My first proper spin reel

[WalrusLike]

I have been fishing offshore (only a few Klms) lately and now want to buy a cheap ish but ok reel.

The tackle shop near here suggested a Pflueger Salt for $110.

I've been reading up a bit and proper reviews seem hard to find but favorable. Does anyone have any comments?

I am only a beginner and won't spend more than $120-40 on my first reel. (I have elcheapo combo rods at the moment)

Because of my incompetence and funds limitations I don't want to buy expensive braid either... I was thinking of mono (it used to be good enough in the old days...)

I would like to catch a snapper or similar. I will be mainly using soft plastics on a paternoster rig.

Currently fishing the inner gneerings but will be at Hutchies and inside Moreton bay generally.

Any recommendations on line weight and what max drag capacity I will need? Thanks for any advice.

[Dan5]

Mate for the money they sell them at nowadays you can't go past a Penn Spinfisher.......When the boating camping fishing place has them on sale for $99 i din't think you would get better at that price point.

Dan

[WalrusLike]

Thanks Dan, Is either brand better for long life in salt spray?

[Dan5]

Don't know about the Phluger but the Penn is definatly a saltwater reel........They were the benchmark in spin reels for years....IMO you would proberbly spend $300+ to get something of similar quality to the Spinfisher.

Dan

[theoldlegend]

WL, I picked up a Penn Spinfisher 650 SSM from the fishing and boating and camping place a couple of weeks ago.

The deal was a choice of a 650, a 750 or 850 plus 300 yards of either 20lb or 30lb braid for $99. I don't think the braid is part of the deal any more.

Haven't used it yet, but it feels OK.


TOL

[spears]

Penn battle reel is nice too and they are around $120
penn-battle-spinning.jpg

[MudRiverDan]

Pflueger Looks the goods.

I notice now most reels are coming out with carbon drag, probably because it is not so hard to do and why put an inferior drag in a reel.

Salt spray IMHO should not bother any reel unless the material is really corrosive in salt water.
The reel is called "Salt" so I assume it was designed primarily for Salt water and not fresh.

I always give mine a hose down at the end of the day when I get home, then sit them in the garage to dry.
I also spot oil them before first use and then spot oil them again about once in every 5 washes.

Some may disagree but if your reel is getting salt spray it would only be a problem if the salt was allowed to stay on the reel for an long time.

One example I can give is an Okuma Aquios I had and really gave a hard time as I did not care too much about it.
As time passed without regular hose downs and spot oils, I realised the reel was not going to die easily, and by that stage had caught me some very nice fish.
I had grown quite fond of the reel as a very productive river basher.
The reel showed no external signs of corrosion so all was sweet, until one day the handle broke clean off.
After inspection I seen that a pin securing the handle, hidden underneath the handle had rusted away to nothing, obviosly this one pin was the achilles heel of the reel and the salt had been eating away at it for years.
I promptly set about mending the reel consequently breaking more parts and rendering the reel junk.

Lesson learnt.

Since I have not had any issues with any of my reels, cheapies and expensive ones because I hose them with fresh and spot oil.

Oh yeah I spot oil before first use to create a barrier, rather than after first use when the surface has already been exposed.

BTW- Water in the drag can be an issue (only happened to me once when I dunked an Excellor multiple times and kept using it on the day) so you can get some light drag grease, a rag and pull the drag out wipe it clean and the area, give light grease then fit back together.

Only do this if you think your drag is jerking, other than that you can just remove the drag knob and without removing the drag give the area a wipe of of sand, dirt or salt.

Sorry for be a great know nothing but I am bored.
Take or leave what you want from what I wrote.



Dan

[WalrusLike]

Thanks TOL, Spears. I am going over the shops soon.... It's a world tackle shop.

So the Penns are good, so also is the Pluefgeredre if I am to believe the reviews.

I am a bit disinclined to braid because it seems so touchy and slightly dangerous to newbies. I now know a lot more about reels than I did yesterday but still know bugger all.

I think it seems any of these will be a goodun to start with. They feel so good to turn.... Gotta love engineering....

[spears]

Oh by the way the Penn battle is a Pflueger reel it now has a Penn sticker on it instead.

[WalrusLike]

Thanks MRD... Plenty of good info there.

One thing though? What is a spot oil? Put a spot on and run it around with a rag? All over?

Spears... So penn and pft Luger are the same... Goodo. Thanks again guys.

[MudRiverDan]

Thanks MRD... Plenty of good info there.

One thing though? What is a spot oil? Put a spot on and run it around with a rag? All over?

Spears... So penn and pft Luger are the same... Goodo. Thanks again guys.

yeah on all the little screws moving parts , nooks and crannies, keep it away from your line though, yeah then quick wipe down with a rag, yeah all over, you don't really have to worry too much if its light, the flat surfaces of the reel are the least of your worries and you don't spot oil them, all over just to give it a general wipe down).

Just add tiny little drop to the nooks and crannies,moving parts and screws , nothing more, a wipe all over when finished to clean up any residue.

Just some protective reel oil should last a long time, think it cost about 8 dollars a bottle at the tackle shop and will keep you going for years.

For new reels I do it once as month, then ease off and do it whenever I remember.

It is kind of a theory I have not sure if its right, but think ona small scale, the factory oil might not even be there so when you take it out all those little particles , salt being the worst one, will adhere to the metal surface (in nooks and crannies).

If you oil before first use you will pretty much have the oil adhering to the clean factory surface first, and this is better IMO than oiling some time down the track, when salt and impurities have lodged into the reels nooks and crannies then you oil, even after a wash some will be there and will stay there.

Only go very light with application, you don't want so much oil that sand and grit will stick to it and make it harder to wash.

Works for me

Dan

[spears]

Thanks MRD... Plenty of good info there.

One thing though? What is a spot oil? Put a spot on and run it around with a rag? All over?

Spears... So penn and pft Luger are the same... Goodo. Thanks again guys.

That's right Pflueger use to make the reel now penn have it with the penn logo on it.

[Moonlighter]

Hi Walrus

A couple of things. If you are going to target snapper offshore, even in relatively shallow water, on soft plastics, you really DO need to get braid. 20lb is easily heavy enough. I landed an 11kg snapper earlier this year on 20 lb braid and 30lb leader. Took a while, but I got him!

There are a couple of reasons for this:

1. It is much thinner and sinks better than mono

2. It is far, far more sensitive, no stretch, and you need that to feel the sloghtest touches and to set the hook on the SP.

On a spin reel,it is not hard stuff to use. There is one knot you will need to learn, and that is the knot to tie your flouricarbon leader to the braid with. Its not very difficult.

And trust me, once you have used the braid on snapper with SPs, you will not regret it. It really is a must-have in my opinion.

I dont know much about the Pfleuger reels, some of my mates see to use them, but i use Shimano reels these days.

For 20lb SP fishing you dont actually need or want to get a large reel. I got the snapper mentioned above on a Shimano 4000 sized reel, and it was more than adequate.

If you can find a Shimano Symetre 4000 for a good price, that would be perfect.

Also, i use a Shimano Jewel 6-8kg spin rod. Perfect combo with the above reel. Not high end stuff, but nice quality rods.

Have a look, see what the best price is for that rod and reel, and PM me, i might be able to do something for you after XMas, especially if you are not in a big hurry.

PS the above rod/reel combo is also great for targetting spotty macks either with bait or by casting slugs. The Symetre has a pretty high speed retrieve rate. In fact, this is a really versatile all round combo rod and reel, i use it in the Bay bait fishing for sweeties and squire on the shallow reefs too. The reel used to come with a spare spool, not sure f it still does, but if so you can spool the spare with 15 or 20lb mono.

Cheers

ML

[WalrusLike]

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?

[Daintreeboy]

You can get a Penn Slammer with 300 yards of braid for less than 90 bucks and it will be a strong dependable reel. Top choice for what you want I reckon.