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Obscure Adventures Magazine
options.
Option 1: Find a smaller allen wrench to loosen the cable rod and pull it in flush with the riser. (I planned to do this first, but I found the reel too close to the grip for my liking).
Option 2: find a way to create enough space between the reel seat and the riser to give me the space I wanted for my hand. As luck would have it, I have a small (3/4") spacer that has male and female ends. I've used it on other bows where I've had reel seet space issues and it worked like a charm.
Tightening the seat the last bit was also a bit hasseling as the long hex bit had to bend a little to get up under the front of the reel seet and into the bolt head. It bound up on me as I put the last bit of pressure on the bolt and took some time to wiggle it loose. Not a show-stopper, but I would like to see the seat frame
adjusted to get a straighter shot
at the bolt head.
A few days after these reels were available, Tim Escott of TJE Designs bought one of these reels and adjusted the length of his popular shoot-thru rods to work with the new reel seat. I bought one of these rods and installed it next.
That installation was seemless, simply screw the rod into the end of the reel seat and when it's in the proper place, lock it down with the included nut. I used a small adjustable wrench to tighten everything up.
In Wisconsin winter comes early and this year had all the water around me locked up tightly, with the exception of the big pond - Lake Michigan. There are not many places to shore shoot there, but I live fairly close to a warm-water discharge in Sheboygan that holds carp year-round.
With my new bow setup in hand, my waders, and a sled to carry my fish, I set out hoping to strike gold on my first trip in 2015.
Upon arrival at the lake it was obvious this wasn't going to be easy. There were 1-2 foot waves pounding the shore, kicking up mud and obscuring visibility. Undeterred, I walked the 1/4 mile to the discharge and stood on an overlook to see if there was any life.
Thankfully I had my polarized glasses on or it would have been a short trip. Through the lenses of
these glasses I could see golden
masses gliding about 30 feet from shore and sometimes closer.
These carp appeared to be in the high teens to low 20's in weight and seemed unphased by the pounding waves.
With high hopes I worked down the rocks towards the water. I decided to stay high enough to see the fish and I found a good spot to stake out and wait.
It didn't take long for the shapes to reappear and I put my new reel into action. I flipped the lever to the left, drew back, aimed and fired. With the first shot there was nothing noticeably different between this reel and the standard push-button model.
I reached down to reel in the line and had to remember to switch the lever back to the right. Under normal circumstances a quick wave of my left index finger would have taken care of this, but I was wearing mittens due to the cold. I fumbled a little bit, but got the lever switched.
I reeled the arrow in quickly and hit my next snag. Normally I push the button and pull out a little line while nocking the arrow
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The 1/4" hex bit required to tighten the hex bolt didn't have a straight shot at the bolt head, causing the bit to bind.
I found that the reel seat put the reel a little too close to my hand. I used a 3/4" spacer to put the reel out at a more comfortable distance.
Here is the finished package and the tools I used to put it together.