Conventional Setup Advise
 

I'm looking to get my first conventional setup this winter and I'm looking for some advise. I've never fished conventional before. I'm looking for a set up for fishing 1.5 - 3 oz lures and eels since that's what I mainly fish so I'll get the most oppurtunities to get used to it. If I end up really liking conventionals, I'll get a heavier setup later. I'm thinking about a 1202L (I really want a two piece because this is a rod that will end up being left in my truck and only fished on shorter walks until I really get the hang of it) and an abu reel. The reel is what I'm looking for the most advice on. I'm looking to spend around $150 or so and based on the little that I know I was thinking about a 6500 size. The model is the real question. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. The ones made in Sweden are the best ones right? Thanks for any input.

look on ebay for a used 6500 cs mag or mag elite. they are hard to find, but they are out there. I absolutly love mine. you can throw one ounce stuf up to giant pikies with this reel.
yes, made in sweeden is the best.

the sports mag is another option, but ive never used one so i cant comment.

if your starting out, make sure you get a level wind.(in abu speak, thats CS )

You can trust Nebe, he's a die hard conventional guy from way back :hihi:

:hidin:

There was a guy selling blem Chrome Rockets on EBY for a great price a while back. Not a mag but just as good.

-spence

i've gotten away from convench' for the most part but would never part with my 6500cs mag elite- great reel!

just remember spence, i have taken more 20 lb bass in one night than in your entire bass fishing carrer :D how many other members are you going to insult today?

Abu just reinstated the original Big Game 6500 CL(leveleind) and CS(non-levelwing)Black Body. Best 6500 ever made for the salt. Also reinstated the Mag Elite and a few new issues, Custom Chrome Rocket georgeous reel and more models. We will have them in the shop in the next month or so.

Don M
King Cove Outfitters
www.kingcoveoutfitters.com

Don, the CL is non-level wind and the CS is level wind. Thats good to hear, maybe i will come down and pick up a big game from you :D

I don't think so Eben. A CL is the levelwind where as a CT is the open frame :usd:

aHHH YOU ARE CORRECT! :read:

I have to second the 6500 ambassadeurs that were recommended to you. I taught myself conventional on that reel and even for a beginnger its a joy to toss. My only complaint as a lefty is I wish they offered a greter selection for southpaws. As for ebay and the chrome rockets, think the guy to look for is Magnus from Sweden, tho I havent seen him offer anything recently.

I think I owed you one :devil2:

-spence

the 6500 is a good reel, but the drags are a little sticky.

spend a little extra and try out a Daiwa Millionaire CV-X msrp is 170 or the CV-Z is around 200

I have the cv-x 300 and it is awesome.

check ebay often.

here's a pic of the cv-z 300a:

Thanks for the replies guys. I got a pm that made me do some more research and now I'm leaning towards paying alittle more for the calcutta 400. Your thoughts? It seamed to get the nod over the abu in all the older posts that I searched.

I've had problems with the calcuttas, thats why i switched to daiwa.

the drags in the calcuttas are dartanium and very fragile. After a few big fish they will most likely give you problems. You can upgrade the drags however. The calcutta TE's are another story, I'm not sure what drags are in them, but i hear good things, but expensive!

Changing the drag washers in a 6500 is no big deal to any good tackle shop. I have Penn HT100's in mine. I believe they are from a 965. For less than $150 you can get a Swedish 6500CS Rocket from that guy in Australia. This is arguably the best levelwind ever from Abu. 6500's are so easy that you really don't need the magged versions unless you are casting non-levelwinds in distance tournaments. The levelwind hardware adds just enough resistance to the cast to control most backlashes.

I wouldnt trade my 525 mag for anything; but you have to be able to thumb the line in the dark w/o looking
the 6500 mag elite is an expensive starter reel, but good to learn on, crank the mags up a hair to limit backlashes at first; back them off a bit and the distance will come...

Changing the drag washers in a 6500 is no big deal to any good tackle shop. I have Penn HT100's in mine. I believe they are from a 965. For less than $150 you can get a Swedish 6500CS Rocket from that guy in Australia. This is arguably the best levelwind ever from Abu. 6500's are so easy that you really don't need the magged versions unless you are casting non-levelwinds in distance tournaments. The levelwind hardware adds just enough resistance to the cast to control most backlashes.

Magged Avet. :bl:

always switch the drag out on the abu 6500s. ive got extreme smoothies in all mine. awsome drag. i dont think the washers are more than like, $10. it takes no time to put them in.

abu 6500s rock.

Seems like level wind would be the way to go for a beginner. I've thought about buying a conventional outfit for fishing the ditch where the extra casting distance would really help. How much distance would the level wind take off vs non-level wind? A level wind will still cast much farther than a spinner, right?

You might want to look at the larger abu too. When I was checking them out this spring, I learned that the the 7000 size has a bigger and better drag system than the 6500. If you are fishing braid, you might get away with the narrow spooled version of the 7000, which will hold around 300+-yards of 50# braid. I think JHABS has the narrow spooled one with the conversion kit and mentioned that it casts extremely well. The 400 TE calcuttas are real nice, and I will be purchasing another one for next year. We fished the 400 TE for the last five years during rhody commercial season, and they hold up extremely well.

I believe tha "much farther" is usually an overstatement.. One reason is that in many places you don't have the room to get a nice long drop and full back swing. I find it is easier to punch it out there with a spinner in those situations and it is often hard to put more than 75 or 80% power into it with a conventional. 95% with a spinner definately outshoots 75 or 80% with convench. That said, I still stick to my abu 7000's at the canal. Any way, many of the guns there really bang it out w/ con. even in tight spots. When I push it, I inevitably send a jig across the canal sans an attached line :hs: If room to cast isn't an issue, I figure the convench in the hands of someone who can use it will go farther than a spinner in them same hands

IMO , there's no contest. the black BG reels were the best ABU made. Glad to see the 6500's coming back. Now how about bringing back the Black BG7000's too.!

I've posted a million times that the BG 7000CL is my canal reel. For beaches , I have both a BG6500cl and a Clacutta 400. For areas where I don't need big distance and for eels I like the Calcutta for the drag. Anywhere I need distance and am fishing lures , I like the BG6500 better. On very bad wind in your face days with eels , I like the 6500CS Mag.

Oh , BTW , on ABU's both CS and CL are levelwinds. CT is non levelwind.

calcutta 400

yup, best there is

The only thing to note on the calcutta is that the mono line capacity is a little on the low side if you are fishing 25# test or larger. Figure a good cast and a decent fish on the end and you can be looking at the bottom of your spool pretty quickly. Braid is no problem. I think a couple guys here use 20# ande and that is what I would also recommend if you use mono on this reel. From the boat you can get away with 25# because you can chase, but even that gets hairy once in a while.

The line capacity is what I was worried about with both the calcutta and the abu 6500 when I started doing more research. I won't be using more than 20# mono test (and I'll most likely switch to braid when I figure out what I'm doing) but even with that the capacity seems alittle low to me, but I know that most of you guys have more experience with this than me.

When you guys talk about the calcuttas, what model are you refering to. Looking around on line I've seen CT, B, and TE (the TE is out of my range).

Thanks again for all the responses.

The line capacity on the Calcutta 400 and Abu 6500 is virtually the same.

Figure you'll get about 160-170 yards of 20# mono (using Big Game as my benchmark).

That's enough under most circumstances. Unless you're throwing to another zip code and hit a fish at the end of your cast ;)

I have never had a line capacity problem with the calcutta 400 and have fished them for 10 years, I have landed fish of all sizes and in all conditions up to 50lbs. Mike is correct, unless your casting to alaska, its not a problem at all.......

I stated using convench in the surf a few years ago. I used them in freshwater since I was a kid. I posted a similar thread and ended up going for an Abu 7001. I always looked at the lefty models because I could not get used to reeling with my right hand. The 7000s seemed bigger and more sturdier than the 6500s. After using the 7001 for a year or so I never got comfortable with using it. I like to hold the reel in my palm and it was too large for me to hold in my hand comfortably. I shopped around and after playing with a calcutta, it was all I could think of using. I recenlty bought the 401 and have not used it yet but it feels very comfortable in my hand. Just a thought, you want to make sure its something you can plug with for hours.

400 b

For the 6500 Cl supporters, Don M and Salt Heart, what makes the black big game CL better than other Abu internationals like the rockets and mag elite?

RIJimmy,

I was thinking the same thing about getting the left hand retrieve model since I'm already used to reeling with my left hand. Also, it prevents having to switch hands after casting, right? How do other people feel about this?

I'm definately starting to lean heavily towards the calcutta also.

All I ever used before the Shimano Calcutta was Abu, produts. Namely the 6500 and the 7000. The main problem with all abu's is there drag, trust me, do not get them even a little wet !! Saltheart fishes mostly the canal, there is no surf , its a different animal all together when a wave hits the abu you may as well toss it in the truck, they do not have a tight fit and finish and the drags get extemely "chalky" when wet this = lost fish !!

I never knew any better and had to tear down the reel nightly to clean it and lube the drags, after first cleaning them all with alcohol, it was a pain..Then they had to be lubed with braid drag lube, way to much maintainence...

The calcutta uses a wet drag system, I dont care how wet it gets its still as smooth as the day it came out of the box, a quik rinse with fresh water after a trip is all I need to do.

If you fish the canal, breachways etc.. or any other place without much chance of getting a direct shot of water on the reel then stay with the abu, but, if you wade and get wet.the shimano is the one to go with.

I fished the Island with "snake slinger" this year and he was telling me every single trip how he has to take the abu down and clean....ask him now that he has the calcutta how he feels :rotf2:

Dont get caught up in this "rocket this" rocket that" jet bearings super jacked up 6500 this and that stuff...It doesnt matter. what matters is fishability and if the thing wont hold up the night I dont care how many bearings it has..

The shimano calcutta is the van stall of surf casting conventional reels in my opinion. and casts and handles like a dream...............

calcutta's
 

i have a pair of calcutta's a 400TE a 400S non levelwind. they are both very well made and small enough to palm easily. i keep looking at the 700TE but keep backing away because of it's size. my only complaints are the fact that they don't like to throw lite stuff like rigged sluggos, just isn't enough weight to get them going i guess, and they are tricky with braid especially the 400S. after throwing off several $20 plugs i switched back to 20lb ande back country and they are pretty much problem free. too bad they don't make a 550, half way between the 400 & 700. that would be perfect

as #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& said i switched from a 7000 to a calcutta and theres no way id go back.if your fishing every nite i think the calcutta is the way to go

Let me address a couple of questions in the threads since my last post.

The Abu drags do suck. However, you can improve them. The Penn washers that fit a 965 are an exact fit for the 6500 size reels (I used to use 704 washers but they were a little smaller and got chewed up around the edges over a season). Also, SmoothDrag washers are also available for all Abu reels.

The Calcutta drag is now awesome. The original drags were great as long as they stayed dry. Around 1999 or so, Shimano replaced the old drag with a material they call Dartanium and offered free upgrades at the shows over the winter. It stays smooth now, no matter what. You will never get the same distance out of a Calcutta than you will from a tricked-out Abu, but it's a smoother caster and feels more solid. Abu 6500 frames can flex under stress, too. The one piece frame on the Calcutta will not.

The difference between the old BG series reels and the rest of the Abus is that the original, made in Sweden BGs had brass plates and a heavier frame. The new champagne colored 7000 series BG reels, besides being made in Taiwan, have aluminum plates like the rest of the Abu line. I fully expect the re-introduced 6500 BG reels to be the same, Taiwanese made with aluminum plates.

Sorry Mike they are the exact same as the original made in sweeden.Also the 6500CS & CT Mags are back

All new Abu's will also have a new better drag material simular to the Smooth drag. This will be starting with the newer 6500 sizes and down. You can tell the new reels by the newer style housing.

yes, the drag on the 400 is in a class by itself ! Since they changed to the dartanium, its amazing you can pour saltwater on it and still smooth as silk! I love my 400s all 5 of them!

As far as casting, I am not sure mike, I can lay into a 400 real good and get a very good cast acually with eels its almost its on par with what steve gets for distance with his VS..... It casts so smooth, if I lose a coupe of feet on the cast no big deal all the other features more than make up for it.