Reels

  While organizing my storage shed, I worked my back to my collection of rods & reels.  Some I knew about, like my 2 froggin rods, and others I forgot about like my
Penn 9 level wind that is loaded with leadline for trolling trout. 
   



Then there are the old reels I haven't used yet,  like a Ryobi (Pictured below)




This is my "Froggin reel"  Its an Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 6600AB Has some flip up braking system thats supposed to help prevent bird nests.



  Last time I used the AB feature, it didn't work too well.  My lure weight might not have been heavy enough then.  I use the reel with out feeding the line through the AB brake now.
Thats 30lb spider wire braid loaded on it. 
  The AB thing on this reel is that thing in the 1st shot that has an "On Off" that whole assembly flips up, helps slow the line when the lure stops (Either hitting the water or bushes)  of course the line needs to be threaded through it to work.

  Don't know much about the Ryobi reel, it looked nice when I bought from a coworker mid 90's.  Was part of his dads gear, he was selling (He passed) Works great still.

nice pics.

an amassadeur with 30lb braid can be used for a lot of things. it makes a great rockfish reel (less than 200 feet). in fact there is almost no fish it doesn't work pretty well for around here as long as you use the appropriate leader and rig.

from the looks of your reel collection you did not really need that jigmaster, any of those reels would pull up fish from the ocean.

the anti backlash thing is pretty funky. more on it here:

http://www.sportfishingbc.com/articles/tackle_reviews/abu_garcia.htm

definitely sounds a little iffy.

  I wasn't thinking about using my Abu Garcia int eh salt when I saw the jigmaster.  My Abu was $160 (With SS mug) easily the most expensive reel I've bought to date.  That jigmaster was $15. 
  Got a few more things to gather before I hit some of you guys up to take a salt noob out, maybe my abu can be a my second rod? 

put some 30lb braid on the ryobi. make it your first reel. use it with the frogging rod. 

saltwater kayak fishing around here is mainly glorified bass fishing. you mainly catch fish 2-7lbs. that's pretty much a bass.

and those bass rigs will land a halibut to 25lbs, I know cause I did it.

use the jigmaster for backup.  that thing is a tank.  you might have paid $15 for it, but it's worth about $40 now it's fixed up.

remember, things are not worth what you paid for them, they are worth what somebody else would pay for them...

I would not use the 30lb mono on the jigmaster. you get snagged, it's a bear to break off cause it stretches like a rubber band. the braid doesn't stretch so you can slowly tighten up on it if you get snagged and break it off carefully. I point the rod at the lure, put my thumbs on the spool to hold it steady and pull. more than half the time the lure pulls free.

the braid is more sensitive, the narrow diameter lets you fish lighter weight deeper, it's strong but you can break it off. better all around. tie it to a snap swivel and then hang a 4' 30lb mono leader (stolen from your jigmaster) off your snap swivel.

take the jigmaster on a party boat or something. it's for salmon or sturgeon or stripers or batrays or something. it's not for fishing off a kayak in santa cruz. maybe for halibut.

that abu might have cost 160, but it is worth about 80 max. it's just a bass reel.
maybe that includes the line? anyways you can save it if it makes you feel better.
I buy em used on ebay for about 37.50 on average. but without the useless AB feature, 

the ryobi is probably worth $30. I'd use that one first. it's a bass reel. steal some of the braid off the abu if you want.

your reels will last longer if you grease all places where metal contacts metal like screw holes before your first trip out.
do you have any grease? unscrew screws one at a time, put some grease on the screw, put it back in the reel. that will allow alan tani to take it apart and fix it after you dunk it in the saltwater by mistake. stops them from rusting into one hunk of metal.

the ryobi looks like it has thumbscrews so you can easily eparate it into right side plate assembly, spool and frame to dry out after you spray it with fresh water after a go out.

you should just go out and catch some baitfish the first time, like anchovies, smelt, sardines or mackerel. pretty rewarding. get a 2oz torpedo and a few of the lightest sabiki bait fish catching rigs that you can find and go catch some bait. troll, drift, jig till you find 'em.

If you end up with some bait, you can just fish it live or dead and it'll probably catch something. otherwise you can eat the bait!

that would be a good start to doing a little santa cruz salt water fishing.

stop your lollygagging and get out there, you'll be an old man if you don't get it done soon. 

  I haven't tried their services, but Reelmeister offers a conversion of those AB Ambassadeurs into usable C3's: http://www.reelmeister.com/page5.html