At the suggestion of various members and given the magazines will run a mile from criticising a piece of kit, here is your chance to tell us what you really think about a rod, reel, line, lure... keep it legal please!
After 3 trips over the last few days with my cheap fishing set and deciding I'm absolutely hooked with fishing I went ahead and bought a Shakespeare Salt beachcaster.
Since this took up most of my budget I'm looking at cheaper reels. Shakespeare reels seem to have mixed reviews and polarised ones at that
Could I go far wrong with ordering an Okuma Halogen, Beachcaster 380 or 365 Pro with a view to upgrading to something more substantial once I'm taking on 200kg sharks from the beach
Should I still consider one of the Shakespeare Salt reels?
Can't vouch for that particular model but have used a few of the Okuma coarse fishing reels and they're very well made and gave no problems after plenty of use
Paul
[color=#FF0000][b]"Vegetarian" - Ancient native Indian word translates as "Crap Hunter"[/b][/color]
iv two of the okuma beachcaster reels, they are fairly tough, i have one about eight years and it still works grand even tho iv abused it. i still use it for mackeral fishing.
Same as shaft666, I don't know those models but I've used a couple of Okuma fixed spool reels. Still do, in fact. They're an excellent quality buy if you're on a budget.
Donagh wrote:I've bought some cheaper okuma fixed spool reels and they've been crap. They have a wide range of quality in there range and it's price dependent
I've had the Interceptor range f/s in 30 and 50 size, both spot on reels.
My first rod was a ron thompsom beachcaster with an Okumu reel combo. Ive used that reel for 4yrs now and its still going strong and still get used 2-3 times every week. Cant fault it.
Having had the pleasure of fixing or trying to fix Okuma reel a number of years ago i found that the quality wasn't good and they regularly failed. But like most things in life you get what you pay for, cheap reels usually means that.
Kstaff has always been the new black in my eyes anyway!!!!!!!
Indomitable spirit - never giving up or wanting to give up.
From my experience the cheap Okuma fixed spools are better than the Cheap multipliers. I had a FS for mackerel and it lasted a good few years of abuse but I was given a multi which had the drag turned into a pile of brass dust by a not so big bullhuss.
The Truth is often stumbled upon by men, most of whom pick themselves up and hurry along as if nothing ever happened. https://baitdigger.wordpress.com
ive been using a grauvell calypso ex70 there anything from €55 to €70 from diferent tackle shops ive used it regularly and had double doggies on many occasions, no crunching,grinding and it holds lotsa line, i,m looking at a daiwa emcast sport or wincastfor my next purchase but also may look at the cheaper shimano reels.
jawsies wrote:
Any budget Shimano surf/beachcasting reels I should consider?
I used a pair of the original Aerlex 8000's for years for all my beach fishing and uptiding for cod without any problems, a mate has them now and they're still going strong so highly recommend them
Paul
[color=#FF0000][b]"Vegetarian" - Ancient native Indian word translates as "Crap Hunter"[/b][/color]
