reel recomendations

[JoeyM]

oh, i guess if you are looking at the abu 7000 or 6500, you should look at the calcutta 700 instead of the 400. either way, still worth the price.

yeah, and i dunno if you need 65 lb braid. our 400's are spooled with 50 lb powerpro. have taken sbft to about 20 lbs.

a calcutta 700 with 65 lb braid could land a big big fish.

[Pete_G]

Just filled a Calcutta 400:

With 15 yards of 20# mono for a base, I was able to put 160 yards of 50# Power Pro on the reel filled nearly to the top. I'd guess 125 yards tops if you went to 65# on a 400, probably less.

The thing with sBFT is they don't typically run into the rocks OR run in fast current.

[JoeyM]

Originally Posted by Pete_G

Just filled a Calcutta 400:
The thing with sBFT is they don't typically run into the rocks OR run in fast current.

that's true, rocks lose a lot of fish....but then again, i've never seen a 20 lb. bass smoke 200 yards of line in a few seconds. tuna need no current to put the hurt on you.



yeah, if i was fishing alot of rocks in ri, i would go calcutta 700 and big braid or big mono. although i dont think you gain much comparing 50 # braid to 65 # braid. if it ends up in the rocks, the 65 will get cut pretty much as fast as the 50. a tough 20 # mono is prolly more abrasion resistant than even heavy braid.

[eelman]

Calcutta 400, I have caught literely thousands of bass on that reel up to 50lbs with 20lb mono, I never ran out of line, Block Island, all the breachways, and everywhere in between..The Calcutta is the van stall of convench...Get one! The best there is and it is perfect for the fishing you descibe......

[rhodyflyguy]

to be different, penn 525 mag. like it. a lot.

[riverrat2]

I would disagree about the calcutta being the van staals of conventional. Like JoeyM said they do not like sand at all. I have seen some horror stories with them completly freezing up and crapping the bed while fighting a fish on the beach. I don't think there is any conventional you compare to a van staal, the closest probably being a squidder or even an abu.

[Bass Babe]

Originally Posted by riverrat2

I would disagree about the calcutta being the van staals of conventional. Like JoeyM said they do not like sand at all. I have seen some horror stories with them completly freezing up and crapping the bed while fighting a fish on the beach. I don't think there is any conventional you compare to a van staal, the closest probably being a squidder or even an abu.

I guess your reel performance all depends on how you take care of it. If you're getting sandy, then rinse, re-grease, re-oil, repeat, and anything you own will work fine. You just gotta get anal about your equipment...don't set it down in the sand.