Conventional Setup Advise

[Saltheart]

The Chrome Sports rocket may have the brass side plates , I'm not sure. You also have to be careful about the custom runs of reels. If you order about 500 of them and are willing to pay , ABU will make you up special models where you can put all the goodies from various models into one special reel. usually the cost is very high.

I really loved the Abu morrum when it was new. trouble was it lasted only 1 season cause the bearing rusted immediately. they have the odd ball bearings , one big one and one little one. the set costs $40 to replace!!! That was it for the Morrum. I think for fresh water it would have been nice. anyway , as Mike P said , the Calcutta lasts for year. I'm not big on the thumb bar on the Calcutta . I think it reduces access to the spool . On the ABU's the reels are wide open from the back on the levelwinds.

Anyway , in over 8 years now since I switched back to conventionals (used them as a teenager then switched to spinners. ) the only reels I've liked are the BG 6500CL , the BG 7000CL (Both old black models) the Mag elites we got from Australia from Steve barret and the Calcutta 400. All have their little advantage under certain circumstances. The BG7000Cl being the main tool for 90% of my fishing now which is at the canal where I need almost 300 yards of line.

Someone asked about why the old BG series over the mag Elite and the sports Rocket. i can't comment on the sports rocket , never owned one. Bg 6500 vs a 6500 CS Mag , the answere is the stiffness of the frame and the drag clicker vs the mag casting control. The Mag casting control slider on the mag Elites is simply in a abd place. You set the thing on about 1.5 for casting eels into the wind. The web between your thumb and forefinger will hit the slider and shove it down to zero. The reel explodes. Everyone who owns one knows this happens. I now tape the slider down with black electrical tape.

Anyway , after all the discussion , if I could have only one reel for the beach , it would be the old model BG 6500CL. For the canal , There is only one reel in my world , its the old model BG7000CL.