Nice to see another left handed C4 guy Zabber.
Haha, cheers m8! I was in Do Sports the other day and the owner told me that 80% of the people coming in for Abus want a right-handed version. I'm a righty by nature (though I shoot a puck left) and have found that's my rod hand; that's where you need more of your strength and control, so why would you reel with it? My father picked up a 6500 ten years back and I've been using it here and there but it's always taken a bit of enjoyment out of the day for me. I feel sorry for the guys like me that fish for sturgeon (I was informed that none of the bigger reels are made in LH versions).
the USA prices are tough to compete with for us Canadians looking for new gear
Especially when you can save $20 on a tank of gas while you're down there
I'm all for supporting small local businesses but when there's a $50 difference on an item it's harder to justify keeping things local. If I bought enough tackle to actually develop a relationship with any one supplier it might be easier, but I'm generally only able to hit the water a handful of times each year and my needs are varied (sockeye, coho, chinook, rainbow, maybe bass one of these days... gear, fly...)