Electric Reel Help?

[Mr Presentation]

I want to buy my mom an electric reel for halibut this next year, any suggestions would be very helpful. I plan on taking her to the banana. There are so many brands and models, not sure where to start. Thanks.

[garyk]

For simplicity, you might consider one that has the battery pack option. No plug-ins. No connector wires.

The trade off is their super lithium batteries are ridiculously expensive (in addition to the rather expensive reel).

Just got a Daiwa Seaborg MegaTwin 750 for my first-best-mate to help her cope with a shoulder injury (TSS -- Tuna Shoulder Syndrome).

"Strike Zone" in Jacksonville FL. has lots of models and will deal on prices.

[Reel Creel]

Elec-tra-mate

thats what I got on some penn 330gtis and thats done the job just fine. the 330 holds just the right amout of line. With some sort of braided line at 80lb you can get cut off at the boat and still fish the banana with half a spool. The 330 still has a week drag so dont just stand on the up button you still need to work the fish.

[Highmark]

You may need to wait a on this. there is a proposal to make electric reels
ilegal to use for the 2008 season. There ia a post on the this. check it out.

HM

[Highmark]

You may need to wait a on this. there is a proposal to make electric reels
illegal to use for the 2008 season. There ia a post on the this. check it out.

HM

[flapbreaker]

Originally Posted by Highmark

You may need to wait a on this. there is a proposal to make electric reels
illegal to use for the 2008 season. There ia a post on the this. check it out.

HM

Maybe I read that proposal wrong buy my understanding was one commericial guy in Alaska was proposing this for Alaskan waters and NOT Oregon but again, I might be wrong.

[flapbreaker]

There have been good reports on the Diawa 600FE.

[Tuna Dog]

The Daiwa 600fe is not available in the US. a few people bought them off ebay.
It is a nice size that fits this fishery. The Seaborg 500fe is slightly smaller and many people use them for fishing the Banana bank or the chicken ranch. It will hold about 370 yards of 65lb. braid depending on who spools them. Some people can get 390 yards on them. They retail for about $599
Daiwa came out with a couple new models for 08 and the Seaborg Megatwin SB750MT is the next size up...You can check them out on Daiwa's website. I think they retail for about $750.

As for battery packs...the Daiwa battery packs are very expensive for what they are. A few people have used motorcycle batteries and they work pretty good. The reels come with a 9 foot cord that have battery clips but many people cut the clips off and put plugs for their electric downrigger outlets.

Good luck..

[flapbreaker]

The Daiwa 600fe can be ordered from the web for about $500 You just have to put up with a delay in shipping since it comes from Japan.

[garyk]

Originally Posted by Highmark

You may need to wait a on this. there is a proposal to make electric reels illegal to use for the 2008 season. There ia a post on the this. check it out.HM

Here's the thread..
http://www.ifish.net/board/showthrea...hlight=halibut

It's just one guy's idea, not proposed by an agency, and still has to go through the whole public review process and then the Halibut Commission's process. Lot's of angling regulations get proposed but without agency support, very few of those proposals are enacted.

[Bucolic buffalo]

I bought a Dawia 600FE on line and had it in my hands four days later, postage paid. Granted you have to read the copied booklet unless you can read Japanese but then I only use a couple of functions anyway and I am working on the others. I have it set up to plug into the Scotty outlets and I also have a plug on an Optima battery for portable use.

[fishbait]

Currently there is a used Penn 133 W/ electrmate on that well know internet auction site for sale.

[Weather or Knot]

Hey Buddy! Sure its for your mom!!

Brandon

[Seelicious]

Diawa's T-Bull 1000 is a super electric reel...bigger than you need but very powerful.

For Halibut Hill and 750' of water...it's da bomb!

[Nalu]

For those of you that know me, the banana is where I primarily fish.

I have four Daiwa 500 electrics that I added at the beginning of 2007. Each of these reels lasted the entire season loaded with 65# tuff line.

They are small sized, comfortable to hold, and act exactly like a conventional reel when bringing fish up. For bait checks we put them in a pole holder and flip the lever.

Battery packs are not a big deal, I plugged then all in to my scotty downrigger plugs by cutting the alligator clips off an putting scotty plugs in.

The drags are close to maxed out with the heavy lead used for 700 feet. Never had an issue with not enough drag for a fish.

The 750's and 1000's are sgnifincantly larger. Even though I can change to larger reels (750's or 1000's) I'm sticking with the 500's.

Mike

[KeyWest]

I have four of the 600 Fe's - like most, I've cut off the plugs and rewired to Scotty plugs.

I also bought online from Japan. The first few batches arrived in less than a week. The last batch took a month but they reported they were having problems with thier web site.

The 600 Fe's hold 400 yards of 80# tough line.

Like Nalu said, they completely change the way you fish. If your off the drift you no longer have to worry about a bait check. Less than 60 seconds from 600# of water.

[Chum Bucket]

It's absolutely wonderful to exploratory halibut fish: seeing a fishy spot on the map or a fish arch on the bottom, drop down and make a drift or two.

I have the Electramate with the 113H's. I've only had one issue in 3 years. Some of the screws holding the motors to the frame backed off and made some funky noise. Took 'em apart, tightened the screws w/blue loctite and was fishing again.

I agree the 330's drag maybe weak for an electric application. Manual operation is great, but use a 113H handle and save yourself some effort.