Thursday, April 9, 2015

Breaking Out the Heavy Artillery

I used my "heavy" gear today to land four commons that all
weighed in the teens.
For the first time this year, I used my "heavy" outfits.  Until now, I had been using my lighter outfits.  My light outfit consists of a pair of Chub Stalker rods (9 ft.), Okuma Avenger ABF 50 baitrunner reels and 15 lb. test Berkeley Big Game line. This is a good outfit to use for carp under 20 lbs., the size fish I had been targeting up until now.  However, when targeting hogs over 20 lbs., which I am now doing, the heavier outfits are far more efficient weapons.
My heavy outfits include a pair of Fox Warrior rods (12 ft., 3.0 test curve), larger Shimano baitrunner reels and 20 lb. test Berkeley Big Game Line. I love the feel of this outfit.  The rods are 12 feet long, yet have an even bend throughout.  The rod fights a large fish as it should.  In addition, these outfits have the beef to cast sinkers up to three and four ounces that are packed with method mix.  And, the rods give me some control over a large fish that is impossible to achieve with lighter outfits. On the negative side, these 12 foot rods are cumbersome to carry around and you need a lot of room to cast them.
Finally, consider this fact.  In the last six years I have landed 13 carp over 30 lbs. and two carp over 40 lbs.  All those fish were landed with my "heavy" outfits. These outfits are almost a must when going after real large fish this size.

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