Gear stolen/Starting over

[Craigums]

So I took my GF's dad out on the boat yesterday unfortunately before we met up he had discovered some little A-Hole took the cover of his boat (in his driveway) and had stolen all of his fishing gear. With Father's day coming up I thought getting a rod and reel would be a nice gesture. Money is tight though so I'm looking for some affordable options that aren't complete junk. He fishes panfish and walleyes on Pool 2 mostly so I'm thinking a 6.5' ML, and a 7' M spinning rod should get him started again.

Right now I'm looking at:

Rods:

Guide Series IM8 Rods ~$40-50

Reels:

Shimano Sienna ~$30

Pflueger President ~$50-$60

Have you guys tried the Sienna? Might be a good route to go as I might be able to get him 2. So I'm curious what you guys would recommend.

PS: May the little scumbag that stole the gear have his balls swell up and fall off...that is all

[Jarrid Houston]

Shimano makes a decent reel, but I love Flueger more! Super smooth and nice in my experience. The guide series rods do the job too..

[SalmonSlayer]

I have three various guide series rods. They all work fine. They were running a sale with their tournament series combos, 9 ball bearing reel, really smooth.

And I second the sentiments towards the scumbag.

[magnum mike]

Very thoughtful of you. If I were in your shoes I would talk to him first or at the very least hint around the issue. He may have insurance that covers the loss or he might have different gear in mind as replacements. Maybe a gift certificate for the value of that combo might be an alternate plan. All your ideas are great and your heart is in the right place.

[harvey lee]

That sucks. Had a friend they did the same thing to but thankfully he was heavily insured. I also lost almost 300 cranks to someone who figured they needed them worse than I. I had great insurance so it worked out fine.

The Sienna reel will work but not as well as something worth a few more bucks as I am sure you know. Had one for about 3 years and it seemed to work fine for what I used it for.

Personally I would go with the President.

[mrklean]

I have always been a fan of Flueger reels

[Hory]

+ 1 on the President. I own two, and they are a great bargain

[nofishfisherman]

With what you are looking at there I don't think you can really go wrong. Both pflueger and shimano make nice products, I personally love the shimano sahara.

Guide series are also nice rods for the money. I bought my dad one for christmas a couple years ago and he really likes it.

[sled59]

I have a Pflueger President and love it. It is paired with an IM7 and I have caught a few 35 plus pike with it. Shimano makes great reels too. Cabelas always has some good combo deals. As far as the thieves go we should be able to remove their hands and maybe they would thik twice. Probably wanted drug money. Good luck fishing this season.

[tunrevir]

For the money, I'd go with a Pfleuger over the Shimano and I fish all Shimano equipment. Sounds like a decent combo you have picked out. I have had a few Gander rods in the IM7-8 class and all of them have been very solid performers for me. Sorry to hear about the stuff!

Tunrevir~

[Rick G]

Sorry to hear about a loss due to scummy thieves .

I would go with the President over the Sienna. As others have said, check the box stores for combo deals.

[NCLaker]

Stop out or call Joe's, they had great deal on some Fenwick+Pflueger rod/reel combos. Not listed on their HSOforum.

Pfluger President mounted on I think Fenwick HMX rods, for a little extra you could bump upto an amazing versitile combo Pflueger Supreme on a Fenwick Elite Tech Small Mouth (6'9" ML).

[mainbutter]

I own a handful of GM rods, including one guide series. Love them all, you're good on that.

I used to own shimano reels, but they were all from the 90s. I've since sold them all except one, because I don't need a dozen reels. I still love them. Don't have a sienna, but used my brother's sahara and loved it.

I love pfleuger presidents. I have one in the biggest size I could find as my heavy spinning reel setup.

All in all, your taste in gear is pretty darn close to mine, I'd say you've got some perfectly wonderful choices.

[delmuts]

+ ? on the presidents!

I own three. Two are in use, with the third just incase one of my OLD shamaos die! I've used the 30 series on everything from 6'=6" ultra lite, 6' lite, and on my 7' M. They all balanced well.I bought my reels off the "E" place, and got the 6730's , as the 6930's don't come with spare spools. Very good reels!

[mww24]

get the president reel for sure. I haven't found a spinning reel that beats it for that low price. I would compare it to shimano's symetre which is around 100. no help on the GM rods have never used them. sucks that some a-hole did that though.

[Archerysniper]

I have 3 Presidents and love them.

[True]

Diawa regals are on sale for 50 dollars at gander right now.

[Grum]

+ Pflueger President, I have 2 and love them. Looks like Gander has their Wright McGill Guide Series Combos on sale on the web for $39.99. Some reviewer posted that they thought that the guide series reels were commissioned by Pflueger, but I can't confirm this, but might be worth a look.

Sorry to hear about the theft, may the thieves sit on many rusty trebles

[GrizzlyAdams]

Pflueger does make reals for Gander. We have 6 of them and have been very happy with them. They are the president's and are an awesome reel for the money.

Also have some small sienna's for ice fishing and really like them. They are a very smooth real and have never had an issue. Just haven't tried them on open water as I really love the president's and other pflueger models.

[fish_eat_sleep]

at cabelas in the spring i bought a new president reel and got a free tourney trail split grip rod. picked up 2 of each.. 2 reels 2 rods for $120. i would highly recommend the cabelas combos listed online. and hopefully they have that one on sale. but its still a great deal at full price. take a look at it before you buy from gander if you have time they sell it for $99 or $110 i think for the combo.. cannot go wrong!

[Rivernut]

I fish a couple of President reels teamed w/ IM 8 gander rods, and for the money they do a great job. A shame that some people feel the need to take what doesnt belong to them. Sorry to hear. I am in Blaine, if you need, I have some quality spare combos you could have dirt cheap. Good luck

[Jarrod32]

Pfluger President is probably a top choice in that price range, and I consider the Abu Garcia Cardinal 402i as a close second in that price category.

I'd leave the rod choice to him...people often have some different preferences when picking out a rod (power, action, length, etc).

[Stick in Mud]

Yeah, I've had great luck with the Pfleuger reels. Much better luck than with the Abu Garcia Cardinals, for what it's worth.

[Eric_Kruger]

Shimano sedona.....Same price as a president and in my opinion 10X better....only my exp but after buy 3 new presidents in the 25 size last year and having all of them fail in one way or another I wont go back unless I step up to a higher end model...

Pres #1 Drag knob stripped

Pres#2 Bail spring broke

Pres# 3 Started grinding after about 2 hours worth of use- so bad it was unusable.

Again maybe bad luck..But not a risk I will ever take again!

[Grum]

Eric, were these the new style Pflueger President reels (Blue graphite frames) or the old style (silver aluminum frame with wooden handle) that you had trouble with?