Reel summary.

[Bill Allen]

Hi again Alan.
I've been reading a lot of your comments & repair tutes on various reels & come to a small, but obvious  conclusion. All reels have strengths &weaknesses - surprise, surprise ;-)
If they didn't then 'customisers' wouldn't be tinkering in attempts to improve em.

Now, your tutes outline a great many improvements that can be made when servicing/repairing reels.
Some are as simple as using a replacement lube from that which is used at the 'production' stage.
Then there's replacement bearings, drag washers/packs, gears, frames, etc, etc.
Some fantastic stuff there, but a LOT of info to digest.
Just wondering if there might be some scope for a basic 'summary' of reels.
F'rinstance; I like Jigmasters but a few of their failings (if you could call em that) are;
Gear sleeve - can 'round off' with excessive drag (I believe you quote about 8+lbs)
Spool located in bushes not bearings (is this a 'failing'? not necessarilly)
Standard drag washers are 'limited' (being diplomatic here) & will definately benefit from carbontex replacements & lubing with drag grease,Etc.

It would be really great if you could produce a very basic 'table' listing some common reels & their good/not-so-good points.
I'd look at several common points such as drag washers/stack, gearing, frame, spool/support (spool material, support-brgs vs bushes), and maybe a couple of other items (you'd be a better judge of what those areas are than I am).
Not looking for in-depth comments just a general 'guide'.
Ie - Jigmaster:
                   Spool-Supported by bushes-Cannot be upgraded with bearings.
                   Frame-can be upgraded with Newell or Tiburon replacement.
                   Etc.

Just a thought. A quick reference/guide may be handy for many people.
Waddaya think Alan?

Bill Allen.
Melbourne Australia.

[alantani]

uggghhhh! you know, ever since i did that makaira post, i've felt like i've been walking around with a bull's eye on my back.  this would really make a target out of me !!!! 

[Bill Allen]

Yeah I can well understand how you feel about it Alan.
It was just a thought.

[Ellis Feibush]

Used to like Jigmasters also, especially years ago when nothing better was available. Used to jig Cod at Cashes Ledge and other locations. Had to carry extra pinion gears and replace them in between stops. Heavy jigging with 9 to 17oz. jigs was tough on these reels. Five to one ratio was the wrong speed for this type of fishing. Pain in the a...to work on in a hurry  in those days.  IMHO Daiwas in the same catagory of reels, are much better  made and far easier to work on. Daiwa a/r springs and a/r pawls are far eaiser to reinstall. Much more dependable reel. Just MHO.

[conniek]

I have not worked on Daiwas for years, but I do remember they had lots of little pieces in the baitcasters that i had always thought could be molded into side plates. I did not like the screws, they were soft metal and i had knack of burring them, just seemed they were hard to get a good bite on. Didn't take me long to keep extra in inventory. 

[Steggs01]

Bill,
That's a very good point about the JM reel. A friend of mine recently bought a JM reel and I warned him about the gear sleeve. He was a bit hesitant about my information as he has fallen in "love" with his new JM reel and thinks its indestructible. Hopefully it won't happen but I will put up a thread when and if this happens.

Steggs
Sydney, Australia
Member of Sydney Angler

[Bryan Young]

Bill,
That's a very good point about the JM reel. A friend of mine recently bought a JM reel and I warned him about the gear sleeve. He was a bit hesitant about my information as he has fallen in "love" with his new JM reel and thinks its indestructible. Hopefully it won't happen but I will put up a thread when and if this happens.

Steggs
Sydney, Australia
Member of Sydney Angler

Hi Steggs,

If your friends loves his JM reel, if he fishes with spectra or dyneema, if you can find a used ProGear 251, he would love it.  It's inners are essentially a JM with 5.1:1 gear ratio.  Alan recommended me to change to the 4:1 gears from a JM because it's rough, grindy sounding when reel is loaded (with a fish).  I haven't done mine yet, but will do once my gears get a little more worn.

Bryan

[franky]

Alan recommended me to change to the 4:1 gears from a JM because it's rough, grindy sounding when reel is loaded (with a fish). 

Bryan

Hello Bryan,

When you mentioned...change to the 4:1 gears from the jm....Is that a lower gear ratio or higher gear ratio?  Is the original gear ratio for the jm's 5:1?

The reason I ask is sometimes I noticed my newell with the 4.6:1 gear ratio sometimes sounds grindy when I'm reeling in the line.  I'm wondering...would the higher 5:1 gear ratio be worst?  Should I drop down to the 3:1 gear ratio?

[Felton]

I thought about asking a while back but I knew it would be a pain so I refrained. The best way I came up with would be a grade just like you did the Makaira except with numbers. Maybe even break it down to drag, freespool, quality of materials used, each one can get 33 points and a score can be increased by 10 or so points by adding greased carbon drags or doing a bearing job or...... Maybe bonus points for good warrenties? I don't know if you really want to go though it all or if you even have the time but it would be really nice.

Example: I sold my new Saltist 30t to get a new Avet mxj. Then I started to think how you would have rated each one and realized what I really want is another Cedros 10s but I don't want to pay 400 bones for it. Then I thought about selling my Cavalla to help pay. So now I am stuck I don't know what I should do. Your wisdom on a spread sheet would be great.  It would help people like me and you wouldn't have to be asked reel A or B, you say B and then I say what about reel C. Well now were in a whole other ball park for prices and if your going to pay that much you might as well buy D.

Buy the way whats your opinion on those reels?

What ever you do you have already helped tons of people and you cant go wrong from here.

[alantani]

okuma really has come a long way.  thank john bretza for that.  he's the guy that runs the r&d department.  i'm going to try to get a set of makiras and their new nomad rods to take with me on my 5-day trip on the intrepid in august. 

[Bryan Young]

Alan recommended me to change to the 4:1 gears from a JM because it's rough, grindy sounding when reel is loaded (with a fish). 

Bryan

Hello Bryan,

When you mentioned...change to the 4:1 gears from the jm....Is that a lower gear ratio or higher gear ratio?  Is the original gear ratio for the jm's 5:1?

The reason I ask is sometimes I noticed my newell with the 4.6:1 gear ratio sometimes sounds grindy when I'm reeling in the line.  I'm wondering...would the higher 5:1 gear ratio be worst?  Should I drop down to the 3:1 gear ratio?

The jigmaster gear ratiois 4:1 I believe vs. my 5:1.  It's just the way the gears are cut.  Lower should be better, but you loose the speed.  Less teeth, bigger groves, stronger gears, less speed.  I'm not sure about your Newell.  Haven't fished them for years, and when I did, it was the largest reels I could find.

[Ellis Feibush]

I own an old JM 501 which I just serviced. It has black side plates and a 5:1 gear ratio. (I think) Since I added HT100 washers and very lightly fingerprinted Shimano Star Drag grease to the metal washers (as is my habit), the drag is quite smooth, but the reel is still a pain in the a...to put back together compared to some of the others in my collection. Not my dream reel I suppose. If I liked it enough I guess I could hot rod it; that's if I thought it was really worth it. When they changed the spool design many years ago, that was their single biggest improvement. The original metal spool would expand under pressure with a good sized fish on and mono line,  and start to rub against the sides and you were done.

[Bryan Young]

Ellis,

Thanks for the clarification of the gear ratio.  I'll probably get a set of gears to change out in the future, but at the moment, the grinding doesn't bother me that much.  Just an observation, and knowing that I will need to change it out in the future.

Bryan

[Ellis Feibush]

You're very welcome Bryan.