Fred Hall Del Mar - my experience

[Regor]

My last time to Fred Hall was back in the late 80's when I built Stringari Skiffs, and we would go to the show to show/sell our boats.

This year I went for two days to get caught up on all the gear, see and chat with folks, and attend seminars. In total I went to 11 seminars. Some Kayak related, some not, some fish related, some lobster.

Deals? I'm sure they were out there, I caught a few (new Shimano rod for my Curado 300EJ, some MC Slugs, gonna try out a waxwing, some nice carabiner type clips for hoopin, a Chinook pfd, and of course a few caps "LET US FISH").

But there were some items missing from the show: No Electronics. Was hoping to catch a deal on a VHF, but not a single one in sight, no West Marine, nada. Braid - No real bargains that I could find.

Interestingly - of all the seminars I went to, and were talking a wide variety of anglers of all sorts, almost 100% have switched to braid for 100% of their fishing, and let the rod take care of the give/take of the fish since the braid has none. And were not talking a partial load of braid with a long top shot. We're talking 100% braid with perhaps a short flouro leader. Even some are going straight to the jig/hook with braid.

I'm sure that might stir up a hornets nest of debate, but I'm only repeating what I heard and saw from some folks who make a living with their gear

Greg

[mtnbykr2]

I can feel it coming...minimum of two pages...yhat's my prediction...
wow, two days and all those seminars, I am followin you
I thought I was bad at six and a half hours..

[dorado50]

Two items that have been around and proven for some time are spectra and florocarbon line. How one uses it is a personal choice, no right or wrong way application. Let the dissertations begin...

[Rusty]

7 or 8 years ago I started out fishing using spectra on the sporties and the captains told me to get rid of it. They called me spiderman. It created nightmare tangles from hell. After putting in 3-4 years of fishing sporties 2-5 times a week with mono (awesome job I had), I learned to catch fish with mono and a flouro leader consistently. It took a lot of painstaking work. Transferring to the kayak, I just used what I new... Mono / Flouro.

From what I understand, the biggest advantage of using spectra straight to flouro is that your bait is able to swim a lot more naturally, thus you should get bit more often. On a kayak or PB, this is great. You can chop through kelp when needed as well. The downside is you have no stretch (forgiveness) in these two items, like mono does, so if you have spaghetti arms like me, you might be taking a beating.... Which is why I have yet to switch over.

Personally, I think Josh's idea from a while ago (which has taken me a lot of time and thought to comprehend) of wrapping mono first, then adding spectra on top followed by 6-8' of flouro... is genius. - correct me if I'm wrong on the setup please. You have all the elements of getting bit (specra / flouro = free swimmer), and once something starts pulling enough drag you get down to the mono it gives you a little forgiveness. The only possible drawback is that I would think the spectra would slide into and lock up in the small spaces between the spooled mono. Does that happen Josh?

Anyone fish solely spectra to flouro on normal rods / guides (say seeker black steele or regular calstars? Is it hard on the guides / rod? I'm giving serious thought to switching over now that my skillz have improved and I rarely fish sporties... but I'm gonna have to start doing more push-ups.

[Lets_Fish]

Regor,

I have to agree with you on the "difference" of the shows today compared to say back in the 1970's & 1980's. I use to frequent the Long Beach show back then and was always amazed at what I saw. Lots of vendors from the manufacture to the little guys and all giving out deals (or thats how I remember).

Last year was the first time I attended the Del Mar show since I was out of town during the Long Beach show, (mind you I had not been to a FHS in like 15 years) and came away with a very different feeling (not liking it as much as it was smaller to what I had seen before at the Long Beach shows of the past). This year I planned and attended the Long Beach show with my brother and came away pleased but still feeling somewhat cheated out (no discount tickets as years before, less deals and fewer vendors). I'm sure that most of this was due to the current state of the economy here and else where.

I once again hit up the Del Mar show just yesterday and sat for a few seminars at the Fin-nor theater and the Triton Boats salt water tank. Watching those bass in the tank was something. I was able to met the infamous Josh and plan on setting up a day on the water with his services also. Thanks for spending some time to talk with me Josh.

I did see at the Long Beach show that they had electronics there, but as you mentioned the Del mar show did not have them. At the Long Beach show I did not notice many "great" deals on them either, but there were a few.

I did overhear that one of the Baja vacation spots had an increase of 300% on their booking for this time of the year, but I did not catch the name of the resort. Let's hope that this year is a better year for all.

[deepdvr]

Originally Posted by dorado50

Two items that have been around and proven for some time are spectra and florocarbon line. How one uses it is a personal choice, no right or wrong way application. Let the dissertations begin...

Spectra.......floro leaders.........ringed hooks??? Do those silly gimmicks actually help you catch fish?

[tunaseeker]

Greg,

Nice to meet you at the WSB seminar that never really happened. Sounds like you had a full Saturday. See you OTW.
Todd

[T Bone]

I fish 100% braid for seabass.After losing three in a row last year to the kelp and went straight spectra and landed them in some incredible kelp tangles.For open water I would still prefer to have a leader.