Reels for barbel fishing.

popliver · Nov 6, 2012

Please mods if this is in the wrong section then i apologize.

Ive just got into barbel fishing and have purchased two wychwood maximiser rods. Im looking for some reels that will be balanced for these rods. Im only looking at spending about £50ish each. I have seen the fox stratos 4000e and shimano st6000 around this price but not sure on performance or size?
Has anyone tried these reels or maybe suggest some others?

Many Thanks
Mark

Fred Bonney · Nov 6, 2012

What rivers will you be fishing ?

Judas Priest · Nov 6, 2012

Nip down to your local tackle shop and try a few out for size.
I can thoroughly reccomend the Okumas in various sizes. Never had a problem with them for any sort of fishing..

popliver · Nov 6, 2012

Fred Bonney said:
What rivers will you be fishing ?

Sorry i should have said.
The river taff cardiff and the wye once a month on the biblins stretch, once i get my ticket.

---------- Post added at 14:18 ---------- Previous post was at 14:15 ----------

Judas Priest said:
Nip down to your local tackle shop and try a few out for size.
I can thoroughly reccomend the Okumas in various sizes. Never had a problem with them for any sort of fishing..

Ive had a quick look and think maybe 4000 size might be best but just wondered what other people would suggest. There just seems so many to choose from and dont want to pick the wrong ones then im trying to sell them.

Judas Priest · Nov 6, 2012

Pop

There's no such thing as "barbel" reel as you'll undoubtedly catch other species using it.

What you're looking for is a reel that can take a bit of abuse, wind line back on to the spool and let line out under pressure off a clutch. That covers about 99.9% of them then.

So stop worrying about buying the wrong ones.

Fred Bonney · Nov 6, 2012

The main reason I asked about the river Mark, was to try and assess the size of the weights you may be using.
The heavier the weight the better the gearing you need on retrieve.
In my opinion a 5000 size is a good coverall, a 4000 may be too light for big rivers and a 6000 may be a bit big for smaller rivers.

Titus · Nov 6, 2012

I use a couple of old Shimano 8000 baitrunners for all my feeder and lead work. For close in stuff I like to use a pin and for most other jobs, including float fishing, I use a couple of old Shimano 3500 with the fighting drag.

The 8000's are the same body size as the 6000 the only difference being the line capacity.

I could go and check on model numbers but as they are all discontinued I don't think it makes allot of difference.

The bad one · Nov 7, 2012

I'll go with Judas on this one Okumas and have a look at the Epix V2 55 superb reels for rivers like the Wye. Bought two just over a month ago, even better than the Epix Pros I had (still do) for 8 years of hard work on the Ribble. And I do mean hard work, hauling 2-5 oz feeders back av 30 yards, minimum of two days a week every week during the season.

Got mine from Fishing Repblic an advertiser on this site and you'll have change of £15 from your 50 rips.

Keith M · Nov 7, 2012

Fred Bonney said:
The main reason I asked about the river Mark, was to try and assess the size of the weights you may be using.
The heavier the weight the better the gearing you need on retrieve.
In my opinion a 5000 size is a good coverall, a 4000 may be too light for big rivers and a 6000 may be a bit big for smaller rivers.

I agree fully with Fred.

I use 5000 series reels for nearly all of my Barbel fishing (bar trotting) even on small streams.

6000's are OK if you need to cast heavy feeders or leads all day long on a larger river but a bit over the top for fishing the average sized or smaller river or stream.

4000's are OK on smaller rivers and streams; but a tad too light on larger rivers where you are constantly retrieving larger weights or feeders all day long.

5000's are a great compromise for both smaller and larger streams and rivers.

NB. I was told that Shimano has stopped selling 5000 series reels; a shame if it's true.

popliver · Nov 7, 2012

Thanks for the replies people. I think I'll go and see if any of my local shops has any 5000 size reels for me to try on my rod. It's all about getting the right balance for the type of rod I suppose.
One thing I will say about okuma reels though, is that years ago, I borrowed an okuma centurian baitrunner I think it was called. I managed to land a 21lb carp with it but found the clutch/drag system not very smooth at all. Maybe it was a bad one I don't know but seemed to put me off the make a bit after that.

Titus · Nov 7, 2012

I use the larger spools for my lead and feeder fishing because the spools are larger diameter and the line lay is not so tight, this is important when you are casting heavy leads 6 or 7 times an hour.
I also don't like using high geared reels as I think they cause more line twist, I was the bloke who took the heads off his Mitchell match reels and put them on my 301 bodies because I preferred the slower retrieve rate.

The bad one · Nov 7, 2012

popliver said:
One thing I will say about okuma reels though, is that years ago, I borrowed an okuma centurian baitrunner I think it was called. I managed to land a 21lb carp with it but found the clutch/drag system not very smooth at all. Maybe it was a bad one I don't know but seemed to put me off the make a bit after that.

Must have been a duff en' because I've 9 of them (various models) going back 12 years and all have brilliant clutch systems on them. Never every lost a fish or had a problem with clutches snagging or not operating smoothly whilst playing fish.
End of the day it's your money and if you want to get whatever make you want, possibly paying over the odds for a name, it's your choice.

One thing I would stress is look at the number of bearings a reel contains in the moving parts. A minimum of 5 is what I'd expect in any reel these days. Less than that and it will be a plastic or carbon bush it's running on and those wear very quickly making parts go lose and wobbly.

Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC) · Nov 7, 2012

The bad one said:
making parts go lose and wobbly.

Leave my bowels out of it...

popliver · Nov 7, 2012

The bad one said:
Must have been a duff en' because I've 9 of them (various models) going back 12 years and all have brilliant clutch systems on them. Never every lost a fish or had a problem with clutches snagging or not operating smoothly whilst playing fish.
End of the day it's your money and if you want to get whatever make you want, possibly paying over the odds for a name, it's your choice.

One thing I would stress is look at the number of bearings a reel contains in the moving parts. A minimum of 5 is what I'd expect in any reel these days. Less than that and it will be a plastic or carbon bush it's running on and those wear very quickly making parts go lose and wobbly.

You might be right there as the okuma centurian only has 3 bearings, it may have been well used and worn? I don't know.

The bad one · Nov 8, 2012

Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC) said:
Leave my bowels out of it...

It's a given your moving parts are lose and wobbly Matt. Are you sure you are not a Victorian Gentleman, they were obsessed with there bowels movements too.

hugo curgudgeon · Nov 10, 2012

popliver said:
Thanks for the replies people. I think I'll go and see if any of my local shops has any 5000 size reels for me to try on my rod. It's all about getting the right balance for the type of rod I suppose.
One thing I will say about okuma reels though, is that years ago, I borrowed an okuma centurian baitrunner I think it was called. I managed to land a 21lb carp with it but found the clutch/drag system not very smooth at all. Maybe it was a bad one I don't know but seemed to put me off the make a bit after that.

Speedias?

Hugo

garethdwatkins · Nov 10, 2012

Since I started barbelling here in France, I've just brought my Shimano Aero 8010's Baitrunners out of retirement.
Excellent reels that I just found too small for carp fishing, but do the job perfectly for feeder fishing on the rivers...

Cheers
Gareth

mark brailsford 2 · Nov 10, 2012

Shimano Mini Baitrunner 4000s, which model depends on your budget, very good reels for the money and just the right size for Barbel rods!

guest61 · Nov 10, 2012

Shimano Aero Baitrunners in most sizes can be picked up for around £25 on the second hand market - All the ledegering reel you'll ever need.

baldie1 · Nov 11, 2012

Preston PXR power reels, solid and smooth, 4000/5000 size.
Dave

Reels for barbel fishing.

Member

Banned

Well-known member

Member

Well-known member

Banned

Banned

Well-known member

Well-known member

Member

Banned

Well-known member

Senior Member

Member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Banned

Well-known member

Member