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Alright I have never had the fancy reels of today. The only really nice reels I can remeber growing up were the internationals and fin-nor. We didn't have the money for the nicer reels so we always used senator 6/0's which have always been great (I think the record for a blue marlin was caught on a 9/0 about 40 years ago, sure it has changed many time over now). I still use the senators, just because that is what I know. By the way they are the vintage ones and not the ones made in china.
Anyhow to my question, I have done a search and read many threads on the reels in this forum. My father is looking at geting some of the "nicer reels". The shimano's are given alot of credit here, which I understand they are good reels. I have used them for freshwater for a long time. However the people that owned the beastmaster are now complaining about not being able to get parts. So what is a good reliable reel that will continue to offer parts for years to come. I have always thought of penn international to be the leader, but I know they have been bought out. So is the quality still good? We usually catch dolphin, tuna, wahoo, and sometimes a billfish. We have been looking at the avet, accurate, tiagra, international, fin-nor, and alutecnos.
I am not trying to start a debate on which one is the best, because I think thay are all good. Just want to know which one will be serviceable/repairable in 15 years. Budget is not an issue, so let me know what ya think.
Oh yeah avet offers the 100lbs of drag, has anyone had any issues with lines breaking on large fish because the drag is to hard?
Last edited by dolphin233; 11-10-2009 at 10:58 AM.
If you discount the price factor, Accurate Twin Drags would be my first choice, but since I can get 2+ Penn Internationals for the price of 1 Accurate, I would and did get the Penns. I like the Penn's a little better than the Shimano's - they are a little lighter and feel more comfortable. The quality on the Penns & Shimanos is about equal. The truth is any of the US, Japan or Italy made gold reels will be far better than your Senators.
Avet pro-30's in Narrow. Best Bang per buck as stated above. They will fish 40lbs of drag. This reel will fish up to 100lb easily. If you want a smaller AVET, the HX (like a 113 size) would be the choice.
The Accurates are VERY SPENDY, but excellent.
To answer your question about the AVET Trex at 100 bs of drag. With the drag set properly, NO, it wont break line, But, very few folks can fish 100lbs of Drag. That reel was designed for stopping very big fish from anchored boats. (probably would be a goog GBFT reel to with hollow braid)
__________________ "a doughnut is only one step above a rent rod"
Avet pro-30's in Narrow. Best Bang per buck as stated above. They will fish 40lbs of drag. This reel will fish up to 100lb easily. If you want a smaller AVET, the HX (like a 113 size) would be the choice.
The Accurates are VERY SPENDY, but excellent.
To answer your question about the AVET Trex at 100 bs of drag. With the drag set properly, NO, it wont break line, But, very few folks can fish 100lbs of Drag. That reel was designed for stopping very big fish from anchored boats. (probably would be a goog GBFT reel to with hollow braid)
I am not sure how the avet drag works, because I have never seen one in person. But I am assuming that you just push it forward and go. That 100lbs of drag is scary. With the senator I alway just tighten the drag all the way down with a fish on. I would want the same in a lever drag, just push it forward and reel. After the comments we will probably look into the accurates.
My father is the type of guy that like to buy things once. I know the shimano's are good quality but if he had bought the beastmaster and something broke and he couldn't get parts for it and had to buy a tiagra then he would have about covered the cost of the accurate. That is his logic in thinking. I still use the senators that he had on his 31 bertram 30yrs ago.
Quote:
If you discount the price factor, Accurate Twin Drags would be my first choice, but since I can get 2+ Penn Internationals for the price of 1 Accurate, I would and did get the Penns. I like the Penn's a little better than the Shimano's - they are a little lighter and feel more comfortable. The quality on the Penns & Shimanos is about equal. The truth is any of the US, Japan or Italy made gold reels will be far better than your Senators.
I would never part with my senators . My father is looking for the upgrade. Knock on wood the senators haven't failed me yet. But they don't look near as pretty sitting on the back of the boat.
How long has accurate been making the twin drag reels?
Thanks to all that have posted, I am really enjoying your comments.
My father is the type of guy that like to buy things once. I know the shimano's are good quality but if he had bought the beastmaster and something broke and he couldn't get parts for it and had to buy a tiagra then he would have about covered the cost of the accurate.
...
How long has accurate been making the twin drag reels?
And there is the rub. Accurate has been in fishing since 1990 and making the twin drag reels since 1997.
Shimano has been around since 1970. Beastmasters have been around since the mid 70s.
I don't think anyone can tell you if ccurate will drop support for their older reels in another 10 or 20 years...
I have caught many 300-700 lb bluefin tuna. I have only fished penn int. and the tiagras. I believe the tiagras a easily a step above penn now. For example, if you go to oregon inlet and pirates cove, every charter boat has tiagras. If you are patient, you can get tiagras for a deal at bass pro shop. Every year, they have a "donate a reel promotion" and you can get 10% off of any reel over 500bucks. Then, if you apply for a bass pro shop credit card, you get an extra 10% off. I bought 4 shimano tiagra 50s WLRS brand new for 450 bucks. I have had two bluefin smoke my old penn 50s and lock them up. The shimano tiagra 50s have 80 drag washers in them. But here is the kicker, I do know penn int reels are very easy to get worked on and get parts for. Hope this helps
The Senator (God love em) is a shadow of the reels mentioned. A Tiagra 16 will outfish ant Senator ever made.
To fish 50 pound, you need 12-16 pounds of drag, to fish 80, you need 20-25 pounds of drag. A penn 30, Tiagra 30, Avet 30, a Daiwa 30 and accurate, well any accurate, will easily fish that range. Unless you want to fish larger line on a smaller setup, I dont think there is any point in buying the Acurates for that line class. Spend the money you save on a good custom Calstar or Seeker rod to go wth your reel.
__________________ "a doughnut is only one step above a rent rod"
Sounds like for the kind of fishing you guys are doing, big focus on the reels being serviceable 'forever', & your great experience w/the old Senators... go w/Penn Int...
The thing about Beastmasters is that there were certain issues with the clutch pad (Alantani or somebody will know precisely which part it is) that became apparent over time. It was clearly the right decision to discontinue them and go to the Tiagra design that has proved over the last 10+ years to be far superior. If you look at Shimano's main competitor, Penn - the Penn V series made now is also a different animal to the International reels made back then. Tiagras have been around longer than the current International V reels. Given that the Penn company has been bought and sold a number of times in the past few years it would be them that I'd worry about parts availability in the future more so than Shimano.
But to be honest if you have been happily cranking fish in with your Senators I don't see any reason to change. The fish certainly haven't. There isn't a dorado or white marlin that swims that you couldn't catch with a well maintained Senator 6/0. The style fishing you're doing has no requirement for 100 lbs of drag. If you felt you needed a reel with better freespooling capabilities for white marlin or sailfish, or wanted a reel with more line capacity and a higher maximum drag to help target blue marlin, that would be different. But for what you're doing right now, maybe it's best to keep soldiering on with your Senators.
The thing about Beastmasters is that there were certain issues with the clutch pad (Alantani or somebody will know precisely which part it is) that became apparent over time. It was clearly the right decision to discontinue them and go to the Tiagra design that has proved over the last 10+ years to be far superior. If you look at Shimano's main competitor, Penn - the Penn V series made now is also a different animal to the International reels made back then. Tiagras have been around longer than the current International V reels. Given that the Penn company has been bought and sold a number of times in the past few years it would be them that I'd worry about parts availability in the future more so than Shimano.
But to be honest if you have been happily cranking fish in with your Senators I don't see any reason to change. The fish certainly haven't. There isn't a dorado or white marlin that swims that you couldn't catch with a well maintained Senator 6/0. The style fishing you're doing has no requirement for 100 lbs of drag. If you felt you needed a reel with better freespooling capabilities for white marlin or sailfish, or wanted a reel with more line capacity and a higher maximum drag to help target blue marlin, that would be different. But for what you're doing right now, maybe it's best to keep soldiering on with your Senators.
Yeah that is how I feel. I like the senators and they haven't let me down yet. I have caught some 100lb tuna on them.
My father had recently gotten a 30ft sportfisher and he wanted something a little nicer than the old senators. I have fished with some of the shimano's 30's and 50's on a friend boat and they were awesome. The problem with the decision is that my father went into bass pro and was talking to the guy about penn's. He was wanting to see the 80's and bass pro didn't have them in stock, so the salesman starts into the sales pitch abouth the shimano's. And of coarse they were in stock. Anyhow the guy was saying that the shimano's were like penn's and were better. So we came home and did a search for comparison's on this forum and found some mixed opinions, the main downside we found were some talking about the availability of the parts. That is why we asked this question. I know it is hard to see into the future but I don't think anyone wants to spend that much money on something that may be obsolete in 5 years.
...Shimano has been around since 1970. Beastmasters have been around since the mid 70s....
(Brief historical sidenote: Actually, the BeastMaster series debuted around 1987, not in the 1970's. Their schematic is dated 1989. The TLD series was marketed concurrently with the BM and TTS and TR series reels in 1988. Most of those reels fell from the menu after only a few years, leaving only the TLD until the Tiagra was presented in 1995.)
I know it is hard to see into the future but I don't think anyone wants to spend that much money on something that may be obsolete in 5 years.
The statement above does not make any sense. If you are seriously worry about being obsolete. You should NOT buy any aything. (especially electronics. Electronics are obsolete in less than a year.)
You should focus on buying the reel you works best for you. Not which brand that you THINK will be around in 15 year. If you INSIST on it lasting 15+ years.
Using your senators as the example. Go and buy like 15+ service kit and keep it in a safe place. Even if penn goes under. You can continue to service your reel beyond the next 15 years.
What reels to buy in the 50-80lb class?? 
. My father is looking for the upgrade. Knock on wood the senators haven't failed me yet. But they don't look near as pretty sitting on the back of the boat.
