so i had a little envelope from smooth drag come in today (3 days from cali to Pa isnt too shabby) and one of the reels that i ordered washers for was a cabelas salt striker. i handled one of these reels at the closest store and it feels smooth for a $70 reel so i figured i'll pick one up.
the specs are as follows
SS-50B drag:17 lbs.
cap 390/12lb 280/15lb gear ratio 4.5:1 bearings 9+1 weight 16.2oz
graphite frame and sideplate, aluminum spool
it has been mentioned that the reel could perhaps be made by okuma but i'm not certain (another cabelas brand reel that i own has daiwa right on the spool and directions and looks exactly like an exceler)
the stock oiled felt drag was plenty smooth out of the box but 3 #23 washers from dawn certainly can not harm the situation so i lubed them up with teflon grease as the master taught us and in they go
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j292/yota924x4/IMG_20061_zps214eccc4.jpg) (http://s83.photobucket.com/user/yota924x4/media/IMG_20061_zps214eccc4.jpg.html)
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j292/yota924x4/IMG_20051_zps62bac4c1.jpg) (http://s83.photobucket.com/user/yota924x4/media/IMG_20051_zps62bac4c1.jpg.html)
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j292/yota924x4/IMG_20031_zps227a5182.jpg) (http://s83.photobucket.com/user/yota924x4/media/IMG_20031_zps227a5182.jpg.html)
so after this i'm changing a daiwa 2500 over to CF and an inexpensive daiwa d-wave combo that i picked up for the GF since that reel feels like the drag material was made of recycled pencil erasers. now every reel i own that fishes over 10lb test runs teflon greased carbon fiber and the worlds problems are one step closer to being solved...
Thanks for the pics and post. I had one of these a couple years back. Did the same and upgraded the washers to cf greased. Only problem I had was that the main body cracked right at the base of the stem where it comes into the gear case. Ever since then I only buy spinners that have alum. Bodies. You should be ok if you don't push it to hard. Thanks for the post.
Bob
the baitrunner SS's are definitely Okuma, maybe an old Epixor platform... the standard ones look kinda' Pflueger[ish]