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My two old reels

Mesmo

Mesmo

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At last I got round to digging out my two old reels which haven’t seen much action since my Dad died back in 2009 perhaps 3 or so outings after that the last in 2014

Anyway I have a Shimano navi XSA 8000 and a Penn Surf Master 850

How do they stand up to the needs and rigours of dangling in 2022/2023?

Also should I be doing anything to prepare them for use in the near future?

They have braid and shock-leaders sill fitted should I strip that after all these years and refresh with new?

I look forward to your advice …. Cheers Lads

NB I will have a look at my two rods that went with them tomorrow and see what they were. The only thing I remember about them was that they are 5metres long each … can’t remember the brand though
 
Mesmo said:
At last I got round to digging out my two old reels which haven’t seen much action since my Dad died back in 2009 perhaps 3 or so outings after that the last in 2014

Anyway I have a Shimano navi XSA 8000 and a Penn Surf Master 850

How do they stand up to the needs and rigours of dangling in 2022/2023?

Also should I be doing anything to prepare them for use in the near future?

They have braid and shock-leaders sill fitted should I strip that after all these years and refresh with new?

I look forward to your advice …. Cheers Lads
Click to expand...
The 850 will work.... strip the line go and buy some fresh 15lb.... make sure the bale roller is lubed up and give it a go.
 
Cheers Thrasher

I need to ask Pete if he means Braid or mono
 
I am currently fishing a 30lb 8 strand chinese braid with a chinese 80lb 4 strand shock leader. It will either be agepoch or saratoga.

There are lots that use berkeley or daiwa j-braid as a mainline.
 
Braid or mono.
Both have advantages and disadvantages.
It comes down to personal choice and what works best for you.
Big fixed spools and heavy braid did become a must have for heavy ground work, but, I have noticed, certainly in Norway, mono and multiplier are coming back into the fore.
Wether that happens on the rough ground over here, only time will tell.
 
Shirleycodlin said:
Braid or mono.
Both have advantages and disadvantages.
It comes down to personal choice and what works best for you.
Big fixed spools and heavy braid did become a must have for heavy ground work, but, I have noticed, certainly in Norway, mono and multiplier are coming back into the fore.
Wether that happens on the rough ground over here, only time will tell.
Click to expand...
Unless I stray outside my own patch then all of the beaches I will fish from will be shingle and then sand. The reels are currently set with braid and tapered mono leaders but being probably 10 years old now it would be prudent to strip and replace.

i think what I will do is have 1 reel in braid and the 2nd in Mono.

With the braided one is it worth going for say 50lb right through and not worry about a leader? I will be lobbing 4 or 6 oz gripper leads in the main
 
Mesmo said:
Cheers Thrasher

I need to ask Pete if he means Braid or mono
Click to expand...
1000000% mono...... the line lay on that reel means you will get problems with braid digging in.
Its single speed line lay and its just begging for problems loading with a micro braid. Using a fat braid straight through has never appealed to me except in heavy ground. The lack of stretch is a disadvantage with the lead being pulled out all the time by small bits of weed. Your also getting loss of distance imo.
Given the area I reckon you will be fishing and the solent, fast tide and weed scenario I would choose mono over braid 90% of the time anyway.
Go for a quality 15lb and a tapered leader, the small leader knot helps negate the weed ring jam issues.
Its what the reel was designed for.
 
chesilpete said:
1000000% mono...... the line lay on that reel means you will get problems with braid digging in.
Its single speed line lay and its just begging for problems loading with a micro braid. Using a fat braid straight through has never appealed to me except in heavy ground. The lack of stretch is a disadvantage with the lead being pulled out all the time by small bits of weed. Your also getting loss of distance imo.
Given the area I reckon you will be fishing and the solent, fast tide and weed scenario I would choose mono over braid 90% of the time anyway.
Go for a quality 15lb and a tapered leader, the small leader knot helps negate the weed ring jam issues.
Its what the reel was designed for.
Click to expand...
Cheers Pete I accede to your far superior knowledge in both fishing and location terms. Any particular brand of mono more suited?
 
As you said, Pete's knowledge is far superior to mine, but I tend to use a slightly heavier Mono, 20 to 25Lb.
I've been using Asso Ultra cast for some time & rate it quite highly for price Vs quality, but a lot of folk are recommending Rovex 10X lately, and a bulk spool for £17.95 would give you loads to do both reels and some for the future. 👍👍

www.ebay.co.uk

Rovex 10X Formula Monofilament 1/4kg (8.8oz) Spool | eBay

There is nothing quite as strong and long lasting as the Rovex 10 Formula Mono. Ideal for fishing on reefs and rocky shores, these lines have been designed to bear the roughest of conditions without breaking.
www.ebay.co.uk
 
Fishing the Dee estuary, similar to the Solway I use 30lb nanotech with a 60lb braid leader. fused and very slippery, tricky to knot but picks up very little weed. Casts well with no wind knots if it's always wound back on under tension. Can't say how well it will work on reels without an oscillating line lay though. I have reels with 60lb straight through braid as well but not for clean ground or distance
 
Trampster said:
As you said, Pete's knowledge is far superior to mine, but I tend to use a slightly heavier Mono, 20 to 25Lb.
I've been using Asso Ultra cast for some time & rate it quite highly for price Vs quality, but a lot of folk are recommending Rovex 10X lately, and a bulk spool for £17.95 would give you loads to do both reels and some for the future. 👍👍

www.ebay.co.uk

Rovex 10X Formula Monofilament 1/4kg (8.8oz) Spool | eBay

There is nothing quite as strong and long lasting as the Rovex 10 Formula Mono. Ideal for fishing on reefs and rocky shores, these lines have been designed to bear the roughest of conditions without breaking.
www.ebay.co.uk
Click to expand...
Why not check out Diawa Sensor Mono in bulk spools, I have been using it for ages and put new line on my spools each year never had a problem and far cheaper than the Rovex 10x. Then that's only my opinion Tramps.
 
Strange how some anglers prefer Mono and some prefer Braid. I do not think there is any right or wrong really, if you use Mono you get a lot of stretch using 15 lbs bs for clean beaches, I personally use 40 lb braid Chinese cheap ,which is as good as anything 4 times the price, with a 60lb mono leader which is far better bite detection to me than mono on clean beaches coupled with my Shimmy fixed spools. Works for me .
On rough stuff and cliffs I use 30lb or 40 lb mono on my multis.
There are pros and cons for each and I will not go into them, save to say the above works for me. Others will have other ideas and that is fine.

So far as reels are concerned,Shimmy Fixed spools for beaches, multis for rough ground or cliffs .Some of my multis are old, being a standard Abu 7000 about 50 years plus old but as good as new, cut to be a CT, or a Penn 535, / 525 ( no mags ) or a Daiwa SL 30 Sh .

Rods are Afaw Tourney Match or Rock, Connies, Zippies or a vintage Silstar Tourney , or a couple of higher end Contis for clean beaches with above reels.
Gear is a nightmare these days , every brand has its afficionados , I just use what I have chosen from a lot of research on the internet .

As a final word, I also have some very vintage gear , which I also use, Abu 484’s and Mitchell f/spools etc couples with other old gear as above which I must admit give me as much pleasure to use and have equally as good results as the above do. Maybe its just nostalgia.


No right or wrong, just use what suits you suited to the location .

Dave
 
M, your reels are loaded with braid already so maybe three questions.

Why did you load them with braid initially?
Were you having any issues with the braid when fishing?
Were you catching fish with the set up as it is?
 
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