50 size casting reel for under 200 for sharks

[Bunnlevel Sharker]

I want a 50 (casting) size star drag reel for under 200. Top of my market seems to be a saltiest bg, with a fin nor going a little over. Tell me what y'all think I should go with.

[alantani]

when someone says "50" size, i usually think of a penn international 50 and others in that class. 

[Bunnlevel Sharker]

I switched it to say casting

[Ron Jones]

So are you saying 50 pound line casting reel? If so then the sky is the limit. You could put together a really nice Senator for that price or go with several other manufacturers. What kind of reel are you looking for.
Ron

[maxpowers]

penn fathom 25 or 30 size.  25 lbs drag and cast like a dream.  $160-170 brand new on ebay.

[Bunnlevel Sharker]

When I said 50 size I meant in the general size of a daiwa 50, penn fathom 40, and fin nor ofc 30 which are what I'm trying to pick from. Probably should have added ima use it for sharks

[Ron Jones]

I really like the Diawa of the three, but of course all three will work.
Ron

[CapeFish]

Fin Nor is bringing out a new version of the offshore. The Fin Nor casts very well and takes more line than the Daiwa. Daiwa not a bad bet but thet have been plagued with pinion gear problems in the new model. If you use braid backing and a 200m  0.55 or 0.6 topshot you will get plenty over 600m of line on all these reels. A Torium 30 will also work or if you really want capacity then a Torium 50.

[Jeri]

Hi Guys,

Been selling the Finnor OHC series of reels pretty much since they first came out, and over here they had a big hill to climb against pretty much market domination by Diawa Saltist. After 18 months of using one personally I wrote a review for one of our magazines, and said look out for the Diawa copy of this reel, as the Finnor was by far better – and then within 12 months we had the Saltist BG hit the market.

The Diawa faithful followed their hearts bought the BG, and then a huge up roar about the failure of the pinion gears, some folks weren't even getting 1 day of fishing before the gear failed. Diawa didn't respond well, but now 18 months after they introduced the reel, they are marketing a new version with an improved pinion gear.

What I like about the Finnor is that nearly all the components are metal, very little plastic or chromed plastic in the construction – the old Saltist had a chromed plastic lever for free spool, and they have copied th design straight across to the new BG Saltist – trouble is that after a few years this lever fails at the connection point to the shaft, and is a pain to get spares.

We have are a service centre for Finnor, and I have used very few of those spares that I bought 2 years ago, even the bearings last longer in our market, which is quite abusive.

However, I would hold onto your cash, as later this month should see the arrival on the shelves of the new Finnor Lethal, which is their upgrade version, deals with some of the very small problems that the original has, and they have upgraded the drag further as well as going over to hybrid ceramic spool bearings – had a demo model for a few days last year, and it is a dream machine, and have been busy selling all my stock of old model Finnors since – and just waiting for the end of February when the new model will be available – this is going to knock the socks off the competition. Super fast for casting, powerful drag, and built like a tank.

To answer the original question – a 'no brainer': Finnor 30 all the way, or wait for the new model. We even got sponsorship from Finnor for our International team last year, and all the guys were full of praise for these reels, and several have switched over fully to them from Diawa.

Hope that helps



Cheers from sunny Africa


Jeri

[CapeFish]

Jeri,

Thanks for sharing, that's good news. I have been looking for a larger capacity reel, but just can't get myself to cough up for something like an Avet and Trindad 40's are virtually impossible to get hold of these days. How is the anti-reverse dog looking in the new Fin Nor? Have they improved it or is it still such a small little thing?

Cheers

Leon

[Tightlines667]

I have also been impressed with the smaller (30 down) FinNor reels.  Well designed, alot of drag area, lots of strength.  My only complaint on these guys is that the drag ramps up a little quicker then I like.  

I personally do not like the larger FinNors though, and have seen alot of different problems.  They have some good design features, but there are also some flaws, and they're a bit 'finicky'.  They can produce drag though, and they are lightweight, smooth (outta the box), and are finished nicely.  Unfortunately, I would not recommend them as a true big game trolling workhorse, based on the failures in many different parts that I've observed.  Also, I don't like the way the drag engages on the low end.  

As I said the smaller reels are great, and don't seem to suffer from some of the issues that are apparently more common in the larger models.  Sorry to post a str8 opinion w/o getting into particulars regarding design features...I'm a bit tired at the moment.

I must be tired..should have read the post, I have no experience with the FinNor star drag reels, the above refers to Lever Drag models.

[Shark Hunter]

Come on Grayson!
Who are you kidding here.
For Sharking, Senators are King!
Fifty, Smifty, 9/0 is your fifty!
A 12/0 is all you need bruh.

[CapeFish]

Come on Grayson!
Who are you kidding here.
For Sharking, Senators are King!
Fifty, Smifty, 9/0 is your fifty!
A 12/0 is all you need bruh.

You guys probably use Senators to catch bonefish on the flats 

[Ron Jones]

Come on Grayson!
Who are you kidding here.
For Sharking, Senators are King!
Fifty, Smifty, 9/0 is your fifty!
A 12/0 is all you need bruh.

You guys probably use Senators to catch bonefish on the flats 

A 112HN with 5:1 gears would work for that!
Ron

[Bunnlevel Sharker]

Come on Grayson!
Who are you kidding here.
For Sharking, Senators are King!
Fifty, Smifty, 9/0 is your fifty!
A 12/0 is all you need bruh.

I need something i can cast out to for smaller ones Daron. U know im pulling big guns to i want something i can flip over for kings to, might be getting a fin nor. My girlfriend aint ready for nothin bigger than the 4/0 yet!