Fixed Spool or Multiplier

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 9:03 am

Hi all
Fairly new to sea fishing and recently purchased beechcaster with a fixed spool reel. I am now looking to buy a bass/flattie rod (leeda pirhana) and wondering what the main differences (pros/cons) of getting a fixed spool or multiplier reel???
Which cast further, etc???

Many thanks

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 9:15 am

In the right hands both can cast of equal distance. the drawbacks of a multiplier is that you can get a birds nest if not set up correctly. A birds nest is a terrible tangle. The fixed spool reel has a faster retivel rate. It all comes dowm to a matter of preference. You will get conflicting answers to your qestion as everyone has his or her favourite reel. Sorry I cant be of more help. The only suggestion I can make is to try and find a mate who has a muliplier and ask them to let you have a few practice casts. Cheers keith.

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 10:36 am

There is little doubt that a fixed spool reel is easier to handle for beginners especially if you are doing night fishing. I have both but my multipliers are of the boat fishing type because they are stronger than FS if you hook something big like a conger or large cod when wreck fishing. For shore fishing I made the decision several years ago to use FS as I do a lot of night fishing and the chances of catching anything larger than say 15 lbs is pretty remote so "keep it simple stupid". I would say that if you elect to go FS, don't buy some of the cheap rubbish that one sees in some tackle shops because they don't last five minutes. Get something which has at least 3 ball bearings and will hold at least 200 yds of 20lb BS line. I recently bought a Diawa 5500g for £20 which sounded a bit cheap to me but in fact it has turned out to be a smooth operator, also the better Okuma's are quite reasonable and well made. Tip: Make sure any FS reels you get have a decent depth to the spool skirt. There are a few around these days which do not (even some of the more pricey ones) and your line can get trapped underneath and cause mayhem.

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 10:47 am

The FS 10000 is a tipical example of a reel with a good depth of spool. I fully agree with Eccles.

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 12:41 pm

Thanks for your help, fixed spool it is then. I will look out for the Diawa reel mentioned, better to get something tried and tested.

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 12:51 pm

for bass and flatties distance casting is not the way to go, short casting is.... and even the most enthusiastic multiplier fan will tell you that it is not easy to do short controlled casts.
The whole Fixed spool/multiplier thing can be summed up in 'do you want to go fishing...... or casting ?'

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 5:24 pm

well with out good casting you chances of catching cod from the shore are rather slim

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 5:30 pm

now that depends were you fish , if you goto hurst castle about 30-40 yards out there is a place called cod's cabin its like boat fishing from the shore and also milford shingle back can produce cod in winter months and thats without casting over 100yds. i think what you just said do depand on which areas.
Gary

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 5:32 pm

When I answered your question I did say that it was a contraverional subject. Now you have some idea what I was on about lol. Good hunting keith devil

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 5:41 pm

kingfisher14 wrote:

well with out good casting you chances of catching cod from the shore are rather slim

True if you are fishing on from a shallow beach not true here - we caught 6 last November at about 80 yds using lugworm.

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 7:02 pm

i use multiplyers but still have the ocassional mistake

unless you realy need a multi get a f spool

good luck
cheers steve

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 8:59 pm

"well with out good casting you chances of catching cod from the shore are rather slim"

with a bass/flattie rod ?

even with a beach caster you can catch close to shore.... Chesil yep, dunnit.
Dungeness yep, dunnit...... ditto Hurst Shingle, Kingsdown Kent, Humber Estuary, Minehead, Burnham on Sea, Ramsgate.......... etc

even then your statement assumes that you can cast further with a multiplier than a fixed spool.

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 9:25 pm

no offence meant but distance casting aint always the way , so proof that you don't need distance to catch cod , i have fished dungeness before an i can honestly say it was the worse fishing i had ,gale force winds heavy rain and that was with fords angling club , maybe that's the different between some people thinking you must cast 150yds to catch a cod and if i casted 150yds id rather not have a 15lb cod on the end image trying to bring it in , but each to there own and now for a answer on the real topic i use a muilty and yes there a pain in the ar$E but i prefer them and i don't always hit massive distance coz there aint no need to , and people who say about getting further out than any-one else should be doing tournament castingas there not trying to hunt the fish as most come in with the incoming tides ( bass and flatfish hounds doggies and more ) dont get me wrong its great to have the gear to casted 100-200-300- yards but that aint how the fish work ( oh suprise

look he's got a brand new 7ht turbo with conofelx im going to eat his worm devil

) nah its the case of you put the bait where the fish eats thats why most will look at a venue at low tide to see what beds gullys sandbars are !!!!!! so my answer is fixed or muilty it wont matter with the fish but as long as you look cool cool

and hip thats the main thing big grin

im getting a nike reel and adidas rod sponsored by hugo boss big grin

i wont catch but i look good big grin

, sorry for rant but back 30 years ago when folks used what they had been given they still caught more than most of us this day and age using our top reels and rods bring back bamboo and handline. smug

Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 9:31 pm

OK Tom, the arguments about FS vs Multi will go on and on as usual on fishing forums but I think at this stage you might need to know about casting. Up until about three years ago my casting was crap (70 yds max on a good day) and my mate used to take the P. I finally got fed up with this and over about a two week period, I taught myself the "off the ground style" technique which almost immediately took me up to 100 yds. Further practice and a slight modification of the technique (as advised by John Holden) has got me to the point where I can now do 120-140 yds - far enough for virtually all species in my neck of the woods. You will also hear of the pendulum technique by which the experts can do well over 200 yds but John Holden advises that you learn OTG first because the techniques are related and pendulum is definitely harder to do. In fact I have never bothered with pendulum (too old probably) because my modifed OTG cast gets me out far enough and at night, 50 yds is often good enough. So off yer go Tom and learn OTG - there are plenty of videos etc on the net which tell you how to do it. You just have to remember that brute strength is not the answer, getting the technique right is what will get you out there.

Joined: Jul 29, 2008 Posts: 3 Location: Christchurch

[quote=

, sorry for rant but back 30 years ago when folks used what they had been given they still caught more than most of us this day and age using our top reels and rods bring back bamboo and handline. smug

[/quote]

That's cos there were more fish around then mate!