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Hello from Central NYS

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central nys
2K views 5 replies 2 participants last post by  jimmoon 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi,

I fish in the finger lakes, lake ontario, and in the 1000 islands mostly. I travel to coastal cities several times a year and want to start surf fishing.

I just purchased two albright 4-piece travel rods that need to be paired up with reels. I noticed that the tip guides are noticeably lower than the other guides at the tops of the rods. Is this normal for conventional surf rods? They are 8'6" 1/2-2oz.

I'm looking at the avet sx series, daiwa millionaire or saltist and the penn squalls. I like the idea of a two speed reel.

Anyway, nice to be here and I'm looking forward to meeting people and learning all kinds of new stuff from you all.


Best,

JM
 
#2 ·
Hi Jim and welcome to the forum!
Those are all pretty good reels. I've heard mixed reviews about the quality of the Penn Squall, with several reports of paint flaking off after only one or two uses. Granted, that is only a cosmetic flaw, but still disconcerting to me. The only thing I don't like about the Daiwa millionaire reels is that the pinion gear is stainless steel, but the main gear is brass. I'd prefer that they both be of the same metal, otherwise the softer gear is bound to wear more quickly. IMO, 2 speed is completely unnecessary for striped bass surfcasting and just one more thing to fail.
Good luck and be sure to let us know what you decide on and how you like it. :icon_thumright:
 
#3 ·
Hi Jake,

I agree that a two speed would be another thing to break (like a level wind). I was thinking that a two speed would be nice for musky fishing. The hi-speed setting could be nice for burning lures over the tops of weeds. The single speed Avet SX is in the middle speed wise and about $100 less so that's sort of what I'm leaning towards. They're made in the USA. I don't have the opportunity to try anything before I buy it where I live.

Any thoughts on why the tip guides are set lower on both rods? The rods and cases look great btw for $79 delivered.

JM
 
#5 ·
It looks like if the line was dead center going through all the guides it would rub on the top of the tip guide. Probably not an issue at all. I always look down the guides when I get a new rod and I don't remember seeing that before. If it throws as good as it looks I'll be very happy.
 
#6 ·
I tried the rods out last week and was able to throw a 2 ounce bank sinker a little over 100 paces after a few casts with an stock Penn mag 10 reel. I didn't use a shock leader because of the level wind so I broke the line twice when I really tried to heave it. It was my first time using a conventional reel so I was pretty happy. People were looking at me like I was crazy at the park casting across an empty soccer field but I loved it.

Also, I sent an email to Albright asking the same question that I asked here about the tip guides and they responded pretty quickly. They asked if I could send a photo but I told them I was happy and that both rods were exactly the same and worked well. I think it's a sign of good customer service when someone takes time out of their busy day to deal with stupid questions.

Sorry if this is the wrong area of the site to post this stuff in. happy3.gif
 
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