Shakespeare line counter

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Hi-

Just wondering if anyone else has had this issue - I bought several Shakespeare add-on line counters last year. They attach to your rod, spinning or casting, and will count the number of feet you let out- good for trolling.

However, I seemed to be having trouble with line "slipping by" the counter, and even when I could tell that I had at least 30' of line out, the counter would only read "7" or "5" or whatever.

Pretty much it made me nuts, I returned one and got another and same deal. What seemed to be the issue was the braided line (20# Stren) since they seemed to work OK almost all the time with mono, but I troll mostly with braided for feel and break-off resistance when dragging bouncers for Walleye.

Sure I can count "line wraps" but I would prefer the counter.

Anyone else experience this or know how to make this work? Three counters, all the same issue...

Thanks- Mark

 

[dingbat]

Re: Shakespear line counter

Re: Shakespear line counter

They don't work worth a darn, especially with braided lines. Went back to counting ?bars?. One pass of the levelwind is X bars back.

Not the most accurate "length" method but surprisingly close enough. Its the repeatability that I'm after anyhow

 

[marquette]

Re: Shakespear line counter

Re: Shakespear line counter

last year i bought a conversion kit for my garcia 5000 reel to make it a line counter reel and i bought a cabela's line counter reel. both are electronic line counters. both are marginal in my opinion. one of my fishing partners bought a mechanical cabela's line counter reel and it works pretty well. i don't know how accurate any of the reels are but the mechanical reel seems to be the most consistant. i don't know if you are trolling a lure that says at 75yds 1.2mph it will run 28ft that it will be exactly 75 yds. but each time you put it out it will be the same distance so it is a learning curve. i don't feel the electronic line counter reels always go out the same distance. i know that mechanical line counter reels still aren't cheap but they have come down a long ways in price so maybe you could try one of those for not too much money.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Shakespear line counter

Re: Shakespear line counter

They don't work worth a darn, especially with braided lines.

So I noticed. My fishing buddy has a Rapala line counter, seems to work better but he doesn't use braided- ever. So I don't know for sure it's the line or not, or just the shakespeare. But I will take your word for it since that is what I suspected.

Went back to counting ?bars?. One pass of the levelwind is X bars back. Not the most accurate "length" method but surprisingly close enough. Its the repeatability that I'm after anyhow

Me, too, but I sometimes use multiple approaches depending on how many others are on my boat- downrigger at 18', how many feet on the dipsey do I need to run the same depth? That is easier when you know the length of line you have let out. It's easier on my leadcore- 120' of line out- I hit bottom at a little over 20': 30' leadcore = about 5' depth. Speed effects all this, too.

The repeatability thing- I will have to get more line-counter trolling reels. I just prefer the medium spinning tackle most of the time, and have used the "number of passes" routine before but forget the number too easily

Thanks for the comments.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Shakespear line counter

Re: Shakespear line counter

.......i know that mechanical line counter reels still aren't cheap but they have come down a long ways in price so maybe you could try one of those for not too much money.

The Cabella's mech line counter combos are not all that expensive, but are about the same as my Okuma leadcore outfit- heavy. And they have them in LH crank for the same price as RH! I am a righty but I can't crank a reel with my right hand nearly as deftly as with my left hand. Always been that way though...

I just got an old (1996, but brand-new in the box) Browning ST200L casting reel which I like. I put it on a 6'6" medium-heavy quantum rod. I will have to look around to see if I can't find some small casting reels like that that are LH crank with mech line counter. Never seen one.....would probably be OK on a medium Quantum Torsion IM6 rod, a fairly inexpensive rod that feels ok. Just what I need- more rods

I went into Classic Outfitters in Burlington VT the other day, looking for a casting rod for that Browning. Didn't look at tags, just evaluated the rods. Fenwick had a nice one, and there was one that impressed me from moment I picked it up- a St. Croix. $95 on the Fenwick, $180 on the St. Croix. Never mind- way out of the budget! The Quantum didn't feel quite the same but it felt A LOT better than some $40-$50 stuff at Walmart and way better than $60- $80 stuff at Classic Outfitters.

 

[marquette]

Re: Shakespear line counter

Re: Shakespear line counter

the rule of thumb for the correct number of rods to own is " 1 for every year you are old" so a 5 yr old needs 5, a 30 yr old needs 30, and so on. and if you are over the age of 50 you probably can't remember your age or how many rods you own so just buy one to be sure you have enough so the rod police don't come after you.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Shakespear line counter

Re: Shakespear line counter

the... correct number of rods to own is "1 for every year you are old"......

My daughters tell me I act like a kid, so owning only 14 rods explains that then
LOL I don't know where I'd put another 29 rods!

 

[marquette]

Re: Shakespeare line counter

it's obvious you need more boats to put the rods in.