Keith Lusher 06.12.24
Dwelling alongside the Gulf Coast, there are particular setups that upward push to the highest of the record on the subject of focused on sure fish. Having the appropriate rod and reel for a selected species could make the adaptation between a a hit commute and suffering. Take, for example, redfish. Those fish are in a category of their very own on the subject of measurement and energy.
I’ve grown up fishing for those fish that decision the shallow marshes of Louisiana house. And if there’s something I’ve realized about those fish, it’s that you just higher deliver the most productive apparatus to the fight, or those fish will embarrass you.
I had the danger to check out out a brand new redfish setup this week after I made a commute to the marsh alongside the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain. I paired a PENN Spinfisher VII Spinning Reel with my new Fenwick Elite Rod and headed to a deep canal that winds from the marsh and into the lake. It’s referred to as Todd’s Bayou and is notorious for generating high quality inshore species equivalent to speckled trout, redfish, and flounder. In this commute, I used to be particularly focused on redfish.
I began early within the morning as June could make for uncomfortable prerequisites as early as 9:00 a.m. As I unfolded the motor and cruised alongside the Lake Pontchartrain coastline, I scanned the financial institution for the doorway to Todd’s Bayou, and after a 15-minute boat trip, I arrived at my vacation spot.
The water used to be pouring out of the bayou, and there used to be various baitfish scattering around the floor of the water, which is at all times a excellent signal. I threw down my trolling motor and started running each side of the bayou, being that Todd’s Bayou is best about 50 toes broad.
Having attempted out a lot of rod and reel combinations, I knew precisely what I used to be searching for on the subject of explicit qualities in a redfish setup.
My first worry used to be the pressure of the reel. PENN has at all times equipped a stout saltwater reel, and I wasn’t shocked to be informed that the PENN Spinfisher VII displayed no flex after casting and retrieving a lot of instances. The CNC Tools era has at all times been a robust level for PENN, and this reel appears to be proceeding PENN’s recognition for making inflexible reels.
As I moved deeper into the marsh, I discovered my first redfish and used to be ready to check the mix’s drag and general energy. I used to be throwing a Berkley PowerBait Saltwater Bonga Shrimp when a redfish threw a wake within the strategy of chasing it down. The redfish made a difficult preliminary run the place I used to be ready to carry on and take in the vigorous fish surge clear of me. The HT-100 drag machine, made with carbon fiber washers with a max drag of 25 kilos, treated the run extremely as the road launched from the spool easily with none sporadic jerks.
Whilst reeling the fish in, the reel circled easily, which hasn’t ever been an issue with PENN reels. The six ball bearings have been greater than sufficient to make this occur.
Ask any inshore saltwater fisherman, they usually’ll let you know one of the crucial necessary qualities of a reel is its talent to resist saltwater. The PENN Spinfisher VII turns out adore it used to be particularly made to deal with the salt. The IPX5 sealing saved the center of the reel utterly break free the outer shell. So whether or not it will get hit with a wave, otherwise you let it trip within the spray the entire method house, you don’t have to fret about saltwater entering the gearbox or drag machine. That is actually necessary to me when discovering a excellent redfish reel.
As for the Fenwick Elite Rod, I used to be proud of its talent to struggle the fish for me. Let me give an explanation for. I selected the 7’6″ duration rod particularly for this kind of fishing as a result of I sought after to check a robust rod with excellent parabolicity to the reel. I’d extremely suggest making an allowance for this when searching for your subsequent redfish rod. The Fenwick Elite used to be VERY spectacular with the way it treated the redfish. In reality, the reel’s energy mixed with this rod made the fish in truth really feel smaller than it used to be. As I used to be preventing the fish I believed it measured possibly 18 inches but it surely became out to be greater. I used to be ready to boat-flip the 23-inch redfish after I were given him to the boat.
As I labored my as far back as the duck pond the place the bayou begins, I used to be ready to boat 4 extra redfish with this masterpiece of a combo and stuck my prohibit. I labored my long ago out and stuck 3 extra for amusing. My largest redfish used to be what is thought of as a bull crimson that measured 28 inches, and it used to be no downside for this rod and reel.
Finally, I used to be totally happy with my new redfish aggregate and suggest the rod and reel for any individual who’s focused on redfish or any greater inshore fish. It’s going to be arduous to seek out any other combo that’s higher in my ebook!
