OK, so this is not that odd and it wasn’t outdoors.
Recently, I went fishing in Louisiana on Lake Calcasieu (pronounced Cal Ca Shoe). I was invited by a friend, James Webb. He has a personnel staffing business, Clearpoint Technology and he invited me to be his guest on a Monday to fish Lake Calcasieu. He chartered 6/7 boats through Hackberry Rod & Gun Club. HRGC is great place to charter your fishing or bird hunting exposition through. A first class operation. I should blog about that, maybe later.
While fishing my 6 or 7 year old spin cast Shimano reel seized up. Maintenance is a key element for fishing reels. I just have ignored it over the years and that probably contributed to the demise of this reel. I finished the day with the guide’s spin cast reel that he pulled out of the storage box on his boat. He didn’t want me to touch his bait cast reels. I guess since I brought on board a spin cast reel he wasn’t trusting me with his equipment. I felt like I was given the Zebco 202 “Snoopy” rod & reel combo. Anyway, I decided it was time to put away the spin cast reels and step up to a bait cast
I did a little research and decided that the new Abu Garcia Revo Inshore model was the right one to buy. I fish 4 or 5 time a year and I wanted a new reel that would last longer than 6 or 7 years. My birthday was May 19th so, the extra cost was overlooked. I was steered towards other options by friends and associates but I was sold when I talked to a pro fisherman. Kelly Jones told me he has sold all his Shimano Curados and is now fishing Revo Inshores exclusively. Kelly makes baits. Give him a look at Kicker Fish Bait.
I starting to source my reel. I’m from Houston so, naturally the first stop of choice is Academy Sports and Outdoors. My local Academy was out of them. I visited the store and the counter help didn’t even know they existed. I called Gander Mountain and again, no luck. I called another Gander Mountain, Academy, Academy Academy, Academy, and still no one had one and/or heard of them. Finally, I called Cut Rate Tackle over on the Katy Freeway. “Cut Rate” sells them for suggested retail. Go figure.
So, I decided to shop online. I shop online for just about everything anyway so, this makes perfect sense. The problem I was up against is that I want the reel to fish with this weekend, Memorial Day 2008. Since that is just a couple of days away, if I purchased online I’d have to pay for overnight shipping.
Could I find the reel online? Yes, no problems there. Most of the retailers I found that carried it were selling it for full MSRP – $229. So, MSRP + Shipping versus MSRP + Local Sales Tax? I decided to dig further. I found a online retailer, Bait & Hook, that is selling it for $179! A full $50 off MSRP! I proceeded to add the reel to my cart and then check out. Unfortunately, there was no overnight option. Only USPS and UPS Ground.
Here’s were there “pleasant” part comes in. I called and talked to the proprietor. We talked reels and fishing. very polite. I asked if he had the reel in stock and if his site was up to date with that information. He assured me it was in stock and that the web site accurately reflected that information. I placed the order verbally and request overnight shipping. I paid extra for the overnight shipping but the price + shipping was still much cheaper than local MSRP + Tax or other online options.
I just ordered it yesterday so I haven’t received it, yet. If all goes well, and I fish with it this weekend, I’ll give you an update on Tuesday.
UPDATE 5/27/08
The reel showed up on my doorstep on Friday afternoon in plenty of time to be packed for my weekend adventure to Galveston, Texas. It was a family get-away weekend but I managed to get some fishing in.
Well, the reel has met my expectations. It was a delight to cast and return. The braking mechanism real works. The only time I experienced any problems was when I was casting out popping cork rig with big chunk of cut-croaker for bait. I would experience a small backlash if I didn’t keep and thumb on the reel and pay particular attention to the cast. I attribute this to my lack of experience more than anything else. I understand that a heavy load in to the wind is always a challenge.
I fished in Christmas Bay to the west of San Luis pass. I went Saturday morning with a friend of my and his son. We waded in from the boat launch and made it about 100 yards away before we started to feel the attach of the jelly fish. We saw one up near the shore. I just dismissed it as a random sighting. Once we got settled into our spot I started to see the little devils float by in a steady stream. At one point I counted five jellies withing arms reach. To say the least the stinging started and continued unabated. I could only take about 45 minutes of it. And, seeing that no one had a bite much less caught a fish I decided fishing from the dock was a better idea. I saw one that was the size of a dinner plate!