FIN NOR Offshore reel

[REELKNOTTY]

Has anyone taken a look at these reels yet? I have not got to play around with one yet but the big one the 95, hold 600 yrds of 100lb braid and claims to put out 60lbs of drag. Seems like a little of an overkill but the price on these is very attractive. I was thinking maybe a good reel for double duty(casting and trolling)

[sage fly guy]

Has anyone taken a look at these reels yet? I have not got to play around with one yet but the big one the 95, hold 600 yrds of 100lb braid and claims to put out 60lbs of drag. Seems like a little of an overkill but the price on these is very attractive. I was thinking maybe a good reel for double duty(casting and trolling)


Nice find, for that kind of money I will have to give one a field test.

Fin nor used to be top notch gear, not sure anymore.

chris

[north coast]

there's a guy on ebay that has them listed ,but the listing says that they're back ordered. I also looked around online they seem to be the same price everywhere 169.00 looks like an interesting reel . I can't wait to get my hands on one and give it a spin. I 've got a couple smaller ahabs that are great. hope this ones the same.

[sage fly guy]

TackleDirect seems to have them in stock.

chris

[e-sea-e]

anyone see these in person yet? whats the word?

[north coast]

I just bought one on ebay for $115.00 .I'll let you know when I get it

[e-sea-e]

Thanks. Id be very interested in hearing how well it winds braided line on to the spool. The spool looks alot like the spool on a penn 9500, narrow from top to bottom but very deep from the edge of the spool inward. I found my penn 9500 did a poor job of evenly winding the line on the spool, resulting in birdnests when casting, even when the spool wasnt loaded up with line, or short casts due to the uneven winding of the line onto the reel.

By contrast, the spool on my spheros 14000 (a reel comprable in price to these finors) is just the opposite, wide from top to bottom and not as deep inside. It winds braid on the spool just as well as a stella, and casts like a dream. But, the thought of using 65 lb baid on one of these finor reels, with 65 pounds of drag, is appealing.

also, do all of these reels have 65 lbs of drag, or are the smaller ones less?

Thanks, please keep me posted. Im sure alot of others are interested too.

[BFThunter]

I dont know if I would want to set my drag up to 65 pounds on a spinning rod, neverless a standup without a harness. Sounds like broken rods, and possibly worse. I know they make rings that go around the reel seat on the rod to clip into, but will there be a point in which you will need such a heavy spinning rod to stand up to a 65# drag that you will not be able to cast anything less than 6oz?

This is probably just a drag capacity thing, but it sounds to me like it may be a little overkill. (#$119)

[e-sea-e]

I obviously wouldnt set it to 65 pounds, its not a good idea. You should never set a spinning reel for the max drag it can produce. It will destroy the reel. But, I can see where you may need alot of drag in certain situations. I have often palmed the reel to prevent any line from comming out once the fish starts to spiral, so I can lift the fish. I hate playing with my drag mid-fight. also, with my spheros 14000, I only get 24 lbs of drag. Id be hestitant to set the drag to say, 20 lbs, b/c its reaching the limits of the reel. But, if you have a reel that can give you 65 lbs of drag, you can set the drag to 30-35 pounds without a problem. If a 150-200 fish ever takes one of my lures, I'll need that drag, and I cant get it with my spheros.

But, if these reels are decent you could load one with 65 lb braid and be able to set the drag to 30 lbs to really put the boots to a really big fish. The guys at first light caught a 62" fish least year on spinning gear, they had a stella 10000 I think, loaded with 65 lb braid. That reel gives you 65 pounds of drag as well. they cranked the drag down and whupped the fish in short order. If I got that fish on spheros, if I got the fish in, it would take a while.

As far as breaking rods, that not a concern for me. if you have good equipment and good techinque fighting the fish, you'll never break a rod, unless the rod is a piece of crap to start with. Its hard to break a 20-50 lb stand up spin rod if you dont high stick it. I rarely lift the rod past 9 oclock or so when fighting these fish, and generally just short stroke the fish gaining inches of line at a time and keeping the fish off balance. We also use a gimbal harness.

also, the rod I would use with this reel has a soft enough tip to easily cast lures as light as 1 ounce and casts lures between 1 and 3 ounces just fine, even when using 65lb braid. I dont see how the drag setting would effect the casting ability of the rod/reel combo.

would 65 pounds be overkill? absolutely. But I wouldnt use 65 lbs of drag. it would be set at 14 untill a big fish hit, then cranked down if the need arose.

[BFThunter]

Great points- I figured that it was just all for capacity and if use when needed on a brute.

The seeker I used last season was perfect for the 50-60lbers we were into, much larger and I might be in for a longer ride. Also palmed the 9500 a few times, didnt dare touch the drag.

Just getting back from FL and all of this tuna talk isnt helping the cabin fever, not soon enough...

[e-sea-e]

we'll be fishing for them soon enough my friend!!!

If you are looking for a rod to handle bigger fish, drop me a pm, I picked up a sweet rod this weekend at the MSBA show from a custom rod outfit in north dartmouth called CME enterprises. great rod, simmilar in style to a seeker or calstar, but lighter in wieght and a little stiffer with a superfast action. still has a soft enough tip to cast small metals. 6'6", long foregrip, aluminum gimbal butt, rated for 20-50 pounds, all fuji components, black with gold wraping. The guy actually said they designed it for the new finor reels. My spheros fits it like a glove, now I just gotta see if that finor reel is any good. The spool on it is making me leary, too much like a penn. the difference in casting between my penn 9500 i just sold and the spheros is night and day, and I think its b/c of the differences between the spools on the 2 reels. If the finor dosent cut it, the new rods getting a stella 20000 put on it.

[BFThunter]

Finishing up school right now so cant swing a rod at this time, but over the summer when im working again ill keep it in mind for sure. I'd like to hear more about the casting differences at some point too, you certainly have my attention. Stella is out of my price range for sure, quite an investment. Safety clip going on that rod when it is in the gunnel I bet. Never done it, came close (knock on wood) but still paranoid about hearing that dreaded splash.

[e-sea-e]

when you have some extra cash, pick up a spheros 14000. Its $150.00 and will out cast the penn 9500 by 15-25 yards easy. Ive had both, the difference was suprising. Or, sell the 9500 on ebay, I just sold one for $167.00, it was an old style non graphite reel. even the newer ones sell for 130-150.

[DaleH]

... the thought of using 65 lb braid on one of these finor reels, with 65 pounds of drag, is appealing.
That's 'nuff drag there E to pull YOU overboard :eek: !

[soundownsam]

I doubt that anyone here is using a spinning rod that can handle 35lb of drag. If so I would ba happy to see the pic of the 4 gallons of water suspeneded from the rod tip.

As for fighting fish with better than 30lbs I certainly can't do it for an extended period of time. IN fact 45 minutes in a briad harness and belt, properly fitted to me and with a shorty bent butt rod (50 tiagra) and 22lbs of drag gets painful.

The Fin-nor does look nice and I may have to pick one up.

Sam

[e-sea-e]

sam, Ill dig out my stella 20000 and my star hand crafted stand up rod and post that pic if I can pick up the bucket. :brow Im going to arizona tmorrow, I'll work on it when i get back next week. now you have me curious....

just curious, why the 4 gallons of water? That must weigh alot more than 35 pounds.

I agree, more than 20 lbs or so for a long period of time would be tough. I'd would only go over that in the most dire of circumstances. But, its like a gun- id probably never need it, but i'd rather have it and not need than need it and not have it.

and dale, Ive gained some weight since you last saw me, I think it would take more than 65 pounds to pull me out of the boat :eek:

thats ok, just more of me to love...

[soundownsam]

E

1 gallon of water ='s 8lbs. 4 gallons ='s 32. I would start 1 gallon at a time and see where you get to. Don't break an expensive rod just because I told you too.

Sam

[e-sea-e]

OK, I thought water was alot heavier than that.

I dont think the rod will break, but we'll see. look for the pic sometime next week, or a report that the rod couldnt handle it. :eek:

[north coast]

hey E, and anyone else interested .

The fin nor came today, this thing is huge, and fairly heavy. the quality looks good. it's got a monster handle and grip on it. feels like something more substantial than a spinning reel. looks tough as nails ,but time will tell. can't really tell you much more till I get it on the water. for $115.00 I'm pretty pleased so far.

[Lucky]

NC -

What model did you get? WOuld you suggest going down one size if you got the largest? I use 50lb braid and on the biggest...that translates into almost 1000 yards. I am considering buying the 85...the second largest. keep us updated on the reel and how it performs.

Any chance you'll test the drag off the car bumper anytime soon :brow

[north coast]

you never know ,chances are I'll test it on- some- fish before tuna season. heard a couple other reports on another site about this reel, one guy was using the os75 for sail fishing said he'd never use a different reel again .the general consensus seems to be that people love these reels. another guy said he was dumping all his penns for these. In answering your question ,I bought the biggest ,but I don't see why a smaller model wouldn't work just fine. I have a feeling this reel is going to become very popular very soon.

[JRS]

I just order 2-95's and 1-65. i saw them at the RI show VERY NICE! Check out he is really good with great prices. my reels are coming with prespooled with JB. i will post again when i have them in hand. :-%

[VinnyV]

I also saw these at the RI fishing show and they look awesome. I also have what I think is a great Fin-nor connection for the Offshore and Ahab models.
I can get the OFS85 for $105 and the AHAB 16 for $168 .. Any interest in maybe a group buy as I need to get 5 reels for these prices. I can get a mix of AHAB and OSF and all sizes . I don't think anyone can find a AHAB that cheap , not sure about the OFS model ..


Vin

[Levin]

hello everybody!!

i'm thinking of buying a fin-nor ahab 12 to use as a spinning reel for catfish (european catfish, i'm from germany)... i'd like to use the 65lbs power pro but i'm not quite sure as fas as the line-capacity is concerned... what do you think how much line i could get on that reel?


cheers from germany and always tight lines...
mirko