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looking for a new pair of reels for ipowers

R

Ray Heath

Senior Member
I am using a pair of shimano 5000 gte reels on my ipowers mostly fishing lea and nene but would like to downsize them a bit as I feel they are slightly to big , I do need them to be baitrunners also .
I did have a pair of penn 460l reels until one of the handles came of somewhere and to get one from America is £40ish

what would you recommend
 
4000D sounds just the ticket for you unless you still need to hang onto the rear drag facility as some do find it difficult to swap.
I did exactly the same thing and swapped from the heavier 5010’s and 3500b’s to the 4000D. I don’t think I’d look at another reel now for 1.75 Tc or below
 
Another vote for 4000D’s, can’t understand why anyone would stick with a ‘snatchy’ Rear drag baitrunner, after trying a quality front drag reel. Just no comparison IMHO ( apart from a quality centrepin)
 
Neil Blood said:
Another vote for 4000D’s, can’t understand why anyone would stick with a ‘snatchy’ Rear drag baitrunner, after trying a quality front drag reel. Just no comparison IMHO ( apart from a quality centrepin)
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I agree the front drag on a quality reel just makes life so much better regarding its smooth delivery. What I have found with some anglers and my step dad is the same and that’s the difficulty in adapting when a quick adjustment needs to be made. Everything is opposite when you swap from front to rear including the way you you turn it as it’s facing away from you. My step dad has tried my reels and despite the fact he admits the drag is way smoother he won’t change to a front as he just can’t adapt to the differences in position. I’ve always had both so can use either.
 
4000D or OC as most have stated
 
Neil Blood said:
Another vote for 4000D’s, can’t understand why anyone would stick with a ‘snatchy’ Rear drag baitrunner, after trying a quality front drag reel. Just no comparison IMHO ( apart from a quality centrepin)
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Richard Isaacs said:
I would assume as they are replacing old school 5000’s and as light weight is the order of the day that they ain’t gonna be lobbing too much weight too far. But ya never know
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The 'old school" 5000's are imo are still the most durable of all the reels for Barbel fishing. Pretty much indestructible mechanics, and a finish that I like as understated as they come.

OK the rear drag is perhaps not as silky smooth as the new gear, but the free spool is, anyway I only back wind when playing a fish, playing off the clutch is for me not understanding what's happening at the business end of a fighting Barbel.

If these new reels give a fraction of service the 5000s have I will be impressed.
 
Neil Smart said:
The 'old school" 5000's are imo are still the most durable of all the reels for Barbel fishing. Pretty much indestructible mechanics, and a finish that I like as understated as they come.

OK the rear drag is perhaps not as silky smooth as the new gear, but the free spool is, anyway I only back wind when playing a fish, playing off the clutch is for me not understanding what's happening at the business end of a fighting Barbel.

If these new reels give a fraction of service the 5000s have I will be impressed.
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I was bought up on old school 5000’s Neil. I’m certainly not dissing them. I absolutely Loved my 5010s
 
Have used 4000 D's since they came out - no complaints or problems. Shimano 4000 X Aeros just didn't feel right to me.
Recently bought Shimano Thunnus 4000 CI4 's which although early days of using offer some advantages over the 4000 D's.
 
I agree with Bob on the 4000 X aeros used once then sold didn't feel up to the job. The gears also went on a mates had to be rebuilt by shimano.
 
Reading this thread, makes it sound as though rear drag reels were here long before the front drags... when in fact they are in comparison I suppose a more recent innovation.

I have used front drag reels since I was about 12 years old, and am now 67, and never ever found or saw the need to try the new fangled rear drags , until I was given a second hand Shimano something or other with a rear drag, which worked OK but seemed so fiddly to use in comparison to the front drags I was so familiar with. Even the ever reliable but very dated Mitchell 300, when it has had the drag "sorted" is a far nicer animal than most rear drag reels

David
 
It’s a very big misconception that people believe the modern reels don’t carry the same level of quality as the older ones. As far as bait runners are concerned I’ve owned 3500b’s 5010’s and 4000Ds.
There isn’t much I don’t know about any of the above because I don’t just use my reels I strip them, I clean them I service them and if need be I repair them. My 5010’s I knew inside out,back to front, upside down they’d been apart and serviced every year for over 20 years. I can tell you now that the design and general material quality of the mechanical parts inside any of the above reels is no better or worse than one another. All use high grade metals for the gearing, worm drives, shafts and bearings. That’s fact.
The designs are different though as the older series reels use 2 worm drives 1 for rotating and one for up and down. The modern reel uses 1 for rotating but the up and down is done with another gear and a carriage located on that gear. This only means when you remove the main gear it must go back exactly in the position it came out or it will jam up after half a turn. Not a weak point just a design change and it still works
The 5010 has a small slither of stainless steel spacing out two parts of the body, it’s held in place when the case is shut. It always falls out into the reel and can go undetected on rebuilding so again not a weak point just something to watch. Unfortunately no reel is perfect. I still can not believe shimano took a couple of grams off the 4000d by reducing the bail arm diameter. Yet they gave it a beautifully solid stainless steel handle. Why not make that a mm thinner. Madness!!
Yeah I know it doesn’t cause people problems but it will if you accidentally drop it from waist height I can guarantee you that. The 5010 got cast aluminium handles!!! Again why? One good drop they bend. Don’t attempt to straighten it. Ask me how I know.😳
A little tip if you have rear drag reels you can improve the smoothness of that drag a lot by applying graphite powder to the drag washers very sparingly indeed. You don’t want it in the reel body. This actually improves the drag 100% more. 3500b was a awesome reel
It has no weak points at all. However the line lay was shoddy to say the least and it was just too dam heavy for smaller rods imo.
4000d spool prices get mentioned a lot and again I think it’s because it’s misunderstood what your buying. Your not just buying a spool your buying a beautifully machined very high tolerance anodised aluminium spool with a complete drag system built inside. Bargain at £30.
For me the 4000d isn’t perfect but it ticks more boxes than the others.
I’d love a pair of Thunnus reels but they rock up at another £100 on top and you don’t see many spares on offer in this country. A few extra bearings and a few ounces lighter ain’t really the changes I would make to a 4000d to make it better.
 
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