Shimano Technium 3000SFC : Trout Test.

On Tuesday I took delivery of my new reel, a Shimano Technium 3000SFC. After spooling it up with some new 6lb Sunline Super PE braid I was itching to test it out.

Shiny new tackle!

Time has been very limited for me this week so I opted for an hours fishing on The Water of Leith. The reel marries very well with my 7'9" Graphiteleader Corto EX rod and is only a couple of grams heavier than my Exage. Recently I have been experimenting with trying to keep the trout deeper in the water when hooked as they have an uncanny habit of throwing the hook when they come to the surface and thrash about. This is where a lightly set reliable drag comes in and I hoped to test the new reels capabilities.

I attached a Gulp! 1" Minnow in watermelon/pearl to an EcoGear Shirasu fine jighead and I was ready to rock! 10 minutes later I was at the Water of Leith in Stockbridge and after a brief wade had reached my first pool. Technique was pretty straight forward just cast across current and with a slow twitchy retrieve allow the lure to swing back across the current towards you. This particular pool was full of features, a fast flow of water under some trees into a deeper slower glide with a ledge running down the full length of the pool. I started at the top and began working the lure downstream. Sure enough when I was about a third of the way down the pool a trout dashed out from under the ledge and seized the lure. The jighead hooks are amazingly sharp and even with the drag set lightly the fish was hooked well. Keeping the rod low as I was playing him persuaded the fish to stay deeper in the water and the light drag allowed him a foot or so of line each time to soak up his little darting runs. He stayed deep till he was level with me then calmly came up to the surface where I brought him to hand! Another beautifully conditioned Water of Leith brown trout of about a pound.

Feeling rather pleased with myself for playing the fish as I had planned I waded up stream a bit to find a dry area to take a picture. A large stone presented me with a good place and the trout was duly laid down whilst I fumbled for my camera. I continued fumbling with my camera as the trout, with a gleeful flick of its tail, flipped back into the water and sped away down stream. Oh well camera shy trout, but at least I managed to catch from this new pool. I headed further upstream and again using the same technique caught a couple more lovely brownies and managed to get a picture of these ones!

Brown trout in a fast current was great fun on the new reel.

Another brownie caught and released after a fun fast water fight.

I had a final 10 minutes in the weir pool and again hooked another trout who when landed had obviously heard of the first trouts strategy and promptly jumped back into the water whilst I was yet again fumbling for my camera!

Not to worry though, whilst my hour was up, it had been a blast! The new reel performed admirably and testing the light drag did add a new dimension to fighting the humble Leith trout! I cant wait to see how it handles some other fish!

Tight lines, Schogsky.