Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Randy - I will defer to the experts but I will also take a stab at the answer.  After having the pleasure and the honor of fishing salmon with both Maxed Out Ted and Hardy Boy Todd, I will say that while salmon are beautiful and tasty fish that I suspect they just don't pose much of a challenge or fight when hooked up on a conventional/multiplier reel and rod combo? -John

Tradition!

Most of them have a drag and when you have a four-inch spool you don't really miss having multiplying gears.

Kings vs Cohos; best tasting? Best pound for pound fight?

Quote from: MarkT on August 11, 2025, 06:05:16 PMTradition!

This and it is more fun/ skill to play them plus you have infinite drag control when palming the reel. Fly fishermen know. Anyone can just turn the handle on a multiplier. Salmon dont really require it IMHO.

Todd

i think that the guides give us these reels just to get a laugh. 

Quote from: alantani on August 11, 2025, 08:47:56 PMi think that the guides give us these reels just to get a laugh. 

Alan, I think that you hit it on the nose! Mark, I'm sure that tradition is a factor, in fact when I asked that question of captain of the boat when we were salmon fishing at Quadra Island a few years ago, that was basically his answer. Todd and John answers make sense too, it's a lot more fun to catch those beautiful fish without the benefit of modern technology, although it seems like a big king can give you a real workout on light gear.  They come tantalizingly close to the boat and then take off on short runs, over and over again, while you pray that the hook doesn't pull.

That trip is on my bucket list!

Steve

Quote from: Vintage Offshore Tackle on August 11, 2025, 03:54:22 PMAlan, can you explain why the Canadians love those direct drive reels? 

 I resemble that remark. Lots of guys in washington use the single action reels for chasing salmon in the saltwater. They're commonly referred to as "knucklebusters", cause if the salmon turns to run, and you dont let go of the knob, the salmon will tear the knob from your fingers and your knuckles will get smacked as the handles turn when the salmon is taking out line. The drag is very minimal on these reels, and mostly keeps the reel from backlashing into a knotted mess. I've reeled in several halibut up to 100# with my knucklebusters, and lotta king salmon up to 55#.

 Gregg, pound for pound, a 15+ pound coho is by far the toughest fight. They can be just a few feet from the net, and turn and go zero to 50 in a split second. The best fighting king salmon is 18-22# pounders. The bigger ones get tired fast. Kinda like a slender athlete can do 100yd dash, and hardly be winded, but a fat outta shape big guy will collapse after doing 100yd dash. As far as eating goes, coho is every bit as good as king salmon in my world

Quote from: alantani on August 11, 2025, 08:47:56 PMi think that the guides give us these reels just to get a laugh. 

That is one of the reasons they are laughing .....

Todd

Quote from: Maxed Out on August 11, 2025, 10:11:38 PM

Quote from: Vintage Offshore Tackle on August 11, 2025, 03:54:22 PMAlan, can you explain why the Canadians love those direct drive reels? 

 I resemble that remark. Lots of guys in washington use the single action reels for chasing salmon in the saltwater. They're commonly referred to as "knucklebusters", cause if the salmon turns to run, and you dont let go of the knob, the salmon will tear the knob from your fingers and your knuckles will get smacked as the handles turn when the salmon is taking out line. The drag is very minimal on these reels, and mostly keeps the reel from backlashing into a knotted mess. I've reeled in several halibut up to 100# with my knucklebusters, and lotta king salmon up to 55#.

Ted, I know that you have caught one hundred times more salmon than I have seen in my life, and I'm sure that there have been countless amazing catches made with those single action reels (you could say the same about 50 yards of mono wrapped around a 2 liter soda bottle), but I still don't understand why you would prefer them to a conventional reel.  Is it just tradition and sportsmanship, or is there something that makes them better suited for salmon fishing?

Quote from: Vintage Offshore Tackle on August 12, 2025, 03:19:58 AM

Quote from: Maxed Out on August 11, 2025, 10:11:38 PM

Quote from: Vintage Offshore Tackle on August 11, 2025, 03:54:22 PMAlan, can you explain why the Canadians love those direct drive reels? 

 I resemble that remark. Lots of guys in washington use the single action reels for chasing salmon in the saltwater. They're commonly referred to as "knucklebusters", cause if the salmon turns to run, and you dont let go of the knob, the salmon will tear the knob from your fingers and your knuckles will get smacked as the handles turn when the salmon is taking out line. The drag is very minimal on these reels, and mostly keeps the reel from backlashing into a knotted mess. I've reeled in several halibut up to 100# with my knucklebusters, and lotta king salmon up to 55#.

Ted, I know that you have caught one hundred times more salmon than I have seen in my life, and I'm sure that there have been countless amazing catches made with those single action reels (you could say the same about 50 yards of mono wrapped around a 2 liter soda bottle), but I still don't understand why you would prefer them to a conventional reel.  Is it just tradition and sportsmanship, or is there something that makes them better suited for salmon fishing?

 In my honest opinion, yes, the single action reel is better suited for salmon. The drag on these reels are about 8-10# max, and they arent suited to fish with the drag tightened down. Holding a knob in the fingers is more drag than the reel has. A person can hang onto the knob and not let the salmon take line. Its kinda hard to explain, but a knucklebuster and a 10-11' medium or heavy action rod gives the user total control over a salmon, and can feel every slight movement the salmon makes. When a salmon rips off line and the reel spins so fast you cant see the knobs...its a spine tingling event. When im fishing solo, i have to set the rod down with half hanging over the gunnel, and grab the middle of the rod open handed with one hand and net in the other. Many times, the salmon will then take off and I hafta set the net down and work my hands back to the reel and coerse the salmon back to the boat to try again. This wouldn't work with a multiplier reel. I see guys with multiplier reels reeling and reeling, but not gaining any line. With the direct drive theres no wasted reeling. If I'm reeling, I'm gaining line, and no pump and reel, its just reel reel reel. The single action reels also have very simple internals, and rarely require servicing. The guys in canada use Islander single action reels made of aluminum and cost $500+. Mine are shimano graphite reels and cost $100 and I dont worry about them getting banged around. Next time I go fishing I'll post a few pics

 These setups are pretty strait forward to use. I used to be involved in a derby for the blind, and would let the blind person in on how the single action reel works. One derby I had a guy that had fished the derby for 37 years, and he took right to the different reels we were using. We got into some nice coho and he landed 6 in 46 minutes. All 6 were weighed and none were under 10#, and his biggest was 15.5 pounds and he won the derby. It was the biggest coho ever landed in the 47 year history of the blind derby. He fished the knucklebusters like a seasoned pro, with very little coaching from me

Ted summed it up. Even some Americans get it ....

Todd

Quote from: Hardy Boy on August 12, 2025, 04:11:33 AMTed summed it up. Even some Americans get it ....

Todd

 Well Todd, it was a guide in barclay sound BC that introduced me to the Canadian way of chasing salmon, and that was early 1990's. Soon as I got home from that trip, i went to my local tackle shop and bought 2 knucklebusters and a couple 11' whips and never looked back

It's called sportfishing so there's nothing wrong with making it a bit more sporting.