As you may have read in other parts of these pages, I have been fishing for about five years with a nine foot St. Croix “Truimph” paired with a Shimano “Stratic” 4000 reel and I generally love the pair. They are extraordinarily well balanced combo that meet my exact surf-casting needs, 3-4 hours at a time, most Saturdays and Sundays for about 10 out of 16 weeks of the summer. This year, I just wanted something new. I was not yet ready for the ZeeBaas or Van Staal paired with a custom graphite 1-piece, but I wanted an improvement on what I have without paying a lot. I may have found it at a cost of about $270 over the $250 I paid for the Shimano/St. Croix pair I bought 5 years ago.
I bought a Flueger “Supreme XT” 9040XT paired to a nine foot Tsunami “Trophy Series” surf rod and I really like the combo, but I am not quite used to it so I am struggling with a comparison. The first thing I noticed is that the distance from the rod butt to the reel seat is about 3 inches shorter on about a 20″ handle – that’s a difference of about 15%. (The Tsunami handle is the shorter one.) So what does it matter?
There are two use cases, casting position and retrieving position. From a casting point of view, I’m on the fence. While I think you get a bit more leverage with the shorter Tsunami handle, I’m not sure it translates into greater casting distance. It still feels a bit awkward for me and I’m off on the timing so I won’t know for sure until the end of the summer. Retrieving is definitely different. With the weight a bit more rod-forward, it’s a bit more of a work-out on your forearm.
The reel is a dream. It is has a much smoother action than my Stratic from bail spring operation to general cranking. Some of that can be attributed to age, but that does not explain the improvement I feel. The Supreme XT is loaded with 300 yds of 15lb Spectra which is great for light-lining in the surf and some general purpose fishing. The drag is smooth on small fish (6-7 lbs) and I look forward to feeling larger fish on it. The weight is awesome because it is magnesium and it is very stiff – no flex what so ever.
The summer is off to a great start! There is tons of bait in the water and stripers in the surf!
In summary, archery meets fishing. Asian Carp, a recent and unwanted immigrant to parts of the Mississippi is known to jump out of the water in response to boat vibrations. At times the fish is known to jump quite high with sufficient air-time to support this new sport, “Extreme Aerial Bowfishing”.