While we are on subject of revisiting stuff from the past, now that some time has passed while using some gear, here are few thoughts.
Two piece rod…
What a crock of shit you are being sold by those who tell you that you absolutely must use one piece rods…I should know, I was one of those people…lol
My St Croix Legends, Mojo’s and CTS Vapor Trail..I was told they will twist, I was told they will separate on the cast, I was told that the “feel” is not the same. I can only give you my opinion but I never had more fun fishing any rods till I had these. Not only did they not separate, not only do they not twist, but they handle everything just beautifully as long as you stay within range. Which is true for most rods
Speaking of which, if you were only to get one rod that does it all, a rod you can throw bucktails, pencil poppers, eels and even chunks, do yourself a favor and have Lou Caruso our rod guru make you a Lamiglas GSB custom rod. There is a place for “do-it-all” rods, and there is place for performance rods too. Nuff said
ZeeBaaS reel…why it took me so long to fall in love? You want the truth? Because previous owner sold me a reel that seized after few trips many years ago. Stupid design with holes on the drag knob. But now, now this is a beautiful machine that does all you ask for and then some. And Ron and crew do a great job servicing and maintaining reels. I am not the only one who thinks this. Many of my friends have bought one in last year and are loving it.
Korkers Chrome boots
I have nothing nice to say about Korkers. Every time I open my mouth and say something good I live to regret it. The people that design Korkers should be tied up under the Lighthouse, on the rocks, and left there for a week to get beat up by waves. Maybe then they would realize what you guys do and what they sell you for what you need. Seriously, what, they redesign the soles on their boots every year? Are you kidding me? I been using the new Chrome boots for a year now, and as much as I hate to admit it, they are fine. This latest revision to their inserts is better than anything they made before. No more stupid tools to put your insert back in a boot. Could you imagine doing this in a rock, at night? I could tell you the story when I was sent proto soles to test…I am on the rock in Montauk in the middle of the night and every single stud fell out. EVERY ONE! You want to talk about taking life in your hands by trying to walk back to shore on rubber soles while the waves are hitting you in the back? I drank more seawater that night that all others nights in season combined. So my opinion on Chrome? Nice…would I tell you to buy it. Hell no
Olympus camera
I think you guys misunderstood me regarding focusing in Olympus cameras. I was not referring to pictures but video instead. Yes, you will get a stunning 1080 video but you also will get a fuzzy unfocused mess. If you want 1080 video get a Go Pro. At least stuff is in focus. Period. As far as their toggle switch for menu, for us surfcasters, that is a joke.
Hansom pliers, like I said in the video, very impressive what you get for under $50. Period.
Commando Bags…damn, that man might make you a bag that will last you a lifetime. Judging by one year of use and no sign of wear, you just might get to pass it on to your kid…in mint condition
Super Strike Heavy needles..do you really need to ask if they work? Has something ever came out of Don and Steve Musso shop that did not work? Time and place, time and place, but a great addition to their lineup and my bag.
Guides Choice Mucho Minnow and Skinny Minnie..new lures in their lineup. Smallest of bunch and very productive for me in the spring.
Would you be surprised if I told you that I fished with a zippered Columbia Jacket all spring and stayed dry? Yup, that would be me, the king of all googans. Two piece rod, zippered jacket and last year leader and…wait for it…..ZIPPERED WADERS.
Lmao
Yup, all spring I wore Redignton zippered stocking foot waders and no, the water never got it. And yes, it saved my few times from doing number one on my hands and number two in my pants.
That’s all folks
[issuu width=550 height=213 shareMenuEnabled=false showHtmlLink=false printButtonEnabled=false shareButtonEnabled=false searchButtonEnabled=false backgroundColor=%23222222 documentId=120506203543-c51ab24feba744638c866c3e3d74b3c4 name=issue13 username=surfcasters_journal tag=fishing unit=px v=2]
Great review Z! I love the honest reviews of SJ. Thanks guys for testing the stuff and give us your opinions. As far as korkers go I have seen another anglers boots separate from the sole.. Very bad stitch job.. He stated that he was having trouble getting a response from korkers! Thanks again guys!
↓Great reviews I am going out to get those pliers and the super strike needles thanks again guys
↓Hi Z
I fished the Mojo’s own two 3/4-4 and the 2-6 and love them both . Then I won the $250.00 from you and Edge so I send them $180.00 and order the Legend 3/4-4 and love that rod . The only lami I own at this time is my Gsb 11 1/2 ‘and still love that rod . I got the commando 4tube bag early this year grat bag and their belts are good too . What I trying to say you never stear anybody wrong and fo that I thank you
↓What about the Penn Torque? I know you broke it, but enquiring minds want to know.
↓Z, on the waders: CPX zip front or Sonic Pro???
Thanks. On the rest I agree w/ya.
↓Zippered waders? And they work,that sounds great. Thanks Z.
↓Spot on with the two piece rods….
↓Messages like this need to be read by those at Korkers!!! If hundreds of customers email them, they might start to listen to input for future products… email sam hauser at korkers!
↓Hansom pliers ar GREAT! Bought them right after your first review. will need to check out those waders
↓So what is a good camera to buy?
↓who would have thought that the hardest thing for a fisherman to get dialed in in footwear….?! I have the Chromes, keeping my fingers crossed, so far so good, but the first two generations of the interchangeable sole boots sucked. Was doing the long walk at Cutty 2 years ago and my buddy’s soles kept coming off. My Chota STL plus boots were great, but you have to walk in studs everywhere….
Z you are right on with the Commando stuff. Amazing quality, great customer service, great guy (Tom White). Hope to get to block and take a cast or two with him sometime soon.
Steve
↓I want to chime in quickly about Korkers since other then homemade contraptions…there aren’t any real options.
I really like their strap on outer soles very much. yes i still used Gorilla tape as a semi-permanent addition as well as the existing straps but they perform very well in the snottiest of conditions.
My thoughts on their boots, specifically the Streamborns is a 50/50 mix.
I am not sure about the V3 style but my V2’s didn’t last very long. After a year of hard use I had to replace half of my eyelets, countless shoelaces, restitched heel with tarp needle type material, Gorilla Glued various spots, yadadada. I bought a pair from Dicks Sporting Goods and hated them even more. The retired beat to snot Korkers were reilisted back into service and i haven’t looked back. Glue/tape/string and all they just fit great despite several shortcomings along the way. They look like shit but they are still kicking.
It did piss me off to have 3 versions in like 3 or 4 years though. Especially when version 3 didn’t need a golf divot type tool to get the sole inserted. Reminds me of when the 2004 GTo came out from Pontiac with 350 HP and the next year they significantly upgraded the motor to 400 horse and added nicer body panels. That got me mad!
The fact of the matter is there really isn’t a product at the moment quite like Korkers unless you like randomly drilling into footwear and hoping for the best. They have good products but they really need to step up the quality for hardcore surfcasters and stop reinventing the wheel every time I make a cast. This current product seems great and i hope the sticthing/sole issues have been sorted out. It is such a specialized niche type product for surfcasters…we need something more bulletproof.
↓Z,
I too am a fan of zippered waders. I looked at the Redingtons but settled on the Simms Freestones, with 2 pairs of their boots. They discontinued this line so I bought them on the cheap. One pair is studded with Wearbars snowmobile studs and they work great. The Simms warranty is pretty good.
As for korkers, I even wrote to them suggesting that they make their sandls with simple 2 strap system and heel cup similar to snowboard bindings. Obviously the ratchet system will have to be modified due to sand instrusion, but it would be easy on/off and adjustable for comfort and conditions. No response from them.
I battled 4 big blues off one of the local jetties you fish last weekend with my 11′ Mojo and 6500 Saltist combo. It was a pleasure to fish with and I controlled these 12 lbers with ease.
Z, please test & review the Sargent pliers. I have 2 pairs and I love them but I don’t fish enough to give them a full workout! Thanks for a great eZine!
↓