I Got a New Fishin' Pole

[Dan Gwaltney]

I was in a sporting goods store in Bainbridge Ga. the other day, freshening up my Non-resident Georgia fishing license. That's sort of a necessity when you live right on the State line. Anyway, while I waited for the license printing guy to get freed up, I went plundering on the fishing tackle aisle and found the sweetest looking Bluegill rod I ever saw! I almost got turned off by the Zebco name on it, but I was intrigued enough to take it down and give it a shake. It's a good thing they have a high ceiling, because this thing is a full 12' long when you stick the 2 peices together! It is definitely in the ultra-light category though, and is much like a fly rod in weight. It came equipped with one of those underslung closed face spinning reels with a little trigger you pull with your nose pickin' finger. I've always thought those little reels looked kinda silly, but it came with the rod, so now I have one. I haven't looked inside it yet, but it actually looks like it's pretty well built, with a nice little brass wheel for adjusting the drag, which seems to work smoothly enough. I can always replace it with a nice ultra-light reel if it doesn't work out. The rod itself looks like just too much fun, though. It appears to be an even taper from the pencil sized butt the whole 12 feet to the skinny little tip. I can hardly wait to feel a big Coppernose givin' it the business!

By the way, Zebco calls this thing "The Slab Seeker." They even put a picture of a big Bluegill on the cardboard sleeve it came in. 'Gill fishing might be beginning to see a little respect for a change, if this is any indicator. ;-) I couldn't resist bringing it home, since the price was only $35.

[Bruce Condello]

Is this the unit? It looks like a really fun setup. I can't wait to hear how it performs.

[Josh Milczski (Omaha)]

That does sound like fun Dan. Love those longer UL rods. Bought my kid a 6'6" UL and got jealous and had to go out and get myself a couple. :D

[Alex]

where did you find a 6' 6" UL? and how much?

I can't seem to find any longer ultra light rods but would love one that was 6ft or longer.

Thanks!

[Josh Milczski (Omaha)]

Oops, sorry I didn't see this earlier Alex. You must be LL right? I replied to your PM, but I'll answer it here as well for anyone else who might be curious. I bought the poles at BassPro. I got them on sale for $20 each. They're yellow and I think they're called MicroLite Glass. Different lengths, but all ULs.

[Dan Gwaltney]

That looks like a version of it, Bruce, but that looks like a shorter 3 piece model. What I like about this is the length, more than anything. I enjoy fishing with a bobber, and sometimes it is hard to get deep enough with a normal rod, or reach out far enough with a cane pole. With this, I can fish 12 or more feet deep and still cast it out away from the boat. Some of my "honey holes" are pretty remote and the fish are boat-shy, so you have to cast to them. Tight lining isn't really an option because of so much underwater structure.

Yeppers, this is gonna be fun! ;-)

[Jeremy R. Mayo]

Mr. Dan I have a few of these poles in the 13ft class. No expensive reel is needed mainly because your gonna use it like a bream buster anyway. We mainly crappie fish with ours. There awsume poles and you will soon find out that there extremely tuff. Mine are all BnM. Ive put them through the riggers of weather, tension, and even used em as a anchor sometimes. If im in a tree top....... Ive been known to grab a limb and pull the boat in a few times and hold us there by the eyes on that joker. HAHA ! The coolest part about these poles are when you get hung up. We target fish in that 8 to 14ft range. If your fishing with a bream buster and you get hung up you have to pull and yank on your line till it does one or the other..... comes loose or breaks. Your pullin all that structure around your fishing spot and spookin off the fish. This is a NO-NO! Now you have 12ft of length and can like a bass fisherman goin after his lure on a hang close to the bank gently ease it in while pulling back the line and simply push the hook off of the hang with the tip eye of the pole. Except now you can do it in twice the depth of water. Now you will hardly ever spook the fish and you will remain supper stealthy. Your gonna see an improvement in numbers and quality by at least 10 to 15% since your not running them off any more. I also advise rigging these with slip corks so that you can fish STRAIT UP AND DOWN! No more swinging with these poles. You want get hung up near as much and you can get into much heavier cover with more extension now. They do take a lil while to get used to but once you get a few trips under your belt with them..... YOUR GONNA LOVE EM.

Take a kid fishing
MAYO

[Tommy Winton]

There's nothing like getting a new setup. Go get em' Dan.

[Jim Gronaw]

Hey Dan...I had one of those Zebco Under-Spin reels many years ago...they're great as long as you don't hook a real big fish on them...I caught a couple of 5 pound class bass on them and the gears were damaged after that. But for gills, it might be the thing.

I too love those long, Euro-style rods and I have several that I can cast real far and they have the most sensitive tip, which is great for tight-lining jigs on the fall for suspended crappies.

Go get 'em!

[Wylee e]

i've got 2 of those slabseeker rods, Dan. mine are the 8'4" ones with the little zebco 11 gold reels. after my accident a couple of years ago which left me with a severely dinged spinal cord i couldn't throw an open faced reel anymore without takin' someone's ear off or endin up in a tree but with this setup i can still hobble down to the pond and put a line pretty much where i want it. and those rods are super sensitive...you'll feel every little tap. the gills damn neart hook themselves...lol

[Billy Fason]

I picked up one of those and you are right, they are great for gills. However, I did catch a 7 lb 2 oz channel cat on it, in my pond. Took a long time to get it in, but finally netted it from the pier. It will cast almost forever with very light bait on it too. But the fun starts with a big gill and the limber rod...........

[Dan Gwaltney]

Thanx for the confirmation Billy. That channel cat must have been a tussle!

I don't know when I'll be able to try my new toy, as fishing is in the dumper around here right now. The December rains still have the rivers and streams high and swift, and the lakes muddy. Besides that, it's just too darn cold to do any more than think about fishing.

[jdphish]

DanG nice brim outfit you got yerself. I had one of those trigger zebco's, worked well.
James