"JT" wrote in message
...
I'm in the process of putting a tarpon rod/reel package together for a
trip to Belize.

I found a Scierra SL 10/12 Sal****er reel for $80.00, do any of you have
experience with this reel? I can't find much on the web about the reel, I
think it's an older Scierra model the shop is closing out.

I would also appreciate any suggestions for a fairly inexpensive rod that
would go with the reel. I have been looking at the TFO TiCr X Series in
the 10 or 12 wt. Runs in the $250.00 range. Anyone have or used this rod?

I would go out to the sal****er section of a good bulletin board like
flyfisherman.com and ask those questions. I have no experience with TFO rods
personally other than casting them at a show and many people seem to like
them for whatever reason. Apparently TFO stands behind them. A couple of
posters here have spoken of breaking their rods and I know of two shops in
Michigan and one in the Southeast where the TFO rod is the rod most
frequently returned for breakage. Any rod of course can break. That's fine
if you're on a Yellowstone vacation with a shop on every corner, but in
Belize if that rod busts the first day out, you're screwed for the entire
trip. Like several others I am skeptical of the reel but again no nothing
about it and would personally not try it with anything less than an Orvis
Battenkill or a Ross Canyon and more likely a Tibor, Pate, or Abel.

Maybe you ought to consider the used market or see if you can raise your
budget a little. As others have said, it's a special trip and you don't want
to have it ruined by bad tackle.