Front or Rear drag

[steve2]

I have used front drags from my Mitchell 300 days. My only rear drag reels are bait runners. When did the first rear drag reels appear on the market I seem to remember the first appearing.

 

[silvers]

Abu cardinals in the 60s? Maybe 70s

 

[sam vimes]

I've not kept up much with the market over the last couple of years but reading this thread made me wonder, just how many front drag reels are available these days?

Seemingly most if not all of the really popular reels are rear drag these days . . . . . so does availability affect preferences?

You really haven't kept up with the market at all. Rear drag reels are decidedly out of fashion in the UK and started heading that way fifteen to twenty years ago. It's also remarkably common to hear people, usually those with a match fishing influence, slating Shimano. Older (45+) anglers, specialists and carpers are far more likely to advocate Shimano.

I suspect that plenty on here still like rear drag and Shimano says more about the demographics of the membership than it does about overall trends. From all I read and see, Daiwa front drag reels are the flavour of the month with a lot of the match influenced coarse angling fraternity.

 

[108831]

In a match fishing scenario Alex(yours)centrepins are not quick enough,but you cannot control certain floats half as well with FS reels,so if your catching quality fish then catch rate isn't as important as actually getting the bites in the first instance,would I use a pin if I were still match fishing,probably not,,but there again I wouldn't use a Mitchell match either,lol....

 

[trotter2]

I would go shimano front drag every time.

 

[Keith M]

I would go shimano front drag every time.

Nowadays for trotting (if not using a centrepin) or for fishing wagglers I would much prefer a decent Shimano reel with a front drag too; athough I do still have a couple of small Team Diawa rear drag reels from the 90s which I used to use a lot when using small wagglers on the canals and which matched with my light Diawa Amorphous Whisker match rod perfectly (see below).



But for legering for larger fish like Barbel, Carp and Pike I would rather use a decent Shimano rear drag reel.

Keith

 

[ian g]

I'm a front drag man , apart from bait runners . Must admit I do use a pin for most of my fishing so I suppose my view is that relevant . I fought shy of front drags because of worrying about adjusting when playing a fish but I do find them much smoother than rear drags . I mainly use them for fishing a waggler a little further out and fishing fine lines.

 

[sam vimes]

For anyone owning a Daiwa 16TDM... with a similar dislike of quick drags, the slow drag from the Daiwa Ninjas are a direct replacement. Cost a few years ago around £5 from Daiwa.

Absolutely, the drag knobs are the only difference. Swap to a knob (of matching size) from a non-quick drag model and you are sorted. Whether you can get an alternative to match cosmetically is another matter entirely.

 

[trotter2]

I will always say the same thing if you want a good reel look out for a second hand shimano exage front drag.
Unfortunately discontinued but do turn up regularly on the auction site.

 

[Crystal Bend]

I have front and rear drag reels and there are pros & cons with both but do enjoy waggler fishing with my late '90s Browning Syntex 630M Match Reel with rear drag and fast retrieve.

​

 

[Richox12]

Generally I wouldn't care front or rear as I don't use drags 99% of the time. Main thing for float work is I must be able to reach the lip of the spool easily with my short fingers, spool diameter not be too small or too short on travel for line lay and for Feeder work it must have a push button spool so with my cack handed technique I can easily use the line clip regularly.

 

[108831]

Why must it have a press button spool,do you change spools regularly during a days fishing,I ask this as I certainly don't,the convenience I understand,the necessity,no....

 

[sam vimes]

You can actually get front drag reels that have push button spools. Daiwa have certainly done them in the past and Preston currently have one in their range.

 

[Richox12]

Why must it have a press button spool,do you change spools regularly during a days fishing,I ask this as I certainly don't,the convenience I understand,the necessity,no....

I never change spools on any reel. It's so I can access and use the line clip easier/quicker the way I do it.

 

[hague01]

Read with interest your comments on this subject. Always a matter of personal opinion of course. I have been through all of shimano rear drag reels since I took up fishing on retirement, 11 years ago. One of the first views I formed was that I was unhappy using bait runners. I have tried front drags, principally the daiwa caldia and TDR's and very fine reels as they are, I still preferred the rears. I was lucky to land on the biomaster SRA/RA which were no longer sold here but bought some new here more most from Italy, all new. I hankered after the C 14 SRA and finally bought a pair, used, last year. I have , to my amazement bought a used stradic c 14 FB 4k 2 weeks ago. Sufficiently impressed to order a new one yesterday, although I have not actually used one yet in anger so to speak. Has anyone any experience with these? I cant see me selling the bios, the C14s went( the blue ones) as I felt it was pointless me having 1 drag locked permanently. I mostly catch carp( if I catch at all that is) and the rear, thumb operated, fine tune clutch lever seems ideal to my mind. But, I never like to have a closed mind. I will appreciate any input on the front drag c 14'stradic, please.

 

[sam vimes]

You are only partially naming reels here, so it's a little difficult to be sure about the exact models you are talking about. I think the blue Ci4 SRA you've mentioned may be the Twinpower Ci4 RA (The "S" only being applicable to certain models in the range).

I will appreciate any input on the front drag c 14'stradic, please.

This is most likely a reference to the Stradic Ci4+ FB (Grey/Silver body/rotor with Red/Black spool). I have one, I had to try a reel without an anti-reverse switch for myself. I went for the 2500 as I wanted it to partner with particularly light match rods. It appears to be the same physical size as the 3000 model but with a shallower spool.

I've had the reel for a few years now. It's a quality reel and it's very light. However, though I managed without the anti-reverse switch perfectly well, I couldn't quite break the ingrained habit of reaching for it. For that reason, I boxed the reel up and put it away. In the last few weeks, I've acquired a particularly light rod. The pairing seems to fit well and I'm toying with giving the reel another go.

Whether you like the Stradic Ci4+ FB is likely to depend on whether you can live without the anti-reverse switch. If this makes any sense, I can manage without, but I'd probably rather not.

 

[hague01]

Thanks Sam. As ever a font of wisdom and common sense. Seems I have boobed again. I thought I was buying another FB but seems it's an ra. Doh! I wondered about the anti reverse. The diawa literature with the FB referred to it but I couldn't find it. I even spoke to Paul at felindre cos I thought I was going mad. On my rear drags Sam I never touch the anti reverse switch so maybe I am doing something wrong.

 

[hague01]

Ref your earlier comment , yes I meant the twin power c 14 3k sra. I lust after one for years. Finally got round to it last year. Used them, great, had the serviced and decided to sell. I got a good price. They are listed on eBay now for considerably more but that's business. I use the biomaster 2.5, 3 and 4k. Very smooth, great value I feel.

 

[hague01]

I think the S means small reel and applies I think only to the 3k version

 

[sam vimes]

I think the S means small reel and applies I think only to the 3k version

No, the S prefix (before the RA) indicates that it's fitted with shallow(er) spools. In the case of the Twinpower Ci4 (S)RA, the 3000 and 4000 models both had S prefixes and shallow spools. The smaller 1500 and 2500 models didn't have the shallow spools. The line capacity of the 3000 and 4000 models was the same. The smaller 2500 model actually had a greater line capacity than the 3/4000 reels.

Many years ago, this "S" would probably have been an "M" used to denote Match spools. They seemed to stop using "m" as "match" spools meant little in other markets.

Whilst there's some occasional inconsistency in Shimano's labelling, much of it sticks to some sort of convention. Unfortunately, the conventions can change (as above) with the passage of time.

However, in the smaller types of reel (match/spinning reels) the two/three letter suffix (RA/SRA/FA/FB etc) do mean something. Any reel with an "F" is a front drag reel. Not surprisingly, "R" indicates a rear drag reel. The "S", if applicable, indicates a shallow spool is fitted. In some cases, Shimano might refer to these as "braid" spools.

The A, B, C, D, etc indicate the mark in a particular series of reels. I don't recall seeing many reels getting past the third "C" variant. I'm not entirely certain, but I think I might have seen the odd reel with "D" or "E" tags. There is a slight inconsistency with this designator in that some reels seem to start their variants without an "A" model and move straight on to "B"s for the second generation.