Pacemaker Fishing Forum

I'm a gear 'ho but don't upgrade with the latest greatest.  I do allot of research before buying anything.

An Ugly Stick will catch fish.  It's my go to travel rod because its cheap and I can afford to break it or loose one

I build my own rods mostly with St Croix Avid, Legend Tournament and Elite models.  To my specs.  Split TN spinning handle, no reel seat, concept guide system using titanium silicon carbonate guide.  I did allot of research on components and rod building styles.  Don't need to upgrade my rods.  Only build a new one when I break one.  I still have a few rods I built with Shikari blanks.    Pretty much have one-piece rods.  Sizes range from ULto MH.  Have a few two piece rods I built - honestly you can't tell the difference as far as sensitivity.  My rods are all old but still catch fish. 

Reels are another story.  I was a faithful Shimano fan until their Stradic model reels started binding when they got wet - keep in mind I was mostly fishing from a kayak or canoe in up to class III, rivers.  But seriously, for a $200 reel having a problem like they had is unacceptable.  And when I sent it into Shimano repair, they said it was user error.  User error by using the reel around water? I went round and round with Shimano and it got ugly.  I finally told them replace all five of my Stradics with two Sustains and I'll shut up, but they were not in the mood to negotiate.  Hence I coined the term Shimbindo and have used it every chance I get on the internet.  I still fish with one since I figured out how to prevent the binding issue. I will never buy a new Shimano fishing product again. 

The 2000 series balance the ML and M rod nicely.  On the MH's, I use a 2500.  On the L, a 1000 Stradic.  And on a UL, got a couple 500 and 750 size reels, depending on rod length.  Anything bigger is to big for what I fish for freshwater

Currently I fish Daiwa Ballistic and Tatula 2000 reels that have seen serious action up in Canada.  Years ago, I had a couple  Daiwa SSII that went to Maine and Canada and just wore out.  I sent them to Diawa and asked if they could fix them and they called me and asked WTF were you doing with our reels.  I sent them the pix and they sent me a brand new Daiwa SS 2500 along with fixed the anti reverse clutch on both SSII's.  I didn't like the SS because it didn't have instant anti-reverse so sold it.  The SSII's are also gone - one donated to the Rappahannock river and the other probably went  to Ernie.

Only time I fish a bait caster is, well, never any more.

Last edited by hookup (Jul-29-24 8:48PM)

I have one of George’s hand built rods. Amazing build. He didn’t like the Carbon Fiber grip/handle he put on it so he sold it to me. It’s my go to for smallies.

Interestingly, I’ve never had an issue with the newer Stradivarius and Ultegras from Shimano. This is post the heavier white ones.

I used to fish Okuma Epixors in fresh and salt and they did great. Less than $50. I did get a newer Epixor (1000) recently and it’s behaving well.

One tip

Fish with what you can afford to loose