John,

I've got a spare 506* doing nothing, if you want to have a play with a closed face without the expenditure let me know.

I've also got another Abu closed face... it's just got a screw missing that holds on the side plate (this one has a dual pin pick up)

Pic attached of the 506 similar to the one I was using the other night.



*these reels RARELY if ever get line behind the spool when trotting

Originally Posted by kev1911

hi chaps, i'm using fox stratos fs7000's at the moment what a well built reel they are super smooth with 16 bearings,light enough for delicate work strong enough to tame big fish too, i also use an okuma undertaker a lovely little reel for my tip work. kev.

Kev - I had one of those....and had a totally different experience. The gears went after about 18 months, then I binned it. Having said that, it was the FS7000E version, and not sure it had 16 bearings. Rubbish bit of kit. I now use Okuma Interceptor Pro 400s - smooth as silk compared to the Fox..

__________________
Cheers,

Rich

hi rich,
mine are the 7000's mate, i've not had them that long but have been trouble free upto now,think the 1's with the E after are a scaled down version with fewer bearings ( no disrespect intended) i like okuma gear as well.

kev

i dug one of my old reels out and found a daiwa regal.it looked mint and wonderd why i stoped using it. then realised the bail arm spring had broke these days tackle shops dont stock spares.so i phoned daiwa and thay said no problem. your springs are on way. free of charge. antique reels are making a comeback..??

Hi Kev - I guess you get what you pay for .....even though the Okumas are cheaper.

__________________
Cheers,

Rich

my springs came this morning. nice one daiwa.. back to

Hi Guys
Anyone heard if the ikonix pin is any good, looks just like the tfg xpin but copper colour instead of silver, not a bad price at £49.99 if it runs as good as it looks.
cheers 3lions

Its funny you say you like the okumas and not the fox as they all made by the same people, as everything is nowadays, as for line behind spools its usually a wind problem blowing the line slack and then it gets tangled, dont touch fixed spool reels for trotting as when you strike and flick the bail arm over, there is a split second when you loose contact with your tackle, closed face or centrepin for me all the way.

Originally Posted by 3lions

Hi Guys Anyone heard if the ikonix pin is any good, looks just like the tfg xpin but copper colour instead of silver, not a bad price at £49.99 if it runs as good as it looks. cheers 3lions

hi,
its 1 in the same mate, rich parsons just got 1 so ask him for feedback.

cheers

kev

Talking about shimmys does anybody else think they arent as good as they used to be ? Ive gone right of them , I purchased 2 diawa sweepfires for the kids to use for £25 for both, had a play with them and guess what, I prefer them to my shimmys gtms, excellent line lay and bail arm and they dont feel cheap either.