Line Counter Reels

I would like to know what you charter captains, or Lake Erie regulars use for line counter reels. You guys are the ones who put the most stress on the reels since you have countless hours on the water, I'd like to hear what you consider to be the best bang for your buck. I am currently using 3 different models, some work ok, some stick when counting and are a major pain. I would like to buy some new reels and keep everything consistant, all the same models and line, to help with counting accuracy. I'd really appreciate hearing your opinions and maybe some prices if you know them.

Thanks,

Jim aka Eyezcrazy

I use the Okuma reels 15 or 20 series, best bang for the buck. We use to use a multiple of other brands, but I think for the price you can't beat em. Last year we made the switch and now have 8 or 10 of them. I even bought a few of the 50 series for when we went salmon fishing to Ludington, MI. last August, and they worked flawlessly pulling in 15 to 20lb salmon. They got a workout too, we caught 44 in one week. I didn't want to spend a lot of $ on salmon reels that I would use only 1 week a year. If they work for salmon that run like a train downhill they can easily handle the little runs that walleye make. Look on EBAY there's a guy in MI that has great deals on rod and reel combos. I am not a Charter but I have fished out of Wild Wing almost every other weekend for 12 years. I hope this helps.

Gary

My dad just bought 4 new okuma reels from dreamcatcher fishing bait and tackle on route 2. Had great price on them. He had one in stock and had to order the rest but they came in really quick. Definitely a high quality reel can't wait to put them to use.

i think the best reel out there for the buck is the daiwa sg17lca reels. they cost around 100.00 each but if you keep an eye on ebay you can get them much cheeper. another good reel for the buck is the daiwa accudepth plus adp17lc you can buy them outright for around 65.00 on ebay or you can watch the auctions and pick them up alittle cheaper. i use both of these reels on my boat and they perform flawlessly. then another good reel for the money is the okuma convector its around 70.00 but its a good reel. but i choose to use the daiwa reels myself.

and if you decide to go with the daiwa accudepth plus make sure you get the plus reel and not the old accudepth only reel. and on the okuma reels make sure and get the convectors they are a much better reel than the magdna reels. if you really have to go cheap then the magdna reels are the best lower end reels you can get for your money.

one thing i will recommend if you buy the daiwa reels invest a few more bucks and add the power handles. you can get them from tunasreeltroubles.com thats one good feature about the okuma convectors they come with a power handle and the paddle handle. but i still like the daiwas better. and i own all three reels but hardley ever use the okumas. just because i bought the okumas to use with my boards then never mounted my mast to run my boards.

hope this information help you decide which reel you want. if your budjet allows the daiwa sealine sg17lca is the best buy for you buck. then the daiwa accudepth plus then the okuma convector and last is the okuma magdna. the magdna is the cheapest of the 4, but will work but its just not as good as the other reels.

you can always get bigger reels in each brand. i just choose to use the smallest reels in the daiwas. the convectors i got the smallest reel is made alittle different than the bigger models. i think the 15 is the smallest but i bought the 20,s. but you can get 30,s or 45,s or i think maby even bigger. in the daiwas you can get the 27,s or the 47,s and i think they make them bigger. but the 17,s is all i need for walleye fishing. and i got the 20 convector just because i liked it better than the 15.

one thing i do if im running braided line for my divers. i put 200 ft of 17 lb mono line on first then add 450 ft of braid. this keeps the braid from slipping on the spool. i learned the hard way that just braid will slip on the spool if you dont use a backing.

sherman

okuma is what i use and they are right best bang for buck i have 12 of them. dont buy the cabales brand, the counters end up breaking or sticking all the time.

I use Okuma

okuma....great value and several price ranges but even the less expensive ones really perform well....jmo....

I use Okuma

Cabelas Gold Series do stick and not activate sometimes. I have them and have to keep an eye on them

Okuma cv 30

Ok.....it sounds like a heck of a lot of you guys like Okuma. Now that I have some opinions, I can say that I have been using accudepth plus 17lc and 27lc.......they are decent but I've had one stick on a regular basis. My others are Shakesphere Arsenal's and they stick more than the Diawa's. In all fairness I think the Diawa is sticking because it shot out of the holder and went on a little swimming adventure......I made a fast decision to dive in after it and saved everything.......but my cell phone and wallet. I think I'd have been better off letting it go!

I have never used any Okuma reels so I might have to give them a try. What are the drags like? Do they sing pretty on pullbacks? I'll be looking at the spec's for them....gear ratio of at least 5:1 I hope.

Okuma convector 30 d

http://community.walleye.com/showthread.php?t=5701T

Here is a thread from awhile back.

just remember there is alot of difference between the okuma convectors and the magdnas. the convector is a great reel and the magdna is on the low end but if its all the budjet will allow they do work good for the price. the convector 20 is the biggest reel your going to need for walleye fisging with mono or braid. alot less weight to handle than the bigger reels.
sherman

http://community.walleye.com/showthread.php?t=4329

Here is another thread!

Thanks Wakina for the additional links. I guess I should be posting in a different forum, I just wanted to reach some experienced fishermen. Thanks everyone for your input. I'm still waiting to hear from my favorite Skipper to see what he runs.

Sorry very busy this time of.year.. I run converter 30 s. it is not really the reel that is important it is that the reel is calibrated. make sure.that every rod is 100 foot on the counter at a 100 foot.

the convector.(cv 30) is much better than the magna pro.. if you cant find a good.deal on them let me know. dont pay more than $60 for.them. give me a call if you want to talk about reels and calibration..

I just bought 2 new convectors cv20's at fin feather and fur they were on sale for $69, reguarly $79 I guess I paid to much Jim.

I have the Daiwa LCX27C reels. They have been great reels and I've had no problems with them. Bought them all used off of Ebay for between 45 to 60 bucks each. The counters are reliabloe and accurate if you fill the spools all the way up as is the case with any reel.

Check out the new Okuma Cold Water reels. They look sweet! Can be bought off Ebay new for $95 with free shipping.

Some of the smaller size reels obviously have enough line capacity but the big difference is the gear ratio. The 20 series is a 5.1:1 where the 30 series is a 4.0:1. I would recommend going with the larger reel to get the slower ratio for trolling.

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Originally Posted by penalty box

I just bought 2 new convectors cv20's at fin feather and fur they were on sale for $69, reguarly $79 I guess I paid to much Jim.

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yes dave... you didnt ask did you

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Originally Posted by Eyezcrazy

Thanks Wakina for the additional links. I guess I should be posting in a different forum, I just wanted to reach some experienced fishermen. Thanks everyone for your input. I'm still waiting to hear from my favorite Skipper to see what he runs.

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I did not mean to insinuate that you should be posting in a different forum, and I only provided the links to information that pertained to your question because they contained info and answers concerning your question.

I would not be concerned about where you post a question as this site for the most part is a fishing community unto its own. Besides there have only been a few times that anyone has crabbed about where you post and what the content is. With those few times being by members that post very little if at all and just like to crab when things are not as they would like them to be.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wakina

I did not mean to insinuate that you should be posting in a different forum, and I only provided the links to information that pertained to your question because they contained info and answers concerning your question.

I would not be concerned about where you post a question as this site for the most part is a fishing community unto its own. Besides there have only been a few times that anyone has crabbed about where you post and what the content is. With those few times being by members that post very little if at all and just like to crab when things are not as they would like them to be.

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I didn't take it that way at all Wakina, I just realized after reading the link that I probably should have posted in another forum.

I agree with you completely that people on this site are fishermen and don't seem to complain much about the small stuff....it's about helping other fishermen. I belong to a couple of other outdoor communities but this is my favorite and most used site. There are some great people here!

Skipper, I'll take you up on the offer and give you a call. That is a great deal for those reels!

Diawa Accudepth 27LC, they are 60-70 bucks each. I spool with 30 Power Pro which is 8 lb dia.

After hearing from all of you I finally made my purchase! I bought 6 Okuma Convector 30 line counters and had them spooled with a mono backing and 30 lb Power Pro green.....I hope that was the right color choice

My main goal was to get a decent reel and keep everything consistant, no more guessing if they were all at the same depth because of reel and line differences. I will check each reel for 100 ft and see that they all read the same. I think the consistancy should help improve our catch rates.....I hope.

Thank you to all who posted....I think I used a little bit of what everyone had to offer.I am just a weekend fisherman and drive 2 1/2 hours up each trip so trust me, your information is very much appreciated! Absolutely top notch bunch of guys here!

Well guys after getting my new reels I thought I'd measure them out and check the accuracy at 100 ft like the skipper told me. The new reels measured dead on! So I thought it would be a good time to check the old reels to see how they were reading. Accudepth 17's were reading 100 @ 100 feet, the accudepth 27's were reading 117 @ 100 ft and the shakespeare arsenols were reading 128.5 at 100 ft. The bottom line is, I was never fishing consistantly at the depth's I thought I was. I think the difference in the amount of line on the spool was the biggest problem, I just never realized it could be so drastic.

Thanks again everyone! The education I'm getting will definitely make me a better fisherman. Now I hope the weather doesn't shut down the great bite that's been going on so I can try them out this weekend!

See you on the water.

Jim eyezcrazy