Being a specialist in using 501 reels the above mentioned comment about not being able to backwind is utter rubbish, sorry fella but i don't think you really understand the full useage of the 501
mg:
The 501 was one of the very first Abu close face reels to be launched and these were specifically made for backwinding, the other reels mentioned were able to backwind because they were a lot later reel with built in anti reverse pawl.
During the 70's and 80's many experienced match men would use the 501 and deliberately backwind when playing silver fish on light lines as the clutches on other reels of that era were simply not good enough.
I use the 501's all of the time nowadays solely because of the reliability of the backwind facility
When the 506 came into much use many again found that the clutch on this reel was useless and resulted in many a lost fish through the clutch being so very sticky a lot of the time,
This was soon soughted by removing the anti reverse pawl so that the 506 could now backwind the same as the 501.
The only slight difference with the 501 is that there is the tensioner thumb screw on the handle which slightly alters the overall tension of the backwind :thumbs:
---------- Post added at 10:58 ---------- Previous post was at 10:48 ----------
Absolutely, brilliant reels, I very rarely use anything else nowadays and yes I'll even use em for ultra light touch ledgering for river roach and chub aswell because there so reliable :thumbs: