BIG PIT REELS

hi everyone
i am thinking of buying the new MITTCHELL FREE RUNNER 750 PRO big pits are they any good?
or should i choose diawa.

Bloddy expensive. Unless u are using heavy mono or braid, big pit reels are not really as big an advantage as u may think.

I would go for the daiwa's.They have a good reputation,buying somathing new and untried can be a big mistake.Not to mention expensive.

I have the 7500 Surf something, they are the identical reel but without the baitrunner and for fishing off the beach with 12 or 15lb mono then they are very good and very strong.
The new ones do seem a tad expensive though.

Big pit reels will cast further than a standard sized spool and you can add vital extra yards to your cast.

Rik...depends on the line mate. Have a look at the Fuji site for some very interesting info on reel spool sizes and ring spacing.

Basically, Fuji reckon that up to 120 yards or so, with 12 pound nylon, there is no decernable difference in casting distance between a standard and "sea casting" spool. This has been voiced by several well known BIG casters recently..Frank Warick for example. Heavier lines are a different story however, and so are braids...so I would go for a bigger spool if needing to go further than this distance.

As for ringing...Fuji, who know a thing or two about rings, reckon that having few and large rings CUTS DOWN on distance. I agree. Get a rod with long range ringing and thread some line through. Pull the tip into a curve and feel the abrasion. Then note how the line moves out the tip ring as the curve increases. Basically u are losing all that energy as the line does not follow the rod curve like it should.

Fuji now say that that is why a multiplier rung rod will outcast a fixed spool rung rod...because it has more rings so the line loses less energy under a compression stroke of the rod.

Its interesting reading.

I would base my choice on the distance I was fishing, the line I was using and the style of fishing I was doing. Basically, sub 120 yards, standard Baitrunners, aboive 120 yards with 15 pound+ line or braid, the new big casting shimanos. Hope this does not confuse anyone

Rob
have you got the website address for fuji re rod building,rings etc.Cheers Steve

My mate has got some big pit reals made by PENN that he bought from a whole sale shop (Trago Mills) near Exeter, They are 45quid each, 5 ball bearing, large spool/capacity , well balanced, solid build & very very good value for the money, he sold his shimanos after buying these.

I also have the Penn surfmaster reels and they survived mahseer fishing so that counts for something I reckon..superb line lay though one squeaks a little after the abuse! At ?45 you'll be hard pushed to better them.

This got banded around after Jim Gibbinson said the same thing.
Anyone who owns any kind of big pit reel didn't agree with him and neither do I.

I agree with the ring spacing though, Century were the first exponents of this last year and my Game-On rods are built to this spec.

I was flicking trough the 2002 Shimano catalogue last night, and lo and behold, Shimano basically say that there big pit reels are an over kill. They reckon the optimum size for a spool is the one they now use on there new big baitrunner..which is 30% bigger than a 8010 spool....which makes it about 30% smaller thean an Aerlex 8000. I was very suprised to read this. Its so that the line can cone down better, therefore preventing line slap.

I cam across a website regarding casting comps in Japan. Apparently this is a HUGE sport over there (thats why Shimao developed that mental ?700 fixed spool reel) They cast much lower weight than over here...3oz being about the upper limit. There rods are 12-13 feet, very tippy, and...have up to 12 rings, of a smaller size than u would expect. trouble is..the site is in Japanese..grrrrrr

I think this is one subject that has no right or wrong...its down to preference.