Steady lads.......that lure has some perilous looking hooks!

("can't I have just a little bit of peril")

Hmmmm.........I will only sheepishly admit my extravagance and will justify my excessive and over the top expenditure by doing what every man has done since the beggining of time.......I will rationalize

Yes the reel did make throwing the big stuff all day long a breeze, actually enjoyable. But more importantly the reel will see quite a bit of duty as my "go to" rod and reel for grouper and tuna jigging.

The reel I speak of is called a shimano Tranx. And at close to 5 bills it is a pricey reel indeed. The rod is a st croix muskie mojo which will fit the bill nicely as a grouper stick. The tranx handled 100 lb braid perfectly with zero problems (except my first anxious cast where I lived up to my moniker of Mastertangler)

And it's heavy...at least compared to what most paddlers fish with....not a reel for typical canoe country. Garcia makes another reel which is smaller, less expensive but still a low profile baitcaster with a solid reputation on the Muskie forums.....it is called a Revo. I will probably get one sooner or later to handle fishing my bigger lures in canoe country. I believe a big fish will move a considerable distance to eat a big meal where the same fish might not move at all to eat a "snack". But that's just my opinion based on limited experience and a good dose of conjecture.

It was probably 50/50 trolling and casting Ranger. Trolling if the conditions weren't optimal for casting. If I smelled a fishy spot I would fish it hard by casting, or if the wind would blow me along at a decent clip in the right direction I would cast. I like casting, feeling that thump on the other end.

The Tekotas are super sweet. I have the smallest reel in the series and it goes to canoe country as my primary trolling rod.