Almost lost my Stik

[catman529]

Last evening surf fishing in Cape May, NJ. I had a PVC pipe stuck in the sand about a foot deep and my 7' med-heavy Ugly Stik with the line in the water and a small dogfish head on the hook for bait.

Fishing was very slow, no fish other than the baby shark which I cut up. The tide was coming in but at least a couple more hours to go. The full moon has had it real rough and high.

Anyway, I walked a few hundred yards down to a bigger jetty where several guys were fishing. I took my small ugly stik and fished for a little with no luck and then headed back. But my big ugly stik and the PVC holder were gone, completely washed away.

After multiple tries casting a sinker and treble with my small stik, it was seeming hopeless. but finally I was reeling and felt some resistance and started hauling in the line from my big stik. I pulled in the line, bait still intact, and pulled my rod out of the water.

The reel ended up being messed up for good, and I even managed to strip the threading in the crank while trying to turn it. I was gonna take it apart, clean it out and grease it and get it fixed up, but now I will be shopping for a new reel. Got any suggestions for an affordable yet decent spinning reel?

At least my best rod is safe and sound...

And now for a few days fishing in Pennsylvania before we head back to TN.

Just thought I might share the story, since some of you here may understand the attachment one may have to their fishing gear.

 

[Football Hunter]

Pretty lucky there,there are so many spinning reels......never really seen that much difference in any of em,except the really cheapo ones.

 

[BowGuy84]

Same almost happened to me cat fishine. pole litterally flew 3 feet into the water. I was only 5 feet away. Wadded in , found it 20 feet in and got the 3lb channel.

I like pfluger on my spinners.

 

[catman529]

Same almost happened to me cat fishine. pole litterally flew 3 feet into the water. I was only 5 feet away. Wadded in , found it 20 feet in and got the 3lb channel.

I like pfluger on my spinners.

Wow... I've caught 5 pound channel cats and they didn't pull that hard.

I'm going to walmart to find a new reel, maybe in the $20 range, probably shimano, but whatever looks best to me.

 

[rukiddin]

Its all fun and games till someone loses an ugly stik!! Best rods made for the money. imo

I just bought a Shimano Sahara. Its way over the 20.00 budget, but all I will use it for is saltwater.

I had a flueger reel that I usually saltwater fished with, but last year after several 8-10lb bluefish and 20+ big spadefish, the reel locked up. It lasted a couple of years, but once I used it on larger fish with drag screaming on every fish, it could'nt handle it.

 

[stik]

skeered me there for a minute :D

 

[catman529]

skeered me there for a minute :D

:D

 

[Jon]

skeered me there for a minute :D

:D

A man has to watch after his stik. :grin:

 

[catman529]

skeered me there for a minute :D

:D

A man has to watch after his stik. :grin:

especially if it's Medium Heavy

 

[bowriter]

Same almost happened to me cat fishine. pole litterally flew 3 feet into the water. I was only 5 feet away. Wadded in , found it 20 feet in and got the 3lb channel.

I like pfluger on my spinners.

Wow... I've caught 5 pound channel cats and they didn't pull that hard.

I'm going to walmart to find a new reel, maybe in the $20 range, probably shimano, but whatever looks best to me.

have to say, be better off to wait until you have more saved up. A $20 reel is usually not worth that. If you want to come by the house, I'll give you a couple reels that I no longer use that are way better than any $20 reel.

 

[JohnnyBond]

skeered me there for a minute :D

:D

A man has to watch after his stik. :grin:

especially if it's Medium Heavy

:D :D

 

[bowriter]

It is just a few years ago, I started taking my hands off mine for any length of time. Though I never considered mine an Ugly Stik. We started calling it Sluggo but lately been calling it fluke. Great if you don't need to get deep.

 

[grapple]

I lost a whole set up a long time ago while pike fishing in Wisconsin. I had reeled in and set my pole down and my lure was sitting in the water. A big pike hit it and pulled my bait pole and all in. It looked funny with my pole skiing behind that fish. Although at the time it wasn't that funny.

 

[catman529]

Same almost happened to me cat fishine. pole litterally flew 3 feet into the water. I was only 5 feet away. Wadded in , found it 20 feet in and got the 3lb channel.

I like pfluger on my spinners.

Wow... I've caught 5 pound channel cats and they didn't pull that hard.

I'm going to walmart to find a new reel, maybe in the $20 range, probably shimano, but whatever looks best to me.

have to say, be better off to wait until you have more saved up. A $20 reel is usually not worth that. If you want to come by the house, I'll give you a couple reels that I no longer use that are way better than any $20 reel.

Thanks for the offer, but I did go out and buy a reel a couple nights ago because I needed one. $24 for a Quantum Optix reel that fits my 7' ugly stik and seems like a decent reel. Better than the Shakespeare Alpha that was previously on the rod. I don't need a super nice reel, just one to get the job done.

One of these days I will have to take up one of your offers and come by lebanon and shoot the champion bow or something. You sure do know your stuff with archery