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I recently bought Berkley's new line spooler after my home made one bit the dust. Best money Ive spent towards line has been this line spooler. It allows you to spool the spool alone like a tackle shop does. Line goes on even and without the initial twist you get from reeling it on the spinner. I hate braid and this has allowed me to use mono on my spinner's with a lot less frustration.

Original poster said if you could only have one combo right? I guess that makes the prepper in me come out. High dollar and fancy bling just seems to have to fade away and your pick would have to be something that can do everything at least in a pinch. Something that will last or can be easily fixed. Something that can do more than just throw hvy jigs or flip. Might have to do more than just bass fishing.

50 to 100 times a year really isnt a test of durability is it? I fish twice a day most days, at least 5 days a week once a day. I lost thousands of $ spending it on curado/stradic and higher model shimanos. Sarcastic customer service techs and their inability to provide parts a year after D became E or F became H, made them $ down the toilet.

They havent made a rod in the past 4 years that I find comfortable. Everyone seems to think holding onto bare thin graphite tube with sharp edged seats is comfortable. Falcon's basic coastal model is my only choice in getting a normal hand filling grip without paying loomis' shimano prices.

I think Maxximus is right. If it was only one combo, it would have to be a med. spinning combo. Nothing else comes as close to being able to do anything in a pinch.

Most durable doesn't mean the most expensive, nor what is popular. Most of all it could never include the name shimano since they do not support their customers with long term parts availability. Baitcasting reel would be Abu Ambassadeur C models. Customizable almost to infinity and parts still available for decades old models. Spinning reel would be the before mentioned Daiwa SS or Penn Spinfisher as they also maintain parts for the customer for decades.

I'm a serious fisherman and many times I longed for a chair. Maybe not to sit in the entire time but at intervals. Come to find out I have ADS and standing is the most painful position I can be in. Blood doesnt flow back up my legs toward my heart. Anyway, theres nothing wrong, amateur, "bucket brigade", Aunt Jemima or anything else about using a chair. I use a 5 gal. bucket with a Plano bucket insert or 2 and a cushion lid. I'm not always sitting, not even 50% of the time but there are times I need to and I'm still a very serious fisherman. A lot of you guys need to develop a mentality that the bank beaters, minnow dunkers are no different than you. One day when PETA has taken your guns and made hunting illegal, fishing will be there next target and we will need all the allies we can get.

Some British saltwater tournaments on "the totally awesome fishing channel" on youtube. Also some very cool bank fishing for monster carp on the Nash Channel or search youtube for Urban Banx.

Penn Conflict Spinner $130, St. Croix Premier rod, $100

Cabela's has the Supreme on sale right now for $40 off

Sure that would fit. They dont fight fish they just drag them in on pool cue rods and ski them straight to the boat. What pro's do is as close to fishing as my going thru McDonald's drive thru is to me cooking.

Yeah I get needlefish in freshwater here too.

Super Spook Jr. in gold with black back with orange belly

I've caught snook so far up the Peace River its almost the center of the state. FWC biologists say waterbirds transfer snook eggs to freshwater on their feet. Hard for me to believe they would survive such a flight. I've caught baby snook under 6 inches in landlocked water that has not seen a flood for decades. Caught 20#'s in the same water, so I kinda think the academics got it wrong.

There's also the triploid version of the Amur carp(grass carp) which look just like a mullet until you pull them out of the water to see where the eyes are set on the face. Everything intermingles around here. I've caught Mayan Cichlids in the middle of Charlotte Harbor and seen tilapia in the mouth of the Myakka in full on saltwater.

Every single fresh water body of water around here has mullet in it. Tarpon, snook, reds often too. Even Jacks, sheephead and ladyfish if your close enough to the coast for saltwater intrusion. I'm a couple towns south of you. Often times over the last 50 years developers and county governments have rerouted drainage's. The mosquito control ditches of the '40's and '50's are often filled in from lack of maintenance or were filled in so developers could make $ off every inch of land. Very few times flood tides from storms like the 'NoName" storm in '93 caused plenty of immigrated fish. I know guys who purposely transfer big snook into ponds for their own private enjoyment. Just remember to keep some mullet colored lures on hand because the bass tarpon and snook will feed heavily on the baby mullet since the bream have been pushed out by the tilapia and are not populated enough to be a viable forage base.

Basically what inshore saltwater fishermen have been doing for half a century. DOA C.A.L.'s, Lunker City, Z-man, Strike King, some amazing laminated boot tails come out of the San Diego area that are aimed at kelp fishing and sea bass.

My kinda guy! I always have two pistol grip rods with custom built Ambassadeur 4500's rigged with 12# mono. One with a super spook jr. one with a Lil' Richard. Rarely do I ever bother with anything else.

Between big box retailers data being hacked and skimmers on gas station pumps, its estimated that over 65% of americans identity info is already in the hands of russian, chinese and indian organized crime. They in turn sell the data in mass to highest bidder's. This figure is from the D.O.J.'s FBI/Interpol task force and is probably low balled.

Berkeley Big Game

For me smoothness is first. A smoothness that stays in the long term and defines quality and durability. Weight comes second and drag the very last. Drag on all current spinners is adequate and I keep my drag light and use the long lost finger on the spool trick to gain drag when needed. I give no sponsored person, angler, blogger guide or 'pro' any weight as money has provided their loyalty. Your initial post stated you published this as an article. Are you also sponsored? Your initial post stated feel free to ask about a particular "pro's" choice? Did you interview anyone without a reel sponsor and who used a reel he selected himself?

Why strive for the reel that caused the fight between Larry Dahlberg and shimano? An expert in catching serious fish, he found it lacking in every detail. For $350 get a custom hand tuned Ambassadeur by one of any custom builder available. It'll have Abec 7 hybrids throughout, Smooth Drag carbontex and you could have custom touches like ZPI spools or UT handles. Why get a reel the maker will make obsolete in two years, making parts availability nil. Get a reel you will use for decades.

Ive often used 1000 and 2000 sized spinners in saltwater. Sugar Trout and when the spanish macks are running in the harbor. With braided lines these days nothing is really ultra light anymore anyways. Throwing unweighted mole crabs in the surf line for pomps and whiting is another excellent use for ultralights in salt. Surf on the Gulf of Mexico side is no more than the shoreline of a farm pond, no need for much bigger gear unless targeting spawning snook.

Do they not share the record in some sort of technical way? Too few ounces between them I believe. My original point being that I prefer the romantic skew of the original Perry record and ignore the freakish hand feed transplanted gene pool slugs coming from places out of their natural original range.

I hope it will never be broken but if it does I hope it doesnt come from Ca. or Japan. I'd prefer a more romantic story like a high mountain lake in Cuba or it falling for an old time hard lure on a forgotten river in Miss or Ala.