Reel for Thorne Bros Sweetheart 32"

[Matt Johnson]

I run a lot of Tica Cetus SS500's on my longer rods. If going to a heavier rod like the Professional Plus then I'll use a 750 or 1500 series Shimano of some sort. But for my longer panfish and perch rods I'm going with a Cetus mainly for weight and control... balances very nicely... the Cardinal 300 is nice too...

[rockman]

I have added several Cardinal 300's to my collection,as well.Started with a couple of Cardinal 100's last year that worked fine, but decided to go the 300 route.Ticas are nice for what I have seen of them,but I pulled the trigger on the Abu Garcias.

[cRaPpiEMaN8265]

Thanks guys i just picked up a abu 300u from cabelas for 35 bucks. Pretty good deal i think. Thanks for all your suggestions.

Ryan

[fishinalot]

My best reels have been Shimanos and my worst are Pfluegers!

[Corey Bechtold]

That 300U is a sweet reel. You have one heck of a combo there!

Good fishing,

Corey Bechtold

[cRaPpiEMaN8265]

thanks corey should work out good if we can just get some ice now. the 44 degree high on sunday wont help though. It may be a while unless you think its worth a 4 hour drive north!

Ryan

[Corey Bechtold]

Was throwing rocks on the Ice last night. When we got to the parents place there wasn't a lick of Ice so we're definately making some fast! If we get a layer of Ice over the whole lake it's all over unless there's wind with the 45degree highs.

What line are you going to put on the Cardinal 300U? Are you going to start a thread called "Line for Abu Garcia Cardinal 300U"?

Talk to you later,

Corey Bechtold

[cRaPpiEMaN8265]

No i think im gonna throw that 4lb fireline crystal i got at the show on it... what do you recomend? I do fish a very clear lake with a secci disk of 21 feet so do you think this would be a bad choice? Any recomendations are welcome. thanks

Ryan

[Corey Bechtold]

Fireline Crystal is awesome. Some people think it freezes to the spool too easily but I'm not casting when I Ice fish so it's easy to just peel it off. The zero memory, sensitivity and hook setting power makes it a favorite of mine. I still lime Micro Ice in the 3lb for a lot of situations but for some reason I have noticed that Crystal is making it's way on to more of my reels.

Good luck,

Corey Bechtold

[cRaPpiEMaN8265]

yea i use micro ice a lot too. the mono kind and so far i have had no complaints but i thought it would be nice to try a braid so it isnt as twisted. I used crystal all summer and loved it too.

Ryan

[slipperybob]

Since I've got two of the outside 32" rods; panfish and perch; I've decided to use my other small reels. I'm using my sustains 1000's; prior model and new model. Might be overkill at the moment but, I'm just not looking to buy more reels. Between the old sustain FD's and the new one's FE's the handle on the new one's a tad bit shorter. The handles of the new one has a thread pattern that tightens as you reel and loosens if you un-reel, similar to Shakespeare/Pfluegers. Makes for a quicker handle breakdown, but not as fast as Abu's push button latch release. Looking forward to giving these two combo's a try...I can tell that fish handling with a load will be my tug-of-war winning side.

Just a little dissapointed the new Shimano's didn't utilize that one feature that made the bail spring wire attached to the inside of the rotor arms like in the older Shimano's. They really should bring that back, it makes the bail wire smaller, for even less wobble.