27 October 2010

Gearing up for Louisiana Redfish

Time/Date: 1800, 27-Oct-10
Location: my kitchen (again)

I'll admit that I was really close to going over a cliff.

A cliff of spending foolish amounts of money.

After I booked my trip & guide to chase redfish, my first thought was, "I gotta get a new rod...and reel...line...flies! Oh man!"

I put a rod & reel combo up for sale online last week. I had purchased it the previous winter and used it to chase spring & fall salmon in '09. However, I hadn't touched it all this year, opting to use my TFO 5wt for all of my outings instead. My plan was to put that money towards a new setup for saltwater.

Did I ever find a sweet new set-up. The rod, reel & line in this super-awesome saltwater set-up would have run about $900.

'Would have' is the operative term, here.

Fortunately for me (& my bank account), I paused for a moment to check out the specs of my rod & reel combo to see if they're suitable for use in the salt (corrosion is an issue).

They're more than suitable.

So here is my saltwater set-up:
Cabela's Stowaway Rod, 9.0', 8wt (5 pc)
Cabela's RLS-3 reel (w/ 20lb backing)
Rio Mainstream Saltwater WF-8F fly line (not pictured)

All I had to do was hop on eBay and find the saltwater line at a discounted price. Total cost: $46.87.

Sure beats spending $900.
(Anyone wondering what I considered buying? Click here and here. Maybe someday...)

Music time:
This is Stereo Airing, the local band that opened for one of their biggest musical influences last week, Sloan. They were so ridiculously happy to be the opening act. I loved it. They're talented and they're good kids, so check them out.

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