Blackdonald owes me a rod/reel - LF some recommendations

Post by **Hookup** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 2:08 pm

Hey,
So Friday evening, around 9pm, I decide to throw my brand new rod/reel combo into the water by hooking the white-big-o I was throwing onto the rod/reel laying on the deck and pitching it out of the boat behind me... Though cork may in-fact float, this bugger didn't... By the time I got my phone out of my pocket (iphone vs rod/reel)... the sucker had sunk, and with the high winds I couldn't even be sure I knew where to look for it... at 9pm it was already too dark to see more than 6 inches into the water... I cried a bit inside... packed it up and rode home...

It happened at exactly: If you've got scuba gear...

Lat: 45Â°14'17.81"N
Lon: 76Â°55'12.16"W

It's in about 30feet of water, 40feet from shore. There was some wind generated current, so it's going to be "close" to that area, but not exactly on it... I looked on the shoreline, for about 1hr, the next day.. it didn't wash up... well not there anyhow... But I did watch it slowly sink while I was flustered and trying to get ready to jump in... when I looked down, then backup, it had gone and I lost where it was...

What did I lose... well my main rod, that I use 90% exclusively for pop'r & spitt'n image baits. Was a $200+ shimmano (sorry, I just do not remember the brand, I bought it at the show in the spring) and a low-profile Curado 2017E... Rebel Pop-R and Power-Pro line 30lb...

I've a pretty good mind to replace it with an identical copy, but figured I'd check for opinions here... Nothing wrong with it, but I found that the lighter pop'rs (and other baits) did not cast well cause they could not load the tip very well...

Hit me...

Post by **Musky51** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 2:55 pm

Wow BIG O's are not perfect

Post by **tallpaul** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 3:34 pm

It's the white ones! They'll get you every time!

Hookup - what's the water clarity like there?

Post by **Hookup** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 6:40 pm

it's good clarity, but not 30feet good...

Great smallie lake btw, and a good walleye lake too, from what im told...

Post by **tallpaul** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 9:03 pm

I was asking more in terms of diving vis.

Post by **Carl** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 7:20 am

Tallpaul vis there is pretty good. Like most of our lakes that are tea stained. If it's only 30 feet down you'll have some vis just do a grid like pass and you'll find it. Worst case bring a flashlight if you're concerned about vis, it'll give you an extra couple of feet vis anyhow.

Post by **Hookup** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 11:29 am

tallpaul wrote:I was asking more in terms of diving vis.

I have my diving cert, but no gear... thought about renting gear and going for it.. but man... that's a load of effort... let alone I do not really want to dive alone... And, what if the cork kept the rod suspended for a few hours, before hitting bottom... the wind-induced current could havedragged it quite a ways....

Too many variables IMO to make it a real possiblity... But hey, you've got the location, so if anyone finds it... I guess it's "salvage rights" at this point.. LOL...

Post by **Todd B.** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 11:32 am

Shame it doesn't have a lifetime warranty like your Helios. You could have claimed that the cork handle was defective, in that it didn't float! LOL

Post by **Hookup** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 11:34 am

Todd B. wrote:Shame it doesn't have a lifetime warranty like your Helios. You could have claimed that the cork handle was defective, in that it didn't float! LOL

Honestly, I'm going to call Ed at Paddletails to see what he thinks about that exact line of thinking... I bet it'll lead to nowhere, but asking is free... and well, isn't that the point of a cork-handle??? and it had a POP-R on it too... I'd bet if I'd been using a super-spook I'd still have my gear...

Damn Elephants!

Post by **Wallyboss** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 2:19 pm

the wind current is not a deep current so my guess would be that it's pretty close to where it went in, Black Donald is a very high vis lake or at least it used to be. I just checked my Dive log and I had about 20 feet of vis in 40 feet of water. But that was a few years back so with all the rain this summer it might be a bit less than that.

The cork is only for sensitivity not for flotation. They do sell floats for your rods though.

Post by **Hookup** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 2:27 pm

Wallyboss wrote:the wind current is not a deep current so my guess would be that it's pretty close to where it went in,

Good point.

Wallyboss wrote: The cork is only for sensitivity not for flotation.

Um Really? I can think of a bunch of other materials that would be more sensitive than cork not to mention that there are a load of rod-deisgnes that have the cork/handle removed so you can put your finger on the rod blank. Cork floors are installed because they have the "spring/give" in them that other materials do not.. i.e. they absorb vibrations...

Not saying your wrong at all, just you're blowing my mind cause i've always assumed cork-floats, therefore cork is used to try to float your rod. I would never have connected cork with 'increasing sensitivity'...

Can someone check their notes on this? I'm just blown away with that idea.

Post by **Todd B.** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 2:36 pm

Tim,

You're going to have to invest in some of these:
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ ... ISO-8859-1

Then attach them to these:
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ ... hasJS=true

Future problems solved.

Post by **Wallyboss** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 2:53 pm

This is what I meant about the rod floats.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ ... hasJS=true

I have dove for a few rods in my days and none of them were even close to floating with a cork handle try it next time you are in shallow water. It might hold a rod but with no reel attached. I do find that my cork handles are better for sensitivity than my old foam handles. Might also be because cork doesn't become slipperry when wet.

Post by **Hookup** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 8:06 pm

Wallyboss wrote:This is what I meant about the rod floats.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ ... hasJS=true

I have dove for a few rods in my days and none of them were even close to floating with a cork handle try it next time you are in shallow water. It might hold a rod but with no reel attached. I do find that my cork handles are better for sensitivity than my old foam handles. Might also be because cork doesn't become slipperry when wet.

Fair enough... I did take a dip in Charleston Lake for a cork handled rod that sunk... (I got to stop throwing them into the water...) In fact, a buddy of mine tried flipp'n a jig.. caught the jig on the boat and flipped the rod out of his hand into the water... again cork did not float...... Long story... Bail was open... He spent a while playing with line till he pulled his rig off the bottom... I laughed... a lot...

I tend to think that cork is supposed to be for floating.. even though it seems it does not actually do the job... but not throwing your rod in the water is likely the best solution... Of course, Todd you do have some good advise, as always... but I figure after a few casts with my 6 remaining rods tied to me and buoys it'd look like a spider puked over my boat... LOL..

Post by **Todd B.** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 8:19 pm

Tim,

One of the guys lost his Ovis T3 last fall while tubing. He was struggling to get the trout unhooked and after he managed to release it, he followed his leader up from the fly only to find the broken end of his leader. Rod and reel sank in 30' of water. Figure he lost at least $500 in gear.

We gave him a large length of foam pipe insulation for his future rod!