Clam elite gravity free fall reel

Neighbor gave me 2 of these. Debating on using them or trading them. Any one have any reviews

Never tried the clam ones but I can’t imagine they are any worse than the crappy 13 fishing freefall reels. Give them a try and see how they do

Coletrain27 wrote:

Never tried the clam ones but I can’t imagine they are any worse than the crappy 13 fishing freefall reels. Give them a try and see how they do

I see they list for 130 bucks. So I hope they are better lol. I will try them out probably but I’m in no hurry to go fishing sadly

I honestly like the $50 Genz Elite Spooler better. It doesn’t have a dropper trigger but it’s a better reel. It’s not a bad reel though. I’ve never really liked any reel with those dropper trigger. Seems like something always goes wrong with them or they are a little fluky.

And for the record, the Gravity reels were like $80 two years ago. Then when 13 started pricing the Black Betty or whatever their version is at $160 Clam raised it.

Big fan of the Clam Elite Spooler. Much more trouble free than a free fall type. Stripping line keeps it straighter too.

This is one of those that the line winds on from the bottom, right? My original Black Betty was like that, what’s the thought behind it. That’s the POS I threw down the hole. I know I littered but it felt great.

Bearcat89 wrote:

Neighbor gave me 2 of these. Debating on using them or trading them. Any one have any reviews

They are pretty good actually, and that’s coming from a guy who hated the 13 Fishing Ghosts and all spoolers in general. I’d still tell you stick with your trusty 500 spinners but no line goes on or comes off like it does on the gravity. I icefish fluoro and without any hot water/conditioner etc. I can get the line on laser straight. Helps the presentation. The trigger system is meh. Drag is nice so I just pull line like I’m used to. I’m never ripping below 25ft with an inline anyways.

Bearcat89 wrote:

I will try them out probably but I’m in no hurry to go fishing sadly

Too much snow? Slush?

I never made it out locally. Got out ice fishing up near Brainerd this past weekend and there was some slush but doable. Was going to take my daughter locally but all the snow kinda derailed that idea I’m sure my wheeler would get stuck.

3rdtryguy wrote:

This is one of those that the line winds on from the bottom, right? My original Black Betty was like that, what’s the thought behind it. That’s the POS I threw down the hole. I know I littered but it felt great.

I think that means you bought the wrong hand and spooled the line on backwards to make it work.

Nope, I know the difference

Line feeds out the top

So no its not a bottom feeding reel.

Too much snow? Slush?

I never made it out locally. Got out ice fishing up near Brainerd this past weekend and there was some slush but doable. Was going to take my daughter locally but all the snow kinda derailed that idea I’m sure my wheeler would get stuck.
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For me to get away from the crowd, I need a sled at the moment and I only have wheelers. But I’m headed west to try my luck. The deep snow and slush near home has me spending my time doing other things rather then fishing. Which isn’t normal at all.

Bearcat89 wrote:

Line feeds out the top

So no its not a bottom feeding reel.

. My mistake, I thought I saw a picture of it as a bottom feeder.

I’m headed out to beat it up a little today and all weekend. I will report back. Surprisingly in my house it feels pretty decent.

I’m really getting a kick out this Bearcat. You give me poop for years about Clam products and now you have a neighbor that’s on the staff and you’re trying all kinds of Clam stuff and talking nice.

mahtofire14 wrote:

I’m really getting a kick out this Bearcat. You give me poop for years about Clam products and now you have a neighbor that’s on the staff and you’re trying all kinds of Clam stuff and talking nice.

I’m taking free stuff that he gives me. None of which I have a single dollar in to. I thought you’d be surprised I even was trying it out. None of it seems to terrible so far. But as you said earlier, clam raised the price on the reel 50 bucks but added no quality to it. That’s the problem. I still will not purchase any clam gear. Free bees, I’d be dumb to pass up.
But I will say in my kitchen the katana rod and elite reel feel pretty decent, if I paid full price I would not think so

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I have both the Clam Gravity and Elite Spooler and actually prefer the cheaper Elite Spooler. I can never get the free fall ones with the drop trigger to work the way I want them. Either can’t get the line out fast enough or issues with getting the drag set properly.

My favorite inlines are either the Clam Elite Spooler or the 13 Fishing Black Betty. Basic inlines with no extra settings to mess around with. They just work. Sometimes less is more.

Not a huge fan of the calm reels they make good factory rods at a cheap pricepoint My 32 and 36-inch dead meat rods are very versatile. I mainly use them as dead sticks on the finicky foolers but they can literally do anything except for heavy spoons.

Never been a huge Clam fan myself but these Spooler Elites are the best performing reels I’ve found for my backwaters. They just work and I never have tangles.

I know Bearcat, just giving you crap. Like I said, Clam has come a long way from what it was 5 years ago. I agree with the guys above about the Elite Spooler reel. Its better than the Gravity reels in my opinion. The line management is so much better than any other inline I’ve used. NEVER get any line tangle at all. And the drag system is really nice. It’s no coincidence that all the big panfish guys that fish Clam gear use that and not the Gravity.

Clam Spooler elite tip, Find some old baitcaster handles and modify to fit the spooler elite. Great reels, hate the single handle. You will love teh double handle as it balances out and the handle doesnt swing to the bottom all the time. The line guide on the Spooler lite is what makes the spooler such a great reel. Any straight line reel without a line guide is a recipe for disaster. line jumps off spool and gets into gears or down on spool tension knob. Those things can not happen with Spooler elite.

One of my in-line reels. You need to pull the line out and drag not the best but it is fun to use.

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I hate the handle design on the 13 pictured above.

wormdunker wrote:

Clam Spooler elite tip, Find some old baitcaster handles and modify to fit the spooler elite. Great reels, hate the single handle. You will love teh double handle as it balances out and the handle doesnt swing to the bottom all the time. The line guide on the Spooler lite is what makes the spooler such a great reel. Any straight line reel without a line guide is a recipe for disaster. line jumps off spool and gets into gears or down on spool tension knob. Those things can not happen with Spooler elite.

I don’t mind the single at all. It’s better than most inlines where the handle is literally attached to the spool.

I feel the same as mahto

wormdunker wrote:

Clam Spooler elite tip, Find some old baitcaster handles and modify to fit the spooler elite. Great reels, hate the single handle. You will love teh double handle as it balances out and the handle doesnt swing to the bottom all the time.

That’s a great tip, wormdunker. It addresses my one minor complaint about the reel. The handle swings down at times and you lose your depth setting a little. I’m going to try it.

Daiwa handles fit closest but i do have to dremel the hole in the handle so it fist the handle thread on the Spooler. If the retainer ring doesn’t work for the handle just use Blue lock tight on the handle nut then no retainer is needed.

But it improves the feel of the reel and you increase the sweep of the handle so it feels like I am picking up more line with each turn.

80mm handles are about right.