Check out sixgill fishing gear. It’s good stuff and relatively cheap.
Gotcha Jack was just wondering. Pretty hard to fully kill those older SS reels.
Well my old Penn sounds like its nearing its end. I think it’s a 4500SS and about 18 years old. I guess decision time is coming soon. I’m a Penn guy with 3 newish fierce models. I like them but they’re a bit heavy. I might have to go with something smaller/lighter as the 4500SS was used for fresh and salt.
Its a shame to hear that about the Kastking. Their stats were off the charts for their price point. Still might check the reviews again and give them a try.
If I get around to replacing it this year I’ll try to give some input on how my purchase worked out.
First, Most, Biggest
for the money ive had really good luck with the okuma avenger with the baitfeeder feature. a 65 cost about $65 and served me very well during deployment. it worked great for snapper and grouper bottom fishing, bonefish from the shore, and shark/trevally with bigger baits. the only thing it failed to land was an estimated 8+ foot bull shark that would have spooled it if i didnt break the line on purpose.
Nice fish Mr. Nuke. Thank you for your service. I ended up pulling the trigger on two shimano spheres 6000 yesterday. It is a fairly small reel but for the 8ft rods I’m pairing them with the 8000 was huge on them. The big set back for me is the line capacity of the spheres reels. I use these particular rods up close for whiting, blues, trout, black drum and reds. For this application the smaller reel 6000 will work with braid. I will put a thinner braid on them and the capacity should be somewhere around 275 yds which will work for most any fish, just not sharks. I have some larger cabo 80 reels with 9 and a half foot rods that I put out a little further with cut bait that I catch on the smaller reels. I would have rolled with more cabo’s but when you get into the smaller cabo’s they are different. Less capable internal components. The cabo 80’s are" great" reels for bull reds and can handle smaller to mid sized sharks as well. Love them thus far. Very strong, very durable, and super smooth drags. The cabo’s and spheres are rated #1 and #2 on Alan Hawks list in my price range. Also spoke with the boy’s from Haddrels and for the money they suggested the Penn Spinfisher or the spheres. Then talked to their reel repair man Steve who really has first hand experience on the two reels, and he said he has less issues with the spheres. The reel Doctor pushed me over along with the reviews from Allen Hawk. The spheros is a poor mans Sargosa. Very similar except the drag on the Sargosa is more capable and seeing how I’m using this reel for small fish and reds it will be enough. The folks from Haddrels were great. The reel doctor is a huge asset for the company. The additional year warranty they offer is unmatched by anyone else. The spheres is sealed very, very, good and seeing how salt and sand are the enemy for surf fishermen, it is a good match. Only time will tell. On a completely different subject I learned something new yesterday that is a cool trick. When a two piece rod gets stuck together and you can’t pull it apa
For surf I like the Penn Spinfisher 6500 for all around best reel. Could go from 5500 to 7500.
I have a 6500 spinfisher and really do like it as well. I throw it out on 9 and a half foot rods. It has held up well for several seasons with no problems and still feels smooth. The spinfisher is built like a tank and also has really good sealing with better capacity than the shimano’s. The main reason I didn’t pull the trigger on one of them again is after having the 6500 and liking it allot, I went out and bought two 8500’s for sharks. After a year, one of the 8500’s had major issues with the drag, after little use. The reel was repaired free of charge and I ended up dumping it in a pawn shop. The 6500 is still one of my favorite go to reels in my surf spread. It’s versatile enough to handle good size reds without feeling like over kill, and is a blast for smaller to mid sized sharks. The shimano 6000’s are allot smaller than the penn 6500’s. They seem better for small fish and reds. Inshore if you like the penn 6500, Check out the cabo 80. Which is a hefty 6000 reel with added capacity. They are solid like the penns, have powerful smooth drags, and are perfect duel reel for nice reds and mid size sharks. The sealing is not as good as the spinfisher or the spheres. Just killing time till next season, can’t frigging wait.