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looking for a new pair of reels for ipowers

Hi,
Sorry if this has already been covered.
To people who have owned both, how do the Shimano OCs compare to the old Bs/Tritons?
Matt
 
I've had the 6000 OCs on my pike rods for a few seasons now, and I've also used the 4000OC for barbel on smaller rivers like the Warks Avon. I use the 3500b's for barbelling on the Trent. The 6000OC is larger than the 3500b but slightly lighter in weight. And the 4000 OC is smaller than the 3500b and a lot lighter. The drag on the 3500b is awesome, probably the best of any reel I've owned or used and they feel so solid, especially when winding in heavy leads and feeders. They are incredibly well built - but that's not to say the OC's aren't as they do appear to be 'workhorse' reels. It's just the 3500b's feel better. The line lay on the OC's is infinitely superior, in fact its fair to say the line lay on the 3500b's isn't the best, you could probably say its a bit crap - but I cant honestly say I've found it a hindrance to my fishing as I'm rarely casting beyond mid-river and I'm always stripping off line or respooling if I feel its suffered any abrasion.

All very good reels tbh. If you were tempted to get the 4000oc's I'd say you might be just as well to get the 4000d's which I using, although too early to say just how much better they are.

Its a shame Shimano never produced a 5000 oc/d - that could be a great all-round specialist reel.
 
Joe Winstanley said:
and they feel so solid,
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They do don’t they. That reel is practically indestructible.
if shimano built 5000 of them then there is probably every chance 4900 are still kicking about in working nick.
the other 100 dragged to the bottom of the river cos that’s the only way your killing a 3500b.
I had a rough pair that I’d bought very cheap on gumtree, dents in the spools. Covered in scratches and marks but they ran like new. I had them a good few years
in the end I sold them for what I paid as despite they were so good they were just too heavy for my rods. The line lay was crap but like you say it didn’t matter at all. In fact it was part of their charm.
 
I really like the look of the Shimano 4000D. Do you guys that own them have the 4000 or 6000 size?

Thanks,

Andy
 
Andy Frances said:
I really like the look of the Shimano 4000D. Do you guys that own them have the 4000 or 6000 size?

Thanks,

Andy
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Used the 4000D since they first came out - excellent reel and have 4. Good line lay, clutch and no trouble with them. Ideal small/medium river reel. Spare spools a bit expensive. For larger rivers 6000 size or if you can afford them have a look at the Thunnus which is slighly lighter in weigh and has heavier duty gearing and clutch.
Shimano Thunnus 4000 Ci4
Cheers
Bob
 
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Andy Frances said:
I really like the look of the Shimano 4000D. Do you guys that own them have the 4000 or 6000 size?

Thanks,

Andy
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They are excellent reels, Andy.

I have 3 x 4000d and love them. Excellent clutches. Use them for chubbing, barbelling and surface fishing for carp.

Minor gripe is that the bail arms are abit flimsy. I always make sure nothing is resting on my reels when they are packed away so I havent had an issue but I have seen you have had recent bail arm troubles so thought i'd mention it :)
 
I have the 4000 and 8000 size thunnus, same as D type, shame they didnt do one in between sizes imo. I primarily use the 4000 for small rivers and the Trent when low water, however sometimes wishing I had the larger version. The 8000/6000 will tackle anything. That goes for the Ds and OCs too.
 
I have a pair of 4000D’s Andy and they’ll handle anything I want to do on the local small to medium rivers I fish (Nene, ivel, Lea, Ouse,) I’ve used them on the Swale in normal conditions and again they’ve performed fine. General Rods of 1.5-1.75 they feel quite balanced on. They are not going to punch a 5 once lead to the yond bank of the Trent but that’s ok because they do beefier models for that sort of fishing. I like them because of the general size and weight and the fact they feel a quality unit.
The front drag is quite exceptional and the single solid stainless handle just screams quality as does the machined aluminium spool.
They are let down slightly by the lack of material diameter in the bail arm. A lot of people say it isn’t a problem but it is because I can tell you from experience that 1 single drop onto grass is enough to deform it from its original shape. Buy a pair so you have a template to straighten it back out to😂.
It’s the only single drawback to the reel I’ve found. Shimano were not on their best thinking day when they decided they could shift some excess weight from this area. Overall I’d give them a 8.5/10
With a slightly thicker gage of wire on the bail they’d be a 10/10 no question.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
They are let down slightly by the lack of material diameter in the bail arm. A lot of people say it isn’t a problem but it is because I can tell you from experience that 1 single drop onto grass is enough to deform it from its original shape. Buy a pair so you have a template to straighten it back out to😂.
It’s the only single drawback to the reel I’ve found. Shimano were not on their best thinking day when they decided they could shift some excess weight from this area. Overall I’d give them a 8.5/10
With a slightly thicker gage of wire on the bail they’d be a 10/10 no question.
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Strangely they decided to put a better quality, thicker gauge bail arm on the cheaper OC model, I'm guessing the marketing bods at shimano must have been giving them a steer that they needed to strip some weight off.

It would be easy enough to fit the D with the OC bail arm, I wonder how much Felindre etc would charge for supplying one?
 
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