i am looking to get into the small reel big fish tackle. small powerful reels with spectra and top shots. i have looked at all the manufacturers but still cant settle on one because i have found weak areas in all of them for me to lay down over 500.00. the reel i want first of all should have stainless gears,heavy duty drags and bullet proof anti reverse.i have heard negative things about avets bearings and accurate AR bearing in fact there is a video on you tube that the rep from accurate introducing the new dawg reel says its the weakest point in the reel. the problem is they are only changing to dawgs in the larger reels. ocuma, finnor dont have stainless gears...........any suggestions
Snagger,
Reels are like all mfg'd products w/built-in compromise's, and thats why we here on this forum take brand new products apart and make them as-right-as-possible. Now in regards to physical size; IMO one must take the laws of physics into consideration in choosing a reel for an application. In general, size equates to strength (excluding hi-tech materials vs standard materials). This said; I dont go overboard expecting a small reel that will deliver the necessary drag needed for the occasion for its frame and internal components to stand-up to a long protracted fight with a big fish (the big fish usually wins or destroys some parts in the battle). Ive seen reels destroyed by some mean fish on Long Range trips in the past. I like to error on the side of caution and add some mass for security and therefore I fish and utilize ANY product concervatively for longevity and durability. Im looking forward to what the others have to say in regards to your comment.
My two cents,
Leo
i bought a set of okuma makaira 8 two speeds for 50# spectra and a 30, 40 or 50# topshot, and a set of makaira 10 two speeds for 65# topshot for 40, 50 or 60# topshot. good luck!
Snagger,
What kind and how big of a fish do you want to catch ???
John
Have a look at Jigging Master reels. Dont be put off by their fancy asthetics. They are very powerful reels for their size and have
recorded some surprising captures.
Look at Accurate ATD series. How small do you want to go? An atd 6? Has everything you asked for . . . IMO a way better reel than the BX2 series.
Accurate showed some smaller dawgs at I Cast, maybe they will be hitting the market soon?
A ATD-6 will be double the $500 he was talking about.
i think Alan came up with close to what i am looking for with the Okuma Makaira.....stainless gears, heavy drag and two mechanical dogs no AR bearing.However SoCalAngler says accurate maybe will be coming out with smaller series of the DAWG reels. Have you guys seen the tripple dawg reels................ http://www.charkbait.com/cs/csrac.htm i like the design ...its in the cover and is simple......if socalangler is right im gonna wait for accurate
Since you talked about Charkbait, Mark has a pic of the new Dagws here but no mention of the sizes he saw.
http://charkbait.evecommunity.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2741078602/m/525005927001?s=6061010491&ORIGINAL_REFERRER_URL=http%3A%2F%2Fcharkbait.evecommunity.com%2Feve%2Fforums%2Fa%2Ftpc%2Ff%2F2741078602%2Fm%2F525005927001
You may want to call Accurate and see what sizes they plan to come out with.
Edit: I forgot you have to be a member (its free) to see the pic. I cant seem to add it here on my edit so I will do another reply to see if I can add it
(http://charkbait.evecommunity.com/eve/forums/a/ga/ul/855005927001/inlineimg/Y/AccurateDawgs.jpg)
(http://www.charkbait.com/cs/images/accurate-TD.jpg)
That's a cool, simple and tight design. Are the dog pins made from machining out of the side plate or pins inserted into the side plate?