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Small reel advice please

S

Simon Haggis

Senior Member & Supporter
A bit of a gap in my tackle is a light perch/chub rod having broken most of the avons I've ever owned now!

I was going to pick up one of the Fox Duolite Avon rods and was wondering what reel to pair it with.

I quite liked the look/price of this Preston Innovation reel and wondered if anyone had used one?

http://www.climaxtackle.com/preston/pxr_reels.htm

Any comments appreciated.

cheers, simon
 
Hi Simon,

As a possible alternative the Daiwa Whisker 3012 maybe worth a look. I use one with a greys powerfloat for my chub fishing and cannot fault it.

Cheers
 
I've had a bit of a play with both the Drennan and the Preston reels. The Preston is a nice reel that ultimately I'd have little use for. I had it pegged as a commercial carp feeder/float or general river tip fishing reel.
Likewise, the Drennan also seems like a nice reel in a similar vein though slightly more "match" leanings. The colour coded spools were a nice touch and IIRC you get a total of three in the box. Again, I don't have much use for the Drennan as I've got old Stradic 3000 and 4000 GTMs that do all that either could do. However, at the price of the Drennans I was tempted to buy one of each size because I felt that they were excellent value. My suspicion was that they were underpriced and I could easily see a cosmetic change and a good £20+ being added to the price.

In a different price bracket entirely, I'd suggest that the Baitrunner 4000D might be worth a look (if you are feeling flush) for general specimen fishing on the lighter side. Should marry well with any Avon type rod and will easily cope with pretty much anything you could throw at it outside of far bank chucks on big rivers. The spools may be a little deep for really light lines though. If you aren't feeling that flush then perhaps the Baitrunner DL FA or ST FA might be a viable alternative with a more sensible price tag.
 
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Hi Simon,

I have the Preston reel paired with my avon. It's a nice reel, cosmetically looks the business, very smooth, very good line lay and under hand casts well. I've yet to test the drag though, as i've only had a coule of small chub using it. Compared with my fox's I use the for the barbel they ooze quality. I guess you get what you pay for as these reel I reckon are built to last like the old mitchells.
Rgds
Paul
 
I still have my old mitchells but couldn't really trust the clutches on them for light lines.

I think the drennans look great for a cheap job, the shimano 4000's are fantastic but overkill for what I need but maybe the cheaper and smaller 2500 brunners might do the job.

I have a decent shimano on my float rod, shimanos for barbel rods and shimano for carp rods, various sizes kicking about the flat in various states of disrepair too as I basically trust shimano 100%.

I just thought the prestons looked decent and might have a good front clutch. Hurry up and catch some bigger fish Paul and let me know please!

Thanks all.
 
Daiwa whiskers look about right actually, seem very similar to the prestons. Neither is a Reel brand I've had anything to do with though.
I like the preston video clip though, some good solid no nonsense northern engineering!

Abu, Mitchell or shimano to date for me.

Cheers
 
Andy Shaw said:
Drennan Series 7 ;)
Great little reel, dont own one myself but seen a mates and very Impressed.
Thinking of getting one myself.

Andy.
Click to expand...

what!
drennan make a reel now...:D
they look a little cheap but i do have a series 7 rod which is A1.
 
Simon,
Take a look at the new Shimano 2500 Baitrunner...Two "trim" levels...I've seen the ST [cheaper] version and it's a cracking little reel...If you go on eBay you will also be suprised at what price you can pick one up for...Only critism of the ST is that it only comes with one spool and being a new model buying spare spools is a little difficult at the moment.....Spools are also quite deep so need a fair bit of backing...

Good luck with your quest,

Bill W
 
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Sure i read a review in the Mail on the Drennan which said something along the lines of 'it's a good reel for occassional use' which made me wonder just how durable it actually is.

Trevor
 
All depends how much you want to spend, also if you want it for multiple use. Seen the Prestons,but would prefer either a Spro red Arc, or the Daiwa Whisker, both are very similar.
Money no object get yourself a 4000D.
 
I have had a load of good sized carp using a SPRO Red Arc during the close season last year. The clutch is an absolute joy, highly recommended by me - in fact I am going to use it with my Peregrine GTi for roving where I do not require a bait runner. I'd love a 4000D but the SPRO is really very very good. Thanks for reminding me Jon.

Conrad
 
I think that the fish will see the larger item, i.e me a long time before they will notice the reel. I am also bright red after a long walk :)

Conrad
 
baby baitrunners

hi everyone
I dont think you will go far wrong with the new shimano baby baitrunners..the dl 2500fa is absulutely spot on for barbel fishing..smaller spools that hold roughly 140m of 10lb line..:)
 
Hmm nice

Hmmm nice

Is it just me or do the Drennans look very cheap?
 
white reels, red reels, blue reels? no thank you. I just couldn't abide anything that is not black or gun metal finish.

it's just not cric..I mean fishing.
 
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