Who makes the best fixed spool reels?

[dezza]

And not only that, it's black.......

Bliss!!

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

Different reels for different jobs, Diawa, Shimano, Mitchells, ABU and some pins, but the shimano is my least used, and i am not a fan of them myself.

 

[S-Kippy]

I agree with Ray different reels for different jobs though I think Daiwa have the edge over Shimano in terms of reels for "general" fishing...say,non-baitrunner up to about 4000 size.I have and use both makes but the biggest reel I use is a 4000. I can't comment on the top of the range models cos I dont own them...I have mid range reels,Daiwa Exceler,Shimano Exage eg. I also have a pair of Daiwa Capricorns that I got second hand. Fantastic .

And a few Okuma reels...original Epix and the later Epix Pro's. They are really,really good reels and get a lot of use.Terrific value but the Epix Pro is no longer available.

Sorry...I can't be doing with Mitchells & Abu's. Dont like the modern ones and the older models have had their day IMO.

 

[Jeff Woodhouse]

I like - Shimano with rear drags and Daiwa with front drags.

I have a Mitchell that I have recently cleaned, refurbed and reoiled with modern lubes and will soon be comparing that with modern reels.

I was also using the other day a small Abu, one of the new Cardinals, and it is a super little reel. Love it to bits.

 

[S-Kippy]

I like - Shimano with rear drags and Daiwa with front drags.

Blimey...I hadn't realised it but that's what all my f/s reels are. Front drag Daiwa's and rear drag Shimmys/Okumas.

 

[sam vimes]

and to my mind (an advantage over the Shimano's) the lever you move to engage the 'batirunner' facility clicks OUTWARDS and folds back INWARDS when retrieving. Why do shimano do it the other way?
Its illogical Captain

Missed this earlier. Not all Shimano baitrunners work that way round. The D series don't and the relatively new small baitrunners, XTFA, DLFA and STFA all work the way you prefer. I'd agree that it makes far more sense to work that way.

Blimey...I hadn't realised it but that's what all my f/s reels are. Front drag Daiwa's and rear drag Shimmys/Okumas.

Really confuse the issue and buy one of these.

 

[dezza]

We must be for ever grateful that the two top reel manufacturers compete with each other as aggresively as they do. We the anglers are the beneficiaries here otherwise, we would still be using reels that turn the wrong way round, sound like a ball mill, put umpteen twists in the line, have totally useless drags, line rollers that don't roll that put even more twists in the line and cut through the line after a season or two.

The only downside to this development is that every year there comes a "must have" new model on the market with all the improvements you have desired. Will we ever be able to stop spending?

One thing I wish manufacturers would stop doing is "blinging" up their reels intil they look like something an Essex Chav wears around his neck.

 

[Alan Tyler]

As a left-hander who wants the line peeling off the spool onto the ball, NOT the nail, of my left index finger:
NOBODY makes a decent RHW fixed spool reel.
Abu was the last firm to do so, with the 663/4/5 series, but they seemed to treat it as a mistake, rather than realise what they had and push hard for the 10% or so of the market who can't find what we need at any price except on antique stalls and the "Vintage" section of ebay.
Yet they all struggle so hard for a tiny share of the saturated LHW market.
They all deserve to go broke. Fools.

 

[dezza]

I feel for you Alan and think a left hand model would be a good idea, even though it might cost more to manufacture. Most reel manufacturers are now supplying multiplying reels for right handed anglers (left hand wind) but it must be realised that the tooling for left handed fixed spool reel users (RHW) is going to be more complex.

 

[Alan Tyler]

Mitchell managed. I still cling to my 209's and 309s.

The big Mitchells, of course, went the wrong way round anyway; let any right-hander fish with a 300 and he'll soon see what the lefties are up against. People coped, of course, but one was fighting the reel as well as the fish and the guy on the next peg; they can't have added much to the sum of human happiness.

Abu ought still to have the tooling hidden somewhere - all it needs is a longer spool and stroke, and that series could fly again ... if properly pushed at southpaws.

Oh, and shorter stems on the smaller models, so float-fishers can actually REACH the blessed spool...

 

[noknot]

Mitchell 'coffee grinders' where the mainstay of carp anglers perhaps because they were not as smooth as a Cardinal. Just disengage the anti reverse and you could let the carp take line directly from the reel - handle spinning. The Cardinal was just too well made - you would just get a birds nest......

Indeed, but when a 55 was packed full of heavy grease, this slowed them down, but even better was to fish on the clutch for takes, which you would never do with a Mitchell as they were to jerky.....

 

[dezza]

Quite right.

I used to fish two Mitchell 410s with the anti-reverse on and the drag set light so that line would be taken against the drag. It was in fact an early "bait runner" system. The problem was that the rod and reel used to bounce up and down and once came off the rod rests due to the jerkiness of the Mitchell drags.

The Cardinal 55 solved all that. The drag, compared to the Mitchell was as smooth as silk.

I never used a reel "churner" style, ie with the anti reverse off. I always thought this was a medieval idea.

 

[noknot]

And could hurt your knuckles too!

 

[dezza]

What hasn't been mentioned is the Intrepid Elite. This was a British made reel that attempted to satisfy all the requirements of the modern angler of the time. We in the Northern Specimen Group must have owned at least 30 of these reels.

The Elite had a roller in the bale arm (which never worked), chennille around the inner lip of the spool to stop the line getting behind the spool, three settings on the anti-reverse lever - 1: off 2: on, and 3: check at mid point so the reel could be used "churner" style as well as to facilitate playing fish "backwind" style. The outer flyer was also designed so that you could put finger pressure on the reel when a fish ran.

I suspect most of these modifications were a result of **** Walker's friendship with Ken Morrit who was a director of KP Morrit, manufacturers of the Elite.

Unfortunately the Elite was built to a price to compete against the Mitchell, the JW Young range, ABU and a few reels that started to appear from the far East. As a result, many of these modifications didn't work properly. The average life of an Elite was about a season and then things started to pack up.

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

I still have an Elite in good working order, no hang on, it's not good.

This reel has to be one of the worst reels made, and never anywhere near being able to compete with the Mitchell.

As for the Mitchell Drag, all you have to do is oil it, it makes it so much better, but for a reel that was made that long ago, the Mitchell still is as good as some reels on the market today.

I have had No trouble with my Mitchell Match, and that is 40 years old, had more problems with Shimano's

 

[dezza]

It would be about 1967 when Joe Taylor, sec, of the Sheffield and District Angling Association showed me an Alcedo reel. Made in Italy, this reel appeared to possess all the attributes of modern reels such as ball bearings, skirted spool, roller pick-up, smooth well engineered drag, worm gears and left or right hand wind. The gearing was superb and the only thing which put me off was the price of a penny short of 18 quid.

This was 1967 remember, when a tenner was an average weekly wage; well it was in Sheffield.

 

[Dave Slater]

All of my reels are Shimano and I can see no reason for using anything else as they have never let me down.
I have had most of my reels for many years and they are still going strong.
I use Stradic GTM's for my river fishing and close in work on stillwaters.
I use Aero baitrunners for longer range stillwater fishing and carp fishing.
The only newer reels I have are Seido's for float fishing. I love these and they are very smooth.

 

[ravey]

This is an interesting thread. I have two Stradic 2500s, a Daiwa 'Advantage' in 2508 size I think, and two Daiwa TDR 3012s. I also have a Mitchell 300A of 1978 vintage. I have vague memories of an Intrepid Black Prince, but thankfully they have faded over the years.
Predictably, the Mitchell is still going strong, with nothing ever replaced except the line on the spools (but serviced by myself). It has hardly been hammered, but is the most enduring item of tackle I have by a considerable margin. It may not be the flavour of the day any more, but for float anglers in particular, it had (has still) features important to this style of fishing - doubly so if you fish running water; these include:
A sensibly-sized spool
Good line lay (certainly for the time)
A spool which can easily be reached

For the matchmen (of the time - much more legering - and pole fishing - done these days) and general float angler, these features outweighed the disadvantages. This even applied to right-handers fishing with a rotor direction which seemed to favour left-handers. As Alan Tyler said, the current choice of reels favours right-handers. However, I can recall being shown by some very able exponents of the Mitchell Match how to overcome the problem of picking the line up cleanly at the end of a trot; the use of tiny barbless hooks meant that this was a skill which needed plenty of practise, especially for matches! I was also shown a couple of ways of closing the bail arm manually. Many older Trent anglers still favour the Mitchell. It still has a lot to offer if you are prepared or able to negotiate the significant shortcomings.

I agree with some posts about modern (recent) reels being 'better' than the Mitchells, but I can only comment on the reels I have owned. What remains to be proven is the reliability and robustness of the Shimanos and Daiwas I also own. Irrespective of a smoother operation, I have reservatins about the longevity of the newer reels. I think that one of the reasons Mitchells retained their popularity for so long was that the more modern alternatives have only very recently combined all the genuinely useful advantages together ;for me these are - for float reels in particular - excellent line lay, a spool lip within easy reach (which means you can hold the rod properly), smoothness, and that essential quality which means you don't have to constantly think about the operation of the reel. Older alternatives, which have included Shimano and Daiwa, oflen had a 'coned' spool which put the lip out of easy reach of the (ideally in my opinion) index finger (rather than middle finger). Part of the problem is that float anglers who fish running water are a fraction of the whole market. I think (but I could be wrong!) most are produced for a 'spinning' market.

Mark Wintle did some excellent articles about the ideal fixed spool reel for trotting. He obviously knows what he is talking about (how about some more articles, Mark?). I would post a link, but should admit that I am probably better at fishing than IT!

So...for me it's Shimano Stradic 2500FA and 2500FB for all float fishing, Daiwa Advantage for 'medium' river feeder fishing, and the TDR 3012s for heavy/long chuck feedering. There are almost certainly other reels which fit the bill, but I have no practical experience of them. I have no doubt that the Mitcell would still catch me plenty of fish, but I have semi-retired the old girl, and limit her use to swingtipping with a glass rod - something which I think is more in keeping with her place in history.

 

[dezza]

I think there is one reel of the 60s we are forgetting. It is the Mitchell 308 "Prince". I had two of these reels which were excellent in that the line went the right way around the bail for right handed anglers. The gears were far better in many ways than the 300/410 reels and the drag was much smoother.

I used these reels for all sorts of fishing from chub and barbel fishing with a Mk VI Avon on the Yorkshire rivers to general float fishing for species from tench to roach and dace. They had about half the line capacity of the 300.

Ray Webb swore by his 308 for pike fishing!!

I have seen him land several double figure and one 20 pound pike using 11 lb line loaded onto the 308, which took about 80 yards of the stuff I guess.

Altogether a much better engineered reel than the 300, albeit smaller.

The biggest disadvantage of the 308 was the small line capacity which made them useless for long distance casting.

 

[barbelboi]

I seem to remember that Kevin Clifford mentioned ‘Another method to facilitate long casting with a centre pin employed line wrapped round a thermos flask cup’
This was used in the early 1900’s - Would the cup be classified as a prototype fixed spool ? – and if yes was it better than the Mitchell 300?.:wh