Finger dab bale arms

[jevs]

First post so please be gentle with me !!!

 

I've been using my trusty old mitchell 'match' reel for 25 years. It has a finger dab bale arm which i find so easy and comfortable to use.

 

Why didn't they catch on and become the "norm"......has anyone else used them and what did you think ?

 

Regards

 

Andy

[hermes]

Hi jevs, welcome to the forum!

 

Yes I used to use them too, nice blue reels with what seemed to be a revolutionary new bail arm which did in fact work very well. I guess the mechanism driving it on the outside was considered too complex or messy for modern reels these days.

Now I wish I hadn't sold mine years ago with my Abu 507's.......

[chavender]

i used mitchels matches in the past (sold all six afew years ago) but actually prefer the standard 410's,other manufactuers dave "dab"led with autobail arm reels diawa has a reel called the Daiwa 1657DM auto bail reel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

you can stiil buy them if you can find any,these are considered as the best float fishing reel by some top match anglers but i don't see it myself (i have one) then theres the shimano (tx120Q)

 

 

 

 

 

 

ones these where simular to the diawa's as they also had a bail arm trigger i also have one of these which i use with small spinners ect ,but i'm not sure if shimano still make them or simular these days .i much prefer normal bail armed reels.

[Dick Dastardly]

Yup ive got a Mitchell Match as well.It was a good system but improved on by the push button action of the later closed face reels.My only dislike of the dab bail was that if I use the reel to ledger with (I hold the rod whilst legering only having the tip section suported by a rod rest) I fish with the anti reverse off so I can play a fish by backwinding so when striking single handed I put my finger on the spool to stop the reel turning.This often results in me "accidently" tripping the bail arm! Yes I know I could put the bailarm "lock" on but that would rather defeat the point of the dab bail!

[Pongo]

i had both the mitchell match and the daiwa autobail i actually prefered the daiwa reel i thought it just felt smoother to use. Wish i still had it to be honest but sold it (doh) stupid

[Dunk Fairley]

Still use my Match, as my favourite float reel on still water ( I use a centrepin on anything that moves). I love it, it's so simple and reliable. It's probable that because of the extra mechanics involved in making it, as well as the fact that Mitchell went through a "rocky" financial time for a while, no-one made a big enough profit from it, for it to continue in production.

 

Try and service it once a year and it'll go on for ever.

 

By the way, the later ones were black not blue. They can be easily overlooked at jumble sales because of this.

[blob]

Still use my Match, as my favourite float reel on still water ( I use a centrepin on anything that moves). I love it, it's so simple and reliable. It's probable that because of the extra mechanics involved in making it, as well as the fact that Mitchell went through a "rocky" financial time for a while, no-one made a big enough profit from it, for it to continue in production.

 

Try and service it once a year and it'll go on for ever.

 

By the way, the later ones were black not blue. They can be easily overlooked at jumble sales because of this.

 

 

 

 

Don't forget the obvious disadvantage, when trotting the bail arm couldn;t be engaged manually, you had to release the line and turn handle to pick up line. This always caused lost fish.

[Stephen-C]

Ive got the shimano sidestab, its a USA version and mainly a spinning reel as the anti reverse has only 1 lock position which is at the cast position, excellent for casting lures all day but a bit of a pain for using the reel for anything else where you need to take up slack in the line. Its got the quickfire tab.

Edited June 22, 2006 by Stephen-C

[Ken L]

Yep, I bought a shimano with a bail trigger in the US way back in 1995.

It worked well enough with bigger lures where the wieght of the bait was enough to pull the bail rotor round to the cast position as you transfered your left hand down from the reel handle to the butt prior to casting but was fiddly and awkward with lighter lures.

Ultimatly, it was the single stop position that was the reels dowfall though because when a big barra boofed a Heddon Moss Boss off the top in Australia, the lack of "Superstopper" meant that by the time the rotor hit the antireverse potition, it was travelling fast enough and with enough force to bend the reels main shaft by 20 degrees.

That was the end of my trigger bail Shimano.

[Dick Dastardly]

Shimano rotor shafts are renowned for being soft as the proverbial.My 6500 baitrunners shafts used to get bent and buckled all the time with big cats.You could actually see the spool being pulled over to the line pick up when leaning into a fish.I was always worried that this bending back and forwards would lead to a failiure.Shimano werent interested when I contacted them. Was lucky enough to have some replacement shafts made for me so never found out.

 

Regardless of what Shimano said the constant re straightening of the shaft to stop that horrible clonking noise as you retrieved in its own surely warrented strengthening them? Ah well as they told me " Kevin M-a-d-o-c-k-s doesnt have a problem landing catfish with them" so what do I know?