Hi guys
today i went to a particular shop and i was asking him about reels and he showed me a few an okuma ESR60 , shakespeare, abu garcia and a boxter. all were if i remember correctly gear ratio 5:1 and 3 bearings.
Now as you know i am new to this hobby, what makes a good reel, good? i mean the 4 have more or less the same key features. but then there is a variation in price. For example the boxter was on offer together with the rod!!??
A friend of mine told me not to mind the brand name. But still i got a bit mixed up. What i need is a reel for squid fishing and for cudas i.e. a general purpose for shore fishing.
Any comments and/or advice ? thanks in advance guys.
The number of bearings def makes a difference, as well as whether there is a bearing in the handle shaft, I think it's called. In fact many people will just compare a spinning reel based on no. of bearings!
Gear Ratio and Retreive rate are important if you will be spinning (popping lures). 5.0-5.8 depending on the retreive rate is usually pretty good. The higher/ratio / retreive rate lets the popper move through the water evenly and at a good rate without you cranking like mad. As you won't be hitting into big fish, you don't need the power from a lower gear ratio, sometimes referred to as PG or Power Gear, as opposed to HG/HS (high gearing)
Then it all boils down to materials but for something like Squid and cudas I don't think you need an expensive reel.
It also depends how often you're going to use it......a few times a season and you can get away with a cheaper reel, and then you go up from there.
I think Okuma make some very well priced spinning reels, not familiar with Abu, shakespeare and the boxter brands.
But I think the local shops should be able to give you pretty good advice once you tell them what you're targeting.
I'd recomend grauvell or shimano blindly (Shimano more than Grauvell) depends what your budget is mate...
For an inexpensive reel which will do the job you want go for okuma or shakespear.Shimano are usually much more expensive.3 bearings is ok.gear ratio 5-1 or above.Just remember the larger the reel the more weight you will be holding and it will seem to get heavier as the day goes on.You can get a reasonable one in the UK for about ?10 to ?15.Another tip if you are right handed go for a left hand wind on the reel and vice versa.This means you don,t have to swap hands when you reel in ready to cast out again. Good Luck.
Thanks for all guys
i agree that shimano reels have heftier prices, as i had a look at the reels in another shop. From what i saw you can get a reel as cheap around 10 Euros or as expensive as 100 Euros.
For now i 'll stick to the one i have, then later on will see.
Once again thanks guys, i appreciate very much.
Okuma for me are great, Abu Garcia are massive !!!
Chris 8)
I agree 100% with roby17. I have a shimano reel which I use for spinning. One of the best reels I've got. I use it for all type of spinning but not for squid as I have a smaller reel for that type of spinning. The reason is that practically I don't have a reel for general use but depends on what type of fishing I'm going for that day.
For squids I prefer a small (and cute :) ) reel. For cudas, bonito etc.. I would prefer a reel that can handle upto about 300m of line when using 0.25-0.35mm of thichness.
But this all summes up to your budget, but in my opinion you're better off buying it later on to save more money so that you'd have a very good reel. One thing that make a reel better than another is the bearings..for example shimano use steel/iron bearings while reels that cost 10euros use plastik bearings
Okuma & Abu Garcia are very good reels what ive seen of them :) It all depends on how often you go fishing and also how well you take care of your reel.My mate just got an Okuma (forgot which model!) & it came with a 2yr guarantee 8) (from ta' bormla) & i had few casts with it imho - a very nice reel ;D
I personally love Shimano reels as they use very good quality materials and are all well suited to their purpose.
True they are on the more expensive side but i give my reels ALOT of stick! & after a few seasons of hard fishing you can see where that extra money went as they are still as good as new!
It all depends on your budget but when your spinning your putting alot of continous stress on your reel and hopefully on your drag too!!! ;D so it makes sense (if you fish frequently) to get the best quality you can,rather than going through a bunch of cheap reels (like i did! ::)) with plastic bearings as owenbullu mentioned! or with carboard drag washers like a certain reel i once had,which gave way after the 4th bonito i caught on it! >:( The main shaft of the reel bent! although had it not i doubt the cardboard drag washers would have took much more abuse! :P
Ive also got a Penn spinfisher 850ssm which is a fairly basic reel "feature" wise but very,very sturdy and built to last! Again they are also a bit on the expensive side but i can't reccomend Penn reels enough! Obviously if you purchase off the net they are ALOT cheaper than buying locally... ;D
Got an old penn FD1080 7bb (lm58), been using it for the past 8 years and it still performs as new, abu i Got a small 4 bb (lm24)and after the first couple of months it started to go apeshit drag wise. Altough many ppl would say that daiwa make good reels I had 2 bad experiances with 2 of their reels, 1 was a massive reel 5bb (lm35)wich i used for rock fishing and the reverse mackanism just broke off one fine day, the other one was a small spinning reel 3bb (lm12 with 50% off) , landed 2 cudas and a bonito with it but on the bonito the middle shaft which holds the spool bent a little bit and it started giving me trouble by not positioning the line correctly and therefor having trouble while casting. Receantly got 2 warrior reels 7bb (20eur) and so far so good. I always rinse after use and open them up and give them a good service at least every six months.
Those are my good and bad experiances on reels, hope you can learn something from my mistakes.
Thanks guys,
with regards to maintence/care after fishing i always wash the reel with fresh water (spool only), then check metal parts and spray some solv-it. The reel i have is the cheapest possible (don't even know if it is branded). i hope i am not doing any harm.
For now i am just giving fishing a try later on will see.
One last question is there a price range by which you can determine that a reel is good. i mean for EXAMPLE if you spend 100 Euros it must be ok.
Thanks ta kollox
Depends where you buy it from!!!
Probably better to start with, what's your budget and then one can provide better advice.
just to give you an idea, i have bought a shimano catana 2500, its light and gr8, havent really been too long but for 40 euros, i got a good brand reel which is gr8.... you could go for that one if you like, and if you do your homework, you can get it cheaper online, since it still comes without warranty locally. it also comes with an extra spool. so i done ne with braid and another with thin mono, to use for clamari..
just my 2 cents
What about Classic okuma CL 450L? Gear ratio4.0:1 Any information re this reel? Thanks for your help
it's a good option for a trolling reel. I use a couple for barracuda fishing and is also practical for alungi.
the price as is all OKUMA models is great.
this reel caters for a 310mtrs of line 0.50mm, if you fill it with braided line then you can easily put thos 400 - 500mtrs of 50lbs braid!
Thankyou Placebo. So it is good a 0.50mm line for alungi? Or go for a 0.70mm?
I suggest 0.40-0.45 braid (as main line)... you'll have a strenght of circa 30 kg.... I have an Okuma SD45L, similar to the classic you mentioned (not sure) but sturdier... i bought 0.44mm braid from Ebay, 500m cost me around 23-25 euro.... breaking strain of 31 kg.... used once so far, cannot complain.
Thanks. Does colours of braid makes difference? Which colour do you suggest to buy or not to buy?
Mine is Marine Blue... there is black, dark green, grey, red, hi visability yellow.... if you are using a leader, it doesn't really make a differance...... depends were you are going to use it... i bought blue, cos i'll be using it for deep sea fishing and trolling. in harbours i use 0.12mm grey with a breaking strain of 7 kg.(15lbs)
I do not think colour makes much difference.
I don't think it does make it difference either if your using a fluro/mono leader unless of course your trolling off a boat with multiple rods in which case the high visibilty colours are probably the best way to go to see exactly where the line is as dark green and blue coloured braid can sometimes be hard to spot especially on sunny days...
:)hi i'm a new member and i like to know something about the okuma v systems reels especially the v-65sa.
and what kind of rod do i need with this reel.
my prefered fishing is spinning for tuna from shores.
Go for a size 55 not 65. The 65 is too heavy for spinning from land. The V System is a very good reel and it's still considered the top of the range for OKUMA but this model is quite old now. I would go for a SALINA 55. The salina is build in the newer aluminum narrow frame housing. Have a look at the SALINA at Ta Bormla in Mosta before doing any deal on the net. You might get a better deal from them than on the net.
thanks for your advise,i checked about the salina 55 but the spinning ratio is a bit slow consider the v-65sa,
the ratio of the salina 55 is 4.5:1 and with 5 bb but the v-65sa has a ratio of 5.8:1 and 16bb
i need a strong and fast speed reel.
hi guzeppi
welcome to the MFF
as they told you check the SALINA from ta bormla in Mosta the ratio for this model is 6.2:1 faster than the v-65sa (you'll retrieve the same amount of line per handle turn )plus they carry a two year guarantee (you don't get this on the net nor from other reel brands).
you'll end up holding a heavy reel which will make a difference if spinning for long hours. unless you're from gozo where they use size 65 & even size 90.
don't hesitate to ask any questions regarding okuma we'll be glad to answer you
BTW the Vs is a top of the range reel.
okuma
what model of salina you are talking about?
i've the okuma cedros 55 spinning and jigging reel ,it is a fantastic reel ,small light but very strong but it has small amount of berings,the ratio is good 6:2.1 when you are fighting with a big fish it is a little bit hard to spin.but it remains one of my favourite reel.
you're right i was talking about the size 55 still 5BB as your Cedros,
cedros was a success story for okuma and you're right, ta'bormla should have the last few Cedros 65 4.8:1 in stock; more cedros;salina & salina II reels will be available again in the first quarter of 2010.
okuma
does ta bormla have good spinning rods and where do i find him
YES of course he has
ta bormla is in Mosta's main road first corner from HSBC going towards Jupiter
okuma
ok thanks
Last time i went about a week ago Ta Bormla had some mitchell rods in stock. Which i believe they are good and not so expensive.
I happen to own a mitchell spinning rod.
Tc
i bought one today from here in gozo it's mitchell too it seems good for squid and also for spinning.
well done guzeppi Mitchell is a wonderful brand
okuma-1976
I can confirm that........we landed a 25kg tuna (about 5 years back)on a small mitchell and although it strained and creeked it held its ground amazing for a small reel with a tuna.
it's the rod i'm talking about it's the mitchell special carbon 2.70,i tried it yesterday for squid but there was nothing,the harbour was crowded with rods but nobody caught nothing till 9.00pm because i fed up and went home.
in the mean time a large number of xilep came under me and there was hundreds of them.