closed face reels

[John Weddup]

Have never owned one before and fancy one for my river/stream trotting.

 

Their appears to be only two main contenders the daiwa or abu. Are there any others and are the any opinions amongst you as to best.

 

thanks

 

john

[Peter Waller]

Keep an eye on E.Bay. I have an ABU 1044 that I would not part with for any money.

[KAYC]

John I agree with peter. The ABU 1044 is the one to get: Definately superior to the rest, Good luck hunting.

[bikenut]

I've had a Diawa 125m for about 20 years and this year bought an Abu not sure which one but think its a 704.

The Abu is a beautiful bit of gear, superbly made and finished.

The Diawa is and always has been wobbly and ricketty compared to the Abu, but the Abu just doesnt work as well. Seems to need much more of a press on the line relase button to release both pick up pins, and as for the drag, well it is a drag.

But in principal, they are really good for trotting, especially for folks like me who find a centrepin a bit of a chore, and find accurate casting under the trees with a pin difficult.

Bikenut

[Guest tigger]

I would recommend the old abu 501.

You never get tangled there small light and robust.I have caught just about everything with mine from 25lb carp to little brownies.I can't praise them enough.I've just got another one off ebay.

Tigger.

[chavender]

if your going to have a closedfaced reel then get a abu 501/6 or if you can get a 507(origanal Mk1) or a 1044,you can expect to pay about £10-£20 0n e-bay for a 1044 or 506/m and a bit more for a abu 501 and around £50 for a origanal 507 or you could get a 507 goldmax (mk2) or 704 for around £35.i'd recomend the 1044 as a first closedfaced reel as it has a seperate anti-reverse to the drag (syncro-drag)and a spool lock

 

[ 30. September 2005, 01:48 PM: Message edited by: chavender ]

[Peter Waller]

I grew up with the 5-0 series, brillient reels. But the 1044 wins for me because I can back wind. As a reel it still has the compactness of the earlier 5-0-5 & 7 reels. The later reels such as the Goldmax are less compact.

[chavender]

i currently own four closed faced reels 2x506's

1x1044 and a Dam Quick CTm.my 506's have had the

anti-reverse dissabled so i have to backwind all

the time (just how i like it)i inveriably use the

506's ,i would like to get another 507 (mk1)again

as i miss the one i had stolen years ago.

[Guest tigger]

You can back wind with the 501.The drag is on the side of the handle. When you hook a fish as it runs the handle backwinds releasing line. It's good as you can use it the same way as a centrepin ,using your finger on the handle to apply more or less drag. That is the way i used to fish with mine i would have the drag set very light and use my finger instead. You are in direct contact with the fish (great stuff).

Tigger.

[chesters1]

best old one is the 506 (the more expensive 506m has little to make it stand out from the 506) then as stated above is the splendid 1044 ,forget the bulky and hard to get spares for 507 goldmax and definatly avoid the 704 ,as to other closed faces there arn't any !! ABU make the best end of story.

you can backwind any 500 series by removing the antireverse pawl something i have never done, the 50% drag feature works for me or if i use the 1044 a matter of switching it off.

i used my 507 (or was it 508) for sea fishing float work ,totally saltwater resistant (so long as you wash it) and big enough for thicker line ,had some cracking fun from folkestone pier after dark with horse mackeral on baited feathers and no weight :cool:

 

[ 30. September 2005, 04:20 PM: Message edited by: chesters1 ]