Gear questions - ling reel and fish finder

Thank you to everyone for the opinions and experience.  After playing with the reels at several stores to see what fits my hands, spending several nights reading reviews on-line, checking prices, etc., I think I've settled on the Shimano Tekota 500LC (ignoring my semi-arbitrary budget).  Thanks, Fungunnin, for mentioning this option.  I'm sure any of several reels out there would likely work just fine for me, but these seem to have a reputation as a solid workhorse with a smooth drag and good tolerance for the occasionally overlooked maintenance schedule.  Not that that ever happens, of course.  I'll also keep my eye open for a good solid used reel, as a lower cost backup.  I think I'll keep my Abu C3 for fresh water use only.

I also picked up two of those Wright and McGill rods mentioned in a separate discussion, in 8-12 and 12-25 lb. sizes, as backups and lighter weight options to my 15-40 North River. 

Still researching on the fish finders, which necessarily includes considering mounting options for both the unit and the transducer.  All the many posts on this site have been very helpful.  Thanks again to you all, and I hope to be out on the water soon (then all your AOTY scores will surely be in jeopardy  ).

I might be weighing kinda late, but I'd check out the Abu Garcia Revo Toro, it's a beefy low profile reel that has some big kohones and is really comfortable to fish with. Don't know if it's made with a LC, but i really like mine

Hey ... you are free to use any reel you like. Who knows you may actually revolutionize modern fishing practices and instead of learning to cast we will all buy spinning reels.

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Hey ... you are free to use any reel you like. Who knows you may actually revolutionize modern fishing practices and instead of learning to cast we will all buy spinning reels.

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lol


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I almost always have a light spinning rod with me. It is killer for catching greenling ... which are great bait for lingcod. That rod never fishes more than a ounce. The rod I caught the ling on is a conventional reel on a stiff 7 foot rod that will fish up to 10 ounces.

I have never made the case against spinning reels. My case is that a spinning reel is not a replacement for a conventional reel and if your only reason for wanting to use a spinning reel instead is to avoid bird nests then maybe you should just practice casting a little more.

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For salmon, I have a North River 8-1/2 ft. rod (medium heavy, 15-40lb line) paired with an Abu Garcia Ambassador 6500C3 reel.  Would this work for ling as well?

This combo will work just fine for ling. If you want a reel that can handle just about anything you need from a kayak get a Shimano Tekota 500 LC. Spool it with 40 or 50 pound braid and put it on your 15-40 pound rod and you are set. I have seen that reel catch everything from silvers to 70 pound halibut and the longer rod will give your jig plenty of action and is probably good up to about 8 oz jig heads.

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If they made the a Tekota in left hand I'd pick up 2 of them. So, I'm looking for a comparable reel to go with a Trevala MH

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Agreed .... I wish the Takota series was available in lefty. For salmon mooching I picked up a Okuma Cold water line counter in lefthand. The only thing I don't like about it is the anti reverse dogs are loud so it clicks like an old Penn when reeling in.
The next best is a Revo Toro in left hand. Awesome little low profile reel but no line counter.

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