Some New Gear

I'm not sure how exciting this might be to yall, but, I'm pumped. I have to tell you about some of the new gear I just purchased. Some, I will be using for the first time and some gear that I use regularly but I'm still just excited to have. The first that I want to tell you about, is my new reel. My wife bought it for me for Christmas and I have yet to use it. She's been calling herself a fishing season widow ever since. The new reel is the Ambassadeur made by Abu Garcia. Model 6501C3. I have only used a reel like this once. Last summer, a friend and I were able to go on a guided fishing trip with Roaring River Guide Service. My friend shot a video of the fishing while I fished with the guide and his friend. You can watch the video on Youtube if you want to. It's called Mckenzie RIver Salmon. Anyway, the guide, John, uses this reel and I did catch an 18 pound springer with it. It was a learning experience just to work the reel. I have used spinning reels almost exclusively since childhood. (Except of course when fly fishing). I really like how easy the spinning reel is to use and will still have a few with me at all times for casting spinners or whatever. John told me that I should give the Ambassadeur a try and that I will catch more fish with it. It is an ideal reel for pulling plugs, back trolling and back bouncing. Well, I mostly back troll for steelhead and will try my hand this year pulling plugs and quick fish for salmon. The back bouncing, I need a bit of practice at, but I now have the option to give it a shot if nothing else is working. So, I will definitely be updating on how this reel works out for me and my style of fishing. Have any of you used this reel, or something like it? I made a few purchases this week as well for the upcoming summer steelhead run. I Picked up a few silver and chartreuse K14 Kwik fish. I have only fished these on the guided trip last summer and am excited to give this a try. Got a few No. 35 blue and red Hot Shots. My friend Jamie has picked up steelhead with this lure. I also purchased some new line to fill my new reel and replace the old line in one of my spinning reels. I decided again to go with the #20 Maxima Chameleon. It is not a perfect line, but for the type of fishing I am doing, it works well and is very reliable. I've had trouble finding my favorite diver in stock at my favorite tackle stores, so when I found them today I blew my fishing fund on them. But now I'm all stocked up and shouldn't have to worry about them for a while. I will try to include some picks of this set up when I'm all ready to go.A friend at work today said that one of his friends caught a summer steelhead in my neck of the woods last weekend. I'm really getting excited. Thanks for reading my rant here. Hope your catching some fish.