Fox Stratos FS 12000e Review

Well after my lovely wife bought me 3 Fox Stratos FS1200e’sĀ  I had to just get out there and use them. This review is a little late in coming as I have been busy using them.

stratos

The Reels, well 1st thing you notice is that they are super smooth. There is no sense of wobble when you reel in fast with them that is common with other big pit reels. the clutch is smooth as silk and the bait runner is as positive as you could ever wish for. When I was debating what to ask for as a present I was considering the magnesium versions but after seeing Ian “Chilly” Chilcott cranking in a big conger with the graphite versions my mind was made up. Regarding the clutch, a lot of people back wind, I am not one of them and believe that the clutch is there for a reason. In France this year the clutches were tried out to their limits with carp to 39lbs being landed and several times the clutch saved me when a fish made an unexpected turn. On previous reels I had been used to a “grabby” clutch and so had the clutch set far far lighter then I normally would, not so with these reels, it is set dead on as I have that much confidence in it.

The Stratos 12000FSe’s are not only silky smooth but thanks to their graphite bodies they are super light as well. For any of you that doubt the long term durability of graphite in reels I draw you attention to a set of old graphite bait runners which are 18 years young and still going strong and are used today for lure fishing. Casting is a dream with large coils of line looping up the rod with every cast and there is a little rubber “wiper” between the rotor arm and the spool that stops any line causing a nasty tangle should it ever get loose. One thing you have to get used to if you have been a shimano person is that on the fox reels the baitrunner lever “goes the wrong way” ie it is against the reel body when disengaged and popped out when engaged. This seems non logical at 1st but then you realise that it is better to have the lever out of the way when playing fish !

Over all I love these reels, out of the box they will add a huge amount to your normal cast allowing you to explore areas of the lake that were impossible before. The build quality is second to none and they are available at a price that must make other reel manufacturers wince.

Rating : Good solid buy.

Pike, ohhh we love pike

Well back from the 1st pike trip for the winter season 2009, and what can I say… it went well. Arrived at the lake far later than I anticipated due to oversleeping and not wanting to get out of bed. Anyway at 08:30 I finally arrived at the lake to find perfect conditions. I set up 1 rod with a dead bait ( mackerel tail) and one on lure ( a Rapala fat rap ). The conditions looked perfect and setting up near a fallen tree I soon had the dead bait out. The lure was prepped and sent on its maiden voyage. With in 20 seconds of retrieving the lure there was a massive swirl and there was a very angry double figure pike makings its way to the snags with my lure in its mouth. The rod I was using was a Fox trek 4 piece lure rod that has been to and fished on several continents. Well the rod was just about coping and for the 1st time this year my lure reel was singing as it released line. After 3-4 severe runs I finally had the pike under control. Or so I thought… Have you ever had a pike tail walk away from you ? well at close range it is not only spectacular but also gets you soaked very fast.

After finally subduing the fish I then had the deep joy of removing the lure that the fish had quite literally engulfed but I am happy to say that after a small amount of very minor surgery the fish swam off strongly. No pics ( sadly) as the fish had put up a tremendous fight and had been out of the water for 10 mins as I got the lure out from 6 inches down its throat I didn’t want to press my luck.

Other than that 2 other jacks in the 5lb class rounded off what was quite a successful few hours on a brand new pike water.

Amsterdamse Bos

Fished 24 Hrs on the Amsterdamse Bos on the weekend. Not a bad session fish wise considering it was my 1st night session on the water

amsterdamsebos

Had a really bad experience with a bailiff this weekend, here is what happened

was fishing a new water that I had never night fished and it was only the 2nd time I had really fished it. There was one other angler ( that I heard from his bite alarms) about 250-350m further along the bank. The banks were very over grown with forest right up to the water. My swim was very tight to the water with only 1m between the entrance of my bivi and the butts of my rods with the back of my bivi against the tree line.

About 23:00 I saw car lights in the direction of the other angler which was strange as there are no roads on that side and I thought nothing of it. Suddenly I saw a car coming straight along the bank (note not on the path) with it headlights on. I thought that they were on full beam but it turned out that the car was an SUV and so they were just high. The car kept on coming (at speed) and eventually I had to run towards it waving my arms shouting as I was afraid that if he kept on driving he would run over my rods or my bivi, or indeed me.

The car stopped and a bloke got out, by this stage I thought that I was about to be robbed or that there were a load of drunken miscreants in the car intent on trouble. The man has a torch which he shines in my face. By this stage, to say I am a little concerned is an understatement. I am really worried that I am about to be attacked and I don’t do violence, you could say I am allergic to it.

I shouted “who are you” (in english my dutch had failed me) and he shouts back “controle” ie license check. Anyway turned out he was a park ranger checking licenses.

Whilst I am showing him my licenses he sees my shaking hands ( i am not embarrassed I was scared, I was alone a loooong way from help, a car had just driven up at speed and someone had just shone a torch in my face) and he had the audacity to say “you shouldn’t fish here at night if you are afraid of the dark”

What an idiot….. I know that the dutch have a strange sense of humor but he made no friends that night. I am not afraid of the dark. I am afraid of groups of blokes in cars and of being run over.

With that he then left driving his suv along another path 30 years behind me at an estimated 30-40 KPH ( it is a foot path), if he had met a dog walker….

oh well on only the 2nd time I have ever seen a bailiff in 4 years so I suppose I would be greatful that someone is checking licenses.

If you are a bailif and you are reading this, think before you approach people late at night. You might cause them a lot of stress as they have no idea who you are and will think the worse.

Flyfishing

There are some times that I doubt myself for fishing. Blanking for a week in France was one of those times. Then there are times when you go out, do not really catch a lot but have a superb time. Last weekend was one of those times. In the last few months I have really grown to love fly fishing, some call it elitist, for people stuck in the wrong age, for people who do not know what a fixed spool reel is…. well some of this is right… what it really is, for me at least, is manna for the soul. The sound a fly line makes as it whistles through the air and then alights on the water as gently as a damsel fly.. Then you stand there wondering what the last 5 casts didn’t do that šŸ™‚ wondering why you have been thrashing the water to a foam only to have 1 cast go perfectly. Oh well that is fishing. If you are interested in guided fishing in Northern Ireland, give Packie Trotter a call on +44 7821538548Ā  I have used several times, he is a real gent and I am yet to blank.

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Oh and by the way those waders do make your arse look huge….

New Personal Best

Just back from a superb trip to France arranged by Ron from the fishing ship in Uithorne, tired but very happy would be by comment. Went with some of the best, funniest people I have ever met. They really tried to make me feel welcome and a great time was had by all. Final tally for me was 21 carp, 2 bream and a pike and many roach and rudd ( err yes šŸ™‚ )

Any way crowning achievement for my was a new PB of 39lb’s ( UK lbs in case anyone thinks I have gone native with Dutch pounds) which was sadly taken at night ( as were 99% of all of my fish) so you can’t really see the full glory of the shots. Fish was taken on the ever reliable CCmoore Meteor tipped with a strawberry hell raiser dumbbell popup. I will post a full blog article later but for now here is the pic

39

Successful session at Bosbaan

Just back from a successful session at the bosbaan, was meant to be a 2 day session but after catching 7 carp through the night topped by a 21lb mirror I decided to cut it short. For a weekend the baan was very quiet and even the rowers were strangely absent.

Anyway all fish were on CCmoore Meteor with a small stick of meteor and milkimin pellet complimenting the presentation,

baan-21trust me it did weigh 21, but sometimes it is the way you hold them šŸ™‚

Something Profound

For those of you who are not familiar with the writings of Chris Yates, he is not only one of the best anglers around but also one of the most compelling writers that I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Every word has been chosen, every phrase carefully hones for maximum impact. his writings are a joy to read and a joy to read slowly, savoring every word, every phrase every nuance to extract the complete meaning. Anyway I was reading “The Secret Carp” and I came across the following text :

Naturally any angler desires to catch a fish, but so much poppycock is written about “success” and the mindless striving for “results” that people forget about the more essential quality, enjoyment. It does not matter where you fish, what tackle you use, what bait you choose or whether you wear a tweed hat or a traffic cone; if you enjoy your fishing, if you can find interest or adventure or peace of mind then you have succeeded.

Never a truer word spoken. We often loose sight of what it means to fish that we are meant to be enjoying it, doesnt matter if you are catching or not catching you have to enjoy it.

Nice Common at 24lbs

Went fishing with a mate from a while ago, Mark who is a Fox/ Mainline man to a super secret fishing spot in Holland. I didn’t know quite what to expect but I had been assured by mark that he had baited up and that he had put plenty of Mainline “pulse” down. Never having used Pulse at all I didn’t know what to expect ( I normally fish CCmoore meteor) but I was pleasantly surprised to small a rich spicy fishmeal bait with plenty of robin red.

session start

well after the start I was 1st off of the mark with a small chub, however this was a small one and the second one was nudging 5lbs, Mark had one that if we had weighed it I suspect it would have gone past the 7lb barrier which as I understand now is fairly good for chub. Continue reading “Nice Common at 24lbs”