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Thread: Level wind or not?

  1. #1

    Level wind or not?

    Hi Guys
    Been at Lucinda since May, mainly fly fishing but unfortunately I didn't bring my trolling gear this year,
    I need to upgrade my reel for the spaniards here, (too small), rod is OK
    Was looking at a Fin-Nor the other day, about $200, looked like a very capable reel but no level wind,
    With out level wind I guess less parts to wear out?
    How do you guys deal with it? do you use a leather thumb stall to level the braid?
    I'm back to Adelaide soon but will be better prepared next year
    ...........Gary

  2. #2

    Re: Level wind or not?

    With my gear a big Spaniard will strip the level wind gears, they don't seem to be capable of the fast turnoff the reel. In fact one of my smaller reels literally exploded when a big Spaniard hit, fortunately only the level wind gearing disappeared over the side, got the fish in and never bothered replacing the gears.

  3. #3
    Ausfish Silver Member jackson4300's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Brisbane/Ipswich

    Re: Level wind or not?

    Yea I prefer reels without level wind, less parts to sieze and if it siezes whilst on the water makes it hard to use.

    A bit of tape on your finger or a glove will help stop the braid from cutting into your hand.

  4. #4

    Re: Level wind or not?

    Tks Guys
    Much appreciated, thank you for the heads-up on the level wind, a FinNor it will be

  5. #5

    Re: Level wind or not?

    One of the funniest things I ever saw offshore was a mate get absolutely steamrolled by a big fish - unfortunately for him when it hit he had his finger wrapped around the front edge of his reel and the level wind jammed onto it. He was hopping around and being fairly vocal but couldn't quite get the words out to tell me to cut the line (apparently it was painful) and as such had to put up with it until such time the fish busted him off - I was in stitches once he could actually explain to me what had just occurred - sympathy is not one of my strong points.

    Personally I am not a huge fan of level winds but they have their place. Small volume reels are a bit painful without them as it doesn't take long if your not paying attention for line build up to jamb against the frame. For beginners they are useful so long as it is made absolutely clear of the inherent dangers but for heavier line classes (anything over about 30lb IMO) or experienced fisho's most of the time they just get in the way - especially when you are trying to bust off a snag. You shouldn't need anything to protect your thumb while guiding the line on the reel under normal fishing conditions - if you do, your doing it wrong.

  6. #6

    Re: Level wind or not?

    Quote Originally Posted by scottar View Post
    One of the funniest things I ever saw offshore was a mate get absolutely steamrolled by a big fish - unfortunately for him when it hit he had his finger wrapped around the front edge of his reel and the level wind jammed onto it. He was hopping around and being fairly vocal but couldn't quite get the words out to tell me to cut the line (apparently it was painful) and as such had to put up with it until such time the fish busted him off - I was in stitches once he could actually explain to me what had just occurred - sympathy is not one of my strong points.

    Personally I am not a huge fan of level winds but they have their place. Small volume reels are a bit painful without them as it doesn't take long if your not paying attention for line build up to jamb against the frame. For beginners they are useful so long as it is made absolutely clear of the inherent dangers but for heavier line classes (anything over about 30lb IMO) or experienced fisho's most of the time they just get in the way - especially when you are trying to bust off a snag. You shouldn't need anything to protect your thumb while guiding the line on the reel under normal fishing conditions - if you do, your doing it wrong.
    Scott, reminds me of the time trolling in the Daly River and the lure got snagged, with inattention as it was a long time between strikes my thumb was a little too far over the top of the reel, when the level wind pulled up tight as line started to peel off the level wind very conveniently jammed my thumb up against the body, extremely painful and very hard to remove my thumb. Haven't done it since.

  7. #7

    Re: Level wind or not?

    Watch this lad go - and we're worried about level winds

    https://www.facebook.com/TopFishingC...4402471618344/

  8. #8

    Re: Level wind or not?

    Biggest problem with level winds is people letting them get out of sync with the line position on the spool.Next time out they drop down get a decent fish and all of a sudden the line is pulling off the opposite side of the spool resulting in a failure.Having said that they are not great for trolling.I'm not a big fan of braid for trolling either.

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