My first proper spin reel

[theoldlegend]

Wow, good info there ML, thanks.

I couldn't help myself.... I bought the Pflueger 50. And a Shimano Aqua something or other 6'6" rod.

$146 all up. I have put 15kg mono on it.

Tried it this arvo and it feels great and gets exactly the same result as my el cheapo broken tipped rod.

I can see that there is a lot to learn so I will be taking your advice on board and improving my setup and tactics accordingly.

Now... To shock you with my stunning ignorance.... What's a fluorocarbon leader for?

Fluoro is supposed to be virtually invisible under water......... but there is 100% fluoro and then there is fluoro coated mono...... lots of different brands and breaking strains.

The last time I visited Tangles, he had fluoro there in every breaking strain from 2lb up to 100lb in one pound increments and about 1000 metres of each.


TOL

[WalrusLike]

Thanks TOL. So much to learn...

It's a fun journey though eh!

[Moonlighter]

Hi Walrus

Flourocarbon line is like normal mono line but on steroids! Looks much the same to the naked eye, but the main difference is that its refractive index is virtually identical to salt water. What does that mean? Simply, it is nearly totally invisible in salt water. Normal mono isn't.

When we use braid for soft plastics fishing, as you know, braid is coloured woven sort of stuff. It is therefore highly visible in the water, to fish as well as people.

So, we always run a couple of meters of flourocarbon leader tied to the braid. The jig head is tied to the end of that with the same knot you use normally in mono to tie a hook on.

It means that the presentation of the lure to the fish is better because there is no visible line nearby to distract or frighten them. Plus because it is similar to mono, it is easier to re-tie hooks, jigheads etc on when the line gets damaged orbfrayed etc.

A further advantage is that the flourocaro ins much more abrasive resistant that braid, braid will break very easily if it touches something rough. Flourocarbon is more resistant to being wrapped round rocks pylons etc than braid. You can get supple flourocarbon, and hard shelled stuff, depending on the type of fishing you do and the likelihood of encountering reefy structure.

There endeth the lesson! No charge!

ML

[rabbi]

Guys, honestly,
The Penn SSM reels for $99 are a waste of about $97 IMO.
The chinese Penns are the biggest heap of mass produced crap I have ever used.
Bits start falling off,bending,snapping and then theres the corrosion and rust problems.
Throw em away after the 4th serious outing.
The Pfleuger Salt reels are a better proposition.
No way will I ever waste my money on a Penn SSM reel again. Gone through 3 SSM 950's in less than 18 months.
Why would you, honestly.

[MudRiverDan]

Guys, honestly,
The Penn SSM reels for $99 are a waste of about $97 IMO.
The chinese Penns are the biggest heap of mass produced crap I have ever used.
Bits start falling off,bending,snapping and then theres the corrosion and rust problems.
Throw em away after the 4th serious outing.
The Pfleuger Salt reels are a better proposition.
No way will I ever waste my money on a Penn SSM reel again. Gone through 3 SSM 950's in less than 18 months.
Why would you, honestly.

I got a Penn Live Liner 560, been using it on beach and river.

Caught one Jew on it in the river, reel has some grunt.

Issues - Slight rust stain on line bail roller thing, so a bit of salt intrusion, mind you I often take it to the beach and leave it in the Garage for a few days till I remember to hose it with fresh.

Main issue - Drag has lost smoothness from out of box.
I did grease it which makes me think I should not have greased a dry drag, but could do with Carbontex, the HT100 does not seem as good.

Dan

[spears]

Guys, honestly,
The Penn SSM reels for $99 are a waste of about $97 IMO.
The chinese Penns are the biggest heap of mass produced crap I have ever used.
Bits start falling off,bending,snapping and then theres the corrosion and rust problems.
Throw em away after the 4th serious outing.
The Pfleuger Salt reels are a better proposition.
No way will I ever waste my money on a Penn SSM reel again. Gone through 3 SSM 950's in less than 18 months.
Why would you, honestly.

Do you have a picture to show how bad things look ? Here say won't work.
They are made in Japan and assembled in China.
I enjoy using my two SSM's

[Gozz]

I'd check the okuma salina II out.
My mate took his to NZ and caned it for 10 days on the big kings and it's still working fine.
His reel is the 16000 size with 80pnd braid.

[Gozz]

I got a Penn Live Liner 560, been using it on beach and river.

Caught one Jew on it in the river, reel has some grunt.

Issues - Slight rust stain on line bail roller thing, so a bit of salt intrusion, mind you I often take it to the beach and leave it in the Garage for a few days till I remember to hose it with fresh.


Main issue - Drag has lost smoothness from out of box.
I did grease it which makes me think I should not have greased a dry drag, but could do with Carbontex, the HT100 does not seem as good.

Dan

I have 4 of these reels and reckon they are awesome for $99.
The drag that come's in them is a carbon drag but it's one large drag washer instead of a couple of small stacked drag washers.
The drag washers need to be cleaned and then only a very small amount of drag washer grease applied.
I put a little grease on both sides, make sure the washer is covered then wipe the washer with a rag to make sure any access comes off.
If you apply to much grease you will lose most of your drag pressure.

[rabbi]

Take my word for it.
The bail roller bearings rust after 2 trips, The bail arm on all 3 reels now closes by itself and I have lost count of the lures lost with snapped lines.
Bail arms on both sides wear quickly and large amount of slop in them. Bail return spring looses tension quickly and bail arm flops around.
The screw keeps coming out of the bail roller assy. $60 for a new roller and 2 bearings. The way the bail arm works it allows the line to wrap around the arm and break off.
The spindle in the handle knob where it mounts onto the main handle arm is not strong enough and it wears loose.
Main body assy not too bad with corrosion but most of the hardware rusts quickly.
oscillating shaft retainer screw keeps coming loose.
Anti reverse stops working after a bit of use.
I buy these size reels to use and give them a bit of work and they are worked fairly hard and they have fallen apart quicker than any other reel I have ever used.
I service these reels every third or fourth trip.
If you are gonna use them twice a year on whiting by all means buy them.
I dont really care, all I am saying is they dont live up to my expectations but what do you expect for $99.

[spears]

Take my word for it.
The bail roller bearings rust after 2 trips, The bail arm on all 3 reels now closes by itself and I have lost count of the lures lost with snapped lines.
Bail arms on both sides wear quickly and large amount of slop in them. Bail return spring looses tension quickly and bail arm flops around.
The screw keeps coming out of the bail roller assy. $60 for a new roller and 2 bearings. The way the bail arm works it allows the line to wrap around the arm and break off.
The spindle in the handle knob where it mounts onto the main handle arm is not strong enough and it wears loose.
Main body assy not too bad with corrosion but most of the hardware rusts quickly.
oscillating shaft retainer screw keeps coming loose.
Anti reverse stops working after a bit of use.
I buy these size reels to use and give them a bit of work and they are worked fairly hard and they have fallen apart quicker than any other reel I have ever used.
I service these reels every third or fourth trip.
If you are gonna use them twice a year on whiting by all means buy them.
I dont really care, all I am saying is they dont live up to my expectations but what do you expect for $99.

It's hard to say much with those comments until someone sees what your doing with these reels for them to have all these problems.

It's a bit like someone saying..that car engine only lasted me 2 years..
Where someone else would say..
If only you could see how he treated that car,no wonder it lasted 2 years..

[rabbi]

Yeah Spears, you are right.
But I use them the same as any other reel I own and they all get the same treatment. I used to use the Okuma EZ90 reel for the same type of fishing and they will last about 3 years with the way I treat them.
If you want to land big fish off the rocks in the conditions we fish in , yeah you have to give the reel a bit of a serious workout plus they get heaps of casting and retrieving work as I rarely ever fish with bait. Where you have about 20-30 casts per fishing trip I may have 10 times as many casts if not more.

Have a look at the " Extreme Jewie fishing" clip on youtube and you will see how I use them. Not easy work but the handle spindle on the SSM950 reel I caught the bigger fish on was flopping around like an eel in a stormwater drain after that bit of work that session.

I have a friend up north who says the Shimano Spheros is the Gnats knackers for hard work so its on my hit list next.
Cheers, steve.

[spears]

Good camera work.
The reel does get a reasonable amount of sea spray over it looks like nearly every trip.
You need a Van Staal reel and you’ll never have to replace a reel ever again.

I’ve owned a spheros and didn’t seem much different to the SSM.
The Fin-Nor Offshore would suite you too at a affordable price

[rabbi]

Yeah Spears, I am working my way through the many types of reels out there without going to $1000 reels as they are too pretty to scratch on rocks
One reel which I have owned for 5-6years is proving to be a standout. its a Shimano Navi supership 8000 bought from Malaysia and I have loaded it with 30 pound braid and its the reel I got my 36kg jew on a few years back. I have given that reel an absolute flogging and the only part that is worn is the bail return ramp under the rotor. Very little sign of wear anywhere else on the reel.
Got it for $130 new but have not seen them around since, maybe they were too good??
cheers, steve.

[spears]

Oh and with this comment..reply #19
The Pfleuger Salt reels are a better proposition.

Or you can buy a Penn Battle reel..It’s actually a Pfleuger Salt reel with different colour and name on it.

[spears]

Yeah Spears, you are right.
But I use them the same as any other reel I own and they all get the same treatment. I used to use the Okuma EZ90 reel for the same type of fishing and they will last about 3 years with the way I treat them.
If you want to land big fish off the rocks in the conditions we fish in , yeah you have to give the reel a bit of a serious workout plus they get heaps of casting and retrieving work as I rarely ever fish with bait. Where you have about 20-30 casts per fishing trip I may have 10 times as many casts if not more.

Have a look at the " Extreme Jewie fishing" clip on youtube and you will see how I use them. Not easy work but the handle spindle on the SSM950 reel I caught the bigger fish on was flopping around like an eel in a stormwater drain after that bit of work that session.

I have a friend up north who says the Shimano Spheros is the Gnats knackers for hard work so its on my hit list next.
Cheers, steve.

Hi Steve,got a question for you
In that " Extreme Jewie fishing" clip what rods were you or the other guys using .
Also the rating in mono and cast weight
Thanks