What is the best manual deep drop reel?

[DIRTYFOOT2]

I have been manually deep droppin for years, and have become addicted to a 6:1 gear ratio. Problem has been that the first, and second generations of these speed demons have sissified drags, not able to withstand the punishment that the benthic beasties dish out. What do you fellas think is the toughest new 6:1 on the market? I'm not lookin for a sermon on how great your senator, or tld is. I agree thier great but am trying to make an informed choice on a speedy,rugged, hand winch

[Tom Kidwell]

Torium 30. 6.2:1 Sweet!

[sfcallen]

Originally Posted by Tom Kidwell

Torium 30. 6.2:1 Sweet!

You need to add the free upgraded drag washers and pawl from Shimano. Then it is sweet.

[DIRTYFOOT2]

Agreed. But not tough enuff. 16lbs of drag sometimes issn't enough. Furthermore I've had the drags replaced in both of mine multiple times.
Great kingfish reel. Smoked a couple trinidads too, lookin for a refferal from somebody who fishes thier outfit mercilessley. Sp?...Thanks for the response Tom. Love my toruims too, when they aren't in the shop.

[Tom Kidwell]

Originally Posted by DIRTYFOOT2

Agreed. But not tough enuff. 16lbs of drag sometimes issn't enough. Furthermore I've had the drags replaced in both of mine multiple times.
Great kingfish reel. Smoked a couple trinidads too, lookin for a refferal from somebody who fishes thier outfit mercilessley. Sp?...Thanks for the response Tom. Love my toruims too, when they aren't in the shop.

So what's the alternative? I watched Greg (sfcallen on the board) pull up a 150 pound sand tiger with a Torium 30, no problem. I have reviewed a bunch of spec sheets on other reels and can't find anything that seems like it would hold up as well. Hope you get some good responses as I would be very interested in trying one out. Thanks for the post.

[Tom Kidwell]

Ooops.... Come to think of it, I also watched a Torium's gears turn to so much mush on a small 6' mako. Greg was there too, but he wasn't the angler.

[kyle]

DEFINATELY DIAWA SALTIGA OF SALTIST.

I get about 1 week out of a Torium before I put a new pawl and another drag washer in it.

Yesterday I blew up my first Diawa but its almost 2 years old without any previous problems.

[miamiangler1]

Hell DF2 just go with an old 6/0 pen ... mine is 30years new and still gets them up from 900ft ... it take all the abuse I give it ... but depends how much you want to spend !I like the torums too but not enough line capacity for what I do .. next drops will be 1200-1500 ft !

[DIRTYFOOT2]

Thanks Kyle. Know if its stood up to your fishing regimen, I'll have a good shot @ getting a nice run out of one. Willi nobody but you has the patience to crank 3-1 from 300+++. I have a couple 6/0's, but was lookin for feedback on a newer mousetrap. Tom, I agree w/ you that they are good reels, just not designed to bottom fish w/ daily.

[Tom Kidwell]

Kyle:

Which Saltiga are you using? The 30 with 5.4:1 retrieve?

[miamiangler1]

Butch , I`d like to get a new shiny gold reel for my dropping , but havnt heard of one that can take the abuse I do to my reel ...I know it takes time to reel up at 3:1 , but so long a fish is on .. dont mind ... Tight Lines ... going to try some drops today for goldens ..catch`em up!

[upsinker]

You can upgrade the drag washers in your Torium to Smooth Drag Carbontex washers and get significantly more drag and smoothness out of your Torium. Installation is pretty easy but google "torium suprise" before you install, there's a tricky bit when disassembling a torium where a little spring and pin come rocketing out of the reel, if you lose those parts you won't have that cool clickling sound when you turn the drag star. The two problems with this are 1) upgrading your drag voids your factory warranty (but you can always swap in the original drags if you send it in for service) and 2) even with the drag upgrade you don't gain any cranking power. Lack of cranking power is my biggest complaint about 6:1 reels, personally. I know you're not looking for suggestions about alternative reels, but I'll give you my take anyway - I like the Newell P series with 5:1 gears - they give you a little more cranking power than a 6:1 reel but they're still reasonably fast. Newells are tanks and have good drags outof the box and with a smoothies upgrade you can get more drag than you'd ever need.

[quack quack]

I have 2 Newels and love them.They are lite and at first seem a little weak but they are tough!1 I have had for 5 yrs and got alot of fish on.From Sharks to tiny snapper Drags are the smoothest out of the box then any other reel. Good luck Butch

[upsinker]

If you do decide to take a look at Newells it's my opinion that it's worth paying up for the P series. The P's are all metal, whereas the F's are metal and graphite. I think the P's are a little sturdier and have a better feel. I use a P332 with 65# braid for tile fishing on open bottom and I just bought a P550 which I'm spooling with 100# for fishing structure for wreckfish. If the weather holds I'll be christening the 550 on the Voyager on Monday.

[DIRTYFOOT2]

Thanks Guys. I will check out the Newells. We have a couple of older ones on the boat, but I have never paid them much attention. Gonna check out thier website....There has to be one??? P series sounds like what I'm lookin for. I'm off to the web............

[mannyc]

I have the torium 30 and love. I use it for bottom fishing and get muttons up from the bottom quick.

Has anyone used the penn torque series? Nice reels and I believe they are 6.1, 6.2.

[CAPTAIN RON]

My First And Only Willi Style Reel Is Apenn 70 . I Like The 2 Speed - 1 To Get The Rig Up And Low Speed For The Fishes Ride Up. That 59 Pounder Came Up In 8 Minutes From 815 Ft Of Water. Ill Have To Try One Of Those High Ratio Reels. Sounds Like They Come Apart With A Big Fish Though.

[DIRTYFOOT2]

The regular heavy torque situations is what kills the toruims. Took a look @ one of the old newells we had on the boat this weekend. Dropped it off yesterday for an overhaul. Hopin to get it back to take to the tortugas this weekend. That trip is a good test for any reel.

[sfcallen]

Fondled a Shimano Torsa the other day. Seemed to be very well built. Anyone using one have any feedback on them?

[DaveB]

That's my choice. 5.0:1 high speed and 2.3:1 low speed. It can be set up with over 20# of drag at strike, holds enough 60# spectra to fish 1000' and weighs about the same as a 113H. To really be styling add a Tiburon topless frame. For details for to Cal's 2 Speed Reel Conversions. - Tel: 626-357-4441 - Penn international and Shimano Reel Conversions

[justin ennis]

I think a duel 6/0 would be a good reel, I never used one but you can change the spool and have one spooled with braided line and the other with mono and it is a 2 speed reel.

[Catch-All]

...........

[poolman]

Butch, I've had 3 newell 550 4.6 reels for 13 years now and have boated tons of fish without a single problem yet. Biggest fish being a 72lb warsaw from 400 ft. I manually fish these for tiles, and have wrassled many a big ol shark with these too. They're spooled with 80 lb Power Pro and one still has 13 year old 100 lb spiderwire on it. I catch many a gag in 190 ft. From my experience with these reels, I can attest to the durability of them. And anyone who knows me can tell you that I put my gear through pure hell.

[DIRTYFOOT2]

The Newells have it. Thanks for the input guyz....

[Graceland]

Originally Posted by sfcallen

You need to add the free upgraded drag washers and pawl from Shimano. Then it is sweet.

The free upgrade from Shimano only replaces the drag cover, not any of the washers. All it really does is allow you to lock the drag down in fewer turns of the star.

Like someone else mentioned, upgrade with the Carbontex Smoothies. That will get you to over 35 lbs of drag and keep your free spool. Only draw back is it deforms the antireverse washer, which gives you a little slop in the reverse direction. Add on a get strapped bracket and you can button her down in a gimbal belt and harness if need be.

My Torium is from the original batch, which came out in 5:1 and I much prefer it to the 6:1 models because you still have plenty of cranking power with it.

I am not sure how much drag you can get out of the Torium 50's yet. My buddy refused to tug on the scale anymore after we hit 50 lbs. I still had a lot of room to tighten it down more though.

[DIRTYFOOT2]

Thats a sick fish bro!!!! Thanks for the tech support

[ian cameron]

If you don't mind having something a bit beat up , look for an old penn international, either 30 or 50 on ebay. The two I use are 30 years old and definitely battle scarred but they won't break. I made longer handles for better cranking power, just make sure they are a neat fit on the shaft to avoid damage.