What would you say is the BEST fishing Reel ever to be made ?
- Thread starter bobbyf77
- Start date
Cakey
Well-known member
I wouldnt know but the best one Ive owned is my Shimano LCs
Derek Gibson
Well-known member
Not everyone's choice I know, but the fact that the old ''Allcock's Ariel'' is still being ''copied today'', over a hundred years later. That's reason enough to advance a claim !!
Fixed spool, ''Shimano''........
Fixed spool, ''Shimano''........
Graham Whatmore
Senior Member
I agree with Cakey about Shimano reels, have they ever made a bad one? I doubt it. They do the job they were designed for, they are very reasonably priced and they last forever, what more could you ask of a reel?
Individually? Pick any one from all their reels and it will fit the bill.
Individually? Pick any one from all their reels and it will fit the bill.
the indifferent crucian
Well-known member
Sadly Shimano made some rather unpleasant plastic reels last year...my local tackle shop was knocking them out at around £13, I think..and he doesn't do anything cheap! At the moment he doesn't want to deal with them anymore, though I don't know why. I had heard they are laying staff off..hard to believe isn't it? I suppose every manufacturer want's a full share of the market and is tempted to do low-end stuff.
I think it just weakens the brand image, .... but what do I know?
For sheer numbers made, even though they went 'under' in 1987, it has to be the Mitchell. What other reel can you service yourself, or for that matter, still get all the bits for? Most of the modern stuff, clever as it is, can't be stripped safely and the bits won't be avaiable if it's more than a couple of years old.
Between Mike Traynor and Jims Reel Shop, there isn't a part that I haven't been able to get....and some of my Mitchells are older than me !
I know they can sound a little strange, but even that is fixable with correct shimming and a little work on a few components.
For me it is the Mitchell 300 and its numerous variants.
(Then there's the little 408 with those Gleason gears
)
I think it just weakens the brand image, .... but what do I know?
For sheer numbers made, even though they went 'under' in 1987, it has to be the Mitchell. What other reel can you service yourself, or for that matter, still get all the bits for? Most of the modern stuff, clever as it is, can't be stripped safely and the bits won't be avaiable if it's more than a couple of years old.
Between Mike Traynor and Jims Reel Shop, there isn't a part that I haven't been able to get....and some of my Mitchells are older than me !
I know they can sound a little strange, but even that is fixable with correct shimming and a little work on a few components.
For me it is the Mitchell 300 and its numerous variants.
(Then there's the little 408 with those Gleason gears
)
Graham Whatmore
Senior Member
Now I see why you live in a sleepy hollow in Surrey Crucian
Sean Meeghan
Well-known member
Centre pin: Allcocks Ariel
Fixed Spool: one of the Abu Swedish built Cardinals. The Cardinal 44X probably
Fixed Spool: one of the Abu Swedish built Cardinals. The Cardinal 44X probably
the indifferent crucian
Well-known member
Yeah, that's me Graham....stuck in a time warp:wh
Morespiders
Senior Member
Mitchells for me to Crucian,Now I see why you live in a sleepy hollow in Surrey Crucian
Whatmores going to get twanged in the water on Saturday, insolent dog
Jeff Woodhouse
Moaning Marlow Meldrew
Mitchells always went the wrong way round, how can that be any good?
I reckon the one that changed the reel market in a drastic way, was the ABU Cardinal 53, 54, and 55. I bought a 54 for £14 in 1982 and sold it for £82 in 2004 and they are still in big demand today for one in top condition. I'd taken mine apart many times to regrease it with different oils etc. and it worked perfectly, as good when I sold it (if not better) as when I bought it.
I reckon the one that changed the reel market in a drastic way, was the ABU Cardinal 53, 54, and 55. I bought a 54 for £14 in 1982 and sold it for £82 in 2004 and they are still in big demand today for one in top condition. I'd taken mine apart many times to regrease it with different oils etc. and it worked perfectly, as good when I sold it (if not better) as when I bought it.
The ABU Ambassadeur series of multipliers but especially the 6500 models. Simply the greatest reels ever made.
I think my criteria would be; if I had to own just the one rod and reel and feed a family off the back of them in a prolonged eat or die situation, which would I choose?
Hands down I would go for the bullet proof Ambassadeur 6500 teamed with an equally bullet proof heavy Avon rod.
A similar question was asked of cars by the Top Gear Team a few years back and the final public vote was for the Landrover Defender, which is also my ultimate car of choice, though I don't own one at the moment, sadly.
If the question was limited to just a pure coarse reel (whatever that is) then the mitchell 300 must win hands down for the sheer quantity sold, 30,000,000 plus I believe? They don't compare to modern fixed spools and of course the ABU cardinals blew them out of the water in the early eighties as tools for carp fishing. The Ambassadeur however, not only compares perfectly well with its 'modern' competition, but arguably still leads the field.
That cannot be said of any other reel.
I think my criteria would be; if I had to own just the one rod and reel and feed a family off the back of them in a prolonged eat or die situation, which would I choose?
Hands down I would go for the bullet proof Ambassadeur 6500 teamed with an equally bullet proof heavy Avon rod.
A similar question was asked of cars by the Top Gear Team a few years back and the final public vote was for the Landrover Defender, which is also my ultimate car of choice, though I don't own one at the moment, sadly.
If the question was limited to just a pure coarse reel (whatever that is) then the mitchell 300 must win hands down for the sheer quantity sold, 30,000,000 plus I believe? They don't compare to modern fixed spools and of course the ABU cardinals blew them out of the water in the early eighties as tools for carp fishing. The Ambassadeur however, not only compares perfectly well with its 'modern' competition, but arguably still leads the field.
That cannot be said of any other reel.
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Ray Roberts
Well-known member
If this was the criteria for choice then many of us would still be driving Model T Fords.
Shimano GTM for me: superior gearing, superior drag, superior line lay, a bail arm spring that doesn't break with monotonous regularity.
A superior reel all round.
flightliner
Well-known member
Mitchell 300 and varients every time, used all the new things and own several Shimanos but for trotting, light legering etx they do it all for me, I have six in all and am bidding right now for a "match" on e-bay. Last season float fishing for barbel on the trent I lost a screw on my bail arm which was hanging on from the line pick up side only and it just carried on working for me with no worries and had several fish with it.My mate that day swore to buy a couple first chance he had saying they were like the old Hurricane fighter planes- they took all manner of stick before they fell out of the blue!-- 50p repaired it from someone who no doubt will read this!
centre pin -- original Stanton-- got the weight for batting back on a big river.
centre pin -- original Stanton-- got the weight for batting back on a big river.
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peter crabtree
AKA Simon, 1953 - 2022 (RIP)
Got to agree with red army . I have the 2508 tdr and 3012 tdx and they are
the dogs .
Whether they will last as long as my shimano or abu reels we'll have to see .
The spro red arc has also been suggested to me as a good reel.
the dogs .
Whether they will last as long as my shimano or abu reels we'll have to see .
The spro red arc has also been suggested to me as a good reel.
quickcedo
Well-known member
Even though I no longer own any, it would have to be the Mitchell 300 for me. This reel completely changed fishing for me and thousands of others.
Me too...
At age 12 (1973) I borrowed (and never returned) my first 300 off my uncle, who was a southpaw, so the reel was right hand wind. My next Mitchell was a pristine condition 'Match' that I 'found', and was used for a full year (age 17) as part of a 'matching' pair of home-made carp rods (Hardy, Bruce and Walker, were the only commercially available options) and was swopped ASAP for a left hand wind 300 so that I could have at least one reel of my matched rods that would feel natural and look the same as t' other
I wish now that I'd kept the Mitchell Match. A unique reel and one that I have uses for now.
Perhaps it is the greatest reel of all?