one last cast........... for 2017

[steelfish]

for me this looks like the last fishing trip of 2017, perfect time to try out the new reel and see if it becomes into a keeper or better put it for sale while is still new 

Well, meet some guys at my work that wanted to go fishing before the xmas and new year parties on the next weekends, so I talked to one of my friends with pangas and went fishing this last saturday, the weather was expected to be bit windy, cloudy and chill but I couldnt said no cuz I wanted to try my new makaira 15, its like my early xmas present to myself.
so, I was more into checking the reel on the water, switch speeds, handle it, etc  and having a good time with this new friends than expecting catch lots of fish.
I can say the Mak-15 feels lot better than my fathom 40ld2, I know this is something expected when comparing a $300 reel vs a $500, but still I was afraid to find it not much different, for my luck and without getting into details of the quality of the parts, etc, I found it better for me because its smaller and easier to palm on the rod so, you have a better overall grip and control of the reel that for me and my small hands its a great plus over tall reels, the high speed with 33" per turn let me fight the fish better than 42" per turn on the fathom 40ld2, so you can keep preasure on the fish at every moment.
this time I use only 20# at strike and the fish I caught were on the small/medium size so, drag was never a problem but it feels great to know that I have a small tank that have the powa to fight anything on this waters if needed, let me tell you that what I liked the most is how smooth you feel the handle compared to the fathom I had, on the FT40LD2 at 20# strike you can say and feel some resistance on the handle when you were reeling on a fish or checking your bait but feel nothing like that on the Mk-15, it feels like using a star drag reel while reeling to check your bait or on a fish, feels like when I was using my saltist 30 star drag, small wide and smooth.
well too much about the reel, hopefully on my next trip I catch something bigger to put it on a test, now lets see some pics.



going to our destination, still plenty of road still to drive





on the water we go



weapons of choice for the day, Mk-15SEa on a phenix AXIS 820H and a Baja Special on a seeker 6460XH, I didnt use the Baja combo at all this time.



fishing was as expected really low, mostly because the wind was stronger than expected on the weather forecast and we couldnt troll near from the rocks or cast lures, it was until it was getting later by 3pm when the wind stop blowing and the sun appeared for a short time that fish got hungry and we managed to get some.
first one was a nice Cabrilla grouper


then I caught this decent YT





then my friend got his YT, look at that big smile after spending 5 hours with no fish and finally found them


few moments later a beautiful grouper came to the boat




the bite got stopped and we tried some jigging, casting and bait
this beautiful fish ate a swimbait or plastic with jighead, it fought really nice for its size, I though I had a grouper


at the very end of the day and actually when we already called a day, we were going in out way to the ramp which is located inside of a small bay, but because of the windy conditions the captain was driving the boat slowly so I decided to throw a trolling lure on out way out, well after 3 minutos from the ramp this beatiful grouper came to play


and thats how the fishing trip ended, happy with finding this new fishing friends, happy from a nice day on the water, happy to had a 2017 with more time on the water and happy to have a reel that I found it great for my needs.



feliz navidad amigos !!!

[Dominick]

Wonderful trip despite the conditions.  Feliz Navidad to you and your family.  Dominick

[bhale1]

Alex,
Thanks for taking us along for the ride! New reel, new friends, and fish= great day!!!!
Happy holidays!!!
Brett

[HOLEINTHEWATER]

NICE REPORT

[coastal_dan]

Nice Alex, hoping your stone issue is solved or close to working out. 

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

[Bill B]

Great trip and report mi amigo....Merry Christmas.....Bill

[Benni3]

Love it,,,nice photos,,,nice fish,,,nice gear

[Crow]

Nice to see somebody is catching fish...I sure as heck ain't!  Happy Holidays !

[happyhooker]

Fine trip; if I fished saltwater, that'd be the kind of trip for me.

Got my last licks in yesterday.  Here in Minn., everything is pretty much iced up; got a spot not too far from the house where water flows over a dam & that'll stay open when other places are shut.  Got into the 40s with a little sun so took a crack at the tailwater below the dam.  Managed 12 walleye, all pretty small except for the last, but I'm usually catch & release so they're all there for next spring.  Have never fished open water in Minn. in Dec.  Forecast is for high temps below 15 degrees in the next few days, so that'll end it for awhile.

Frank

[Cor]

Lovely trip and nice fish.

Here we are in the worst fishing season for more then 20 years.

[Shark Hunter]

Great Trip Alex!
Thanks for taking us along Compadre.

[Donnyboat]

Thanks for the photos Alex, nice day on the water, good gear, cheers Don.

[Hardy Boy]

Alex: Any day on the water is better than no day on the water. Your poor weather day still looks way better then our good days right now !!

Cheers:

Todd

[steelfish]

.......... Your poor weather day still looks way better then our good days right now !!

you all guys already know that, the worst day in the water is better than the best day at the office.

I could confirm that once again, when we were moving from one spot to another to seach for the fish and because of the wind the swells were kind of big and the boat (panga) was splashing water all over when surfing/jumping the swells, we were all soaking wet but those guys were laughing like kids playing on a patio with a hose, the laugh of two guys was so contagious that soon everyone on the panga was laughing everytime a big swell make a big splash and send the water directed to us (imagine just like in Sea World and the killer whale splashing the water directed to you)
man, Im pretty sure we had a much better time right before the fish started to appear 

good time for sure with ot without fishes.

[mo65]

Great fishin' Alex!