Fishing Reels

Fishing reels can vary massively in cost, depending on the build and cost. High performance reels, made from lightweight materials will cost more than their smaller, plastic counterparts. Whilst sometimes you don't need to pay over the odds there are a lot of great reels out there without breaking the bank, generally the more you pay the better the quality of the reel.

Our reels will occasionally get muddy, especially where feeder or carp fishing and you are handling the reels with bait over your hands or they are getting splattered with mud and debris during rainstorms whilst waiting for a bite. It's very tempting to just give the reel a few dunks in the lake to wash it off, however, that will do more harm than good, as the water washes out the grease and depending on how well it's sealed all the mud and gunk in. It's far better to just rinse them off, and wipe them down with a cloth, or small brush, and if you have it, reapply the reel grease if you know where and how to do it correctly. Failing this, you can get your reels serviced.

This depends entirely on the quality of the reel and amount of wear and tear you subject them to, and how you look after them. If you are sticking them in the lake, throwing them around, and not servicing them, they won't last long. However, a high end reel in a padded rod sleeve which is kept clean and occasionally serviced, can last years. Some high end Daiwa and Shimano reels are still being used some 25 years after they were released and are still sought after today!

So the main three groups we see today are fixed spool, centrepin and multiplier. Centrepins are an older traditional style of reel, still used today for close quarters fishing and trotting on rivers, whereas multipliers are used predominantly in predator lure fishing or sea fishing either from a boat or beach casting. Fixed spool reels account for around 80% of the reels we see used, and around found in everything from general coarse fishing to specimen carp and predator angling, to sea and boat fishing, with reels ranging from small spinning reels to big pit carp reels, baitrunners and surf cast reels.

The most basic of reels, being a centrepin, works on simply spinning the drum anti clockwise to bring the line back onto the spool, or pulling the line, be it by hand, or under the weight of the flow if trotting on the river and using your thumb or the pins break / ratchet if it has one, to control the speed of the line coming off.

Fixed spools and multipliers are a little different, with a geared system working than on turning the handle you spin the bail arm on a fixed spool reel which orientates around the spool, and as it does so, the spool oscillates up and down, to ensure a nice level line lay. Within this, a clutch system is in place called a drag, whereby once the weight is met to what you set it to, it will allow lthe ine to be pulled from the spool and back over the line roller in the bail arm. If the reel has a freespool or baitrunner facility, this is a secondary clutch which can be set lighter, to allow fish to take line under far less resistance but once the handle is turned is disengaged and the reels resort back to its 'fighting' drag. To cast, the bail arm is opened and the line is held with your finger, releasing as you cast.

On a multiplier, when turning the handle the spool drum will spin but as it does so the line guide slides back and forth horizontally to ensure level line lay. You again have a drag, and brake system with these mounted to the side of the reel. To cast, the break is generally removed via a bait caster switch at the back, which is pressed down on the cast and releases once the handle is turned.

There are so many great reel brands, from Okuma, Penn, Shimano and Daiwa.