The whole story started when a Senator 113HLW was in my ownership since yesterday. Today after a full teardown of the handle side plate and gear train I put all the brass parts in a solution of vinegar, salt and flour for about an hour followed by a lot of elbow grease. Then new grease was applied throughout and now the handle side plate internals are looking almost OEM :) .
The next upgrade will be a Tiburon wide frame and a stainless steel gearsleeve.
"salt and flour"? How'd it taste? ;D Vinegar soak is well known, but never heard of that. Looks good though! So you're going to fish for Wels catfish with it?
That is my plan. The salt vinegar and flour trick I saw on a Youtube restoration video and it worked very well so I decided to give it a go. Also I rounded some of the sharp corners on the inside of the plate, this will reduce chipping when the rel will be serviced/upgraded further down the line.
How hard do those guys pull?
Even thought I have not hooked any large ones the wels catfish can put up a good fight but nowhere near what the big game saltwater species can dish out.
Many anglers in Europe use large spinning reels and heavy test curve carp rods to catch them with good success. A minority of them are using small multipliers (Abu 700 size) and medium weight boat rods and saltwater rated heavy spinners (Fin-Nor Offshore/Black cat reels)
Hi Tile, do you have any percentages, of you vinegar, flour & salt solution, thanks cheers Don.
I just put whatever amount I saw fit.
Quote from: Tile on April 05, 2020, 09:13:35 PM
internals are looking almost OEM .
I'm not sure OEM ever looks that good.
-steve
Dunno what they pull like, but my uncle in Germany would go after them every year. He was a big guy, about 250, and he had a picture of him sitting on top of one holding its mouth open. He had a head mount and you could put a volleyball in it, easily.
It's rumored they've swallowed a kid on occasion. :o
Only rumors, the largest ones caught measure up to 130kg and they are few and far between.
I believe he fished the Danube and Volga with his buddy from Yugoslavia. Sadly, after the wars he was never able to catch up to his friend again. I saw the mount in 1996 on honeymoon to Germany. He fished Abu 7000 as you stated; one of his prize reels.
Given that an Abu 7000 reel can stand up well to a wels catfish, the 4/0 Senator is more than capable of making one swim backwards. Can't wait to get my hands on the Tiburon wide frame :).
Quote from: Tile on April 06, 2020, 04:25:24 PMGiven that an Abu 7000 reel can stand up well to a wels catfish, the 4/0 Senator is more than capable of making one swim backwards.
In open water even an undersized reel can get it done. But when that beast decides to run into his cave, it's game over unless you have a big reel! Yeah, your Senator will stop 'um either way.
When you do catch one, be sure to post a photo of that bad boy!
Dominick has landed marlin around 300 on the Tank, a narrowed 113H. Catfish is screwed.
After I am getting some very important aspects sorted, I will plan to go for some heavy fishing as I have plenty of heavy duty tackle (solid fiberglass rods and multipliers).
Tiburon frame ordered :)
Now the Senator has a Tiburon frame, next upgrade will be a stainless steel gear sleeve.
The brass sideplates screws on my Senator got replaced with stainless steel ones. On the non handle side I had to trim them to length and now I am planning a stainless steel gear sleeve and it should be it for the reel.
Next I will need to catch some fish with it (may be the first one to do so).
Very tidy reel Tile, it should last forever.
Mike
Uh oh, you caught the fever. The reel madness begins! It's addictive.
Nice reel. Nice work polishing the internals. Vinegar, salt and flour, I've got to give it a try next time around.
Well, where's the Wels? ;D
Once the covid madness ends and I get some important aspects sorted I will go for one :) . Speaking of reel madness, I have a drawer full of them, mostly small levelwind conventionals, several baitcasters and spinners. I also have several reels at home in Romania :) - I think I too far gone for a 12 stage reel detox program :).
Quote from: nelz on April 06, 2020, 04:52:47 PM
In open water even an undersized reel can get it done. But when that beast decides to run into his cave, it's game over unless you have a big reel!
No truer words have been spoken & good advice for any cat fisher dude any where. Open water any North American Blue cat or Flathead can be sleighed quickly with a reel producing 15 lbs. or close in drag. When you move close to structure a big Blue or Flathead can pull 20 lbs. of drag easily for short distances.
Took me a while but finally I've learned it's not always necessary to fish right in the middle of structure on the river. By saturating a specific area on the perimeter with as many legal lines & live baits as possible, using a paternoster rig ( a float appropriate for the size bait used will rule the day fishing structure for big cats on the river) I can cover top to mid range depths with a few bottom rigs tossed out also. The water column & bottom area is saturated with baits tossed out as closely together as possible with out creating snags.
With fishing there is of course no sure thing. However most big cats cant sit for an evening or night with this going on in front of them. Especially in late summer when the bait fish population in specific holes begins to diminish & all of a sudden 3, hopefully more meals splash down close.
It has become one of my fall back techniques. It allows me to toss baits a little further from logs or what ever structure I'm fishing giving me more time to react to a strike. The fish I catch on average using this method are bigger than average size caught cats using other methods. This method can also help a smaller reel work when used on big cats in the rocks, logs or what ever... Jeff
The Senator will receive a nice gift in the form of a stainless steel gearsleeve.
Stainless is the only way to go, if you can spare the $$. Never have to worry ,again!
Tile, you're like me - make that old brass shine! It probably doesn't make any difference in performance but somehow I think it makes the machine work better.
Soooo... where's the Wels? ;D
The wels will show up eventually :D
Do you Romanian fellers "noodle" for your catfish? It might save some wear on that pretty reel. ;D
No. We do not noodle for catfish.
The SS gear sleeve doesn't do much good with the brass main gear.
Keith
The main reason for the ss gear sleeve is to stop the rounding off of where the handle attaches but i would use a ss dog to go with it. The bronze main gears are really tough & smooth running. I doubt you could strip it. The steel gear may be a little tougher but it hasn't been proven. Rudy
Quote from: Squidder Bidder on May 27, 2022, 01:02:16 AMDo you Romanian fellers "noodle" for your catfish? It might save some wear on that pretty reel. ;D
Lol, I'd like to see someone attempt to noodle a 300++ lb Wels! :o
Quote from: nelz on May 27, 2022, 04:35:48 PMQuote from: Squidder Bidder on May 27, 2022, 01:02:16 AMDo you Romanian fellers "noodle" for your catfish? It might save some wear on that pretty reel. ;D
Lol, I'd like to see someone attempt to noodle a 300++ lb Wels! :o
There is an episode of Chasing Monsters where Cyril and his pal did noodle a wels catfish. I don't think it was a 300 pounder, but it was still big!
Cyril will try anything!
Come to think of it, I did see an episode where he was noodlin' cats, but it was in the USA and he did get a biggun', like 40lbs, tore up his hand pretty good too, but it was not a Wels.
Quote from: nelz on May 27, 2022, 05:44:26 PMCome to think of it, I did see an episode where he was noodlin' cats, but it was in the USA and he did get a biggun', like 40lbs, tore up his hand pretty good too, but it was not a Wels.
The same guy he noodled with in the US went with him to Spain to get the wels 8)
Quote from: nelz on May 27, 2022, 04:35:48 PMQuote from: Squidder Bidder on May 27, 2022, 01:02:16 AMDo you Romanian fellers "noodle" for your catfish? It might save some wear on that pretty reel. ;D
Lol, I'd like to see someone attempt to noodle a 300++ lb Wels! :o
I think for cats that get bigger than people, instead of noodling it's "straying"
put a stray in a harness w/ shark hooks... let it drift out on a log... yank it off :o
While I was in Romania I got around and installed the stainless steel gearsleeve on the Senator. The retaining pin took a bit of finessing to stay in its place but be easy to remove when needed.