Friends don't let friends...

[fishoutawater]

Friends don't let friends drive a Spheros without a drag upgrade.

Had 3 14000's on the boat and 2 had carbontex. Guess which one my FIRST topwater tuna ever hit? Yup melted another drag, Lost the fish.
Great fun casting to them though, I'm not gonna forget this any time soon.
Twitch, pause, twitch got a follow, fast retrieve got hit.

Dean

[dcomte]

Dean- way to go on the top water tuna, sorry about the drag. I fought 5 fish on my 14000 and the drag is still holding up fine:confused: but I'm going to order some carbontex washers this morning anyway. Dan

[Tide Hunter]

This may sound a little funny but last year I bought four Okuma Stratus 65 reels for 29.00 each at Dick's. I Matched them with All-Star 7' MH spin rods 59.00. and spooled them with #50 PP. I have caught hundreds of bass blues and some tuna with them without a problem. One of the reels landed two 55lb fish in 15 minutes each and is still kicking. On Monday a big hot fish spooled one of my customers before I could get the boat turned around (I had the drag set a little too loose) and on Saturday another one fought a big fish for over an hour before the hook pulled. The reel is still great. I can't say as much for their corrosion resistance as the cast handles on them are starting to show signs of pitting. But I also have 2 Penn 950SS , the cost of one is way over what the four okumas cost and they have the same problem only worse. If the drags on the Okumas fail, I will just replace the reel for 28.00 (minus my 10.00 cupon) I know it sounds cheap but I have yet to have a reel fail and loose a fish. Since I need four setups and can't justify spending a grand on them, (kids in college) this was a inexpensive alternative. They also work great as jigging rods;)

[CornerOffice]

Baitrunners 6500's have this issue? I have been fishing these for years for Bass but never have had a run like a tuna on these reels.

[Edgewater_245CC]

I landed 2 fish this year on a baitrunner 6500 with no issues. Both fish @ 75-80lbs. Just picked up a speros 14000, which will hopefully be broken in soon.

[e-sea-e]

Id bet after a few fish those 6500's will fail as well. theres a big difference between catching 100's of bass and blues on a reel and catching even only 10 tuna. the 6500 might be ok for occasional use for tuna, but Id be reluctant to use it primarily for tuna. Personally, I wouldnt trust that reel enough to even do it once, and I love the baitrunners, I have several 4500's, never had a problem with one. but to each his own.

if youre using it for bass and blues, you'll be fine- my 3-4 years old 4500's have caught hundreds of big bass /blues, never had a problem with the drag.

of the 2 14000's that melted on me this year, one was 3 years old, landed about 50 fish, the other was new this year and landed maybe 15 before it melted. The drag problem seems to be much more prevelant this season, maybe something about the drag material shimano is using this year vs. years past?

[Tunawarrior]

Maybe it's just luck, but my 6500 has performed fantastically. I've landed multiple Pacific sailfish, schoolie BFT, a 70+lb roosterfish, a 70+lb BFT, and countless stripers and bluefish. And absolutely no problems. Go figure. When this reel fails, I most likely will get another.

[dcomte]

The drag problem seems to be much more prevelant this season, maybe something about the drag material shimano is using this year vs. years past?[/QUOTE]

Or maybe it's the size of the fish this year vs. last years.:brow

[parapapam]

Any opinion on the Thunnus drag? I have a 16000 that I am itching to try to melt.

Mike

[e-sea-e]

Any opinion on the Thunnus drag? I have a 16000 that I am itching to try to melt.

Mike

got one thats landed about 10 tuna over the last few years serving as a back up reel. no problems yet, that drag system is a bit better than the spheros, as the overall quality of the reel is better too. But, i really havent used it as an all season primary reel.