So what are the specs? How about a 6.6:1 gear ratio, 25lbs of drag, holds up to 210 yards of 80lb braid, has 7 ball bearings, 1 roller bearing and pulls in up to 43 inches of line with each crank! Apparently there will be two models of this reel, a high gear (HG) and a power gear (PG) – both models will be priced around $500 USD, which means we probably wont be buying one to test/review, but if the good folks at Shimano are listening, this reel just moved to the top of our wishlist! This reel should hit shelves in March 2012.

PowerPro Depth-Hunter

Introducing a new metered-line called Depth-Hunter from PowerPro. There are 4-colors (Blue/Yellow/Green/Orange), with 25 feet of color per segment. There is also a black tic marking every 5 feet for accurate and instant depth measurement. This allows you to present your lure in the strike zone easily, accurately and repeatedly. This is only available from PowerPro.

* PowerPro Enhanced Body Technology ™ with multiple-color dying process
* 4 – Color (Blue/Yellow/Green/Orange),
* 25ft per color = 100ft/4-color. Color repeats every 100 feet
* 2” Black hash or tick marking every 5ft- for precise lure depth placement
* Available sizes : 10lb, 15lb, 20lb, 30lb, 40lb, 50lb, 65lb, 80lb, 100lb, & 150lb
* Available length : 500ft, 1000ft, 1500ft, 4500ft, 9000ft

This awesome video created by Ashley won her a trip to Tobago, the grand prize for the WFN Adopt an Angler contest. It’s clear that Ashley has both creative talents and a wonderful passion for the sport of fishing, well deserving of such an award. We’ll be keeping an eye on Ashley’s blog and youtube channel for updates and you should too!

Read more about Ashley on her blog She Loves To Fish.

Shimano Curado E

Winner of the 2008 ICAST New Product Showcase Awards for Best of Show and Best Freshwater Reel!

The high performance Curado reel is ultra smooth, makes effortless casts, and is available in a 7.0:1 high speed, 5.0:1 power versions.

New 200 size is smaller than the previous Curado 100D but holds the same amount of line as the previous 200DHSV. Compact and lightweight with the heart and power of a large reel.

Price: around $180-250 depending on model

Shimano Chronarch

The Chronarch has been redesigned with all new features inlcuding Ultra-Lightweight A7075 Aluminum Spool Construction, Magnumlite Spool Design, S A-RB Ball Bearings and High Efficiency Gearing.

Price: about $300

Shimano Core MG

The new CORE reels are designed to be the ultimate, lightweight baitcasting reels. Made with magnesium frames and sideplates, and featuring Magnumlite spool construction, the standard version for all around fishing, weighs in at 6.1 ounces with a 6.2:1 gear ratio. The FV flipping version, equipped with Instagage II, comes with oversized PV paddles and a 7.0:1 gear ratio to move fish out of cover fast. These reels both come with HEG, feature Shielded A-RB bearings and are designed to be as compact as possible for a comfortable, lightweight and maneuverable fishing experience.

Price: around $350

via OFNC

We wasted no time once we arrived at the beach and immediately jumped in our boat, and Dan into his. We had the same guide as before (Cayo), since he seemed to share our intense passion for catching fish. The sea was a little bit calmer this day and we were able to make very good time getting to our destination. Cayo carved his way through the waves and swells with the precision only a person who had spent their entire life on the ocean could do. The sun beat down hard on us as our guide netted bait fish. It was obvious that today was going to be a very hot day on the water, even though clouds had begun to move in. We lathered up with sun screen and headed for deeper water.

The day started slower then our previous trip. We circled the area for a quite a while before we had our first hit. It was certainly worth the wait when line started peeling off my reel. I had decided to stick with the equipment supplied by Fishermen’s Fleet this time instead of my muskie equipment. Now I was using a nice big Shimano reel spooled with forty pound line. While many anglers use a heavier line for fishing saltwater, all the reels here seemed to be spooled with the forty pound line because the main fish we are targeting (Pargo, commonly known as Snapper) have very good eyesight and don’t hit the bait on heavier line. The only drawback to using only forty pound line is that these fish are extremely strong and can reach over one hundred pounds. They immediately pull straight down into the sharp rocks below, cutting your line. The idea is to chase the fish once hooked and bring in as much line as possible. You can only hope that the fish will head toward deeper water, because if they don’t, you will more then likely loose the fish. I of course learned this first hand after battling a good size pargo for almost five minutes before my line got cut. There isn’t a whole lot you can do when these fish start to run. I tried my best to keep the rod tip up and bring in as much line as possible to no avail. When you try to bring in the fish quickly you risk the chance of breaking the line from stress, but when you reel to slow you run the risk of loosing the fish to the rocks. It requires a very precise mixture of finesse and brute strength.

Continue reading Cerralvo Island, March 11th 2005