Tag: salmon-fishing

MARUTO PREMIUM FISHING HOOKS

Reviewed by: CAPT. MIKE SCHOONVELD

There are okay fishing hooks, pretty good fishing hooks and really good fishing hooks. All of them will hook and hold some of the fish that bite on them, none of them will hook and hold all of the fish that bite on them. If hooking and holding the fish that bite on the hooks you are using is important, you probably want a premium hook on the end of your line.

Just what does premium mean? To me, it’s strength, sharpness and consistency. I’d never heard of Maruto hooks until I stopped by their booth at the ICAST show last summer, but once there, I decided what I saw and heard deserved a closer look and subsequently I picked out a several models of these “made in Japan” hooks in several sizes to put on the end of my fishing lines.

I was planning a trip to Canada later in the summer and some of the places we heading were unique in that the lakes were filled with big fish and the regulations required the use of barbless hooks. Maruto is one of the few premium hook brands that feature barbless options – especially in the “full-sized” versions and in treble hooks. (Many brands only offer barbless options in the tiny, stream-trout sizes.) I’d rather replace the hook than try to smash the barbs down to make them barbless.

At the same time, I picked up a few packs of Maruto 7771 barbed trebles to use on my walleye and salmon lures. If you are like me, just bending a hook back to the right shape after a fish or a flopping fish bends it in their mouth or in the landing net isn’t good enough. I want hooks that are strong enough to resist bending without being just made using heavier gauge wire.

I outfitted some of my late summer, “fall kings” lures and several of my walleye lures I use to troll for late season trips to Lake Erie with Maruto 7771 trebles. I also selected some of their saltwater hooks to use on my annual winter pilgrimage to the Gulf of Mexico to fish for red snappers and other salty fish. Every hook Maruto hook performed exactly as I expected and those same hooks will be in my line-up this summer and next winter. Learn more about them and see all the types, sizes and colors and purchase at: http://www.anglerinnovations.com. Many styles are available at Amazon.com.

PENN MARINER III (DIVER) ROD

Reviewed by: CAPT. MIKE SCHOONVELD

When I’m at the ICAST show or in tackle emporiums when I’m on away-trips to “salty” destinations, I’m often looking at a variety of saltwater gear. That’s not because I fish saltwater often enough to warrant owning a full set of ocean-fishing gear. It’s because there is a lot of stuff designed to be used in the salt that plays quite nicely in the Great Lakes. That’s what I was doing at the salty-section of the Penn booth at last year’s ICAST.

What I found was a line of rods called the “Mariner III Boat Conventional.” The display started with short little brutes-pretty much what I consider to be saltwater “boat” rods – but at the end of the display was a 9-footer, rated medium (by saltwater standards) that caught my eye. Most of the saltwater boat captains I’ve been with would have viewed a 9-footer as a pole vault stick. As a Great Lakes captain, I viewed it as a diver rod. I hefted it, wobbled it, gauged the bend and pronounced it diver-worthy.

Let’s look at a few of the details in this rod. First off, the rod is made of graphite and fiberglass. An all fiberglass rod would be heavy with a slow action, but it would be as tough as a pole vault stick. But by engineering it with both glass and graphite, the rod’s weight is reduced, it’s action is faster and it’s still plenty tough. That’s important for a diver rod since when the diver is being trolled, there’s a constant heavy strain on the rod and when a fish strikes the rod has to go from heavy strain to extreme.           

 Penn has fitted this rod with their own one-piece stainless steel Dura-Guides. Dura-Guides eliminate the need to fuse a ceramic or other type of insert to protect the frame of each guide. The extra-hard stainless is plenty durable for years of use with mono, fluoro or braided lines.

 The EVA Torque grips (another Penn exclusive) are substantial, plenty long to fit comfortably in any rod holder. The feature I’ve come to embrace is how the foregrip is triangular in cross section. That gives it a comfortable feel in hand and helps eliminate the rod from twisting when being gripped and the reel’s handle is being cranked.

 Penn Mariner IIIs are mostly available at retailers who handle saltwater tackle but you’ll find them at Amazon.com or at www.purefishing.com as well as at other online outlets at surprisingly affordable prices.