modern bait casters

mike1010 · July 06, 2015, 08:25:04 PM

What modern bait casters (round or low profile) are built to last, for example don't use plastic wear parts in the drive train, excluding the level wind? I'm looking for something that can hold about 135 or so yards of 15 lb mono.

Rant:

This comes up because the pinion gear on my current reel ate the plastic yoke. The reel is an Abu Garcia RCN-5600 Record (small Ambassadeur) that is less than two years old and has not been fished to death. I've used it only for fluke and scup. This failure is a known issue with some Abu Garcia reels. See http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=11681.0 and http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=14029.0, for example. I really do get it, that marketing and engineering involve cost/benefit trade-offs, but this design is unacceptable on a $200 reel. Fabricating a better yoke is not something I am set up to do, and there are other plastic parts in the reel that look questionable.

Whatever I work out with Pure Fishing, I may replace this reel. Too bad, because it fishes really well, or did before imploding.

Mike

nelz · July 06, 2015, 08:31:40 PM

Daiwa Luna 300. Click on my site's link below and read all about it.

mike1010 · July 06, 2015, 08:57:26 PM

Thanks. I prefer centrifugal brakes to mag, based on my experience with an Avet MXL MC.

nelz · July 06, 2015, 09:10:38 PM

Actually, the 300 size is centrifugal.

Rivverrat · July 06, 2015, 09:30:28 PM

Penn Fathom 12. Dont know what price range your into. I can also recommend the Okuma Komodo 350 or 364 these are in my mind benchmark low profile baitcasters. My 364 has brought some large fish to the bank. Maybe a little bigger than what you want but will cast as well or better than the 5600. They are also much more sturdy reels. The Andros 5 narrow deserve a look also. Few look at the Andros for this class but I find it very worthy for line below 20 lbs.

These reels may be a step or two above what your looking at with more capacity. However their durability is why I've started using them for light line & staying away from newer Abu reels & other bait casters in their class.

mike1010 · July 06, 2015, 10:12:07 PM

Thanks, but these reels are all bigger than what I want. The application is casting artificials 1 to 3 oz. max and very light bottom fishing. The Komodo 253 and 274 look interesting. Any idea what the internals look like? "Aluminum gears" sounds a little suspicious.

BTW, spinners don't cut it for me, or I wouldn't have asked.

Mike

handi2 · July 06, 2015, 10:56:56 PM

I like the Daiwa Lexa series. Very strong reels but may be too big for you.

steelfish · July 06, 2015, 11:07:00 PM

daiwa lexa 300
daiwa lexa 400
curado 300
calcutta 300TE
cardiff 300

those are proven reels

Rivverrat · July 06, 2015, 11:13:13 PM

Aluminum gears doesnt sound good. I agree with the other post about the lexa. Dont fish them but two friends have them in different sizes fish them through out the week every week & have had no issues with them.

jaypeegee · July 07, 2015, 06:28:04 AM

Interesting post.

For many reasons (Read stubborn and stupid) I would like to stick bait using an overhead reel.
For me, a Thousand dollar Stella is out of the question. SO I am looking at a baitcaster or level wind conventional option.

I see in descending order of cost/quality the TranxHG, The Lexa 400/Revo 60HS Then the Revo 50/Lexa300/Komodo/Curado
But.....

The TranX looks to cost more than I can justify. The use of double dogs is a plus but beyond that I see a brass gear with very shallow teeth. As to how this costs 30% or more than the Lexa/Abu does I am stumped.
The Abu and Lexa are very similar and I cant separate them in the abstract

But all of them have plastic doohickeys like the pinion lifter. As do the higher end Abu conventionals and my Akios conventional from memory.
As these aren't critical to the drag chain what chance of failure do they likely have outside of catastrophic failure elsewhere?
Is your experience typical or not?

I'm with you. I'd hate to buy a dog and know I paid a bunch for it. But what are the options?

mike1010 · July 07, 2015, 03:23:34 PM

Thanks for the replies. The Komodo 273V looks like a good fit, and can be had for about $140. But I am skeptical about aluminum gears, and it turns out that the pinion yoke is plastic. (All of the low profile reels I looked into have plastic yokes). I will probably just save the price of another reel, keep the Abu, and replace a couple of $3 parts every year. If Pure Fishing has a fix for the wear issue, I will share it.

Mike

Keta · July 14, 2015, 05:07:24 PM

Plastic LW idler gears are to keep someone from loosing a finger.

exp2000 · July 14, 2015, 05:22:55 PM

Plastic definitely has a place in modern reel design and is preferable to metal in some applications. I service a lot of baitcasters (mostly Shimano's) and have yet to see a problem with the pinion yoke. Can't help but think there is something else going on here.

Stay away from Okumas. Both Daiwa and Shimano have quality models if you wanna ante up. My choice would ba a Daiwa Zillion or similar amongst low profile reels. I am wary of Revos after seeing quite a few frames with bubbling finishes.

mike1010 · July 14, 2015, 05:46:13 PM

Sure, plastic has its applications, and idler gears are one of the important ones. In my Abu, the brass pinion reamed out the plastic pinion yoke. I don't see how the mechanism could be durable, at least with the shape of this pinion.

Pure fishing sent me a part #1224665 to put between the pinion and replacement yoke. They call it a "fender." It is basically a 2/3 circumference, thin stainless washer that goes around the neck of the pinion and shims the pinion away from direct contact with the bottom of the yoke. The missing segment of the circle is to allow clearance for the main gear. I will post a picture later.

The fender is a standard part on another reel, but not the RCN-5600. It will be interesting to see how things stand up.

exp2000 · July 14, 2015, 05:57:27 PM

Quote from: mike1010 on July 14, 2015, 05:46:13 PM
Sure, plastic has its applications, and idler gears are one of the important ones. In my Abu, the brass pinion reamed out the plastic pinion yoke. I don't see how the mechanism could be durable, at least with the shape of this pinion.

Pure fishing sent me a part #1224665 to put between the pinion and replacement yoke. They call it a "fender." It is basically a 2/3 circumference, thin stainless washer that goes around the neck of the pinion and shims the pinion away from direct contact with the bottom of the yoke. The missing segment of the circle is to allow clearance for the main gear. I will post a picture later.

The fender is a standard part on another reel, but not the RCN-5600. It will be interesting to see how things stand up.

Yeah this sounds familiar. Think I have seen this in some older ABU's?