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Old 02-22-2010, 11:27 AM   #10
-scallywag-
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: on the road...
Posts: 598
I agree, ditch the 500's, calling them frankestiens is a little misleading, i think dinosaur is more appropriate...although your urge to disassemble and modify reels is a good one stick with the more modern, cheap reels like the sealine's, shimano's or penn 535/545's..you can get them used for super cheap on ebay, then replace the bearings and re-grease or upgrade the drags to carbontex. Then you have a reel that will put down 12-15lbs of drag for around 120 bucks AND you will be able to service it in an hr or two instead of waiting 2weeks.

As for the sealine 50 hi speed, no worries, that is a bad ass reel for heavy irons, just fill the spool up 3/4 of the way (effectively lowering the gear ratio) with your fav #40 mono and match it to a similarly rated rod....some guys don't like the hi speed cause they really like to grind irons and the 6:1 tend to spin most jiggs....i like the 6:1's, because once you get the cadence down its a lot less work (on any given winter day I may drop the iron 100-200times in 120-220ft of water). Those that say you need lower gears to reel in a 30lb YT, should probably be fishing in the bay .
I do like the lower ratio, lever drag reels for live bait..TLD15 with #65 spectra is my favorite (that i can afford).
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