Blog on Shimano Gear

Gear is always a personal choice. Sometimes your friends have something you like, so you go with it. Other times you know a friend who reps the product. Whatever your reason, its your choice. We choose to go with Shimano gear because of the reputation they have for handling big fish over time. We are not sponsored or on a guide program with this company. This is purely by choice.

With that said there are plenty of other good companies out there that sell top end gear. If Shimano is a little out of your price range for the top end stuff I would recommend looking at Penn. They have a great line of products and their top end reels are less expensive and get the job done. 

Braided line is a standard for fighting Sturgeon, but please make sure you are not using braided for your leader line. This can cause harm to the fish by cutting them. 

I have mentioned before in similar articles about gear, that I would recommend different guides for the Shimano Rods. We have never crack or broke one...but....on the big fish and the 2 plus hours of battleing we have noticed some wearing on the eyelets. This will be noticable, when you start seeing black on your hands. The friction that is happening, slowly wears down the guides thus creating small grooves. These grooves can and will put small cuts into your line. Leaving you will no fish and sore arms. 

Another recommendation on the Shimano Rods would be reinforced reel seats. We have had one break on us after an hour of fighting the fish. We managed with some electrical tape and another set of hands.....but was not fun. The seats that come with the rods are plastic. Worth checking into, just in case.

Always check you eyelets and make sure your gear is working 100 percent. We not only recommend Shimano but Penn as well for big game fish.

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