New Abu Ambassadeur set up

[fisher42]

hey guys,

i recently bought my nieghbors abu ambassadeur 5500c reel and St Croix 7' Medium power fast action rod. the reel and rod are in great shape and i put 17lb Trilene XT line on it. is this a good set up for pike or do i need heavier/lighter gear?

thanks

[Random guy]

For Pike I would run heavier line. Take a look at some of the braids such as Sufix, Power Pro, Stealth etc etc in a 25-30lb range. The reel will like it better, you will have solid hooksets, the fish will have a hard time breaking you off and it will greatly reduce some nasty backlashes/tangles! Man I hate backlashes!

[Newcastle]

I have several 5500's and 6500's. Both good reels for the money. The rod and reel combo should work fine.

Jonny P has probably forgot more about pike fishing than I know (by the looks of his photo) but I guess my question in addressing the line issue is-

What is the typical range of pike you'd be catching/pursuing? 5-10-15lbs? If your fishing URL like Jonny P is, ya you would want a braid to tangle with those submarines. I rarely get to enjoy that type of quality waters, so here in Southern minnesota where I don't encounter ones over 7-8lbs to often-I go with 15lb Trilene and a 8-12" leader. Works fine and haven't had a bite off in recent memory. I like to keep the line as light as possible, get a little better casting out of it in the lighter lines so you can use it for Bass, Walleye, etc (lighter lures). Just my two cents.

Good Luck with the new rig-

[Random guy]

Good point I forget sometimes I'm sitting on a trophy water...but what if a little southern lake has big ol fish!? Now what do we do.

[Newcastle]

Use the drag and hope you can keep tension on the hooks. Braid seems like cheating at times- When you see a Bass fisherman jig and pig under dock, hook a 3lber on 50lb braid and skip him to the boat along the top of the water, it seems a little unfair.

Would hate to lose a 20lber boat side because my 15lb test gave out, but thats fishing. You don't win em all.

[UncleKes]

A good rule of thumb is that with a bait casting reel use a braided line like Hi-Pro. This is one of the new Super Braided lines with very low diameter, no-stretch qualities. I have 30 lb. Hi-Pro on my 6500 and the diameter is that of 8 lb. mono.

I have used Hi-Pro since it came out and I really like it. It is very tough and has the advantage of being almost impossible to break off even if you do knick it or abraid it over rocks or on the teeth of old Esox Lucius!

I hav e never met anyone who was not impressed with Hi-Pro spooled on a bait casting reel like yours. I use mine for fishing Pike and Flatheads.

[fisher42]

thanks guys i appreciate it