emerger

I basically agree with the previous respondents. I use an 8wt Vision 3 Zone but with a 9wt line as it works better that way for the majority of my pike fishing but then I'm mostly fishing the drains on the Somerset Levels and the pike aren't very big. If I do want to use bigger flies I use my 10wt Vision 3 Zone with a 10wt line. Both rods are principally saltwater rods but before I bought them I was using a 6wt Hardy Ultralite. This worked but casting largish flies was a challenge and it was not man enough to get the fish in as quick as I would like. I had a 9lb fish on it which was a good fight but wouldn't have liked to catch anything much bigger. John

I've got one. Bought it last year for Tarpon, also got the smaller one (8/9) for Bonefish and Pike. Good reels for the price, though I seem to have got some corrosion on the rotating handle of the smaller one even though its been well washed after each use in saltwater, makes it stiff when first used. WD40 has helped. I'm not sure exactly how much backing I have on the large one but think it's about 200m of dacron with a 10wt line. You obviously don't need to add backing to fill out the reel before putting a lighter line on it but it does help increase the size of coils on the line which is good. John

Only too happy to blame the angler as I'm new to this spinning lark. Did use it for a couple of hours on Saturday and twice got knots. Noticed that if I retrieved with the rod pointing at the lure it didn't happen. When I tried to use the rod movement to impart lure movement and then reel in the slack I was getting the problem. Still didn't see it happen but am now assuming that it was on the retrieve. Obviously need to keep practicing. John

Hi, I like using ProLeader for flyfishing for pike as it keeps things supple from the line to the fly and I can tie knots in it easily. However, I've only used the 12kg. Question is, if I go up a breaking strain, or even two, does the amount of steel sheathing increase. It seems pretty thin on the 12kg and I'm concerned that as you increase the breaking strain it is just the breaking strain of the braid that increases with the same thin sheath. I want something stronger than the 12kg for when I go Tarpon fishing, their abrassive mouths could well wear out the thin sheathing if I get lucky and hook a large enough one that it takes a while to land him. Anyone any experience of this product? Thanks John

Hi Guys, Many thanks for the tips, something for me try this weekend. Just to add a bit more info, it was windy (but that's what it was bought for, a back up when too windy to fly fish on foreign trips) and the braid I was using was 0.25mm (45lbs) so not really that thin. I was using a wire trace which did have a swivel at each end. I did fish a heavier lure for a while and it didn't happen with that but I wasn't catching fish on it hence going back to the smaller one. I like the idea of keeping tension on the line when rewinding and will try that. I like Ken's suggestion of engaging the reel whilst sweeping the rod back and will try that as well. Both will require a bit on concentration and practice. I had planned to fly fish tomorrow but the rivers are high & dirty so noisy lures will probably be more effective, if so I'll get plenty of chance to practice. Cheers John

Hi, Looking for a bit of advice please. I normally fly fish but have recently bought a spinning outfit - a Greys Missionary Spin 15-35gms, and Okuma Interceptor IBF50 reel loaded with Ron Thompson Dyna Cable braid. When fishing for pike yesterday using 13gm Rapala lures I got tangles in the braid on a number of occasions. I couldn't work out whether they were being created on the cast or the retrieve. Anyone any idea what it is I'm doing wrong or this likely to be a common occurance with this type of fishing? Thanks John