Good solid reliable beach fixed spool reel

Right lads there is always a lot of talk about fixed spool reels.

How good they are, price etc

Lots of people recommend a reel when they may not have had experience with other reels. This is fine when they have had no problem with there reels but it is not a comprehensive guide.

I use exclusivly fixed spools and am very hard on them, blowing up 4/5 of supposidly the top of the range reels every year. I have tried most of them and to be honest there is not one model that I wouldn`t improve in some way.hi paul im using fixed spools for over 30 years now from the old mitchells to the shimanos had the very first shimano bio for 11 years still have it and it still works ,alittle bit rough now the next 1 i bought 1 hve now 7 years its still like new also have the xsa 3 years these reals will last for ever if not abused ,also paul arent you a tourament caster ? i dont know how much fishing you do but i do at least twice a week .just thought id give my opion

Here is some of the reels I have gone through recently and what i think of them.

Shimano ultegra XSA, XSB & XTA
The most impressive part of this reel is the gears. i have so far been unable to blow up any of the ones I have. However the biggest problem with the reel is the line twist.

Biomaster Lasted about 6 months

Arelex
Not a good reel.

Grauvell Zeus & Zenith

These are nice reels with a very good casting spool and line lay system however the gears cannot deal with constant horsing of heavy weight and have all blown up on me.

Dawia Emblem, Emcast, tournement etc,etc etc
None of them have lasted too long. (Although I do fancy a basia, but I would probably wreck that too.)

Okuma Axeon
They anti - reverse has gone in all of these and the gears are not up to much either

Penn surfmaster
New 850 I managed to explode this one in less than 3 hours however I have one of the previous models and it is still working fine although they are not the nicest reels in the world. They dont have a great spool or line lay.

Next in the firing line will be the Fox range of reels, however I dont hold out much hope of them coping with what I have in mind for them.

I have gone through a lot of other reels too but the ones above are the most commonly used at the moment.

If I had to recommend one reel it would be the Shimano ultegra XSB 10000. Keep the line roller on the bail arm oiled and clean and you will never have a problem.

JP

Je**s jp your a horse of a man what are you doing with your reels, i too use fixed spool exclusively but have very seldom encountered major problems but then i use mine gingerly and pump in the heavy weights. i agree with you on most of the comments but have never encountered problem with the gears. I too at some time or other have used most of these reels with varying degrees of problems. i am now using the diawa basia which is very expensive but very good and robust i have it about a year now and had no problems but then i am very kind to my reels.
Stephen uses Ian golds reels and finds them a good reel for value and quality ( they will be hitting the shops with in the next year or so). A reel i used years ago the mitchel 498 was bomb proof they just dont make like that anymore you could reel in dogs all day and not a bother.
as you said jp you are very hard on your reels and you fish a lot and i agree with you most of them don't last the distance.