Reels...What are you using

[Monty]

I was exchanging e-mails with Rip-Plugger and he suggested we start a thread about the reels we use. Showing pics and some info on the reels. I thought it was a great idea so I'll recap how I came about taking the plunge for a couple Van Staal reels. It would be great if others also posted info on their reels. We can start building up a little information data base for others to see and use when they are looking to get surf fishing gear.


My experience with reels for fishing the surf until a few years ago was with Penn reels. The 5500SS, 650SS, 750SS etc. I was happy with them as they stood up well to the fishing I was doing. Then I read about other reels better suited for fishing plugs. Reels that were free spinning, smoother, lots of bearings. So I sold a bunch of Penn reels, raised come cash and bought a couple of Tica Taurus reels and was very happy with the smoothness of the reels. I then got a good deal on a Quantum Cabo 40, talk about smoothness, wow.
When I fish I am usually a mile from the jeep, so when the anti-reverse went on the Cabo one morning I was annoyed to say the least. I purchased a back-up Cabo 40 and now lugged around a spare reel. While that Cabo was light and smooth as could be, the bail would close during a violent cast and plug would be launched towards England. Fixed that problem and removed the auto bail mechanism on all my reels. But the Cabos really did not like it when I got sand on them and I tend to treat reels bad (laying them in sand and dunked often. Now I had read about Van Staals and thought that spending $600 on a reel was crazy, but reading how rugged they were and the problems I had with the sand and lugging around the spare reel, I decided to take the plunge and purchased a VS 150 that was used only a couple times ($500). Was not as smooth as the Cabo and I needed to get used to the bailess reel (placing line on spool). But no more back-up reel, no more worries about dunking and sand, no more bail issues, no more anti-reverse issues. I had found the reel that fits all my requirements and that I enjoyed using. The next year (during the winter) I then found a decent deal on a VS 250, hardly used. This reel would match up perfect with the rod I used this past fall. When I caught my first Albie this year and the drag was screaming it felt great landing that fish with that reel and rod. Not one problem this year with those two reels after dunking them and laying them in the sand. My quest for the ultimate reel to fit my style of fishing is over.

[Monty]

Rip-Pluggers Reels

1-top-Omoto Hubilie,777-S3 High capacity,high speed ratio 5.3-1,4
ball-bearlings

2-left front-Omoto Jungle-5000,standard size,high speed raitio-5.3-1,3
ball-bearings

3-right front-omoto Jungle 6000,wide spool,high capacity,high speed
ratio 5.3-1,4 ball-bearings


1-Ming yang CL-70,blue Yonder Blue,high capacity,260 yds of 25
mono,ratio-4.7-1.

2-Ming Yang CL-70,bright red,high capacity,260 yds of 25 pound
mono,ratio-4.7-1

powerful drags and cranking power along with strong gears make these
reels a true bargain at a low cost.

availible at Stingraytackle.com

[Great South Bay Bucktails]

I have to get some Pics

I am a VS lunatic and i will tell you why ...I fish hard and in spots where i haveto wade alot . And using your rods a walking stick then cast and land a fish with out a problem ....Price less 4 - VS 2-250 - 2 200 .
And conventional i went with Avet Mxj's ...I am a US made guy !I have to be being a small us company.


I destroy reels and have had no problems with either Avet or VS

[Rip-Plugger]

Rip-Pluggers Reels

1-top-Omoto Hubilie,777-S3 High capacity,high speed ratio 5.3-1,4
ball-bearlings

2-left front-Omoto Jungle-5000,standard size,high speed raitio-5.3-1,3
ball-bearings

3-right front-omoto Jungle 6000,wide spool,high capacity,high speed
ratio 5.3-1,4 ball-bearings


1-Ming yang CL-70,blue Yonder Blue,high capacity,260 yds of 25
mono,ratio-4.7-1.

2-Ming Yang CL-70,bright red,high capacity,260 yds of 25 pound
mono,ratio-4.7-1

powerful drags and cranking power along with strong gears make these
reels a true bargain at a low cost.

availible at Stingraytackle.com

Thanks to Monty for posting the pix!.

the first 3 reels are made by Omoto,a fine reel manufacturer.
IMHO omoto is underrated and under exposed but,at the same time,their works is all over as they make reels for many companies.shakespeare and Abu/Garcia just to name a couple.
basically,the Jungle series and the Hubilie series are an older version of the abu reels.
the top shot is a 777-S3 which is identicle to a 7000 abu but at half the cost.

internally.they share a lot of the same parts.They are smooth,solid and tight.
I would recommend one to any fisherman that cast winch reel.
the 3 reels in the picture are brand new but I am totally positive that they will perform as they should with high reliablity and powerful smoothness.

At this time let me thank a VERY generous guy by the name of Ray Lorenzo[www.stingraytackle.com] who sent me the Omoto Jungle-5000 and Jungle-6000 to try out,beat up on ect.
Thanks Ray!!

now for the bottom 2 winches,these are made by a small family company by the name of Ming-yang.
yeah,I know they are not shimanos BUT,if you fish winch reels a lot like I do,you will be vey surprised at how great they perform.
I bought one 2 seasons ago for very cheap,around 38 dollars.
I thought "yeah,this thing is going to blow apart at the first hint of a fish,it won't cast worth a ****,it's gonna strip it's gears" ect.

WELL,I was pleasantly surprised at how well it casted,it did every bit as well as anything I had,top or mid shelf!
I liked the first CL-50 so much I bought 5 more some CL-60's and CL-70's.
the drag,very simple with 2 friction washers,1 on each side of the main gear,anti reverse is the relaible dog/ratchet type[CL-70 has an IAR bearing instead],and it comes with a nice power handle.[love the dog/ratchet]

I took apart my CL-70 for a cleaning and greasing and was stunned at how simple and how very little there is in the way of parts.
inside there is not much at all,just some small springs,2 gears,a spacer,a cogged wheel to trip the freespool and not much else.
it was a dream to clean and grease.
these 70's are large too but,they cast very well,ya just have to adjust your thumb as the brakes are very passive.

SO,with a very low initial cost,low maintenence you have a great high capacity reel that cast very well and has a powerful drag on the very cheap,,now tell me,who can pass that up?
not me,my MY's are now on their 3rd season!

Now,C'mon and share pix of your gear with the rest of us,share some info about your rig,it can help all that are here to share some info.
I'll be sharing more reel pix as we go since I have quite a few rigs.

stay warm/well M8's

R-P

[Monty]

R-P, I have seen you mention winch reels many times. What is a "winch" reel. I was assuming a conventional reel, is it a certain type? Or slang for conventional?

[Rip-Plugger]

R-P, I have seen you mention winch reels many times. What is a "winch" reel. I was assuming a conventional reel, is it a certain type? Or slang for conventional?

Ahh,Monty,my saltwater brother,you are indeed sharp,thats exactly what it means!
slang for any kind of convench reel.
they do look and work like a winch too.

R-P

[Rip-Plugger]

I have to get some Pics

I am a VS lunatic and i will tell you why ...I fish hard and in spots where i haveto wade alot . And using your rods a walking stick then cast and land a fish with out a problem ....Price less 4 - VS 2-250 - 2 200 .
And conventional i went with Avet Mxj's ...I am a US made guy !I have to be being a small us company.


I destroy reels and have had no problems with either Avet or VS

yeah,C'mon share your pix with us.we can use this thread as a place to share info on reels.

R-P

[gjb1969]

tica abyss, sporterra, baitrunners freedom baitrunner two spinners one little baitcaster

[DarkSkies]

Cool thread, guys, those pics got me I'm still stuck with the Penns, but I gotta get me a winch this year when some $ comes around. I lost some nice fish last year because I couldn't turn them. When you start gettin above 30's, VS or a winch is the way to go. There's a lotta hatin on the VSs, but they won't let you down.

[Rip-Plugger]

Cool thread, guys, those pics got me I'm still stuck with the Penns, but I gotta get me a winch this year when some $ comes around. I lost some nice fish last year because I couldn't turn them. When you start gettin above 30's, VS or a winch is the way to go. There's a lotta hatin on the VSs, but they won't let you down.

Hi DS,
I don't know the VS since I don't do spinning for 15 years now,they are drinking hateraide on the VS because it is that damn good,thats the only reason why.
now,since penn went plastic,the metal reels are ok I guess,don't know much about them outside of what I hear and I hear a lot of negative at my local B&T.

R-P

[Rip-Plugger]

Cool thread, guys, those pics got me I'm still stuck with the Penns, but I gotta get me a winch this year when some $ comes around. I lost some nice fish last year because I couldn't turn them. When you start gettin above 30's, VS or a winch is the way to go. There's a lotta hatin on the VSs, but they won't let you down.

DS,

you can still put up pix and state how your rig/s have held up,those facts are what a newbie can go by if they want to get started in this lifelong game of ours.
show us,,,
any mods you may have done to make it better or cast farther or even make it smoother will help too!

R-P

[DarkSkies]

OK, RP my bare budget Penn 550's











my bunker and clam pole, a garcia mitchell 303 with a garcia true fiberglass 12' rod, about 40 yrs old. I bought the exact same reel at a flea market for parts today, $15.

[Rip-Plugger]

thats what I mean DS,they get the job done right?

how are they holding up?


R-P

[Monty]

I used to use nothing but those Penns and thought they were great.
They held up better than anything the others I was fishing with had.
I sold a few of the Penns I had but kept these (and will keep them).
I always thought that these reels were good for surf fishing, could handle the salt and sand much better than average.

[Rip-Plugger]

Monty,

I ain't a spiinning guy or even like penns but i know those are some cold pieces.

[Rip-Plugger]

sold one of my ming-yangs to a friend who loves it so,I replaced it with a brand new CL-70 Chrome Rocket,,

[Rip-Plugger]

Took out the Omoto jungle-5000[courtesy of
Ray at stingraytackle] for a session last night.
it is an exceptional machine,smooth,powerful drag,fast and has purrdy cosmetics.
I was pleasantly surprised at how well it did eveything.from wood to rubber.
I really must say that it's as nice as anything I own,I am very happy with it's performance.

I look forward to slinging some wood and other gear with the 666-A3 and the 777-S3,I am sure they are as fine a machine.

Thanks Ray!!

R-P

[Frankiesurf]

I was killing reels on a regular basis. When I first started out a few years ago, I had gone through three cheapo reels in a year. I then went to Quantum Boca 40. That was a good reel and I use it on my lighter stick but I needed more. That is when I got me a Penn 6500SS. I was kind of sick and tired of always having to regrease and clean it out so I went and got myself a 650 at a good price. Just so I had a little lag time between pulling one apart and fishing the other. Now I had two reels to regrease and rebuild. It was getting very old last fall so I made up my mind to do A LOT of research and settled on an AMERICAN MADE reel with a LIFETIME warranty. I picked up a brand new ZX-25 at less than the price of a vs250.








BTW someone said they like American made but vs is made in CHINA

[DarkSkies]

Frankie, thanks for the research, I'm leaning towards a ZB by the end of the year. I'm sick and tired of busting reels up cause they get sprayed once in a while by an overhead wave or something like that.

These reels are all good for the casual fisherman, and will last a long time if you treat them like a newborn when you get home, wash wipe, etc each time. If you start fishin more than one or 2 days a week, you realize these reels were not built to handle abuse and bigger fish, or run after drag screaming run. It is what it is.

I'm wondering what the price range for the ZX-25s is, you can pm me if you want, thanks.

[Monty]

With the VS and ZB being so expensive, used is an option.
Both VS I have (150 and 250) are used and saved a few hundred smackers that way.