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[IronNoggin]

My budget is quite variable. The main limit is what I think is reasonable or not...

aYup! Reasonable to one man is quite different than reasonable to another  

In my mind's eye, it all depends on how much you're going to use it! A couple of days a year doesn't warrent a signifigant expense IMHO. Hundreds of days, and you'll be pleased you aquired a more expensive (better balanced, better performance, etc) set-up FOR SURE!

In my case, I spend nearly all my time on the water. I intentionally take 3 months off each and every winter, for the sole purpose of pursuing steelhead. So, it wasn't all that much of a leap for me to get ahold of the best I could possibly wrangle out of the budget, even when that meant a few sacrifices to do so.

My current set-up is an Islander (nope, not a bling-bling as someone suggested in an earlier post   but rather an efficient TOOL for the job at hand. This I coupled with a high end custom built 12 foot Rogue (Gary Loomis' nephew has completely revamped their line, and it rates as least as good as Loomis and comparable blanks today). Total cost was well over $1K, but to say I am happy with this rig would be a complete understatement. As with anything else in life, you often get what you pay for! Did I do this to impress anyone? Hardly, for I greatly prefer solitude when pursuing steel, and am known to quietly dissapear into the bush whenever others approach. I did it simply because I am overly passionate about steelheading, and wanted the VERY best I could possibly get my hands on in the way of gear! Reasonable? Perhaps not to the weekend warrior, but to the extremists in our ranks, just about right  
As always, your mileage may vary...  

Here's a pix of that set-up, with her first winter steelhead to hand:



Cheers,
Nog

[frenchy]

3 months off for steelheading, I am not sure they will renew my work permit if I do that  . I will try to go 40 times this winter.

I do not mind having a famous brand written on my reel or rod. Actually I mainly fished with entry level rods and reels for the last 20 years (believe it if you can, but i have been a student during these 20 years...) I now have the possibility to enjoy fishing with a better equipment. I want something effective, giving me a lot of pleasure. That is why I asked advices here. According the answers I had, I think the trade off reasonable/quality would be for a good second hand rod, with a reel a bit cheaper. If I stay here for more than a couple of years, the reasonable would probably change... We will see.

[frenchy]

I will definitively let you know and perhaps ask you more questions... Thanks

[THE_ROE_SLINGER]

dont worry frenchy Im a little short on$$$$

[Gooey]

Chill Nog, I was just joking around and nothing was directed your way (or at anyone specific for that matter).  My main point was that there is a HUGE difference between a high end rod and a cheaper one and not so much difference between a high end center pin and a cheaper reel like my avon.

Something tells me that if you took my avon and put it on your rod you could probably cast equally well.  As for it being an "efficient tool", can you explain how your islander is more efficient than my avon or a host of other reels half its price...I mean if its that much better maybe I should get one too 

Hey, I cant blame you for liking that polished finish, its beautiful but for a guy with half the budget you had when you got your rod, throwing and islander into his combo means he could put it on a $55 dollar rod and that would be pointless. 

[Ribwart]

They sure are nice looking reels...I opted for the center-pin over the ball-bearing reels frenchy, although both work very well, you may also take that into consideration when choosing the reel you want...nice set up ironnoggin...

[Ribwart]

Not sure of the distinction, chromekings, I always understood there to be two different types of these reels that perform in a similar way...

For example: My silex has a spool that sits on top off a pin....hence the term "centerpin"...whereas the islander, from what I was told, has a ball bearing system that allows it to spin so nicely...but it has moving parts, whereas a centerpin doesn't...it's just a narrow pin balancing the spool in its casing...

Can anyone shed some light on this?
thx,
rib

[Gooey]

Chrome is correct, the 2 types are bushing or bearing.

 On a side note I heard a guy complain about bearing reels freezing up and preferring his bushing reel when fishing got cold.

[Gooey]

Cap is dead low last I check (yesterday) and the seymour is a no show in terms of the coho and too many boot chum....think I am fishing the ved this weekend.

[Ribwart]

so what I was refering to as the "pin", is actually refered to as the bushing then...?

[Spoonman]

so what I was refering to as the "pin", is actually refered to as the bushing then...?

                                                                                                                                           .... both the bushing reel and the bearing reel(maybe some bearing reels don't) have a" pin" (axle/spindle) around which the spool spins.The bushing or bearings are inside the spool.The bushing style is often referred to as a true centrepin (kind of guessing here)because the spool and the pin are in more intimate contact and the spindle has a narrower diam.(more pin-like )than a bearing reel.  As for the original thread topic;I started with very lightly used shimano convergance($80) and a used avon royal supreme ($120)that I had re-bushed($50)This served me very well as a learning set-up.I found the convergance too slow actioned for my liking/needs and upgraded to a lami-glass ($200) that has more backbone in the bottom half.I am now in the process of trying to decide on a reel upgrade.

[frenchy]

I investigated quite a bit, but I am still not decided. So a couple more questions, especially concerning the rod.

I had a look to the 3113 in the shops. They are really great rods, I love the action, the weight, everything. Nothing seems to come closer to the quality of these rods, but $600 is a lot (the wife thinks that $100 is too much for a rod, so $600...). I was thinking about buying a custom one. It seems that they are a bit cheaper but I do not know if they are as good and I do not know where I can have one built (one of the shops where I went theoretically offers to build them but when I asked they did not seem to be really interested in doing it). 

In the shops were I went, I was pretty surprised that there is no really intermediate price. Either you buy a trophy or a convergence or you buy a sage. Actually the Gloomis are intermediate in price. Anybody fish with them? what do you think about them? They are fast action rods, so, I think it is more difficult to learn how to cast with them.

Why do I have to drive all over the lower mainland to find a fishing shop? Why is there no fishing shop in Vancouver? 

thanks

[Fish Assassin]

Why do I have to drive all over the lower mainland to find a fishing shop? Why is there no fishing shop in Vancouver? 

thanks

My pet peeve as well. We used to have Angler's West but one of the partners pulled the rug.

[scruffy]

check out west coast fishing (Vancouver) they build custom rods and so does stryker.i own a g Loomis GL2 pin rod and it's great the rating is 8-12lbs and it's med action I've had no problems with it at all 

[frenchy]

Great thanks to all the people who helped me

So I finally have my cp rod and reel: An Islander and a Rainshadow ISA1355 and for less than $500.

thanks again