Keith Lusher 06.12.24
Dwelling alongside the Gulf Coast, there are specific setups that rise to the highest of the record in the case of focusing on sure fish. Having the correct rod and reel for a particular species could make the distinction between a profitable journey and struggling. Take, as an example, redfish. These fish are in a category of their very own in the case of dimension and power.
I’ve grown up fishing for these fish that decision the shallow marshes of Louisiana house. And if there’s one factor I’ve realized about these fish, it’s that you simply higher deliver one of the best tools to the battle, or these fish will embarrass you.
I had the prospect to check out a brand new redfish setup this week once I made a visit 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 known as Todd’s Bayou and is notorious for producing high quality inshore species reminiscent of speckled trout, redfish, and flounder. On this journey, I used to be particularly focusing on redfish.
I began early within the morning as June could make for uncomfortable situations as early as 9:00 a.m. As I opened up the motor and cruised alongside the Lake Pontchartrain shoreline, 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 was pouring out of the bayou, and there was loads of baitfish scattering throughout the floor of the water, which is at all times a great signal. I threw down my trolling motor and commenced working either side of the bayou, being that Todd’s Bayou is barely about 50 ft large.
Having tried out quite a few rod and reel combos, I knew precisely what I used to be searching for in the case of particular qualities in a redfish setup.
My first concern was the rigidity of the reel. PENN has at all times supplied a stout saltwater reel, and I wasn’t stunned to study that the PENN Spinfisher VII displayed no flex after casting and retrieving quite a few occasions. The CNC Gear expertise has at all times been a powerful level for PENN, and this reel appears to be persevering with PENN’s repute for making inflexible reels.
As I moved deeper into the marsh, I discovered my first redfish and was capable of check the combo’s drag and general power. I used to be throwing a Berkley PowerBait Saltwater Bonga Shrimp when a redfish threw a wake within the means of chasing it down. The redfish made a tough preliminary run the place I used to be capable of maintain on and soak up the energetic fish surge away from me. The HT-100 drag system, made with carbon fiber washers with a max drag of 25 kilos, dealt with the run extremely as the road launched from the spool easily with none sporadic jerks.
Whereas reeling the fish in, the reel rotated easily, which has by no means 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 some of the vital qualities of a reel is its means to face up to saltwater. The PENN Spinfisher VII looks like it was particularly made to deal with the salt. The IPX5 sealing stored the center of the reel utterly separate from the outer shell. So whether or not it will get hit with a wave, otherwise you let it trip within the spray all the best way house, you don’t have to fret about saltwater stepping into the gearbox or drag system. That is actually vital to me when discovering a great redfish reel.
As for the Fenwick Elite Rod, I used to be proud of its means to struggle the fish for me. Let me clarify. I selected the 7’6″ size rod particularly for the sort of fishing as a result of I wished to match a powerful rod with good parabolicity to the reel. I might extremely advocate contemplating this when searching for your subsequent redfish rod. The Fenwick Elite was VERY spectacular with the way it dealt with the redfish. Actually, the reel’s power mixed with this rod made the fish really really feel smaller than it was. As I used to be preventing the fish I believed it measured possibly 18 inches nevertheless it turned out to be bigger. I used to be capable of boat-flip the 23-inch redfish once I bought him to the boat.
As I labored my approach again to the duck pond the place the bayou begins, I used to be capable of boat 4 extra redfish with this masterpiece of a combo and caught my restrict. I labored my approach again out and caught three extra for enjoyable. My largest redfish was what is taken into account a bull purple that measured 28 inches, and it was no drawback for this rod and reel.
In the long run, I used to be completely happy with my new redfish mixture and advocate the rod and reel for anybody who’s focusing on redfish or any bigger inshore fish. It’s going to be laborious to seek out one other combo that’s higher in my guide!
