hookemdano

Seeking opinions on the best king mackeral reel. I prefer conventional reels, and really like to drift cigar minnows. Which is better, star or lever drags, and why?

I hooked a large manta ray on a stretch 25. Don't know if he ate it or just got snagged. He was in the process of spooling me when he broke off. Man, he was burning some line. Like others mentioned, I have had tracking problems with a couple of the Mann's Stretch 25. I tried all of the old bass plug tricks like bending the eye, but nothing helped.

About 30+ years ago a buddy and I were fishing a large central Alabama lake in my 14' aluminum with a 5 hp Clinton air cooled engine. We're both big, so the boat was really slow. We are in the middle of the lake when a thunder storm comes up, and we head to a small island to ride it out. Things are not too bad, so I start casting a plastic worm around some standing timber. I get snagged on a tree, and since my budget at the time did not allow me to just break it off, I waded out to retreive it. When I'm approaching waist deep lightening strikes a tree in the water about twenty feet away. My legs buckle and I go down from the shock. When I recover I blaze a trail back to the island where my buddy is lying face down. We stay on land, close to the ground, until we are sure all threat of the storm is past. We then load up and head for home. Damn if the storm doesn't circle back over us and the sky starts booming again! I've got the Clinton wide open and buddy has the paddle helping out. After what seemed like an eternity (probably 10 minutes) we reach land. We have to stop on the way home for my friend to get some cigarets (he doesn't smoke, but his nerves were shot). I see him about every 7-8 years now, and it is always the first story remembered.

Marlinchaser, That new buoy appears to be out near the Perdido Pass Bridge reef, about 12-13 miles out of the pass. Have you had a chance to get out there yet? Dan