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Reels ....thinking outside the box

Terry Harman

Senior Member & Supporter
Absolutely love my shimmy 3500B,s but the line lay drives me absolutely mental being a bit CDO ( that’s ocd in alphabetical order) so been looking at other reels for my big river set up Trent etc.......started looking at the usual diawa ....shimano... but then started looking outside the reels I would normally go for.. and found there are some very good reels out there without the silly price tags ...was looking at okuma ...korum.....spro....etc anyone use these brands any recommendations...6000 size maybe mini big pits not overly fussed about bait runners either
 
My father in law highly rates Okuma.
I have a dinky little one I use for spinning, 2000 size iirc. It’s been a little peach, nice crisp drag and smooth. In my limited experience it’s a brand worth looking at.
 
This chap
www.alanhawk.com
has some interesting reviews & that includes dismantling each reel & analysing the engineering quality. This Penn has super line lay but maybe not as waterproof as claimed for example: https://www.alanhawk.com/reviews/spf.html
it's been updated since the review so may be better.
Good luck with the search - I've got a couple of Mitchell 306's for piking which are tough as old boots & I wouldn't want to change them though they are way out of fashion.
 
Absolutely love my shimmy 3500B,s but the line lay drives me absolutely mental being a bit CDO ( that’s ocd in alphabetical order) so been looking at other reels for my big river set up Trent etc.......started looking at the usual diawa ....shimano... but then started looking outside the reels I would normally go for.. and found there are some very good reels out there without the silly price tags ...was looking at okuma ...korum.....spro....etc anyone use these brands any recommendations...6000 size maybe mini big pits not overly fussed about bait runners either
I Had some 4500 b and I tapered the spool with tape to get a better line lay
 
I have a pair of Okuma Longbows, in fact I have had them for about ten years now, probably more in fact,good size for big river fishing, they have been faultless and as tough and reliable as any Shimano or Daiwa.They have a silky smooth Front drag ( that is a must have for me ) and obviously are a baitrunner, two alloy spools each, apart from that the only downside is that they are the first edition, and only seem to be available now from abroad, there is one on the' bay now for £56.90 + a tenner posted from Austria mine were somewhere around £20.00 each when I bought them, the Longbow XT is a bit different in appearance, so dont know how robust the new ones are .

I was a bit sceptical when I bought the first one, I thought, buy cheap buy twice, two trips later I had bought its twin brother I was that impressed.

David

PS, Line lay is excellent as well !
 
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This chap
www.alanhawk.com
has some interesting reviews & that includes dismantling each reel & analysing the engineering quality. This Penn has super line lay but maybe not as waterproof as claimed for example: https://www.alanhawk.com/reviews/spf.html
it's been updated since the review so may be better.
Good luck with the search - I've got a couple of Mitchell 306's for piking which are tough as old boots & I wouldn't want to change them though they are way out of fashion.
I've a couple of good conditioned 306's for sale if anyone is interested :)
 
If you really want to think outside the box, get on Ebay and check out Yumoshi reels. 12bb+1 or more indicates top quality reels.
I've been using them for 4 years, spinning or float fishing for Salmon and without doubt they're the best fixed spools I've ever owned. 4 yrs and they're still faultless and the clutch is pretty good, unlike similar lesser spec models made in the same factory and sold by Daiwa for considerably more. Allegedly.
Theres a beautiful new model, a bit less garish than some, in black and red. I'll post up a link later but usually they do a range from 1000 to 10000 with excellent diagrams, drawings, weights and measures.
Seems too good to be true? It isn't.
I'd buy one of those black and red ones in a heartbeat if the others fail. Can't see that happening in my lifetime.
 
Can't seem to be able to post the link. I'll have to do it on the PC. In the meantime enjoy the above which was on my clipboard. Gorgeous and talented or what?
I don't mean Darryl Hall, by the way.
 
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This is the new one:-https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yumoshi-13-1Bb-Spinning-Fishing-Reel-Metal-Xs-Series-Spinning-Reel-Fishing-J4K4/174222024145?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D67c8079fec1c48e18fc647c8b0063861%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26mehot%3Dnone%26sd%3D174222024145%26itm%3D174222024145%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3A98e1632a-1191-11eb-ab82-ca9a5716d416%7Cparentrq%3A3dd65b8c1750a9bd5ec3ad32fff9e736%7Ciid%3A1
 
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My Mrs as just surprised me with a brand new Daiwa cast’izm 25qda reel and I must say I’m very impressed with it 👌

I have a set of 3 of these on my Torrix carp rods. Top notch reels! No baitrunner just quick drag, although they do (or did do) a baitrunner version being the Castizm BR25A. I'm sure those would come under the banner of high end baitrunner reels and if anything like the 25QDA, just as good!
 
This is the new one, I want one.
This is one of the 2 I have. I've done most of the Salmon spinning with this one. Bale arm operation has been 100%. 3 years spinning probably equates to a decade ledgering.
.
Avoid any that are UK supplied. They will be the poorer quality ones sold very cheaply and sold on at a profit.
 
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Still like my Okuma travertine 65,s came with a load of second hand stuff, and a lot of reels like the Yumoshi that i have owned and bigger versions of makes that i have never heard of are pretty good i destroyed a tronix pro reel after only 1 season beachcasting whilst the cheap Chinese reels are still going strong and looking at the shape of them are very lose to the latest penn blasters. Whilst i am not denying that their is some crud out there it pays to look around .
 
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