Can't quite commit to buying an inline reel

I keep looking at different types of inline reels and I just can’t decide if I want to spend the money on one if I find out I don’t like it. I find it hard to beat a good spinning reel.
I’ve looked at the black Betty 6061, the CGI’s, eagle claws and they just don’t seem as nice as a good spinning reel to me.
I’ve read enough on here about no line twist and replacing the drag washers to make them better but another aspect I haven’t really seen anyone touch on is the line winding. Without a level wind or anything to guide it, doesn’t the line just all eventually wind onto one side of the reel? Maybe I’m wrong, but like I said I can’t commit to trying one.
Enlighten me please lol

IMHO, they are just another fad that the fishing industry must release yearly to keep sales up. It will be something new this year that is pushed.

Granted, I’m sure they do have their time and place but guys were using them for ages before they flooded the market last year…

http://www.fishusa.com/product/Frabill-Straight-Line-371-Ice-Reel?utm_source=google_ps&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google_ps&gclid=Cj0KEQjw5MGxBRDiuZm2icXX2-sBEiQA619bq3HWMPVWN3CJcnYvCzFvivqLoJIrbkJNR9f3JrbvteQaAk1S8P8HAQ

If you search the forums you will find a lot about these reels. I have personally owned the eagle claw, BB 6061, and the frabill 371 i posted the link on above. I sold my 2 BB’s because I wasn’t impressed by the drag, and I didn’t care for the weight of the reel. The eagle claw is a decent inline for the price but again, the drag isn’t that great, and the reel stem is too short to wear gloves with. By far between the three ive owned, the frabill is the nicest. It has interchangeable reel stems, is lightweight, and has a pretty good drag, or at least the best of the 3. I’m still not completely sold on inline reels because the drag system needs to improve, yes the line can stack on one side, and you still have line twist. My 2 cents, not sure if this is the info you wanted, so if it’s not you can just ignore this. One last thing, these reels work much better in shallow water, say 12 ft or less just because dropping your jig on a free spool in the wind can cause a mess, and if the tension isn’t perfect, you’ll have to wait forever for the jig to drop. I prefer to keep a lot of tension one you click the free spool, and pull the line by manually. Alright I’m done.

I used the BB all of last year. Overall it’s a nice, but like Tonka said I could really only stand it in shallow water because the line doesn’t spool off as fast as with a spinning reel.

I might try switching it up this year to an in-line with free spooling like in Tonka’s link, but I’d be interested to hear how “free” the line comes off with a tiny tungsten at the end of the line. Do you still need to pull the line off the reel?

I’ve had reps try to sell me on the benefit of just being able to “palm” the BB as a way to set the drag, but for me that’s not exactly realistic (“reelistic?” sorry, had to) when I’m hole hopping in 0 degrees. The joints don’t exactly agree with that method in those temps.

I love my eagle claw inlines. They r awesome for the price and they drop 1/32oz jigs free spool in 30 ft of water no problem! Drag ain’t the best. I had a buddy that works in a machine shop make me some carbon fiber drag washers on his water jet machine so I’m gonna see if this helps the drag out.

5-6 yrs ago…these inline reels didn’t really exists…I used fly reels and baitcasting reels.

When I started with cheap plastic reels…LOL 10 so years ago, they required work, but still better than the peg pole. LOL.

I still dislike the stupid pulsating rod from spinning reels and the crazy line jump and line twists, but I learned to become desensitized to that.

Anyways inline reels are re-living old school in modern day…LOL. I don’t own any but I may try that Frabill 371. Maybe…

I picked one up to see what I thought after seeing and reading the hype. In my opinion the negatives outweigh the positives. Come to think of it I don’t recall a positive or a time that I reached for my inline over spinning gear.

Some days I don’t think it really matters with line twist, if the fish are aggressive, but on the tough days the inline is the way to go…if you or someone you fish with has a camera check out the difference between what the jig does with a spinning reel vs. in line reel, unreal….can be the difference on the tough bite

Love mine in shallow water. Red Lake they work great, I have used in a few deeper lakes but mainly use for shallow fishing.

I own 3 eagle claws and will only use them with panfish set ups because of the drag. When I catch bigger fish on it like a pike or bass I will be ready to hit the free spool when they want to run and use my hand for the drag, then once they’re finish running I’ll slowing bring em in and repeat. Haven’t lost a big fish on 2lb line yet with that method. I have no trouble free spooling the heavy tungsten jigs into deep water, doesn’t take long. If you’re in a real hurry its easy to strip the line off by hand.

I agree with the guys, my EC did free spool much nicer than my Frabill, but when I tried putting in a carbon washer for a better drag, I screwed something up inside the reel, and now the free spool doesn’t work at all. Only if EC could put a longer reel stem on, or have an option like frabill, and could improve the drag, it’d be an awesome reel.

I used one for shallow water panfishing and loved it. I also went with the cheapo version from Frabil I think. If you do a lot of shallow panfish fishing, I’d buy a cheap one and give it a shot. You can always upgrade if you like it.

I wouldn’t bother with it fishing over 15′.

I actually love fishing with them. In all honesty, for panfish, they are effective and also fun to fish with for me. They are all I use now for light jigs for crappie / bluegills no matter the depth. Spoons I fish on spinning reels still. I had watch light jigs on camera on a slow day last year with my jig on a 6061 down the same hole w/ same jig as my buddy using a spinning reel. The ‘jig spin’ deal really is true after watching it, very interesting actually. Probably doesn’t affect much of anything on those aggressive biting days, but I’m positive it helped when the bite was more neutral. Last week when I was taking all my line off my poles so I could re-line in the next few weeks for this season, I was amazed at how limp / straight the line off the inlines was (even after sitting for 6+ months) compared to how looped / messy the line was off the spinning reels. But again, this is the intended affect.

My favorite is the 13 fishing 6061 by far. Have a few of these now on my go-to panfish rods. If you’re on the fence my recommendation would be to try the no. 8 tackle cgi. I was very impressed by this reel last year as well, and it comes at a nice entry level price point if you’re on the fence about. No real point in breaking the bank on a top-end one if you don’t know if you’ll use it much.

All I use are original black Betty’s.

Love them

My fleet of spinning reels sit dormant

I have been contemplating getting one to put on my future bull whip but my question is how well do they feed line if you have fish stacked below you and you have to get down fast? I’m not worried about getting them up as much as I am getting the jig down to the next hungry fish. I have been wanting to try a 13 fishing 6061 but idk yet.

Love my 6061’s, but they did take some tinkering to get the drag a little smoother.

The weight is kinda of much, comparing to the other reels. I’d kind of like to give the CGI and maybe the Eagle Claw a try.

grab an Eagle Claw for $30 and try it out… at worst you have a $30 panfish reel you can have a novice use on the ice.

I put the Frabil 261 on my TUCR noodle last year and loved it! I’m not quite sure why it is reccomended for shallow water by so many, I’ve fished in 30-40 ft and it drops down much more smoothly than a spinning reel. Just like a bait caster, you have to set the tensioner for the weight of the bait. I don’t think straight line reels are for everyone, but if you take the time to get used to the reel it will be to your benefit on those tough bite days.

Ben Putnam wrote:

I put the Frabil 261 on my TUCR noodle last year and loved it! I’m not quite sure why it is reccomended for shallow water by so many, I’ve fished in 30-40 ft and it drops down much more smoothly than a spinning reel. Just like a bait caster, you have to set the tensioner for the weight of the bait. I don’t think straight line reels are for everyone, but if you take the time to get used to the reel it will be to your benefit on those tough bite days.

I absolutely love my EC inlines. I fish them on trout 20-40′ deep and love them. they have an excellent retrieve on them and they drop my jigs down like a boss! like ben said u do have to adjust the tensioner but once it is set it rocks!! my only complaint was they would freeze up really easy. I cleaned the factory grease and used hot sauce so hopefully that solves it. anyone else have the freezing up problem??

Jeff Schomaker wrote:

I have been contemplating getting one to put on my future bull whip but my question is how well do they feed line if you have fish stacked below you and you have to get down fast? I’m not worried about getting them up as much as I am getting the jig down to the next hungry fish. I have been wanting to try a 13 fishing 6061 but idk yet.

not sure how the other brands work but the EC inlines will drop 1/50 oz vmc jigs on free spool! I never have to pull line out. I just click the button and watch it drop on my marcum

What about the 13 fishing teardrop?

I will be completely honest with you, I’ve fiddled around with the inline reels* before, and I’m not a huge fan. I have also NEVER been outfished by someone using an inline reel compared to my spinning reel**. Line twist is a problem with spinning reels but I think it’s less of a problem than people make it out to be, and I make sure to replace my line as often as I can(usually once at the beginning of the season and maybe once halfway through).

* I have fiddled around with them in stores.
** I’ve never actually fished next to someone who is using one for more than like 20 seconds.

Most line twists are lure induced and line memory coils induced. Even the position of the knot on you jig can affect it as well.

Baiting your jig and anything that’s off balance will cause it to spiral on the drop and spin as you crank it back up.

Now those line memory coils, is mostly about lure weight. If its heavy enough, your line will straighten out. If it’s a light lure going 1/64 oz or lighter, chances are the line coils will corkscrew through the water column following the path of least resistance. Your lure is going to end up twisting the line.

Your spinning reels are going to induce some line twists. That’s the nature of its operation. Still the fish will bite.

Aggressive fish, seems like everything works. Neutral to negative fish, the less spinning of lures, the better.

Jeff Schomaker wrote:

What about the 13 fishing teardrop?

I just ordered one off amazon last night, figured I’d give it a try.
Love my BB, once I got used to it. operates smooooooooth as silk

I hope it is just a fad and everyone wants to sell what they have for pennies on the dollar and I will get all I need till I can not stand on the ice any longer. Everyone’s choice to go the direction they want but for me it’s inline from now on. Never had any trouble with line spooling unevenly and I spend most of my time in 20-35 foot of water.