525 Mag that took a dunk at OBX during the nor'easter. Pleasantly surprised with very minimal water intrusion and only a little sand in the spool. Lubed the bearings and drags while I was there anyway; got another 20-30 yards in the test pond.
Still my favorite 20# reel. Dump that stock handle and bolt on a Torque handle and you'll be set.
My 525 mag has the old round drags rather than the eared gears/drag washers.
don't overtighten the side plate screws. you can actually deform the frame a little and lose freespool.
Agree on handle; and IS my favorite drum reel.
Alan, noted! I only "snug" on graphite reels in any case, working opposite sides gradually like a tire. I'm going back in this winter and pull the shields out per your tutorial.
If you want Penn's part number for the Torque handle you can get it here. Mark found this mod when I posted it on another fishing board but I posted it here first to give the AT members the first look.
The old pics blew up some how and I don't have them saved here so sorry for their size in this thread.
http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=3997.0
Thanks, I was about to ask for it! I also grabbed two straight 525's and am considering magging but want to throw them stock first just to see, I throw 535 and 545 well as is. Any thoughts?
Well, to tell you the truth I don't use the mag on my 525. I back it all the way off and use thumb control. That was the way I was taught as a boy with reels that didn't have a mag and in the middle of a hot bite I may just grab a setup that I think can handle the size of fish and cast one out. Now if I have a mag on some reels and not on others then I have to remember which reels to use my thumb on and which ones not to. So for this reason I don't use the control.
It's kind of like sometimes I use circle hooks on some setups and others I use J hooks. My solution is to never swing on a fish to set a hook anymore. My hookup rate seems to be the same without swinging on J hooks so now I don't have to remember which hooks I have on what setups.
Quote from: SoCalAngler on October 18, 2015, 03:47:12 AM
Well, to tell you the truth I don't use the mag on my 525. I back it all the way off and use thumb control. That was the way I was taught as a boy with reels that didn't have a mag and in the middle of a hot bite I may just grab a setup that I think can handle the size of fish and cast one out. Now if I have a mag on some reels and not on others then I have to remember which reels to use my thumb on and which ones not to. So for this reason I don't use the control.
It's kind of like sometimes I use circle hooks on some setups and others I use J hooks. My solution is to never swing on a fish to set a hook anymore. My hookup rate seems to be the same without swinging on J hooks so now I don't have to remember which hooks I have on what setups.
I wasn't aware you didn't have to set a J-hook, Maybe related to the type of fish.
I know if I let go of the tension for just a couple of seconds while a fluke happens to be on the other end, it will spit the hook back on the boat. ;D
Quote from: Alto Mare on October 18, 2015, 12:24:43 PM
Quote from: SoCalAngler on October 18, 2015, 03:47:12 AM
Well, to tell you the truth I don't use the mag on my 525. I back it all the way off and use thumb control. That was the way I was taught as a boy with reels that didn't have a mag and in the middle of a hot bite I may just grab a setup that I think can handle the size of fish and cast one out. Now if I have a mag on some reels and not on others then I have to remember which reels to use my thumb on and which ones not to. So for this reason I don't use the control.
It's kind of like sometimes I use circle hooks on some setups and others I use J hooks. My solution is to never swing on a fish to set a hook anymore. My hookup rate seems to be the same without swinging on J hooks so now I don't have to remember which hooks I have on what setups.
I wasn't aware you didn't have to set a J-hook, Maybe related to the type of fish.
I know if I let go of the tension for just a couple of seconds while a fluke happens to be on the other end, it will spit the hook back on the boat. ;D
I went over why I don't swing on fish anymore here. If you would like to discuss this more we should open up another thread.
http://alantani.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=siugj5h0835gkdqe21t4buk474&topic=5482.0
Also I'm not saying I ever let the line go slack or don't have tension on it I just don't swing to set a hook.
You are right Mark, I forgot there was a discussion already.
Sal