Have been thinking about it and was wondering if anyone has done it and if so the results??

I took the bail off of my 7500 and my 6500. Once you get used to no bail it is great.

did you epoxy the counter wieght in place so it doesnt move around? did you do the same to the line roller? im doin it this winter. howd ya put the custom handle on?

how does it work with no bail?

bud8fan,

If you're takin' the bail off because of premature bail closures, you might be better off just cutting off the bail trip thing on the reel stem. Slipknot suggested this to me - no problems ever since.

this bail thing*** what do you expect or plan to achieve buy doing it? if the bail is open i don't see any restriction casting.. i fish spinners and always close my bail by hand!! just don't see what you're gaining by removing the bail. thought ya moved on to conventional anyways!!

Reason for asking if anyone had removed it is because Saturday night I took a wave broadside that sent me into a rock reel first and the bail(while still functioning) is to say the least a little out of shape!!!

Now before we go into it! Yes I looked like a Flatfish out of water!! But was fortunate enough to only get about a pint of water down one sleeve of my raincoat and that was after falling into the eroded hole behind the rock that was at least 3' deep!!!

:smash: :smash: :smash:
Fortunately for me Crbbr and his camera were far enough away so there is no evidence of my clumsiness!!!
Ya have to pay attention to where you are when there is big surf out there and I didnt know that the rock was that close to me!!!



Russ

:D you didn't realize I moved that rock there by remote control while you weren't looking Russ.

Sometimes the bail closes on a hard cast, I'd rather lose the bail than lose tons of plugs.

Bruce, was it a "Ditch" rock that you had airmailed???????

I havent had the bail close on a cast yet but now I think its coming off!!!

Lost a nice decent fish at dusk tonight!AHHHHH!!
Split ring straightened out on the rear of a polaris!

i tension the line with my index, but make sure i've got the bail open and holding with the baby or ( i didn't want to say it the pinky) finger. move to the gutter to explain this !!!!! maybe tomorrow....

I use the 7500 for night jigging at the Canal and yes it works great without the bail. I removed the bail because I had trouble with bail not wanting to close (even manually) every once in a while. I have 2 of these Nautils and only had trouble with 1 of them so that is the one I operated on.

There is a small lock washer behind the counter weight to keep it from loosening up. The roller side needed no modification other than drilling out the wire. To make the handle I took the banana handle and cut it apart with my bandsaw to remove the brass nut. I then took a cabinet knob and drilled it out 1/16" over the size of the nut. Put a small piece of tape over the end of the brass knob being careful not to cover the sides. Brush epoxy inside the knob rather heavily and insert the nut. ( mounting the nut on the handle first makes the task easier) After the epoxy is dry I coated the outside of the knob with epoxy.

The knob is very comfortable and works perfectly.

As suggested by JPowers and Slipknot and easier way is to just cut the post off of the handle and manually close the bail.

how does cutting the post off help from the bail closing from a hard cast...or does'nt it?

I have heard that they sell kits for removing your bail?can you do it to a penn 450ss.

I lost a lure a couple weeks ago"SNAP"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally posted by izzy
how does cutting the post off help from the bail closing from a hard cast...or does'nt it?

What the post does is stop the bail from opening the whole way unless the line roller is directly vertical. The bail winds up lying on the side of the post, and then on a hard cast it snaps over.

:laughs: :laughs: YOU FALLING FLOPPING IN THE WATER :laughs: :laughs:

Mike,

Remember one thing!! It was your unbelievable captain's ability!! That made me wallow on your deck!!!

It was an act of nature that did it this time!!!

im doin it this winter. im going to turn a handle on the lathe.:)

I just cut the post off. That way I can backdrift eels out of the inlet on the ebb. Awlful hard to pick up the line with your finger and put it on the roller with a running fish on the other end.