Help! I need a new reel for light waggler fishing.
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S-Kippy
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I’m not sure that Skippy was necessarily referring to the guys on this thread when he said that Kev. Although I may be wrong
Keith
I wasn't....but as Keith clearly recalls there have been more than a few on here over the years who will not have a word said against their beloved 300's and still think they are the greatest. In their day they probably were but their day is gone.
As for the longevity of modern reels who knows ? Its a disposable society and they are so ( comparatively) cheap if they fail after a few years who cares ? If my reels were getting hammered 2 or 3 times a week then I'd be spending more than 35 quid BUT they're not so I'm not going to pay top dollar for some ridiculously overpriced thing because its a trendy model or whatever.
Not a reel but to illustratd thd point I had a waggle of a Guru feeder rod last weekend...£450 !!!!! It was a crock of shoite imo. I've got better rods that cost a tenth of that.
I got a free shimano 4000 sizes reel,cost about 15-18 quid,only one spool,but that is more than ten years ago and it's still running,I think some reels that cost 150 notes are terribly overpriced and are targeting what's in most of us,tackle tarts,I think there are a lot of very good match anglers out there that do not use dab bail or closed face reels,but catch fish very quickly and efficiently,as good as anyone,it's all about smoothness and practice.
Keith M
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Thats a great buy, especially as it comes with three spare spools (4 spools in all).
The only small niggle that I have is: why on earth do all four spools take 265m of 8lb line? especially as they advertise that it makes a good waggler reel. At least Drennan supply 3 different capacity spools.
A little extra thought would have made the reel a bit more practical, and they might sell a few more also.
A nice reel for the price though; even more so if it came with spool reducers, or spools with more practical line capacities.
We don’t all have thousands of metres of spare line hanging around to use as backing on our spools.
Keith.
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sam vimes
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Much depends on the brand and the specific reel in question. My favourite of the last ten years was a top of the range Shimano rear drag (actually front and rear drag). It came with a total of three full metal spools. The asking price didn't look nearly as bad when you factored in at least £60s worth of spare spools in the package. Today the top line Shimano rear drag reel comes with two full metal spools. A similar looking reel, with fewer of the latest bits and bobs, still comes with two spools, but the spare is composite rather than metal.
However, I suspect that many anglers don't actually use spare spools. So many buy a reel to go on a specific rod then leave them made up. A spare spool is of little use to those folks. Personally, I generally want a minimum of two spools with a fixed spool reel, but I don't generally leave rods made up. Even though I've probably got enough reels, and definitely rods, to not need to swap about, I like some flexibility to change between line breaking strains or floating/sinking lines.
Agree with this
I wouldn't use a 300, but the 440a does still have some "best of" features that means it's still a competitive choice for me
Also agree with this - I'm a complete anomaly on the open match scene now (using a 440a and 507)
But
a) the difference in performance really isn't that critical judging by my results (either that or I'm a superstar who can cope with the handicap :wh)
b) I can't be hassled to change my finger dab technique now after 40 years
Keith M
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I’m not one of these guys who doesn’t change their line strengths on their made-up rods; although I do know at least one angler who does this; and most of the guys I know who occasionally carry their rods ready made-up do the same as me so do require their reels to have spare spools.
When I carry one or two of my rods ready made-up I usually make them up the night before or occasionally after getting back from a previous fishing session.
I never carry a 3 piece float rod ready made-up (or any of my other 3 piece rods), but If I am regularly fishing a fairly shallowish water where I know exactly what fish species I will be fishing for, and I know exactly what baits I will be using, and I know most of the swims like the back of my hand, then I will sometimes take a 2 piece float rod already made up, but that’s not to say that I wouldn’t be using the same reel loaded with different line another time at a different water with or without a different rod.
As I have more float rods than float reels and I fish lots of different venues for numerous different species, with a float; the ‘one reel one rod’ idea is totally out of the question for me.
Keith
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You know me Chris, I don't leave rods made up. I like to have at least one spare spool because like yourself, I might want totally different lines or breaking strains of lines on each. This means I can use higher or lower strength hooklengths which will work better with the mainlines.....if you get me jist.
No,what it is,is you have the main part of your fishing well sorted,feeding,shotting,control etc,so you could frame with an intrepid black prince...
mikench
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My first reel Alan when I was 10!!! I haven't a clue whether it was good, bad or indifferent! I seem to remember it was 9s 6 d!!!
I see the point of the one rod/one reel idea - but that's not for me. I never make up float rods in advance, and even for feedering - apart from the odd visit to carp commercials where you might as well stick a reel with 6lb line on, like everyone else - I like to choose a reel line, hence spool, that fits exactly what I'm doing. Who'd try to cast a 2BB float on 4lb line when it will cast so much better on 2lb? Or feeder with 6lb on a river when 3 or 4lb will let you use less weight? I've bought reels with compatible spare spools for donkey's years - I have about 15 spools that will fit all the 3000/4000 size reels. When I've bought the odd reel that doesn't share these spares, it has often ended up under-used because it only has x or y line on it , unlike the interchangeable ones where I have the options of 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 4....... sinking or floating etc. I'll always have a couple of spare spools in the bag. It may not happen often, but who has never had a line disaster, like pulling for a break, and the line breaks at your end, or a wind knot or similar costs you 30 or 40m of line? I think the right line is no less important than the right rod, and having spare spools lets you choose it.
Mike, don't know how old you are,but the black prince was my first reel too,21s 6d,I had that reel(in a cupboard)into my thirties and took it to Radwell on the Gt.Ouse and caught seven or eight chub trotting with it,or in spite of it,lol.
Very kind of you to say so Alan - and that was kinda my point. As I don't use the clutch, the reel is the least important item of tackle forward of my right elbow.
I never had a black prince (coz I is young :wh) and graduated from a couple of cheap shakespeare reels to the Mitchell within less than a couple of years of properly starting to angle (we moved to the Ouse Valley in 79 and I've got a photo of me using a match from 1980).
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mikench
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Alan your memory as to prices may be better than mine! I suspect you may be right! I would have bought it in 1964 or 1965 when I was 10! I emember wanting an Abu something or other but it was just too much!!!
markcw
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Alan, he used to be a hod carrier when they built the pyramids, Tutanmikeum he was known as.