Salmon season is getting underway. With the rods getting better all the time and lighter too what do you think is the best reel for salmon fishing with downriggers?

I am going to look at the charter special with the lever drag this weekend. I have penn 309s right now that work fine but would like somthing a little smaller. I talked to John Keiser last saturday and he likes the charter special.
Dan

Those charter specials are awsome reels. The cranking power those things have are awsome, plus the drag is really smooth. You can really beat a King into submission with those. My only complaint about them is the clicker will wear out faster than other reels, but they are easy to reaplace.

I have a bunch of Shimano TR-200G levelwind reels that I currently use for salmon..They are light , hold a lot of line and have a smooth drag...The Charter Special looks heavier...I had a couple TLD 5 reels and currently use the TLD 25 for halibut, tuna and Mexico fishing. Looking for a lighter reel..Maybe the Penn 965?

For me it's Shimano knuckle busters on Shimano 10.5' rods. For company I have ABU 7000 levelwinds on 8.5' rods.

I've been using Shimano Calcutta 400's for the last 5 or 6 years on my Loomis STR1265c's downrigger rods, I love them.....sweeet rods & reels!

Shimano knucklebusters on 10.5" rods as well. This has been my set up for 30 years. It is the only system that keeps you in direct contact with the fish as you can reeel front and back with out stwitching a button giving you effectively two drags. It is the best system for barbless hook fishing. Once you figure out the advantage you will never lose a fish.

We use Winonas on 10 1/2' rods.

Calcutta 401 for me.What a huge difference it made versus the 6501's @ bouy 10 this past summer.I even bought another one just for pullin kwikfish in the river's.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

GP2, the smaller 100G Charter special is not all that heavy.
We use them in conjunction with our four downriggers, and they are very user friendly.
The main problem I've had with them, like all lever release reels, the lever occasionally gets pulled back (disengaged) when removing the rod from the holder by someone's coat sleave or glove.
The maitenance and repair is expensive on the lever drag system at John's, as compared with star drags.
I would definately rec'd the charter specials for DR fishing. Not good for mooching or jigging.
Maybe that I'nat'l 965 would suit you better.

gotta love it how we all have our favorite downrigger setups for salmon! Personally i've had great luck w/ my Penn320 GTi although its a bit big for silvers. I like the high retrieve when down 100' plus for Blackmouth and big kings...very durable & reliable with smooth drag. It's star drag is much more reliable than the PENN 209 where it's not wise to adjust drag with a 'fish on'.
I've been considering a Shimano TDR for some time now. heard good reports on the TDR -75.00 @ Boatersworld.

I use the Shimano TR200G They work great.I have used my buddys charter speical afew times and it works good too.The drags seem to be the same as far as how smooth they are.But I like the star drag much better than the lever drag (just set it and forget it).And the TR's are about half the price as the charters.

10'6 rods with knuckle busters for me!! I use them for downriggin and mooching, I love them! Other people on my boat usually turn up their noses at them but are easily converted once they have used then and caught a fish on one. How much simpler can you get, what do they have, 2 moving parts?

Islander MR-2 on a 10'-12' noodle rod. You can't have any mare fun than that. Just you and Mr. Salmon head to head in a game of skill.

JR I hear ya on the Islanders. Have fished them a few times in BC. When my numbers finally get pulled in Lotto I'm buying 6 of them.
"Coffee grinders" are ok for company but I like knuckle dusters for FUN.

I'm there with Islanders and 11' rod. About the only time I use levelwinds is when I'm fishing over 150' deep and having to deal with lots of shakers. Then that Islander wears my a** out. For levelwind I either use a Ambassaduer 7000 or a Penn lever drag.

I have been using the Quantum Big Iron (6:1) on a Rainshadow 1264... Not overly happy with the reel, but I love the rod...

I use and MR-2 for everything other than casting. From pulling plugs on the river, man you should see the looks I get , Big Alvins on the Columbia for springers, and anything in the ocean. I caught a 178 # HaliI with it,I dont recommend that to anyone, but by accident it was a once in a life time. I also caught 50# salmon this summer on a 10'6" 8-12 line weight rod. They have a cork drag system that is so smooth it unlike anything else.

Oh By the Way

We are raffling off three sweet prizes at our PSA Sno-King meeting this Tues the 10th. Look at the Dave Vedder thread for a pic of the prizes. Lets just say you could win a Islander Steelheader, and two sweet poles.

Tonight was show and tell night at Slabquest's house....Rods and reels....The new Lamiglas rods were great..the Dave Vedder..the 1314T Kenai Special and a couple of new Lamiglas 9' graphite rods ..forget the model #....$104 for a super graphite rod....despite general opinions these are to be dwonrigger rods...We will field test on Sunday....One conclusion was on the reel...

A Quantum Cabo.....You have to see it and feel it and check the features...killer reel..reminds me a little of the Shimano Bantam 50 but lighter and way smoother...it opens up with the press of a button to allow lubrication but comes out of the box with "hot sauce" lubricant. It will be spooled with 300yds of Tuffline 50# which has a diameter of 12# mono. The reel is designed for saltwater fishing and is smooth as silk...It is a levelwind with a really well designed double handle....retrieve ratio is much higher at nearly 5-1 than other similar reels....mounted on the 1314T it is a sweet set up...

My complaint with most of the recommendations is weight and bulk....no need for that. The lever drag is so easy to free spool by accident as mentioned in another post that I rule them out for trolling on the downrigger. I had two Shimano TLD5 reels that were great until someone took it out of the rod holder in a panic..then the lever was tripped almost every time free spooling the reel with a fish on....This weekend will see some on the water testing of many rods and reels ....report to follow/

HBP ---- You use Winonas for downriggers???? I have a pair (40 yr old) but only used them for mooching.. How do you screw the drag nut down tight enough to use on d/r, or have they changed the drag??

What about the Okuma Nytrix reels? High retrieve speed and great price. Anyone hvae any experience with them?

-David

Actually, the lever drag reel is much less likely to do this than your standard star drag trolling reel with a paddle lever line release.
On the lever drag, the farther you pull back the lever, the less drag tension. It does not automaticly switch to free spool. And the maximum drag tension on a lever drag can be set by a twist knob on the side.
Even though I mentioned this negative above, we use them simply because you can back off the lever (drag tension), put the rod in the holder, clip the line to the release, and lower your DR ball. It doesn't take two hands to get your gear back fishing. Then simply push the lever forward to the pre-set, or maximum drag setting, and that's it. A quick glance at the lever lets you know that it is in the "strike position."
Were as in a star drag conventional, you have to constantly feel the drag and adjust as necessary. There nothing visual to see to let you know that the drag is set correctly, say from the helm, for example.
The main benifit for me is when I'm running 4 downriggers for my guests, these charter specials gets us fishing at 4 depths quickly.
This is important in my opinion during an ideal tidal stage in my opinion.
And their durability and all around preformance is good.

J.D.

AuntyM.....to each his own...So many reels so little money...I gave away my TLD 5 lever drag reels but still have my TLD25s for halibut and tuna. The lever drags are nice but if you have rookies on board watch out!!! When the fish hits and they frantically rip the rod out of the holder they almost always flip the lever drag to free spool....Not so with the star drags . Just my personal experience and certainly not a slam against lever drags.

Shimano 1000. Light, good capacity and retrieve ratio and most importantly, a direct drive switch so you can use your thumb as a custom drag. Only problem is they don't make them anymore. I think the 50 is similar but without the DD switch.

Peri,

I don't use Winonas for DRs. I have never even used a DR. I'm strictly a moocher.

I just bought another Winona from Ebay. This is the only one of the 4 I have that I might be able to crank the nut down tight enough to keep line from free-spooling IF I wanted to use a DR.

Grandpa2 - We fish area 9 and 10 almost exclusively which means we go for coho and not chinook. We use 3 different reels for downrigger fishing in saltwater. One is a Shimano Corsair CS 400, the 2nd is an Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 6500 C3 and the 3rd is the same Abu Garcia 5500 C3. The C3s are bulletproof and low maintenance for many years now. The Corsair is starting to develop an issue with the anti-reverse. I guess that was one of the weak points of this reel and may be why it's no longer being made by Shimano (although you can still find them at retailers). If you find one, I'd pass and look instead at it's replacement, the Catala, may have been upgraded in the anti-reverse area. That's my $0.02.

Yup the Shimano Corsair never panned out, the only ones that I had that worked ok were 4 of the first batch of 300's sold.
Sold all those (cheap!) when I updated to Calcutta 250's.

One Salmon reel not to forget about is the Shimano
Bantam 50, they've been making them for over 30 years for a reason...... THEY WORK!

Bantam 50's are what I use @ Astoria in August, and they are bullit proof!

Some of mine are 6-7 years old and never had any problems.......... The best salmon for under a hundered bucks!

Any of you guys following this thread have any experience with the new Shimano TEKOTA series? Look great in the catalog, but hands on experience would be appreciated before plunking down my $$$.

I have a Bantam 50 and it works great. I use a Shimano Calcutta 400 and a bunch of Shimano TR-200Gs...The Tekota looks real good on paper and I am thinking of getting one. So far the Quantum Cabo is a classier reel than the Bantam 50 and lighter and about the same size...