Tonight was show and tell night at Slabquest's house....Rods and reels....The new Lamiglas rods were great..the Dave Vedder..the 1314T Kenai Special and a couple of new Lamiglas 9' graphite rods ..forget the model #....$104 for a super graphite rod....despite general opinions these are to be dwonrigger rods...We will field test on Sunday....One conclusion was on the reel...

A Quantum Cabo.....You have to see it and feel it and check the features...killer reel..reminds me a little of the Shimano Bantam 50 but lighter and way smoother...it opens up with the press of a button to allow lubrication but comes out of the box with "hot sauce" lubricant. It will be spooled with 300yds of Tuffline 50# which has a diameter of 12# mono. The reel is designed for saltwater fishing and is smooth as silk...It is a levelwind with a really well designed double handle....retrieve ratio is much higher at nearly 5-1 than other similar reels....mounted on the 1314T it is a sweet set up...

My complaint with most of the recommendations is weight and bulk....no need for that. The lever drag is so easy to free spool by accident as mentioned in another post that I rule them out for trolling on the downrigger. I had two Shimano TLD5 reels that were great until someone took it out of the rod holder in a panic..then the lever was tripped almost every time free spooling the reel with a fish on....This weekend will see some on the water testing of many rods and reels ....report to follow/