TranX reel steals the show

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Updated: February 19, 2012 8:22AM

The public debut of Shimano’s TranX reel at the Chicago Muskie Show highlighted the biggest weekend of outdoors shows in the Chicago area.

Shimano piled in staff for the debut. Show-goers tested it in the pool at Harper College in Palatine. It works. Mechanical advancements help it handle retrieving the huge bucktails lumped as Cowgirls. Pulling those bucktails is like dragging a kid’s metal dump truck through the water. It wears out fishermen and gear alike. The price in the half-grand range is justified but also the sticking point.

John Ryan, a member of Chicagoland Muskie Hunters, has done everything in muskie fishing. He loved the handling of it enough to weigh the price. He figures those who want one will find a way. “You’ll find guys on MuskieFIRST, selling Calcuttas and Trinidads [reels],’’ he said.

The niftiest thing I bought was a perch spreader, with a system for interchanging weights and hooks, from Arctic Spinners (arcticspinner.com) at the Northwest Indiana Steelheaders Spring Fever Outdoor Show.

The niftiest product I should’ve bought was a waterproof case by Aryca (arycaproducts.com) for iPhones and such. They had a show price of $35 at Scuba Emporium’s booth at the Chicago Boat, Sports & RV Show.

THIS WEEKEND: Joe Cornwall and Dennis Potter are featured Saturday at the ISA Fly Tying & Fishing Show, presented by the Illinois Smallmouth Alliance with DuPage Rivers Fly Tyers, at Holy Family School in Bensenville. . . . Jim Saric, Jay Yelas and Mike McClelland headline the Bedford Sales Open House Friday through Sunday in Morris.