BTW - while I still have not gotten any big fish yet on it, I spent the weekend on Cuttyhunk using that souped up MagElite over the weekend.

Ceramic Bearings - I didn't go too light on the drag settings with plugs as I was throwing relatively light swimmers with it but I did go a tick lighter than normal while tossing the eels. The ceramic bearings do run on longer than the stocks and I felt that I was getting the eel out a bit further than usual with it. The rod I brought over, a 1088 Batson, is not the best distance rod for eelin' but it did alright...

Penn HT100 drags - The biggest (only) fish I got was a mid-teens fish so I didn't really get a chance to work out the drags but I noticed no problems with them while out, still need a night with a few 30+ pounders to really get an idea :D ;) :hihi:

Early thoughts show that these two upgrades could be big for the 6500 size reels :D

Hey John, that's good to hear on the ceramic bearings. Did you have to make any adjustments, use more mag with the bearings or tighten up on the end caps? Might pick some up from Mike and give them a try too.

Tobias - I found that with the knobs set as light as I dared and with the mag @ 0, I thought this was the best cast. Wind wasn't in my face but blowing fairly hard left to right... The second night, little wind... More time to putz around and I'll try to figure what works best even more but I was more focused on fishing :D

Reel feels great though...

I got the bearings at Weekapaug, CCT has them as well

Are you oiling them ceramic bearings or running them dry?

Dry - I was told no lube...

That's what I figured John. That's where all the speed comes from. People think differently but oiling the bearings slows a reel down , it doesn't speed it up.

The ceramic bearings can be run dry cause they are not softened by the heat and therefore don't wear quickly like a steel bearing would if run dry.

I've also been told to run the Abec 7s dry too, any thoughts on that?

I got 2 reels with the ceramics and tricked to the Hilt.
No oil in bearings?
I cleend My bearings and ran them dry , I spun it and came back 5 min and the thing was still spinning. I doped them with Yellow rocket fuel.
John who told Ya ya can run them dry??
crap I bet i could get 50 feet mor to 100 on a cast if I dont blow it up:smash: Im good at that:D