigos

[shoefish]

Hey gang, I hope you are all well here in Marty's world. Things have been jamming up here in New England, and by the looks of it you guys have been hammering the fish down there too.

I wanted to get some opinions from you guys as you all have pointed me in the right direction in the past. Some of you may remember this post from December:

A different kind of fishing report

Well, Nansea and I will be traveling back to Careyes to visit our friends and I'm going to be building a couple rods that are going to be making a one way trip. They are going to be 7' St Croix rods rated at 20#- they should be perfect for fishing the rocks and river mouths down there.

My question for you guys is twofold:

First, I need to figure out what spinning reels would go well with these set ups and I don't have much experience with reels of this size- I'm figuring on spending somewhere around $100 each on them. They need to be reliable and basic as parts will be impossible to come by down in their new home.

Second, I'm debating whether to fill them with braid or mono- the braid will last longer but would require me to teach Javier and Anjel a leader to braid connection, the mono would be easier to run, but in the hot Mexican sun might degrade faster (plus there is always the chance that these guys are going to hook up to a big cubera or rooster from the rocks...and I wonder if they could get spooled with the lower capacity that mono would have)

Anyway, thanks for your help and I'm hoping you all are having a great summer!

Best,
Shoe

[gottaflylee]

Shoe, I have the same rod with a 560 Slammer, about $130.00 for the reel and they are about 5 years old, all charter fishing years. Opened the first 1 up this year for the first time to put a spring back in place that had been dropped.
These reels have a bunch of Sails, 1 White Marlin and a 33 pound Wahoo, a bunch of 40 pound old Drum and a ton of Groupers jigging, countless Kings and Dolphin on them.

Go and put Braid on then and teach them how to tie a triple Surgeons or a Uni to Uni knot, both very simple and a how to in the shallow water forum... Knots you say...KISS
Hope this helps...

[Captain Michael Buffington]

taech them a double surgeon knot(rose knot, sugeons with 8 turns instead of 4)very simple. Tie that in the braid and then a yucatan in the loop with the mono. It is super simple and a really good connection

Cant wait for October

Mike

[shoefish]

Shoe, I have the same rod with a 560 Slammer, about $130.00 for the reel and they are about 5 years old, all charter fishing years. Knots you say...KISS
Hope this helps...

I don't think that most people catch as many fish in a lifetime as you do in 5 years Captain Lee, so that's all the proof I need- thank you!

Cant wait for October

Mike

You and me both dude!

Thank you for the help guys!

[BTH284]

I would also look at the shimano spheros for the # class you need. Braid definately! Teach them a simple loop knot for the braid to no name knot for the mono leader.....super easy

[SeaBiscuit]

I would also look at the shimano spheros for the # class you need. Braid definately! Teach them a simple loop knot for the braid to no name knot for the mono leader.....super easy

What he said Shoe. Spheros are inexpensive, reliable and easy to work on. Daiwa B&G fit the bill as well. Triple surgeon loop on the braid and no name for the mono leader is all they'll ever need.
Come see us soon!
SeaBiscuit

[Captain Michael Buffington]

What he said Shoe. Spheros are inexpensive, reliable and easy to work on. Daiwa B&G fit the bill as well. Triple surgeon loop on the braid and no name for the mono leader is all they'll ever need.
Come see us soon!
SeaBiscuit

we are all talking about the same connection. No name = yucatan...

Mike

[Jer]

Shoe and Nansea, what you are doing is so nice

I'm already looking forward to the pictures of the smiles!

[Nauti Natured]

Another vote for the Spheros. They are affordable, bulletproof, monster drag, and easy to work on. Load it up with braid and throw the uni to uni at them. A few minutes of hands-on instruction and they will be good to go.

Another good option on the reels is the Fin Nor Ahab. They are excellent reels and are as simple as they come to work on. I have an unhealthy knowledge of these reels and may even have a few of the American made ones to part with if you are interested. These are true collectors items but I would consider parting with them for such a good cause. As I mentioned in your previous post, I have a soft place im my heart for island locals.

Cheers

[shoefish]

Okay, it sounds like the Spheros and the Penn are on the short list...and I'll be doing some knot tying lessons as well

I'm thinking I may take some pictures and laminate them so that they can reference them once I've gone home.

Thanks for the help guys!