Sent 2 6501's and a 5500 off to WI. to be repaired, go a e-mail from him today and it wasn't good. He said one of the 6500 was toast and the other one can be saved. The 5500 can be saved at big cost or buy a new one. After using the 65's it's nice to go down to the 55 and it save's my hands. The Ambassaror don't seem to take my kind of punishment. After talking to Hemi, thinking about the Phullger 66 Trion. The Okumas seem to weight more. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks Steve [smilie=bangtard.gif]
Steve,
I thought my Okuma Induron handled great last year, however, I only have 1 season under my belt. It is only 1.5 ounces heavier than the Trion, and for only $20 more, I think is one of the best reels for the money based on all of the reviews I have read. Also, I contacted the Okuma rep to inquire about a power handle and he sent me one at no charge within a week-great customer service.
Rob
"Steve S" said:
Sent 2 6501's and a 5500 off to WI. to be repaired, go a e-mail from him today and it wasn't good. He said one of the 6500 was toast and the other one can be saved. The 5500 can be saved at big cost or buy a new one. After using the 65's it's nice to go down to the 55 and it save's my hands. The Ambassaror don't seem to take my kind of punishment. After talking to Hemi, thinking about the Phullger 66 Trion. The Okumas seem to weight more. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks Steve [smilie=bangtard.gif]
Steve,
I've had the pflueger reels for more than two years and other than a couple minor problems they've been great. Keep in mind that I put in a little more time on the water than the average angler using some very agressive techniques that tend to kill reels. I'm not going to talk bad about any other reel manufacturers here on the forum but I'll just say that I know a few people that have to send in all of their expensive reels every year to be repaired.
I don't remember what the problem was with Kid's Pflueger reel but I suspect is was something that could have been repaired/remedied quickly. One thing to keep in mind with new reels is that they tend to come out of the box over greased. This can screw up things like the anti-reverse and the drag system.
I have no affiliation with Pflueger, this is a completely unbiased opinion. They are an MMA sponsor this year, which is a good reason to support them.
The Okuma reels are also very nice and other than a manufacturing issue last year (that has been fixed) they are a very good reel. Okuma has also been very good to MMA over the last couple years with reels and rods.
"Steve S" said:
Sent 2 6501's and a 5500 off to WI. to be repaired, go a e-mail from him today and it wasn't good. He said one of the 6500 was toast and the other one can be saved. The 5500 can be saved at big cost or buy a new one. After using the 65's it's nice to go down to the 55 and it save's my hands. The Ambassaror don't seem to take my kind of punishment. After talking to Hemi, thinking about the Phullger 66 Trion. The Okumas seem to weight more. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks Steve [smilie=bangtard.gif]
I like my Calcutta TE's and I would keep an eye out on ebay for a good deal. I got a Calcutta 401TE for $122 on ebay. I have an Abu Garcia 7001i Red series and it is a big heavy reel but cranks in the big blades nice and easy and I would get a power handle if you are going to throw big bucktails. I think it will matter on what you like to throw and I would call Chuck Brod from Sportsmans Repair and talk to him and he is a real nice guy who knows everything about reels. You could also call and talk to Rollie and Helens and Thorne Brohers because they will steer you straight about the reels that they see returned. Here is the link to Chuck:
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There is a long thread on muskylink.com about reel/rod setups, and seems to be the majority of people either use Calcutta's for obvious reasons or Curado's, saw some people who said they guide and have a curado on every rod for 2 years and no problem, and they all use the 300E version not the 200. Others say they love the 300E curado for jerkbaits, topwater, etc.. doesnt wear them out like most round faced reels and work great from what people have posted.
"swanezy" said:
There is a long thread on muskylink.com about reel/rod setups, and seems to be the majority of people either use Calcutta's for obvious reasons or Curado's, saw some people who said they guide and have a curado on every rod for 2 years and no problem, and they all use the 300E version not the 200. Others say they love the 300E curado for jerkbaits, topwater, etc.. doesnt wear them out like most round faced reels and work great from what people have posted.
Here's that thread Steve – <url url="[Permission to view this media is denied]
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Everything breaks if you use it enough.
I'd like to thank everyone for there input. When I got the e-mail from my reel repair guy I went into panic mode. First these reels are 8 to 10 years old. I don't know what the life of a reel should be. I'm pretty sure I got my money's worth out of them. When Randy come's back from vacation, I'm going to talk to him on the phone, have him put the one 6501c3 and the 5501c3 together. I'll go to Cabellas probably get a Phullger 66 Trion and a Okuma, use them for a few years and see what I like. I was surprised on that thread about Shimano's. All my spinning reels are Shimanos and never had a problem. Might even look into those. Rod's all mine are St. Croix, can't say enough about them. The longest are 7'. I probably need to go to 7.6 or 8'. Should the length of the rod go along with your height? When I do a figure 8 I have the rod about a foot or two in the water, which dosen't do alot for your back. I think even with a longer rod you don't get away from this. I'm also right handed but goofy me I use lefty's, just so much easier. I do love to throw top-water's and have a bad habit. This is why I think I kill reels. When I throw a topwater, just before the bait hits the water, I'm turning that handle. I want it to look like something fell in the water and is in panic mode to get the hell out of there, and this works alot for me. Can't tell you how many times in the first foot of movement that bait is eaten. Thanks again guy's, Steve
"swanezy" said:
6.3 ratio is pretty fast, wouldnt that make it easier for you to reel DC's? or is the reel not meant for baits that heavy
A lower gear ratio makes it easier to crank a hard pulling bait like double tens or big lipped crankbaits. The high gear ratio reels that some people use to crank double tens FAST are saltwater reels w/ huge cranks that allow you to power through the big gear (Shimano Trinidad or Diawa Saltist). High gear ratios are best for cranking up lots of line with minimal resistance. For example: When a jerkbait that creates lots of slack it is much easier to take up that slack with a higher gear ratio (more inches per crank) than with a low gear ratio.
Thanks for the info will, but then i am curious, my first musky reels that i bought, Shimano Corsairs have a Gear ratio of 4.7 i believe and i have to work to get some DC's in, but then my buddy had a abu garcia with a 6.0 ratio or something like that and wasn't having a problem reeling in the same DC's at a really fast rate thus getting more follows/strikes on the particular day we were fishing. With the slower retrieve i was getting i couldn't get near as many follows.
Any reason for this? or could it just depend on the quality of the reel based on BB etc..
"swanezy" said:
Thanks for the info will, but then i am curious, my first musky reels that i bought, Shimano Corsairs have a Gear ratio of 4.7 i believe and i have to work to get some DC's in, but then my buddy had a abu garcia with a 6.0 ratio or something like that and wasn't having a problem reeling in the same DC's at a really fast rate thus getting more follows/strikes on the particular day we were fishing. With the slower retrieve i was getting i couldn't get near as many follows.Any reason for this? or could it just depend on the quality of the reel based on BB etc..
No, quality of the reel doesn't make a difference.
To get into more detail I would need to know what you mean by work to get them in. Do you mean you had to crank fast or that it was hard to crank them in because it was hard to turn the handle? Work to me with a reel is having to crank slow and push hard to bring a lure in. I would much rather spin the handle fast (less fatigue) than have to crank slow but hard.
Also important to the discussion is reel size… what size corsair vs. what size garcia?
Basically it comes down to the amount of line retrieved per turn of the crank. A small reel that is bringing in 31" of line per turn is going to be much harder to crank because of the gearing used vs. a large reel with a large handle that is bringing in 35"+ pre turn. I'm not sure what the inches per turn are of muskyprey's new reel but I'm guessing somewhere around 31" per turn if it's the 6:1 if that reel is made in a 5:1 it would be much easier to reel in a hard pulling lure but you would have to turn the handle faster.
Well with the corsair's i had a 300 and a 400 model, and both i had to crank the handle really fast, it wasnt hard ot reel them in. The size of my friends abu garcia, im not reall sure, i just know he can crank is double 10's quite fast with not a whole lot of effort. With my reel it did get tough sometimes, but maybe also because the current DC10's i was using were 3.5 ounces and my Gloomis rod is meant for 1-3 ounce bucktails.. i was figuring that had to do with some of the struggle and ease of getting them in without having to crank so hard without a power handle.
Im not sure how much line either brings in per crank, but i recently ordered a new Abu Garcia Record reel, i wanted a calcutta, but without a real job since graduating college, i dont have the money for it yet.
The one i got was the 6.3 gear ratio i think, even if it doesnt crank in smaller DC's like stuff around 2 ounces to 2.5 oz, then ill def be using it for jerkbaits, topwater, etc.. cause the corsairs just dont pick up enough slack line as i like
hmm, yea definitely would depend on the size of the double cowgirl as well, like i said my the cowgirls ive ever used with my corsair's are 3.5 ounces which is prob the biggest cowgirl bait ill ever use. This year a lot of smaller sized baits are being made and very succesfull and i plan on using more of the smaller weighted size cowgirls, even though they arent any shorter length wise
I bought an Abu Record last Spring, and it lasted about 2 weeks. The spool kept re-locking in the middle of a cast, and after a short while, the anti-reverse bearing failed, and then locked up completely. At first I thought it was my newbiness, but it turns out it wasn't me. (First time, ever! 😀 )
So I got my money back from Cabelas, and used it to get my first Pflueger Trion 66 for $50 less. So pfar, it's pfabulous, as is my second Trion. No lock-ups mid cast; no problems with the anti-reverse. And I used them both A LOT last year.
"swanezy" said:
Well with the corsair's i had a 300 and a 400 model, and both i had to crank the handle really fast, it wasnt hard ot reel them in. The size of my friends abu garcia, im not reall sure, i just know he can crank is double 10's quite fast with not a whole lot of effort.
Ok, that makes sense now. The trade off with the higher gear ratio is that it's like stirring pancake batter that is way too thick. Sure, spinning the handle the same speed will get the lure moving faster with the high speed reel but the trade off is that it is more tiring to turn a crank with the pressure of a hard pulling lure.
The weight of a double ten really has little effect on how hard it pulls. The line thickness and how full the reel is can have a significant impact on lure speed.
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