Line selection

[MuskieBait]

I love the older Trion combo. I had it since 1998...sometime back when I was in Grade 10 or 11...and now I'm 31...it is a long time ago!

It had caught a LOT of fish...everything under the sun here plus more. Pike, walleye, bass, steelhead, even salmon on the odd occasion, carp here and there...and yes, even some saltwater duty too.

Comparing mine to yours (combo), your reel is a bit of an upgrade. Bearing numbers are the same, but your reel has an a machined aluminum (good strength) double anodized (corrosion resistant) spool and an aluminum handle (doesn't say anodized...but still, aluminum in general is more corrosion resistant). Multi-disk stainless steel washers (corrosion resistant) and oiled felt washers (smooth) is a good sensitive drag...as long as you don't dunk the reel in water too often (water gums up the oil). Once in a while, you may need to clear the drag and remove the loose felt fibres...or else the oil/felt gunk will eventually gum up the drag and make it stick. It is easy to clean though...but do not try to rub the felt washer vigorously since you can tear them.

The rod is a bit of a toss up for me. My combo has an IM-8 rod vs. your IM-6 rod (more graphite fibres for IM-8 vs. IM-6) so lightness and sensitivity is a bit less with the IM-6. The rod also switched from Fuji aluminum oxide guides to stainless steel guides. Aluminum oxide is a type of ceramic and prone to cracking if mistreated...but mine had never failed me. Stainless steel guides are more corrosion resistant and does not crack, but once I had braided line cut grooves into a stainless steel guide on an icefishing rod. Maybe it was just a cheap guide or a defect. The split cork grip is new for your rod. The split grip makes the rod lighter (less cork material on the butt end)...but for my need and preference, I like a full grip. I find that sometimes the split grip makes the rod imbalanced at the reel seat unless you use some extra weight on the butt end...but with a combo like this, usually the rod and reel are matched to make the combo pretty balanced.

I'm looking at info online and the 7' rod is matched with a fairly big reel (10lb/280yd). This is a 4000 size reel. The reel offers 12lb of drag...which is strangely a bit overpowered for the 6-12lb rod...although...sometimes the rating is not so much for line strength, but more about line diameter that will allow the rod to cast at its best. Thicker line may not cast as well with this rod. Saying that, the rod may be able to tolerate heavier line than stated. It depends on the rod rating. In your case, it is a medium rod...which is why I find the reel to be overpowered for the rod. It's still OK to use heavier line...just remember that your rod is not as stout to sustain the full drag pressure and line strength of heavy braid...so set the drag properly and you'll be OK. For most part, freshwater fish rarely needs more than 5lb of drag pressure...even with hard running fish like salmon or carp. If you have enough line capacity and room for the fish to run, freshwater fish will generally tire before it runs off with your 300 yards of line. So just be patient, let the fish run around, and let it tire itself out. Remember...300 yards is 3 football field. Even for humans, if you sprint full out pulling a 30lb weight behind for 300 yards, you'll tire too. For a fish swimming full out on its first run with 5lb of drag pressure plus rod pressure from a properly bent rod, it will tire before reaching even 200 yards.

Saying that, I would suggest, for your intended targets, 30lb braided line is a decent choice. The 30lb braid has similar diameter to 8lb mono but it is still limper than most mono. The stronger line will give you more leeway for bigger fish such as salmon, carp and catfish. But the lime braid will allow you good sensitivity to fish for walleye and bass. Your reel should fit an entire spool of 300 yards of 30lb braid. I would suggest either to put electrical tape on the spool first before you start putting the braid onto the reel, or spool on a few wraps of 10lb mono onto the reel before you connect the mono to braid and spool on the braid. Braids tend to slip and not grip well on the spool so you need something to help the braid grip.