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Catfish reels

J.W.308

J.W.308

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2002
Messages
2,983
Location
Beaver ,Tn USA
I have to replace 2 reels that I use for cat fishing . Both reels have the gears messed up. They are both Abu Garcia C3's . What would you replace them with ?
 
the same ones you have. hard to beat an AG ambassador c3 or c4. 5500 size for smaller fish or 6000 series for pretty much everything else. my grandfather used Penn saltwater reels. i never seen one of his break and he never cleaned them.

if it were me, id tear those reels down and see if they just need a good cleaning and relube. a lot of times a dirty reel will act like it has stripped gears. reel grease goes on gears and bearings and oil goes on friction parts. a little goes a long way(1 drop). those AG reels have a slew of parts that can be ordered and reels repaired for a fraction of a new one.
 
Daiwa Saltists are what I use. My buddy has Avets and likes them but the ones he has are too rich for my blood. The Saltists aren't cheap either but I love them. I started with Abu 6500s but there's no comparison to the Daiwas. Once I bought my first Saltist, I had to have one on all my rods.
 
Gears tore out fast in 5 of the 6 abu garcia ambassadors i bought. Mingyang on ebay is all will use. Much better quality for a little less money.
 
I have been using Akuma reels lately and have been very impressed with big fish on the line
 
Crow Terminator":a0f53n95 said:
Daiwa Saltists are what I use. My buddy has Avets and likes them but the ones he has are too rich for my blood. The Saltists aren't cheap either but I love them. I started with Abu 6500s but there's no comparison to the Daiwas. Once I bought my first Saltist, I had to have one on all my rods.
Click to expand...

ive been impressed with diawa lately. ive a few tatula and fuego baitcasters and theyve been great for mid spool size reels. really smooth.

as far as the other guys having problems with the ambassadeur reels, maybe those were the S versions they sell at walmart or discount sporting good stores. the c3 and c4's are made in sweden with hardened gearing for the last 6 years or so.
 
WTM - I think ABU got a bad wrap with those S series reels. Up until this year, they made what they called the Catfish series reels, which were a 6500 and 7000 S reel with power handle on them; they were orange. They were made in China and not Sweden like the other Abus. The problem is, most people associate the numbers as the model of the reel and not the size of the reel...so if they see a 6500 Catfish Series or 6500 C4....everyone assumes they are the same thing, with the only differences being the handle. The internals are totally different. Now, they have a Catfish Pro series of reels that aren't orange...they must have dropped the orange ones from the line up, as from what I understand, the newer ones are made in Sweden but the price also reflects that as well. I do have one of the 6500 orange reels and I also have an older S3. That older S3 is twice the reel of that newer 6500 S catfish reel. Some people don't like clickers but I do..I use them for bank fishing a lot. The clickers on that S series SUCKS.
 
yeah, abu realized their mistake and started making them in sweden like the old reels. the c3,c4, rockets and morrum's are made in sweden again. the 7000 series is made in china. one sure fire way to tell them from chinese or korean made is the king's seal will be embossed metal. chinese made will have the king's seal screen printed on the reel.

for bank fishing or casting from a boat that diawa saltist might be a better choice because of the 6.1 ratio and 36" of retrieve. very handy for taking up line slack. also depends on how much line on the spool is needed. most all reels have the same internals but just larger size spools for line capacity in the larger size reels.

heck RSIMMS hauls in 30-50 lb blue cats on what looks like medium action spinning tackle and 20 lb braid. :tu:
 

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