Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3807 Mar 15-29 2019 | Page 33
March 15 - 29, 2019
VOL.38 • ISS. 6
31
Crazy About Clickers
Part 3
A
consequence of getting older is
the almost inevitability of having
bum knees. Years and years of living
the outdoor life, riding boats in bumpy
water, climbing up and down hills, biking
thousands of miles, and chasing after kids
has led to a situation
where my knees are
now bone-on-bone
and I have to take it a
little more easy than I
am used to having it.
Nevertheless, I still
manage to put in as
much fishing time
as I can, but most of
it now is confined
to shore fishing,
and bait fishing in
particular. I still take
on the challenge of
lure tossing now and
then, especially for
freshwater bass and
trout, but a good day of bait fishing is hard
to beat.
As mentioned in previous articles, I am
a sucker for the electrifying sound of a
clicker going off when something picks up
my bait. No matter how quiet and serene
the location may be, once that clicker goes
off and the hook goes in, there’s going to
be some whooping and hollering!
That love for the sound of the clicker
kept me a fan of bait casting reels for
decades, and I wasn’t going to be swayed
away from it. Spinning reels were able to
get a clicking sound once you backed the
drag down to the point
where fish can take line
out when they took the
bait, but you had to grab
the spool before setting
the hook, then had
to somehow figure
out how tightly to
adjust the drag while
the hooked fish was
thrashing around and
acting all kinds of
silly. That is not a
recipe for success.
A few years back,
Shimano, that fishing
tackle giant, came out
with a reel that caught
my attention. Dubbed the “Baitrunner,”
it was a spinning reel that had
an innovative switch that
disengaged the shaft from
the drive gears in such a manner
that line could be
paid out while the bail
was closed, without
interference from the
spool’s drag. Not
only could it
do that, but it
had a secondary
drag adjustment that
regulated how much effort
it took to pay out line!
To get back to the main drag, there is a
choice of either flipping the switch back
to its original position or turning the crank
handle.
FISH SNIFFER
COUNTRY
by Steve
“Hippo”Lau
Whichever method you chose, you
were now able to fight a fish with
your preset drag. The feature was so
innovative and useful that just about
every spinning reel maker now has a
similar model reel in their arsenal.
So after decades of fiddling
with and fine tuning clickers
on my bait casting reels, here
is now a style of reel that
comes from the factory
fully set up with an
infinitely
adjustable
clicker. Whether
for bait fishing or
light trolling duties, if you are a fan of
clickers, these spinning reels are worth
looking into.
Shimano Baitrunner D
Spinning Reel
Gear ratio: 4,8:1, weight: 21.70
ounce, Ballbearings: 3 S ARB
and 1 rollerbearing
Mono line capacity (lbs/yds):
14/295,17/250,20/195
PowerPro line capacity (lbs/
yds): 40/295,50/290,65/180
Line retrieve: 36 inch, max
dragforce: 20 lbs
Retrieve: reversible
VERSITILE, RELIABLE,
DESIGNED to PERFORM
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the stability and comfort today’s offshore enthusiasts have demanded.
Decades of engineering, field testing and customer feedback has produced the industry leading Coastal Series, designed for the
roughest water conditions. The progressive dead rise of the boats bottom, in combination with our signature full width outboard
bracket and high sides for safety, has turned the Coastal into the Elite Sportsman’s choice of the Pacific Northwest.
Available Lengths 20-26’
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(541) 944-2155
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“All Rogue Jet boats are backed by our
100% Lifetime Hull Guarantee”
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Founder
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March 14-17, 2019
at the Convention
Center