Good morning, afternoon and evening all. Most of my saltwater fishing is limited to about 4 or 5 days spinning for Sea Bass either in Ireland or the UK. I have a few different set ups depending on what type of ground I`m fishing but I use one of the following reels, a Daiwa Certate 3000 from 2013, a Penn Slammer 4 3500 , or a 30 year old Shimano Twin Power 3000. Next year, I plan to fish "Vintage" exclusively. I have a number of reels which I am considering using: ABU Cardinal 66, Mitchell 300 S, DAM Quick 330 or DAM Quick 3000. The ABU I believe is saltwater proof as it says so on the Rotor. Could I use one the reels, mentioned above, if they were stripped and cleaned after each session? I would be fishing from rocks so there would be no risk of water ingress. I really would like to use a Vintage reel to match a 10 Foot spinning rod from my youth. If none of the above reels are adequate, what would the membership recommend? Many thanks in advance. Conor
A noble endeavour. Can you tell us the specs on the rod you wish to match?
Thank you for the reply. Its a Berkley Grayfite GFI 10 Foot, 2 Piece with a casting weight of 3/4oz to 2oz....pretty basic, but very similar to what I used 40 years ago.
Quote from: Conor1000 on November 18, 2025, 12:11:53 PMCould I use one the reels, mentioned above, if they were stripped and cleaned after each session?
Conor, I suspect that you could use any reel around saltwater if you are willing to strip and clean after each session. Saltwater is hostile, but it takes a little time to do its damage.
In that case I will use the ABU. I will also have to up my game when it comes to cleaning the Drag Assembley! Thank you for the reply