Non-Fly Reel for Puget Sound Boats and Rivers

[speedbird]

I have a close friend who I got into fishing, and this year for the first time we ended up hooking into fish together. I took her out on the boat twice, the first time she hooked into a gorgeous high teens hatchery Chinook, and landed it despite never having hooked anything but a stocker Rainbow in her life. The second was the best day of coho fishing I have ever had, we ended up releasing at least ten unmarked fish, losing 2 or 3 (Including a gorgeous hatch ) before moving back to area 10 and catching our keepers. She fishes the rivers and beaches with me as well, but doesn’t enjoy it as much as we have never had luck with it. (Tell me how the one day I had to take her pink salmon fishing on the snohomish was the one day I couldn’t get a humpy to hit a pink jig)

She asked me if I could buy her a fishing rod for Christmas that she could use in most salmon situations. My plan was to buy her an Okuma celilo, a decent spinning reel spooled up with 30lb braid, and get her set up for pretty much every beach or river situation I can think of, but we fish together on the boat a lot and I know she’d like to have her own rod. She’s a very food motivated angler, so we usually troll when we fish together, and the idea of a spinning rod in a downrigger seems like a nightmare. She’s into it enough that down the road I can see her picking up a kayak or similar.

I’m thinking of picking her up a moderate power/action 9’ baitcaster, and then some kind of antique conventional reel. I know some folks who put baitcasters in downriggers, but modern ones are definitely not in the budget for me. Are there any decent conventional reels out there that are reasonable to cast? Or should she stick to borrowing my gear on the water

 

[John Svahn]

I cast a round Garcia regularly. Both a 46 and 5500 c3. I see lots of people casting them too. 4600 probably too small. The 6500 size i see a lot but that is a little big for me to keep a finger on the line when retrieving .

 

[G_Smolt]

You should be able to pick up a used - and occasionally new - 6500 for under $100. You might even be able to find a used Shimano Bantam 50 - aka the greatest chinook casting reel EVER - for around $100 as well.

Bear in mind the "thumb intelligence" required to cast these reels cannot be purchased, only learned and earned. Fortify your reserve of cuss words, as they will come in handy on y'alls learning journey.

 

[Divad]

I think I would decide what she plans to do most, boat fish w/ downriggers or casting. As G mentioned learning the thumb skill can be a bit of an annoying learning curve.

The downrigger rod will be long and with a bait caster that holds enough line, heavy. I wouldn’t want to bring that setup to cast for the day. Plus my favorite trolling rods have some fiberglass making them load up well on a rigger but swing heavy. So you’re left with two setups but not necessarily a bad thing. Trolling reels are cheap, and spinning reels are an easy learning curve (also cheap).

I’d pick whichever setup you intend to use more and buy her that one. A cookie cutter setup for casting and down-rigger might be a stretch. My two cents.

 

[speedbird]

I think I would decide what she plans to do most, boat fish w/ downriggers or casting. As G mentioned learning the thumb skill can be a bit of an annoying learning curve.

The downrigger rod will be long and with a bait caster that holds enough line, heavy. I wouldn’t want to bring that setup to cast for the day. Plus my favorite trolling rods have some fiberglass making them load up well on a rigger but swing heavy. So you’re left with two setups but not necessarily a bad thing. Trolling reels are cheap, and spinning reels are an easy learning curve (also cheap).

I’d pick whichever setup you intend to use more and buy her that one. A cookie cutter setup for casting and down-rigger might be a stretch. My two cents.

I picked up a celilo and I’ll give her a like new Sienna 4000 I’ve got lying around should get her setup for plenty of beach and river fishing. I’ll use the left over funds for a couple dick nites, blue foxes, rotators and humpy jigs.