avet sx

[umtduckhead]

Do you all think the avet SX will work for a bait stick? or is it too small? im hearing people complain about how light the 9lb drag is and how its just too small for fish out here. any imput?

[Holy Mackerel]

It will be fine as a live bait reel. That said, if you use Avets on a kayak, I hope you like to break down, and clean your reels after each trip. :p

I have 2 speed Avet reel, and love it, but I don't use in on the kayak, because I have little time for proper maintenance.

[deepdvr]

Avet's are great. I use lefty equipment so I don't have much in the way of decent choices. My MXJ has been used on the yak 9 months without servicing and is still working perfectly. The SX is a perfect live bait/kelp cutter reel. String up 65lb. braid and you'll have plenty of line. I've never been close to needing more drag and I never have the drag maxed out. My SX has handled a very upset 55lb. WSB without any issues.

My only suggestion would be to get the MC option as it does make casting much easier and allows you to dial in the resistance of the bait clicker.

I think they are on sale right now. I'm thinking of picking up another SX MC.

[Gino]

I just got a lefty SX Ive put 5 trips so far on it, no problems. And I puit alot of abuse on my gear.

I spooled mine with 200 yards even of 65lb green izorline. great reel

[umtduckhead]

right on guys.. so does the MC make a HUGE difference on this small of a reel? i would figure if you have like a JX or something close to that large the MC would really help controlling the heavy spool.

[Holy Mackerel]

Hey shows what I know! :doh::D

[THE DARKHORSE]

I've never owned an Avet, but I've had the pleasure of landing a few fish on them. Great little reels. The SX has plenty of line capacity (with straight spectra), not to mention plenty of drag to finish the job. If need be, just like when I'm fishing say a Penn 500, I can add as much drag as I want with my thumb. Problem solved.

In my humble opinion, I can't see the purpose in the magic cast feature for a bait set-up. You shouldn't be casting your bait on a kayak in the first place. Save that extra hundred bucks for another rod or reel.

If buying an Avet for your jig-stick, Magic Cast all the way! Spend that extra money, because you're going to need that feature for tossing the iron on an Avet.

Also, a bit confused on people saying they wouldn't fish an Avet on a kayak. I understand they have a tendency to gum up if you get them wet. Makes sense---I hear there's salt in that water. The fact is, my reels don't get wet when I fish in La Jolla. If you can simply keep them from getting wet while going through the surf, what's the difference from fishing your Avet off a skiff? I don't get it.

[Holy Mackerel]

Also, a bit confused on people saying they wouldn't fish an Avet on a kayak. I understand they have a tendency to gum up if you get them wet. Makes sense---I hear there's salt in that water. The fact is, my reels don't get wet when I fish in La Jolla. If you can simply keep them from getting wet while going through the surf, what's the difference from fishing your Avet off a skiff? I don't get it.

The Avets I had gummed up every trip, I had them in flush mounts, they got splashed most launches, even LJ, or from swell and chop. Also, my Tarpon 160i was pretty low profile.

My Jigmasters, Toriums, TLD, and especially Sealines never had any problems. I used AVETS about 5 or so years ago, so maybe they have changed their design to be less wet. I currenlty have an new LX 2 speed, it is a great reel. My older AVETS needed lots of love, like I said what the hell do I know. :linesnap::biggrinjester:

[kayakhunter]

I use a SX and a MXJ for bait fishing and love them. Just rinse them off good with freshwater after each trip and you should be good. I have even eaten %$@# landing in the surf, completely submerged them in salty sandy water and they are fine.

[lamb]

I got mostly Avets, I'm lefty... Got MXLs, MXjs, SXs, LXs, single speed and two speeds. I didn't find them to be gumming up after every single trip on a kayak, but I had to do cleanup and greasing/oiling if I wanted to keep 'em running smooth. I have been taking them apart for a clean up and tune up maybe every few months, and that's with at least once (often two) times a week fishing schedule. Great thing about Avets - it's really easy! I always keep a stock of extra bearings (comes down to 2 sizes), replace 'em when they wear out, just oil 'em if in a good shape.

Another thing - in the past, I was always rinsing them with water. What I learned from D50 here on BWE (and what my laziness contributed to), latelyI have not been rinsing them with fresh water. It seems to make no difference - my Avets are fine for a few months! This is mostly using them on a skiff though.

Chris I think it's true that with newer models Avets seem to be better when it comes to how often you need to do the maintenance.

[deepdvr]

In my humble opinion, I can't see the purpose in the magic cast feature for a bait set-up. You shouldn't be casting your bait on a kayak in the first place. Save that extra hundred bucks for another rod or reel.

If buying an Avet for your jig-stick, Magic Cast all the way! Spend that extra money, because you're going to need that feature for tossing the iron on an Avet.



The MC option is $40 more and with the current sale you get MC for the regular price. I agree you won't do much, if any, casting if you use it as a bait setup. But, the clicker is very weak on the SX and Larry Laumann said it perfectly that he usually ends up putting the reel just in gear with the clicker on. I'm not a big fan of doing that, thus spending $200 for an SX MC seems like a good way to go.

If you go MXJ, that clicker without MC seems to be fine.

I have a JX MC that I use on my jigstick and I can cast it without thumbing and no backlashing on MC setting 4. With setting 3 I just have to keep my thumb ready and rarely if ever have an issue.

On another note, why are you on the boards so much Josh??? Shouldn't you be fishing or something? Don't tell me you're on a sabbatical. :p

[mwm]

Although I don't fish as often as many of you, I think the SX is one of the best reels out there. Small and light but can easily handle a big YT and give you a great fight. I've only had problems with a used one I bought, but once cleaned and bearings changed no issues since.

[THE DARKHORSE]

"On another note, why are you on the boards so much Josh??? Shouldn't you be fishing or something? Don't tell me you're on a sabbatical." :p[/QUOTE]



Ha! Until yesterday, I haven't been on this board for two weeks. Since I get to fish 200+ times a year, I'm on my other boards whenever I can. Or whenever the appropriate conditions present themselves. Like my brand new 6' 2" I picked up yesterday---when there's a firing South swell (right now) I surf---when you have to go to work (everyday), I fish! :sifone:

[Holy Mackerel]

Where is this Avet sale everyone is talking about? I need another 2speed for tuna this summer.

[ken aguilar]

Where is this Avet sale everyone is talking about? I need another 2speed for tuna this summer.

yes where is this sale!!! I need more stuff

[umtduckhead]

awesome thanks for the replys.. a Holy and Ken i believe the sale is

http://www.charkbait.com/cs/csrAvet.htm

also squidco has awesome deals

[umtduckhead]

http://www.charkbait.com/specials.htm#Special_2

[deepdvr]

Where is this Avet sale everyone is talking about? I need another 2speed for tuna this summer.

Every retailer. Its an Avet sale but there is no specified end date. $40 off any single/2 speed SX, MXJ or MXL. MC or no MC. This is basically the same deal as the Fred Hall pricing.

[WahooUSMA]

Also, a bit confused on people saying they wouldn't fish an Avet on a kayak. I understand they have a tendency to gum up if you get them wet. Makes sense---I hear there's salt in that water. The fact is, my reels don't get wet when I fish in La Jolla. If you can simply keep them from getting wet while going through the surf, what's the difference from fishing your Avet off a skiff? I don't get it.

I agree there's salt in that water- I own a 'few' Avets and they are great reels. Chevy vs Ford shit. My only failure on an Avet was with my SX recently. Just goofing around and hooked into a fairly large Thresher. Smoked my bearings. Other than that, no problemos.

[Gino]

THE LONGFIN In Orange off Chapman has them with the new sale price as well. They give you a good discount on line if its spooled there as well.

[T Bone]

one of the reels I lost was JX2 #6 off the line.went to buy an MX2 and found out they just released the JX2.I loved that reel.....sigh.....

As for maintenance.They are NOT newells.Ferraris need more maintenance than most cars too.:D

[MVC]

I have 3 Avets that I use from the kayak. I have not had any problems with them gumming up. The Avets are very simple to take apart and clean and the bearings cost about 5.00 each.

[h2ofishfo]

sqiudco theres not a whole lota places that offer free spectra with a avet sale

[Mtobolsky]

melton tackle has the best price right now by 40 bones

[wiseguy]

This is where I buy my Avet reels! Great deals right now.

http://www.jandh.com/

[umtduckhead]

squidco has the sx for 159.00 plus the load it with spect and topshot.. cant beat em

[T-Rex]

I've got 3 Avet sx's and love em. Great little reels and I've never had a problem with too little drag, but I do have to service them more frequently (when they get wet) than my other reels - salt water gets into the reel easily and rinsing afterward doesn't get it all out and the bearings start to stick. The "sealed" bearings tend to trap saltwater that gets into the reel. Fortunately, they're very easy to tear apart and put back together. Regular servicing keeps the bearings in good shape so they don't have to be replaced.

[gary sullivan]

I have one of the first sx 2-speeds that came out and got a lot of experience dealing with saltwater intrusion. Everything T-rex said is spot on. With the earlier versions, salt water would get behind the drag washer and corrode the metal causing it to expand outward. The end result was that you would lose free spool capability unless you loosened the three screws that hold the right endplate in place. Avet got smart and glued the drag washer to the aluminun metal surface. I heard that Avet asks you now if you are a kayak fisherman when you call in with problems that could be saltwater related.

[blackcloud9]

As far as the SX, mine has caught BSBs and 20 lb yellowtail no problem. I
would rather hook the bigger fish on the MX though.

The 3 Avets I have had for years on the kayak - an SX, an
MXJ and an MXJ 2speed. They stay high and dry in my baittank rod
holders and I have never "maintained" them myself except taking them
in to a shop one time for thorough cleaning. I think they are great.

My reels get splashed at worst, and I would never try to get
salt-water "out" with fresh water. I rinse the outsides very lightly
and never spray water into the reel. That works for me.

[fknricter]

ive got a few avets myself, love them so far! ive torn them all down myself. its pretty easy! and with all my reels, i "paint" all the inner surfaces with a light coat of grease, this help the water run off the surfaces and not have a chance to dry and leave salt deposits. i also remove the shields from the spool bearings, clean out the grease and add oil. for some reason the spool bearings have 1 side shielded and the other open. with both sides open, the water cant get stuck in there. + you gain freespool(which can be bad if your thumb isnt ready for it) oil may not stay in there as long as grease but it only takes 3 screws to access them. so far i own an sx, mxj, and jx, and just won an sx mc! love them all so far! take them on kayak with no guming issues that i could tell, and always stow them away when landing just incase i dump and lose them..
as for the mc or non mc ?. the only downside to the mc i saw, was you lose a little bit of distance, depending on what youre doing, and for me personally, if i were fishing the mc reel, then grab the non-mc one and make a cast, i would forget that i have to thumb it and birdsnest. thats it..

[WahooUSMA]

I've got 3 Avet sx's and love em. Great little reels and I've never had a problem with too little drag, but I do have to service them more frequently (when they get wet) than my other reels - salt water gets into the reel easily and rinsing afterward doesn't get it all out and the bearings start to stick. The "sealed" bearings tend to trap saltwater that gets into the reel. Fortunately, they're very easy to tear apart and put back together. Regular servicing keeps the bearings in good shape so they don't have to be replaced.

Have you ever removed the main bearings? Those are somewhat more difficult to remove then the two spool bearings. I just got back from Long Fin this afternoon and we tore my 'new' MXL apart because when in the strike mode, it is really difficult to reel (definite main bearing). We tried to get to the main bearing but just couldn't. As I said in my previous post - I love the Avets - (Actually I saw the SX that everyone was talking about today for 159.00 and bought one too). I will have to send my new MXL into Avet to have the main bearing replaced. Sucks - only used this one a couple of times.

Additionally, Avet did a test recently grease vs. no grease for drag pressure - No grease won. As far as cleaning - I was told by the Avet rep and Long Fin that if you shut the drag all the way closed, you can actually submerse the reel in warm water to clean....I was not initially comfortable doing that, but WTF? I have been doing it awhile now, and out of 7 Avets, the new MXL is the only one that has taken a big sheeeet for no reason.

[Nic D]

Additionally, Avet did a test recently grease vs. no grease for drag pressure - No grease won.

of course they said that. I don't care what Avet says, Im going with Alan Tani. Alan doesn't have a dog in the fight, he just knows reels.

this was his post that he has posted on just bout every fishing forum known to man, except this one, and if he knew about this forum Im sure he would post it if needed.

"i've applied a thick coat of shimano drag grease to the inside of the spool and to both sides of the drag washer. the purpose is to protect these surfaces from salt water intrusion. apply enough grease to prevent water from getting in between the drag washer and the spool."

and then later he says
"guys, don't forget!!!!! the drag washers on the smaller reels, sx, mx, jx and lx, are all glued in now. my recommendation is to slap a thick coat of drag grease on the washer, , wipe off the excess and you're done. make sure you get all the corners. you don't want salt water creeping underneath the drag washer because the aluminum will bubble.

the main point is that you can not pry out these new "glued in" drag washers. a guy just sent me a pm saying that he did exactly that. we've talked about it so much here, that i thought everyone knew. alan"

[WahooUSMA]

of course they said that. I don't care what Avet says, Im going with Alan Tani. Alan doesn't have a dog in the fight, he just knows reels. "

From BD forum

To Grease or Not to Grease?
<hr style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" size="1"> WOW! The quest for perfection. You would think something as simple as slowing down a fish hell bent on freedom over a frying pan would be easy. NOT!

Well, I have read all of your posts from Hawaii to Germany, from salmon to giant bluefin tuna, from jerky to super smooth and from grease or no grease.

The bottom line is, no matter how much someone listens, researches, reads or peers into the crystal ball, they are always going to follow the method that they feel either makes the most sense or that which makes them more confident in their own ways.

Well, here is one more post that I hope will settle down this flurry of varied self determined opinions weather to grease or not to grease.

Today, May 14th was dedicated to full-on total R&D (grease/no grease) day at Avet. Sarkis, Harry, Dave Rocchi and Ben Frazier spent the day burning a lot of gas, burning a lot of drag washers and tearing down and scrutinize a lot of reels.

They obviously needed to standardize their testing so 100 yard monofilament topshots were designated as the line of choice since they had between 100 and 110 yards for their flight path. That length would cover most topshots with spectra backing and at the same time maintain consistency of the increase in line pressure as the line diameter decreased and the spool rotation increased.

Both single and twin drag reels were tested. Single drag reels were tested at full and twin drag reels were tested at strike (Dave really wasn’t up for what you called “asphalt skiing”). Line size was standardized to 40lb for single disk and 130lb for twin disk. Speed varied from 25 to 30 MPH at 75 yards depending on how close the looke lou’s got. Between the V-10 Dodge truck and the Hummer, speed was not nearly as critical as breaking.

While maintaining a common stance, they used what they thought was the best drag grease available and testing was performed immediately after the line was retrieved back on the reel with a calibrated scale.

Results are as follows:

v Single drag reels (dry drags): After 1st test = 100% of original drag, 2nd test followed immediately = 105% of original drag and immediately followed by 3rd test which also yealded 105% of original drag setting.
Teardown exposed slight yellow/bluish tinting of drag plate, but very little visual wear of carbon fiber drag.

v Single drag reels (greased drags after setting drag with excessive grease wiped off): Prior to load testing, the wet drag maintained same drag pressure as the dry drag on straight short pull. 1st (high speed) tests showed an average of 6 - 8% reduction from original drag setting. 2nd tests resulted in 10 to 13% reduction from original setting and 3rd tests stayed around the same.
Teardown also exposed yellow/bluish tinting of drag plate. Also appeared that as heat built up grease would become thinner and the centrifugal force would send (oil at this point) the grease to the outer diameter of the spool. After the third test, there appeared to be very little grease left on the drag. Possibly absorbed into the drag material but not visible at this point.

v Conclusion at this point: Single drags will be fine with smaller fish that won’t put the reel to the big test by pulling a lot of drag and building up a lot of heat. When the heat starts to build up, it appears as though the drag effectiveness is compromised.

v After the 3rd test, they allowed the reel to cool off for 3 minutes and retested with a short pull test. The drags came back to within approximately 5% of the original setting, and after 10 minutes of cool off, the drags came back to 100% of the original setting.

v Twin drag testing was performed with a Pro EXW50/2 loaded with 130lb mono over spectra. The Spectra was never exposed during any of the tests. All testing (both greased and non-greased) was with a drag setting of 35lbs at strike.

v First and second dry tests resulted in drag increasing to 37lbs. After the second test, those drags were getting very hot and we decided to take it apart cool it down and grease em up, wiping off any excess.

v Results from the 1st test equated to the same as the dry test showing an increase of 2 lbs of drag (37lbs).

v Results from the 2nd test showed a decrease of 3.5 lbs down to 33.5 lbs of drag immediately after the line was retrieved.

v The reel was disassembled and showed just slight discoloration of the plate and once again small amount grease built up on inside of side plate. Also there was very little sign of any grease on washers themselves.

v They figured it was getting late but had time for one more test, so the drag washers went to the sink and were soaked with water and reassembled.
Once again the drags were set at 35lbs (strike) and off went the Hummer. This was somewhat non-conclusive since the drags were still warm, but not hot and the water absorbed into the drag washers pretty quickly. As a result of the wet/no so wet drag, there was only a loss of .5lbs down to 34.5lbs of drag.

v Conclusion at this point: Twin drags with no grease stayed fairly consistent and even increased slightly when initially heated up (or worn in).
With grease applied, the drags also increased up to 37lbs but when really heated up the drags started to loose a little moving down to 33.5lbs.

Your call at this point depending what your fishing for. Granders from Hawaii to Portugal that are going to do everything possible to melt you and your drags while strapped in and strapped down using monster drag settings (35-70) or stand-up on the rail dealing with a little less drag (30 – 45) and YFTs, BFTs etc. that hopefully will settle down and not get too stupid with you.

Avet’s stance at this point: They are going to hold on to their original direction of NO grease due to inconsistencies resulting from varying temperatures, having to reapply grease periodically, grease having a tendency of attracting inherent elements such as salt, carbon dust etc.

One very important factor to take into consideration is that Avet is building high quality reels for people fishing all over the world for every type of application be it extreme or simple day of enjoyment on the water type of fishing. Their thought process is to keep them simple, affordable, and strong while maintaining a high level of quality and customer satisfaction. Consistency and quality control are two of the most challenging facets of any major reel manufacturer. As the age old adage goes, “you can make everyone happy some of the time and you can make some of the people happy all of the time, but you can’t make everyone happy all of the time”. This is one company that I know that will keep trying their best to make everyone happy.
__________________
Any questions or comments reguarding Avet Reels please contact me rickozaki@sbcglobal.net

[Nic D]

you should have quoted Alan's response later in that thread.




"many of you know that a greased carbon fiber drag has been my standard for many years. i am happy to say that this drag system is now used in the flagship two speed reels of penn, shimano, daiwa, accurate, and okuma. avet is last company that does not. i find that odd, but not odd enough to warrant a review of my current procedures. clearly in the minority, avet's stance troubles me little. for those of you that wish to abide by avet's policies, i wish you luck. for those of you that wish to grease your drag washers, i welcome you to the dark side......."



so penn, shimano, daiwa, accurate, and okuma all use grease huh?

I'd much rather listen to Cal Sheets and Alan Tani than a manufacturer. You can do as you wish. I'll be on the dark side...

[PaddleHP]

squidco has the sx for 159.00 plus the load it with spect and topshot.. cant beat em

Squidco has the best local prices on Avets, with the free braid, but Angler's Choice is having Parking lot sale next Saturday with their Sale's Reps on hand. Plus they are having a co-signement sale on some used gear.
http://www.anglerschoicetackle.com/Fishing_Trips/JEV_REP_YEAR

Parking Lot Sale June 19th!!!


9am-4pm (sales reps on hand) one day only!


<TABLE style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1.5pt solid; BORDER-LEFT: #0066cc 1.5pt solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 245.95pt; BORDER-TOP: #0066cc 1.5pt solid; BORDER-RIGHT: #0066cc 1.5pt solid" class=MsoNormalTable border=1 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">Model


</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">Old Price


</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">New Price


</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">SX 5.3


</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$199.99


</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$159.99


</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">SX 5.3 MC


</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$239.99


</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$199.99


</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">SX 6/4 2-SPEED


</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$289.99


</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$249.99


</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">SX 6/4 2-SPEED MC


</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$329.99


</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$289.99


</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">MXL 5.8


</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$219.99


</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$179.99


</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">MXL 5.8 MC


</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$259.99


</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$219.99


</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">MXL 6/4 2-SPEED


</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$329.99


</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$289.99


</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">MXL 6/4 2-SPEED MC


</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$369.99


</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt">$329.99


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[Stoneale]

"9/29/06 at the Hudson Canyon aboard the Belmar Princess. Caught my limit jigging with a 4 1/2 ft Lamiglass standup rod and an Avet SX 5.0 65lb braid with 50lb mono topshot."

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[T-Rex]

Have you ever removed the main bearings? Those are somewhat more difficult to remove then the two spool bearings.

Yeah, I've had a hard time removing the drive shaft bearings and even the brake bearing. Fortunately, the home made bearing removal tool that Alan Tani recommends works great. It just takes a sheet load of force sometimes.

I also follow Tani's advice and grease the washers. I really didn't notice any difference in performance, but now there is zero corrosion around the washer. Before using grease, there used to be small specks of corrosion at the edge of the glued-on washer where it meets the spool.

[WahooUSMA]

Yeah, I've had a hard time removing the drive shaft bearings and even the brake bearing. Fortunately, the home made bearing removal tool that Alan Tani recommends works great. It just takes a sheet load of force sometimes.

I also follow Tani's advice and grease the washers. I really didn't notice any difference in performance, but now there is zero corrosion around the washer. Before using grease, there used to be small specks of corrosion at the edge of the glued-on washer where it meets the spool.

I can't for the life of me get the drive shaft bearing out. I had to have Anglers Center send my last two out reels out - my SX and MXL. Where can I find this tool? It would save me $55.00.

Do you think the Penn Reel grease will work? And, just a small amount on the spool side? Is this where the spool meets the back side of the frame, because there are bearings there too? I'll give it a shot. Let me know if the Penn grease will work (don't see why it wouldn't?). I don't usually go with the manufactures recommendations, but if everyone is saying "Grease-em" then I'll give it a try. Thanks

[T-Rex]

I can't for the life of me get the drive shaft bearing out. I had to have Anglers Center send my last two out reels out - my SX and MXL. Where can I find this tool? It would save me $55.00.

Do you think the Penn Reel grease will work? And, just a small amount on the spool side? Is this where the spool meets the back side of the frame, because there are bearings there too? I'll give it a shot. Let me know if the Penn grease will work (don't see why it wouldn't?). I don't usually go against the manufactures recommendations, but if everyone is saying "Grease-em" then I'll give it a try. Thanks

You gotta make the tool out of a strong coat hanger. You need a needle nose pliers to bend the end and then grind or file the hook end to a fine point. You work the point in behind the bearing so it catches and then pull HARD. I was surprised how much force was needed to break the corrosion loose.

Penn reel grease is not intended for washers...I think it's only for gears, bushings, and some bearings. Stick with Cal's or Shimano drag grease for your washers. Any other grease on your drag washers will probably cause big problems with the drag slipping and sticking.

Check out Alan Tani's website for details on how to make the tool or PM me and I'll be happy to give you a couple.

[Lets_Fish]

You gotta make the tool out of a strong coat hanger. You need a needle nose pliers to bend the end and then grind or file the hook end to a fine point. You work the point in behind the bearing so it catches and then pull HARD. I was surprised how much force was needed to break the corrosion loose.

Penn reel grease is not intended for washers...I think it's only for gears, bushings, and some bearings. Stick with Cal's or Shimano drag grease for your washers. Any other grease on your drag washers will probably cause big problems with the drag slipping and sticking.

Check out Alan Tani's website for details on how to make the tool or PM me and I'll be happy to give you a couple.

Here is one of the links on bearings, grease and tools by Alan Tani.
http://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/showthread.php?t=626171
Alan describes how to make the tool.
As far as grease goes, try Cal's grease. Should be able to get it at a local tackle shop.

Here is a link for bearings that I found also.
http://www.bocabearings.com/main1.aspx?p=showsubcat&cat=crossref&pg=5

[T-Rex]

One note on the bearing tool...I found it helpful to loop some 3/8" rope through the eye and around my wrist to be able to pull harder.