Seahog

Not really a great deal between either manufacturer .... personally I'd go for the Daiwa, but that's no indicator that Daiwa is any better than the Shimano offering

I've had New four and two stroke engine! ... Four stroke engines every time .... and Japanese manufactured for quality and reliability.

Peter Coogan .... 0151 677 3609

Many thanks for that! ... I did have one of the links on my old P.C. but long since gone .... just got to sort out a long weekend and the actual dates

Is there a link to tackle and tactics for Skate fishing? In particular, as in … Best time of tide for feeding? Weight size and type, again possibly based around tide etc Line diameter/type … B/S etc Hook size/type Bait (variations) A bit of anchoring info? If there is such a link that can help me find the answers to these questions it would be much appreciated…. ta Should have added a particular venue that we will be fishing but as of yet undecided so it really is only a generalisation.... Cheers

Grand read ....

They can be taken in daylight, the clarity of the water plays a big part more so than the lunar clock. In a naturally muddy estuary they can be taken in daylight Tightlines …

Beautiful photos, especially the slow worm picture ...

Personally I hope that a licence will not be brought in

Out of curiosity ... what couldn’t the Okuma not handle that the slosh and Penn 535 mag can handle? … Which part or characteristic of the reel could not cope ?

I make no bones about it, the Abu Mag Elite is the finest long distance clean beach casting reel there is! .... A very interesting new innovation on the NEW Abu Mag Elite is the newly designed spool, this along side the many other improvements to this already excellent reel, will prove hard too match, let alone beat. The Okuma is a nice entry reel that offers a lot for it's cost, it's quality is in keeping with other reels manufactured in the Far East which includes the majority on sale today. The fine details of the warranty as mentioned by Norm B is an important point … a warranty is only as useful with regards to what it “does and doesn’t include” For light boat use and general beach fishing the Okuma is a decent reel that is offered at an affordable price, time will tell if the warranty and the reel is inherently robust … but as an out and out top of the range beach reel I would not say it would be in the same league as an Abu Mag Elite … a nice touch by Pure Fishing would be to offer an equal warranty period for the New Abu Mag Elite as is offered by Okuma, thereby instilling confidence in their own product and passing this confidence on to the purchaser. Years ago Abu’s warranties were renowned for their longevity, some reels actually carried a life time warranty. The old Mag Elite had a two year warranty, with all the improvement that the new model brings might one of those improvements be “The Warranty” …. Food for thought me thinks!

Yep I got one ... got it off ebay from a guy that goes under the name of "fishing7495" ... he's a tackle shop owner based in Norwich ... brand new reel, price all in with postage, £54.99p ... I purposely got the Magnetix MG-20LS version (levelwind version).. mainly intend on using the reel for uptiding. Though I have tested it out using a beach caster and it goes well even though it has the levelwind fitted, a notable benefit is that the retrieve ration is 6.2:1 … some people prefer the lower ration when using a reel for uptiding, me I just opt for the high tech approach to this trait, I turn the handle slower! They cast well and the mag control is quite accurate throughout its range. Line capacity is slightly on the low side, but if loaded with braid or the newer ultra slim mono lines available it doesn't have a detrimental effect. The drag is very nice for a reel of this size and price, it feels precise, gradual and powerful, the drag itself has a ratchet clicker built into the Stardrag much in the way the Daiwa Saltist reels have.. The handle is comfortable and gives plenty of cranking power. As a fishing reel they appear quite promising and they come with a 5 year warranty ... which equates too £11 per year that the reel is guaranteed. One point I’m not too certain about is the line guide support bar floats! … why they should have left it like this is a bit baffling, it can attempt to follow the guide when being cast out, this can cause an undesirable ticking noise … easily sorted out, it’s a design character and not a manufacturing fault and has no detrimental effect on the reels function! … this obviously only applies to the levelwind version. All in all a nice reel, it feels right and it looks right and often when this is the case it is right, but time will tell, but with a 5 year warranty the gamble is basically on Okuma.

:lol: ... it would be hard to stop a habit that has lasted for so many years It would be hard to stop a habit that has lasted for so many years Listed are the ones I use! .... even amongst that list there are multiples of certain reels. But I do use them, fishing a full weekend away on the boat, I would possibly use 6/8 different reels, if I was beach fishing I might use 4 reels. If I go casting I would take at least 4/5 reels. I have a lot more reels than that list I find it interesting to read about other people’s opinions of reels, some people highly rate a reel while I personally might not rate it as highly, each to their own. One such reel is the TLD 5 … I’ve had quite a few, they are good reels, but some people highly praise them, me I think they are just good and no more. Some people think the ABU 6600 L/D are ok or poor, me I think they are a nice reel to use taking into account its size and cost, though they do corrode. Some people rate a reel by how long it has lasted, others by its performance there is no hard and fast rule to rate a reel. Suppose it’s a mixture of a few, ability, reliability, cost, maintenance etc. Some one could have had a reel fail whilst using it and from then on in they dislike it, whether it turned out too be an unusual failure with regards to that type of reel make no difference their opinion is made up, they dislike it, fair enough! … some fail through miss-use and incorrect selection of reel for the type of fishing … but it’s the reels fault. I sell quite a few reels every week, and I see trends of specific reels being returned with faults from time too time, and it’s usually with the same couple of faults. It’s obviously a factory design and or manufacturing production fault. I then could read a thread and read nothing but praise for the same reel. Some reels are virtually bomb proof, some are quite frail. Some of the very expensive Big Game series reels have problems and their initial cost could be many hundreds of pounds. Some are big named reels the ones that are often used for big game fishing and least expected to give problems. Undoubtedly engineered well initially but nevertheless not exempt from mechanical failure, even taking in to account poor maintenance and that is the main failure with Big Game reels (bearing/clutch failures due to salt deposit). I personally believe brand loyalty plays a big part in reel selection, and if someone believes that brand XYZ is best, irrelevant of anything else, brand XYZ is best, that’s what they will buy ... that's ok. Me I have no brand loyalty! … I did many years ago but not now. I use what I personally want too and basically that’s no difference than someone deciding what reel they want even if it is brand XYZ. I have found out through using a great number of different reels what are good and bad, in my opinion I should add! … And there are some reels that I have read in books for instance that don’t get much of a write up, too later on use and find out that they are a very good reel. Later to find out that the person that said what they did are sponsored by a specific reel/fish tackle company, can you blame them though? … would we be any different in all honesty?

Tackle-Ho or is that nerd ... what's with the or, I'm both I cherry pick what I keep, and trade/sell the rest, it help me keep my sanity. At least, too a level, that the authorities deem me an insignificant danger too the public. Thereby allowing me to remain within the public domain, whether they will next week is a different matter it’s a wait and see game

I noticed its "what reels do you USE" ... I only use a certain selection of reels I actually own ... Abu 6600 L/D Abu 5500 C3 Abu 5500 C3 CT Abu 6500 C3 CT Abu EON 6600 … only for messing about, before it goes under the hacksaw! Daiwa 7HT Daiwa Saltist 30 Abu 7000 L/D Abu 6500 Synchro Abu Morrum 7700 CT Abu Morrum 7700 CS Abu Morrum 6600 Penn 970 Mag Abu 9000C Abu 10000CA Abu 12 Abu Ultra Mag IV Abu 6600 EXT Penn 525 GS Penn 525 Mag Daiwa Slosh 20 Daiwa Slosh 30 Abu 1003 LP That’s off the top of my head, there’s probably others I USE.. I rotate these reel throughout the year, I take 4 reels with me on a boat trip often swapping over as needed when fishing condition change … if I’m fishing a wreck I might use bigger reels, though I haven’t listed them separately. They are used infrequent there are various ones, Policansky/Daiwa/Penn etc … the usual ones. Some reels I have not been impressed with hence don’t use them anymore, they stay in their box.