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Reels (to go with that full armoury of rods)?

Chris Jones

Chris Jones

Senior Member
Now that we've established here that some have a much bigger armoury of rods than others, what about reels to go with them?
Personally, it's a couple of old Shimano 5010 baitrunners and a couple of shiny new Shimano 5000 GTECs for me. I can also pilfer my carp reels (GTEC 10000s or Ultegra 5500 XTBs) should I end up chucking for the far bank on a big river.
After making the mistake of picking one up in a tackle shop, I've got a hankering for a pair of Shimano 4000D baitrunners, although I'm not entirely sure why.:eek::D

So, what is it? A couple of trusty small baitrunners to do everything? A lovely looking and very expensive centrepin? Huge, big pit reels that seem to hold more line that a bulk spool has on it, or a combination of the lot?
 
For the Trent i use a pair of Daiwa Basia's. unbelievable winding power, long chucking, and maybe the best feature is the quick drag, which IMO negates any need for a baitrunner, a perfect big river reel. Smaller rivers a pair of Shimano 4000D's, very nice. I also have a near new Fred Crouch pin, which has had 4 outings so far, and is crying out for a barbel.
 
I still have my old ABUs, and use them on occassions (but lets skip over that).

For baitrunners, I use Okuma Epix Pros in 40 and 60 size (the former my general purpose Barbel reel, the latter for big rods on big rivers in big conditions). They are now discontinued and I have yet to see the new ones. A few outlets still have stock of the Pros.

I see quite a few using Shimanos, but was warned that if you go for an XTEA buy the 6000 not the 5000 as the gearing is better.

As for pins (for Barbel), I have the Okuma Trent (not for lefties) and a Crouch Aerial. Sadly the Aerial handle came off (Fred fixed that), and the stem rivets have just started to come loose (I fixed that). I still like the Purist II and the Kinpins, but would need a long discussion with myself about priorities before I bought one new.
 
Trent - Cardinal 55
Other rivers - almost always a pin, usually my Lythe or a Speedia.
Occasionally - Mitchell 301 though they are usually on my carp rods.

Used a few Shimanos, the one i really liked was the 3500b. Top pike reel, but (to my tastes) a bit big for barbel.
 
A pair of Shimano 3500B's are my main barbel reels now, the clutch on these is superb. Got them in Florida in 2008 for about £40 each - bargain!
Still got a pair of old 5010's that get a fair amount of use when I'm using lighter lines.
Have a 'Harlow' 5.5" centrepin which is great for the barbel, don't see many of them about, got it for peanuts on E-bay.
Also a pair of Fox Stratos 10000FSE's that live on my carp rods, at least they did last time I looked, haven't been carping since last April! :)
 
I use my Daiwa linear X's on the Trent or sometimes a pair of 3500b's.I like my Shimano Aspire or XTEA for the smaller rivers. As for pins I've just bought an Okuma Trent & also have an old Trudex which is a bit of fun. I have an old Mitchell match from my youth which I now use to prop the garage door open :D
 
I have to agree the clutch on the 3500/4500/6500 is superb. Its hard to find these cheap now. I have a 6500B which I used for cats on the Ebro but if I was to go for a small baitrunner I think i would opt for the 3500/4500.
I use Ultegra XTB's for the Trent but thats because most places I fish there need a long cast which the 6500 isn't the best real for.
 
My 'modern' barbelling reels are ABU Cardinal 54's , but I do, in the main enjoy fishing with old [50 + years] mitchells and pins of similar vintage . However I do own one reel which might interest people in the context of this thread that is the Mitchell predator electronic . This is a fairly hefty reel , sort of Fox Stratos size , it has a freespool facility , decent clutch and best of a all a built in audible / visible bite alarm . It sounds a bit of a gimick but they really do work and I have used mine for barbel and caught said species . I am sure it would me well up to the sling it to the horizon casting sometimes required on the very big rivers .You can pick them up cheaply enough , or at least you could ...
 
I fish the lower Thames and have 2 set ups depending on the river flow.For heavier work I use a pair of 2.25lb Fox Zandermasters coupled with 3500 Sea Spins which have great cranking ability and a superb clutches.My lighter set up is 1.75lb Prodigys with Shimano 5000XTEA's.I can't agree with Darryl on the gearing subject as all the XTEA's(5000,6000,8000 and 10000) have the same 4.6:1 gearing.The 5000 being 75grams lighter than the 6000 but obviously its line capacity is less.Used to use Fox FS7000's on the lighter set up,but gave up after having 3 changes of reel due to faults.The line lay,casting ability and clutch was superb on these reels but just lost confidence with them,as I was always waiting for something else to break.

Pete.
 
Shimano Aero GT 5010, Shimano Aspire 4000RA, Young's Rolling Pin MKII , Heritage and Purist II.

and other smaller Shimano's
 
On my I-Powers :- Shimano 5000GTE's
On my Drennan Powers :- Fox Stratos 7000's
When the mood takes me on smaller rivers I use a Fred Crouch pin, or another, smaller pin I have which suits my stalking rod.
I find the 5000GTE's perfectly balance the I-Powers, although the clutch on them isn't as good as the Fox's, but the Fox's are a little on the heavy side and do feel almost a little stiff whilst winding. Superb clutch and line lay though.
 
5000 xtea's for me,love em,interesting to read the 5000/6000 debate,my mate bought the 6's to go on his torrix,we both agree they're just a bit too heavy and bulky for general work,he wishes he got the 5's....:)
 
For me, virtually all my fishing is conducted using a pair of Sundridge Trophy Centrepins and when needing to cast a little further I use a pair of old Abu Cardinal C5's...all a little dated but 'feel' about right...

...would love another trophy pin - not that I have seen them come up for sale very often.
 
A pair of 5000 GTE-B's loaded with 10lb Big Game Clear ( 8lb on the spares ) and a pair of 5000 GTE-C's loaded with 10lb Soft Steel Camo ( 12lb on the spares ).

What? No 'pin? :eek:;)
 
Oh hell, ones of the barbel nature:
some retired ABU, Daiwa Black Diamond 1600X, 2 x Dam Quick CD 350 baitrunners, 2x Team Daiwa TD 1650 F and more modern reels 2 x 5000 GTE, 2 x 5000 XTEA, 2 x Ultegra 5500 XTB, Twin Power 4000 XTR, 2 x Baitrunner 4000D, 2 x TwinPower 4000 FA plus some others. Oh and a Okuma Trent.
Best of all the front drag Twin Power 4000 FA (non baitrunner).
Bit like my rods - moved a lot of the earlier stuff on - Mitchell 300's, Mitchell Matches, Ambidex, Intrepids, Cardinals etc.
Still got my beach multipliers ABU 7000, Daiwa Millionaire 6HM, Mitchell 602 AP - I mention these as I have caught barbel on the multiplier but that was on a ABU 6500 which I sold. Something I just had to do was catch one on the multiplier.

Cheers
Bob
 
I have been using a pair of Okuma interceptor ibf 30's for most of my Barbel fishing; they have been well and truly abused and are as smooth as when I first got them.
I have Shimano gt 4500's on my Carp/Pike rods but have been using them for flood water barbel work recently, great reels quite hard to find now though.
On the quiver tip I have an early Allcocks centrepin which I know nothing about but it is perfect for nearly all my chubing.
Oh and have just got a pair of very cheap centrepins intended for barbel.

Tom
 
With my pair of 2lb TC torrixes I use Shimano 5000 XTEAs

With the pair of Torrix floods Daiwa Tournament Linear X 5500BR

With the single peregrine 11 foot GTi I will be using a cardinal 55 as soon as it arrives or a rapidex pin depending on the venue and conditions. I expect that I will be using this rod with a pin more next season.

I am happy with these reels and can cope with pretty much any barbel fishing situation

Conrad
 
Had a pair of 5000 xte-a's and sold them.. big mistake.... realised how good they were and what i was missing so bought another pair which double up as carp/barbel reels, also use a pair of epix pro 30's for the lighter side of things, have the new interceptor pro 30 model as a spare, almost as good as the epix pro's but just a tad heavier, have a stradic which i could press into service although it's only the 2500 but it would do for the small rivers and an exage rb which would do the same job..
i find the 5000 xte-a paired with the daiwa infinity 1.75 is just about perfect for me, took quite a while to get the right combination that suits me, now i have limited time to go because of work and health issues, sods law!!
 
5000 XTEAs for me as well, just right for my new rods...cheers Phil :).

Had been using Daiwa reels for a long time, couldn't fault them, v. smooth drags. Just a bit dull looking. Unlike my nice shiny Shimanos...
 
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