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Fishing Reel Size?


Stupot85

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Hey all.

 

I'm looking to buy my first new reel for many years, currently I'm mainly fishing below a very big fast, snag filled, weir for barbel upto 14lb.

 

Im wanting a reel that's suitable for about 15lb mono line but all I ever see is sizes such as 30,35, 40 etc...

 

Would somebody please be able to explain to me how these sorts of sizes translate into max line capacity??

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

P.S. If any one can suggest a good reel at a budget price (about £50) then that would be greatly appreciated also!!!

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They are not exact enough to tell you the line capacity but only that a 40 is larger than a 30.

 

Every reel I've ever seen has info about the amount of line it will hold although they only give the details for a single breaking strength and you have to guess if you are using a different b/s since the diameter will be different.

 

You can get an idea about the reel since the usual line capacity info is for a b/s that matches well with the reel so that a reel that says 100 yards of 4 lb line will almost certainly be horrible with 15 lb.

 

It is probably more important to match the size of the reel (dimensions & weight) to the rod you plan to use it with. I imagine if you are using enough rod, the proper reel will hold more than enough line.

" My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference!" - Harry Truman, 33rd US President

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Unfortunately there's no standard, even amongst reels from the same supplier! However some are better than others, and often there is a pattern.

 

For instance, a size 30 reel will often take 100 metres of .30mm line, a size 40 reel 100 metres of .40mm line, a size 50 reel 100 metres of .50mm line.

 

15lb mono is usually about .35mm in diameter. So you'll probably find that a size 35 reel will take the amount of line that you need. However, size 35 reels are not that common, so you may need to go up to a size 40. This could well be heavier duty, and so may be a better bet anyway.

 

Incidentally, one useful way of estimating line capacity if only one figure is given in adverts is that if you half the diameter of the line you'll get 4 times the length of line on the same spool. For instance on a size 40 reel that takes 100 metres of .40mm line you'd get 400 metres of .20mm line.

 

Those who like maths will see that it's the square of the line diameter that's important here. For instance in the above example you want to estimate how much line of .30mm diameter the spool would take. The calculation is 100 x .40 x.40 / .30 x .30, giving an answer of approx 178 metres.

Wingham Specimen Coarse & Carp Syndicates www.winghamfisheries.co.uk Beautiful, peaceful, little fished gravel pit syndicates in Kent with very big fish. 2017 Forum Fish-In Sat May 6 to Mon May 8. Articles http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/steveburke.htm Index of all my articles on Angler's Net

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Cant understand the problem as there are very few reels Ive seen that dont give the capacity on the spools or in the description.

 

Anyone who uses a wide variety of different line sizes would find it hard to better an old Mitchell 300! several pop on spools and comfortable with line from 2lb to 15!

And thats my "non indicative opinion"!

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Cant understand the problem as there are very few reels Ive seen that dont give the capacity on the spools or in the description.

 

If you've got the reel in front of you that's fine. If you haven't, you have to rely on the description in the advert or catalogue. In many cases this will give the capacity for only 1 breaking strain. In most cases this would be the most likely breaking used in the UK on a reel of that size. Stupot's need isn't really typical, hence I suspect his question.

Wingham Specimen Coarse & Carp Syndicates www.winghamfisheries.co.uk Beautiful, peaceful, little fished gravel pit syndicates in Kent with very big fish. 2017 Forum Fish-In Sat May 6 to Mon May 8. Articles http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/steveburke.htm Index of all my articles on Angler's Net

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No worries, Budgie. There but for the grace of God.... :)

Wingham Specimen Coarse & Carp Syndicates www.winghamfisheries.co.uk Beautiful, peaceful, little fished gravel pit syndicates in Kent with very big fish. 2017 Forum Fish-In Sat May 6 to Mon May 8. Articles http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/steveburke.htm Index of all my articles on Angler's Net

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thanks for all the info guys.

 

I understand that when youve got the reel in front of you it almost always tells you the capacity, but due to the hours I work I do most of my shopping on the internet and descriptions are normally very shallow (as Steve said).

 

such a shame there isnt a universal method for this, would make it alot more simpler, looks like I'll have to make time at a weekend to go into the local tackle shop (just means missing an early morning start) oh well.

 

Once again, thanks alot

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