Opinions needed for a silly question...

[JoeB.]

Hi all-

I have a rather silly question for all who post here with some regularity.

I own an Orvis 9# and a Loomis 10' 10#...the problem resides in the fact that I only own one (what I would consider) quality reel between the two outfits--for budgetary concerns. The reel is the SA II 10/11 (the other is a Battenkill 8/9). My question is this: should I fish the 10# or the 9# more frequently? (I told you ti was silly!);

This basically boils down to the fact that I don't hold much confidence in the stopping abilities of the Battenkill...I would love it for some of the members here to educate me otherwise. Opinions?

[gregk]

Hi,
Get a medalist from Cabella's for $35, it comes with the most advanced and complex drag out there....your hand :-)));
Seriously, plenty good for stripers (under 15 lbs). If you want to use only one reel, use SH's.
Goodluck,
greg

[josko]

I'd say go with the less expensive reel for Cape Cod shore fishing. Yoiu will most likely bang up, sand up, and otherwise mess up the reel many times before ever needing a 'quality' reel drag. I've had no trouble landing large bass on flimsy reels. Whatever you set the reel drag to, it'll be wrong as you try to match wits with a big bass in rocks. Your hand is soo much better at this than any reel drag. On a beach, where's he gonna go anyway? So you have time to apply the right tension.

Save the 1011 for offshore stuff. It works great on a 12 wt with spectra backing.

[Adam-Albino]

<FONT color=black face=Verdana,Geneva size=2>Nothing wrong with the battenkill. In fact its better then a lot of reels in the same price range. Anything your gonna catch around here on a 9wt will be fine with it. </FONT>
<P><IMG align=baseline alt="" border=0 hspace=0 src="http://photos.netclubs.com/live/photos/v/9/t/2/t2c710a3839h31nr004cfcdhuo/flyman2.gif"></P>

[jeffg]

I've been fishing an 8/9 Batten kill on my 7 wt and a 10/11 on my ten weight for many years now--between the drag, the backing capacity and your hand you can easily land any inshore fish in New England (of course I'll probably get spooled for saying this). I thnik the drag on these reels is pretty good, it's the damn spools that warp when you bang them around(I've been through several on each reel, all curtesy of Orvis). Just don't bang it around too much and you'll be fine. They don't love sand either...

[JoeB.]

Thanks for all your input guys. You have all rested my doubts and therefore saved myself both time and money which would've gone into the purchase of another reel.

Can you have too much stuff? lol.

Thanks again,
Joe