Land Big Fish By Upgrading Your Fishing Equipment

Land Big Fish By Upgrading Your Fishing Equipment

Fishing used to mean a cane pole, a stout line, a hook, a bobber, and a coffee can of worms.

That gear worked fine for Huck Finn. But if you want to land big fish today, the Star Trek approach works better. Most anglers have traded the romantic old kit for modern tech.

Bank anglers and boaters alike now use GPS units that mark favorite fishing holes by satellite. LCD sonar finds fish in rocky, brushy cover. Some devices even let you look right into the water.

For digital navigation, C-Map electronic charts are a strong pick. They work with many chartplotters, and anglers rate them highly for accuracy and detail. Whether you need a simple local chart or deep detail on a huge scale, C-Map charts deserve a look.

Cane and bamboo have given way to graphite and fiberglass. Modern rods let you feel the lightest tap on the lure.

Lines made of natural fibers or Dacron have mostly vanished too. Anglers now spool monofilament or the new breed of Kevlar-stranded, wire-type lines. Some of those lines need special tools and glue just to attach a lure.

Hooks are laser-honed. Bobbers come in hundreds of shapes and sizes. Worms have given way to soft baits that copy the shape, scent, and wiggle of the real thing.

If Huck Finn were here today, he’d use this stuff too. Why? The new gear catches more fish, and that means more fun for you.

Some of it is fun to play with even when the fish aren’t biting.

G. Loomis is known for high-quality, sensitive graphite rods, advertised as 25 percent lighter than rods of similar strength.

Here’s a look at a few items you’ll find at larger sporting goods stores and mail-order outlets.

Land Big Fish With Rods

A few decades ago, anglers had few rod choices. Fiberglass ruled the sport.

Today, graphite rods are the first pick for most serious anglers. They combine strength and sensitivity like nothing else. Fiberglass is still a fine choice if you fish casually or shop on a budget.

As with most gear, price is a fair guide to quality. Buy the best rod you can afford. It raises your odds on shy-biting finesse fish like walleyes and panfish.

Prices keep falling as more companies use high-quality rod blanks. A casual angler can land a decent graphite rod for $25 to $40. A serious angler won’t mind paying $50 to $300 or more — especially if that sensitive rod helps win a walleye or bass tournament.

St. Croix has built fishing rods for more than 50 years. Its Legend Elite, Premier, and Avid series can all help you land big fish.

Shakespeare’s Ugly Stik rods are tough, with Howald Process Double-Built construction and a 70-day/7-year limited warranty.

Almost all high-quality rods still use natural cork handles. Most also carry aluminum oxide or ceramic guides that prevent nicks in the line.

Here are just a few rod companies worth a look:

G. Loomis (gloomis.com)

G. Loomis rods rank among the best in the world. The company builds graphite rods in four quality levels: entry-level GL2, high-modulus GL3, super-high-modulus IMX, and top-of-the-line GLX. The GLX rods are 25 percent lighter than rods of comparable strength.

You can choose from four actions — extra-fast, fast, moderate, and slow — and power ratings from 00 to 6. Plan to spend $95 to $400 on a G. Loomis rod.

The newest offerings include a line of 12 muskie rods and the Pelagic Series. Those eight rods are built to tame the largest fish in the sea and land big fish.

St. Croix (stcroixrods.com)

A family-owned business has built St. Croix rods in Park Falls, Wis., for the past 50 years. That’s rare in an era of imports owned by conglomerates. Serious anglers speak of these rods in hushed tones. The Avid and Legend Elite series are hand-built with lifetime warranties. The lower-priced Premier series carries a two-year warranty — and it can still help you land big fish.

In 2000, St. Croix developed Integrated Poly Curve (IPC) tooling, a fishing technology that rolls and compacts the graphite in an even taper from tip to butt. That removes the weak spots caused by the uneven tapers of most other rods. St. Croix builds a full line of spinning, casting, fly, and ocean rods. It also makes fiberglass Classic Cat rods for big flathead and channel catfish.

Eagle Claw’s FLT105 casting rod is just 4 feet, 10 inches in two sections. It has ultralight action for lures from 1/16 to 3/8 ounce.

Expect to pay $75 to $100 for a Premier rod, $100 to $160 for an Avid, and $240 to $300 for a Legend Elite. You get what you pay for. And every edge helps when you want to land big fish.

Others

Not everyone needs to own the best. Many other companies build quality rods that will do the job for most casual anglers — and still set you up to land big fish.

Rapala (rapala.com)

Rapala, the world’s largest fishing lure company, introduces its new Signature and Long Cast rods this year. These graphite rods with cork handles run $35 to $120.

Fenwick (fenwickfishing.com)

Fenwick offers a huge line of rods with something for every budget. Fenglass fiberglass rods cast delicate baits with pinpoint accuracy. The graphite rods come in several lines — Eagle GT, GoldenWing, HMX, and HMG — from $50 to $125.

Cabela’s Crappie system features four different poles, including a telescopic model.

Shakespeare (shakespeare-fishing.com) may be the best known of the economy lines. Its Ugly Stik rods are great values, and the graphite blanks are made in the United States. At $25 to $60, an Ugly Stik leaves you plenty for tackle. Don’t overlook rods from Eagle Claw (eagleclaw.com), Cabela’s (cabelas.com), Berkley (berkley-fishing.com), Daiwa (daiwa.com), or Quantum (quantumfishing.com), either. Most are priced to sell.

Fishing Reels

You’ve picked a sturdy, sensitive rod. Now look at the angler’s “engine” — the line-moving, fish-winching, hook-setting device. Call it a reel for short. This mechanism can make or break your day on the water. Some bargain reels can do the job, but it pays to spend a little more on a reel that lasts.

Quantum’s Bill Dance Signature Series rods come in 17 actions and carry a three-year limited warranty.

The best reels share a few traits. Ball-bearing drives (more bearings mean smoother casting). Aluminum spools (machined aluminum on some models). Oversized handles for cranking in the big ones. An easy-to-set drag that tires a fish without snapping the line. Also pick a gear ratio that retrieves a lure at the speed you want.

Abu Garcia (abu-garcia.com)

Legendary reel maker Abu Garcia — famous for the Ambassadeur and Cardinal lines — isn’t resting on its laurels. The new Ambassadeur C5 Mag-X is a baitcasting beast. It’s built to bearing tolerances of .0002 inch (2/10,000ths of an inch!) for ultra-smooth casting and cranking. The five-bearing reel retails for $100. Abu Garcia also builds a full range of baitcasting and spinning reels, plus bargain-priced Abumatic Pro Guide spincast rod-reel combos for $25 to $60.

The Quantum Catalyst PTi spinning reel features eight bearings and a TiMAG II bail system with a lifetime warranty.

The old favorite among Zebco reels, the Zebco 33, has received a new dual-cam all-metal drag system.

Shimano (shimano.com)

The company that probably built the gears on your bicycle also makes other things that spin smoothly — fishing reels. The new Calcutta TE (Total Efficiency) pairs the Super Free System with High Efficiency Gearing for an ultra-smooth baitcaster. Aluminum-bodied Stella spinning reels use titanium-coated ball bearings for smoothness. Expect to pay more than $300 for a Calcutta TE, and $450 to $660 for a Stella.

Shimano makes many lower grades too. A Sidestab spinning reel with a trigger bail — your finger never touches the line — retails for $30. A nearly backlash-free Curado baitcaster with a Variable Brake System sells for $120 to $150. Shimano covers every price range, and either upgrade can help you land big fish.

Quantum (quantumfishing.com)

Quantum reels are known for performance and value. This is the high-end line of the famed Zebco company, and it has a bounty of new reels this season. Snapshot SX, SS, XR, and Vector spinning reels wear new body styles for better performance, balance, and comfort. All have aluminum Long Stroke spools, Twist-Reducer line rollers, and selective anti-reverse. Prices start at $15 for the Vector and reach $30 for the XR and some other Snapshot models.

New PT (Performance Tuned) reels include the Energy E600PT and Accurist AC500PT baitcasters, plus the new Catalyst PTi and Kinetic PTi spinning reels. All feature special high-speed bearings, super-tough gears, high-tech ceramic parts, and Quantum Hot Sauce lubrication — a unique formula that bonds molecularly with the base metal. The PT baitcasters run fast 6.2:1 gear ratios with the ACS II externally adjustable centrifugal cast-control brake and Continuous Anti-Reverse. The spinning reels work the bail with a multi-pole magnetic system instead of a spring. Retail prices: $160 for the Energy E600PT, $100 for the Accurist, $90 for the Catalyst PTi, and $70 for the Kinetic PTi.

Others

Zebco (zebcofishing.com)

Zebco and its Rhino line are smart picks for kids and adults on a budget who still want to land big fish. Who didn’t cut their fishing teeth on a Zebco 202 or 404 spincast reel? Those unbeatable values are still sold today. So is a full line of spincast reels with stainless steel covers: the 33, the 33 Classic, the improved 733 The Hawg, and the Gold series.

New Rhino models include four spinning reels. The RSP2 holds 110 yards of 6-pound-test line, and the RSP3 holds 160 yards of 8-pound test. The big RSPXL6 and RSPXL8 hold 220 yards of 16-pound test and 240 yards of 20-pound test. They range from $25 to $45. And unlike baitcasting models selling for up to 10 times as much, they will never backlash.

Daiwa (daiwa.com)

Daiwa offers a deep line of spinning and baitcasting reels at many price points. The Team Daiwa-Z spinning reel is the very definition of smooth: magnesium rotor, machined-aluminum body, stainless steel Air Bail, Tournament Drag, and 13 ball bearings. Prepare to plunk down nearly $500 for this model. At the other end, Daiwa’s SS Tournament spinning reels with three-bearing drives run about $30.

New offerings include the Team Daiwa S and X baitcasters. The S series has five bearings and a seven-disc drag system for $150. The X series has six ball bearings, one roller-bearing drive, and a titanium nitride line guide that won’t nick line, for $200.

The Team Daiwa-Z line of reels feature ultra-precision magnesium and titanium components and start at just 6.2 ounces.

Lowrance’s new line of iFinder GPS units are palm-sized but loaded with mapping information — very useful when you want to land big fish.

Fishing Equipment – GPS Units

Some GPS units mount permanently in a boat. Many others run on batteries and stow in a coat pocket. It’s safe to say the GPS unit is the hottest toy going for hikers, hunters, and certainly anglers too.

But a GPS is far more than a practical Game Boy. It can guide you back to the hole where you tied into a seven-pound largemouth bass last week (of course he shook loose). It can steer you through the rocky shallows of Dead Man’s Slough. Some models let you download maps of lakes or almost any land area. They even link to your home computer, so you can download your data and print your own maps.

The Meridian Marine GPS unit from Magellan features a 16 MB database of waterways and navigational aids.

Today’s GPS units are more accurate than those of a few years ago. Back then, the government kept a 100-yard margin of error in the military satellites that bounce the signals GPS runs on. More channels also let a unit lock onto more satellites for better accuracy — most good ones have 12.

Garmin (garmin.com)

Garmin, one of the biggest names in GPS, has added three new models to its popular eTrex series: Vista, Legend, and Venture. The Vista stores detailed maps and adds an electronic compass, a barometric altimeter, and a PC interface cable ($350). The Legend includes a base map of North, Central, and South America — cities, highways, lakes, and rivers — plus a rocker switch for fast map viewing ($250). The Venture has less memory (1 MB, versus 8 MB for the Legend and 24 MB for the Vista) but the same rocker switch ($170).

Garmin’s most feature-packed new model is the GPS V. Its auto-routing picks the fastest route, gives turn-by-turn directions, and estimates your arrival time. It includes a CD-ROM of city maps you can download. Automatic Track Log lets you retrace your last steps. There’s an odometer, too.

Aqua-Vu’s underwater cameras locate fish as well as underwater obstacles, cover, and bottom features to help anglers.

Lowrance (lowrance.com)

Four iFinder GPS models — iFinder, iFinder Plus, iFinder Atlantis, and iFinder Express — give you plenty of pocket-sized options. All include mapping and WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) navigation for improved accuracy. The iFinder Plus lets you create your own maps with PC software. Atlantis and Express models come with thumbnail-sized memory cards holding thousands of navigation aids for U.S. coastal and Great Lakes waters. There’s also a database of airports, hotels, and restaurants — for use only if the fish aren’t biting. The Atlantis retails for $280; the others cost less.

Magellan (magellangps.com)

Magellan’s new Meridian line includes the Meridian Marine model. It carries a 16 MB database of major waterways, navigation aids, highways, airports, and more. Plug in memory cards to add space for downloaded maps. It’s also waterproof — and it floats! It retails for $300.

Portable Fish Finders

Aqua-Vu (www.aqua-vu.com)

In 1998, In-Fisherman magazine co-founder Jeff Zernov released a product that lets anglers see the underwater world of fish. For landing big fish, it made all the difference.

Aqua-Vu pairs a waterproof camera, sealed in military-grade epoxy resin, with a monitor. The Kevlar-stranded cable between them is waterproofed in epoxy too. The system includes a battery and charger.

Zernov’s Nature Vision Inc. is a spin-off of one of his other companies, Zercom Marine, a maker of sonar and other fishing electronics.

The camera shows walleyes, bass, and other game fish swimming in their natural world. Even when they aren’t biting, it’s fun to watch this ultimate “reality TV show.”

A stabilizer fin keeps the camera unit pointed forward. You can even attach it to a downrigger and watch your lure troll through the water. Hook a video camera to the monitor and you can record your favorite aquatic scenes. In fact, many TV fishing shows use Aqua-Vu to film their underwater scenes.

Nature Vision Inc. offers a variety of Aqua-Vu models, starting at $300.

Bottom Line

One last whiz-bang item the BMW-driving angler won’t go without: the Bottom Line Fishin’ Buddy fishfinder. It looks a bit like a trolling motor with a screen. Three C-size batteries power it, and it clamps to a small boat or a dock. It even works through the ice. Screen detail isn’t great, but it helps you find schools of fish — both straight down and to the side of the built-in transducer. Prices run $170 to $280.

The Tournament Master HR fish finder from Bottom Line offers a high resolution screen, digital water temperature, and digital boat speeds. It can be connected to a GPS unit for precision fishing.

Hot New Products Honored at ICAST Trade Show

Shimano American Corp.’s update to its Stella reel series and its newly designed hard lure cases won honors at the ICAST 2002 New Products Showcase. ICAST is the sportfishing industry’s largest annual trade show. Best of Show went to Johnson Outdoors for its Minn Kota Co-Pilot, an accessory that lets you steer a trolling motor remotely with a small cordless sending unit.

The American Sportfishing Association, which puts on the ICAST show, is the recreational fishing trade group. Its 450 members span the fishing and boating industry, state and federal natural resource agencies, angler advocacy groups, and outdoor journalists.

The Xplores floating pliers, sold in 6.5-inch and 9-inch sizes, took the top fishing accessory award in the New Products Showcase.

Suspending Charlie from Pace Products won the lure category at ICAST’s New Products Showcase.

ICAST NEW PRODUCT SHOWCASE WINNERS

Overall Best of Show: Johnson Outdoors’ Minn Kota Co-Pilot