I’ll tell you my sad tale of addiction. My name is Russ and I’m a Gear-a-Holic. Don’t get me wrong—I don’t have as much stuff as many of you, but the sick craving is still there. Way back when I quit drinking, they told me that addictions burst out in other forms—and boy were they right.
I started out with a 665 and a Cabelas stand up rod.—I figured I needed one rod for near shore snapper and other critters. Then I found this board—and that miserable list! I started sitting around all day making similar lists—filling notebook after notebook—that is no joke.
Having read tons of advice on this board and other places, and knowing that 90 percent of my offshore fishing would be on either a head boat or a 36 foot type boat with 4-6 other yahoos running up and down the rail like a bunch of rats, I decided early on that I could and should simplify and live with only two rigs—(1) a heavy 50W to cover trolling, deep drop, chunking, and drifting live bait, and (2) a big spinner for all casting, jigging, and even making bait. So I figured if I were going to limit myself to 2 rigs, I could afford pretty good ones, and I bought an Accurate 50W that Rick had cast off like dirty old rag (actually a great reel) with a Calstar 760H and a new Twinspin 30 and spare spool and put that on a Calstar 700H made for Accurate spinners. Now I was set for life.
But then I made the mistake of not going offshore right away. Instead, I sat at home and at work, reading about the gear that folks like mcgolfer, Mr. Bill, Bill Fisher, Gunsmoke, Kil, and others had accumulated—and I was overwhelmed with an insane desire for more gear----never mind that most of those folks fished offshore a hell of a lot more than I do, or will be able to, and forget the fact that they at least appeared to possess slightly superior means to pay for the stuff than I did.
So I got to thinking—the Twinspin was great but it had a 6-1 ratio and was not as smooth as the Stella. So I bought a 20,000 and, having read a post somewhere about the 700XH having “…brutal fish-lifting power…”, I had to have one of those as well. Then I saw a video on Randy’s board about the Smith 80P/35. If you don't remember that video, it was one of those where some wiry, super-strong young Japanese stud hooks into a 40 kilo plus Giant Travally, and after much yelling and running around that would do justice to a Chuck Norris flick (before he took to following Huckaby around like a dog), he subdues the GT in about 7 minutes. I was like Snoopy sitting on top of his doghouse, pretending he is fighting the Red Baron. So, being a spinning nut anyway, and loving longer rods, I went into hock for one of those.
I also picked up a 700H conventional for the 665. So now I was rod-heavy, so to speak, and had to get a Stella 8000 as well--just to balance things out, dontcha know. That led to falling in love with Stellas and Smith rods in general, and realizing I would do more bay fishing than offshore when I retire, over the course of the next 6 months, I sprang for Stella 1000, 2500, and 5000 plus 3 lighter Smith rods (KGS-70MH, KGS-68M and KGS-510L with removable butts to go with them--These rods, by the way are incredible--bay rods on steroids--the first time I saw the OTI seven footer, it reminded me of the 70MH, though it is probably even stronger.)
That about covered it, except for the need for a true “Rail Rod”, for which I bought a Calstar 7465H with Big Foot guides, and then, the fact that I decided if 8 feet was good, then a 9 foot Souls rod would be even better. Besides, who could resist owing a rod called the "Souls 90HHS True Excalibur!" It's a lot cheaper in the long run than Viagra.
Still, I did not have a true jigging setup, so I also bought a Smith Nirai for the same reason that Bill Clinton did Monica Lewinsky: “because I could.” But that was going to be the last equipment I would ever buy. (Speaking of Monica, I heard Dennis Miller say on TV last night that "Hillary has been cheated on more than a blind guy playing Scrabble with a bunch of gypsies."
But back to tackle: Then I saw an ATD 12 and it was true love at first sight, and I sold the 665 and bought a 2-speed. That one broke and so did the next one so I waited a few months to get one with a later serial number. Then I bought one through the mail and it had serial number 342! But I kept it and, now that I know that I don't have to fish 80 pounds of drag on an ultra-light crappie rig, I am going to limit it to 20 pounds of drag so it should be OK--at least for Crappie.
Then I tried jigging with the Nirai and the 8000 and had trouble hooking up compared to when I fished a buddy’s conventional rig. So I bought both OIT conventional jiggers. I love the 300 and cannot wait for the 600.
But now I have all the gear I will ever need. I promise. And I've had all my fly gear for years. So I won’t ever buy anything again—oh maybe just one OTI bent butt rod……
So the message is this—you people should be more careful doing things like: offering a drink to a crazed alcoholic mass murderer, teaching a kid to play with matches, or sharing your gear list with novices.
And to you novices out there: now that Uncle Russ has been on a couple of trips, take it from me--buy a really big rig and super-heavy-duty spinning rig---and you will be fine. Of course, you really do need a true jigging outfit and maybe a....
Russ