I am looking to buy a bait runner reel -fishing for stripers. I am interested if anyone has any suggestions on a good reel & a good match for a rod. Thanks.

it has been sold. ask mikecc. i think that he might has some of them.

Shimano Baitrunner and the Penn Liveliner are worth a look. I have the Shimano 3500 on a St Croix Premier 7'HF. I use it mainly on my boat but also use it fishing inside the Breachways. Nice beefy combo. With the Penn Liveliner you can reel while in liveline mode which is good for eeling, Shimano you can't. But the Shimano Baitrunners are proven performers.

Thanks for the information. I will take a look at both reels. I usually live line mackeral when available.

I prefer conventionals over spinner bait runners. But if I had to choose one I'd choose the Shimano.

I bought two Okuma baitrunners in the begining of the summer and they work awesome! Very smooth. May want to consider looking into them.

I'm a big fan of the Baitrunner 4500.

I think I will go up to Kittery Trading post this weekend and see what they have for bait runners. I do most of my fishing from a boat.

Another question I have is if you are fishing at the mouth of the Merrimack w/ a strong current- will the current take out more line?

Do you adust the drag so the current will not continue to take line?

you can adjust your baitrunner drag so the current doesn't take any line. then any additional pressure will pull the line out and you'll know when you have a fish on.

i'm very happy with my shimano 4500 and 6500. didn't know that with the penns you can reel while the baitrunner is on. i'll have to look into those for my next reel.

I use an Okuma Coronado CD-50 on a 6'6" Penn Mariner rod for live bait fishing in the Merrimack. You can pick up a combo like this on ebay for well under $100 or maybe a few dollars more at your local tackle store.

For livelining mackerel or pollock I put a 2 ounce egg sinker on the line above a snap swivel and then attach the bait with a 2-3' snelled leader. I typically only use 15 pound test mono and the leader is 20 or 30 pound test.

There are plenty of other tactics out there, but I have always had good success with this setup.

I own the 2 penns bait runners (5600, 4500?), the big okuma bait runner and 2 mid size shimano bait runner.

BUY THE SHIMANO.

The Penns have a trouble with salt water and the bait runner drag and the primary drag can not get enough pressure. The reels are a tad small dor 20 or 25" test line. I think these reels are better suited to a boat with light line. These reels will need service on a regular basis.

The Okuma is the smoothest spinning reel I ever used. But the bails suck. If you cast hard from the surf it will flip and engage. I placed two drag washers (from some other reel) in the bail connection and convered it to a manula bail more or less.
Great handle on that reel, lots of ball bearings and a very smooth an power drag.

I have used the shimano with any problems so far. Everything works right. It has only been half a season but that was long enough for the Penn to fail...so far so good.

Each of the baitrunners operate a little differently...I actually like the Penn concept the best (when it works). The Shimano seems to be the most reliable.

IMO, they are all "B" class reels (about 100 bucks)...someone needs to make a a real quality baitrunner....$300+

For eeling from the surf...these are great!!

Okuma is good but NOTHING compares to a Shimano!

I have the Shimano Baitrunner 6500B and I love it. I think I paid $120 for it and it's well worth it.

Ditto on the Shimmanos!! Great reels! I have a 6500, 6500B and a 4500B. spend the extra 20-30 bucks and buy the "B" instead of a leftover "A". I also have 2 of the Okuma EB65's they are definately very smooth and the handle is great...BUT.... one of them has been having trouble going into normal mode when you begin reeling in. The big problem is that you can't manually flip the lever when this happens. I am going to send it back. I have heard Okuma has great customer service, I hope to find out for myself.
Brandon

three shimano baitrunners live here!;) :D

I also have 3 shimanos..... have been using them for about 9 years without one problem:btu: :btu: :btu:

The Shimano Baitrunner reels are excellant plugging reels as well. I find that since I use the super braids most of the time now in saltwater that its easier for my to flip the BR feature on to pull out line instead of trying to grap the braid with my hands and cutting myself with the line.

Mr Sandman: FYI - Shimano makes the Thunnus (tuna) series of bait runner spinning reels. These start around $220. I know a charter boat captain that loves the Thunnus for small/medium sized tuna.