your help needed

[kayakninja]

Late last year I bought a St.Croix 9 weight imperial combo. The reel has had problems and I sent back to St. Croix today. I am happy with the rod but I want to upgrade the reel and put on new line. I borrowed a Echo model 69 from a friend and liked it. Especially the price. I am looking to stay within reasonablee price because I am new to this. How does everyone feel about Okuma reels? I am trying to stay under 200 bucks or so with line. What models do you kayak guys use? How about types of line in certain situations? Any help would be appreciated. I dont like dealing with online stores I would rather go to a pro fly store and get everything set up right. Any store recommendations? Thanks in advance.

[Jacob K.]

most people on this board have not had good luck with oakum reels, do a search and you will find a thread i started in the tackle forum. i would suggest a tioga teton reel. buy it from mikescottsflyshop (http://feedback.ebay.com/ws1/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback&userid=mikescottsflyshop&iid=3687553427&frm=284) on ebay. he has great prices and it is a great reel.

jacob

[Ray]

I have to agree with Jakob on the Tioga reels. I have a reel travel case full of them. Some as much as 6 years old. I've never had a problem of any sort, and have landed some fat and speedy fish on them.

[ruge13]

http://reel-time.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38332&highlight=okuma

I had one, it lasted one season with a trediculous amount of maintenance. Its definately worth the extra money for a Tioga.

What kind of fly line are you looking for? I have a clear int and a floater that I don't use. You are welcome to either one of them...both are 9wt. Let me know I can run it by your house.

As far as what I use, I have both a 9wt and a 10wt. I use the 10 90% of the time. Just because its a nicer rod and easier to cast. I mean, its cause I need it for bigger fish, yeah thats it..:rolleyes:
I carry a 350 gr sink with me, but only use it in heavy wind or water over 10ft. Otherwise I usually use a floater. Its much easier to manage I think.

[twick]

I have a Ross Canyon BG 4 Reel for my 9 wt. that I love. A friend of mine told me yesterday that he is looking for a buyer for his Ross Canyone BG 4 Reel that he has never used. He purchased it last year but decided he has too many reels. I believe it has floating line on it. Here is some info on the reel: http://www.ross-reels.com/biggame.cfm. It retails for $350 but I bet he would be willing to part with it for less, although I doubt he would part with it for $200. I have landed bonefish, skipjacks, stripers, albies and others on the reel and I love it. it compares well with the Tibor Everglades reel, but the extra spool is a fraction of the price of a spool for a Tibor reel.
Tyler

[kayakninja]

Thankyou guys! I will check out the Tioga reels. I dont like ordering online about buying products that I don't know much about. I don't mind paying a litle extra to be able to see the product. I cannot find a dealer anywhere who carrie this reel. The website is not updated. Any suggestions?

Ruge- thankyou for the offer. I will take those lines. I'll find something in trade. I like the idea of the heavier line you use (350 gr. sinking) to cast on windy days. I need all the help I can in that area.

[Jacob K.]

I dont like ordering online about buying products that I don't know much about. .mike is really good and will not screw you at all. if you are worried email him before hand. also, you will save more than a little, you will save about 40% by buying from him....

[ruge13]

Jeff, give SWE a call. I am sure they can help you with a Tioga.. Tell them RT sent you.

http://www.saltwateredge.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=SE&Category_Code=OFT&Affiliate=markcahill

[ChemFly]

Ninja,
You stated that you want to stay under $200.00, therefore I suggest that you
look into the Scientific Anglers System 3 reels. I have 3 in various sizes that are close to 10 years old. Their finishes are now kinda beat but with minimal cleaning and care they have been absolute workhorses. I've caught blues, bones, albies stripers and salmon on these reels. Sure, I now have reels that cost 3x as much as the System 3's but I can always count on the 3M's to be ready to go and not sieze up. Who wants to loose a $500.00 reel off of a yak or drop it on a jetty??
Check out this link.
http://mrfc.com/search_results.asp?txtsearchParamTxt=&txtsearchParamCat=10&txtsearchParamType=ALL&txtsearchParamMan=ALL&txtsearchParamVen=ALL&txtFromSearch=fromSearch&iLevel=2&subcat=112
--127-3-

[kayakninja]

I just came back from visiting a few stores and the selections are slim and I am not ready to plop down 500 bucks. It looks like I will have to purchase online to get what I need. I agree that the value for the Tetons are great. I can't find the system three reels anywhere on line. Only sytem 3. I have never set up a reel yet. So I am new to all of this. Everything I have had has come all set up and ready to fish. I guess I have to figure this out sometime. The more I get into flyfishing the more I have no clue. I just bought a book while I was out and it should help me. After all its says its for dummies. The reason why I am getting into this is because of the nice fish I was scoring out at nauset and the areas I know of around my area that make a fly presentation a lot of fun.

I was watching commercial boats clean up around my house with Stripes. They were in close enough too see them scoring the fish with size to them. They are fishing around the highlands area of Winthrop. Water is too rough to launch right now. --124-3

[ChemFly]

Ninja,
Woops, I ment System 2 by Scientific Angler. Duuuhhhh! (#$119)
The 2L's look sweet! 3M is one of the best companies around when it comes to quality.

[The Grudge]

If you don't want to buy the Tioga online, I would recommend checking out the Orvis Batenkill Barstock model. It retails for $150 and you can pick one up at the Orvis store in Fanuil Hall. It is lighter than the Tioga and I've never had any problems with it.

[kayakninja]

I bought online from Mikes fly shop. I bought the teton la 9-11. That was the best bang for the buck. Thanks for the letting me know about his site in e-bay. He was a pleasure to deal with and answered all of my questions. It should be here Monday or Tuesday.