Reel for Masheer

Hello there everyone. I have bitten the bullet, and am off to India for a crack at catching a Masheer. At the moment, i am all ok except for knowing which reel to get. I want an abu 7000, but was wondering what the difference is between the standard 7000i, and the 7000 c3 ct mag?
Anyone got any suggestions please?

The 7000i has a level wind that ensures a good line lay - at the expense of casting distance.

The 7000 c3 ct mag has magnetic breaks to minimise over-runs - brilliant feature and fully adjustable. I prefer my multipliers not to have a level wind, it is very easy to guide the line between thumb and finger to ensure even line lay.

Worth having a look at Penn 525 or 535 - these are rugged reels and have a power handle.

To be fair, I have never even seen India - so this is a UK perspective based on rough ground sea fishing.

I looked at lots of reels for my trip to India , I ended up using Shimano Big Baitrunners LC , which are excellent reels.
I used 40 lbs Berkley Big Game line ( green ) which is a quality line. I wanted to use reels that I was used to using which is why I went for the baitrunners.

No idea on the reels Jack, but good luck. I am envious, Mahseer fishing is on my list of things to do before I get too old!!

If you are fishing the Cauvery (a very different kettle of fish from virtually all other Indian rivers), you'll be well set up with a decent multiplier. I fished ABU Ambassadeur 7000s on my first couple of trips there, for BAITFISHING rarely with line much above 25lb mono (but still having 60s, 70s and an 80 on them and never losing a bigger fish on account of the reel and line), but took Ambassadeur 10000Cs on later trips when really "loading for elephant" with 40lb test. Find a good secondhand 10000C if you can, or one of the gazillion and one, similar modern reels around now. For spinning I used big fixedspools (and an Ambassadeur 6000 / 6500C for my plug-fishing -these latter reels got a lot of days-out and had 30s, 40s, 50s and a night-caught 60).

I have experience of shore fishing in Anglesey in North Wales for Topeand used Abu 7000 and 9000s with no problems and also Daiwa SLOSH 20 AND 30s.
Any of these should be fine, good luck and have a fantastic time.