Wondering what feedback you people have on inlines. What are your good and bad experiences. I’m not sold on any brand and open to suggestions. I have some gift cards to apply to a purchase so I’m not super worried about price point.
I don’t hate them as bad as I used to but they do require you to pay attention or you’ll be swearing constantly.
I love the 6061. Have them on all my rods except dead stick, sturgeon, lake trout, and 48” hole hopping rods. I like the old version better than the new one. When letting line out I always have a finger riding the spool controlling the fall rate. What I like the best about them is I can drop jigs like a rock. Stop them at any spot and jig it a bit. Then right back to falling like a rock. Aggressive fish will come flying up and nail the lure on the mid-way down jig. With my hand on the spool, I can set the hook. Then engage the reel and bring them up. I can also slow the fall rate down when I start getting closer to a mark. I can’t do that with a spinning reel. The bad: they are heavy, not balanced side to side, they can have a bit of icing up issues if you are fishing outside, they must be put just right to free spool when you are fighting another fish on the other rod or it will go down the hole (ask me how I know), to me they require more maintenance, and you have to pay more attention to what you are doing when using them. Don’t even bother trying an inline reel with out a drag that are 1:1 (handle bolted to spool). I don’t know anyone who likes those. I also don’t like the inline reels with the free fall or finger trigger release. I know many who prefer that one over what I like. To each their own.
Please PM me if you have any left hand Black Betty 6061 looking for a home.
I have several Piscifun reels and they have a much better drag and smoother than the 13 fishing or Pfleuger comparables. I actually bought those too, but returned them. I dont like the 13 fishing freefall I have and want to ditch it. Not a good reel at all. I really like inlines over spinning reels and will have switched all my ice rods over this year.
I bought a high end Black Betty inline to try it. I dont see myself ever using it over my favorite stratic vanguards. I dont have many rods and reels and often sell what doesnt get used much. Ill revisit the inline but if it sits in the case most the year, ill sell it.
I like to hear that drag or loosen the drag to use as an alarm.
I have tried almost every brand over the years, Used fly reels back in the day when those were popular, and schooleys before that. Now days, I run modified schooleys. Larger 3d printed arbor/filler, bigger knob, and a few other tweaks. At 5 bucks a pop I can buy 25 of them for the same price as most 13 fishing models and get the same result.
I really tried to learn to like them when they became the big deal. I’ve tried them again a few times since then. I just really can not learn to like them. Like others have said, you really got to pay more attention when using them. They tend to be heavy and don’t seem to balance as well on the rod. The drag on them is poor at best. I tend to fish really light line when panfishing and a good drag is really important. I’m sure I’ll try them again at some point but for now its all spinning reals for me.
The drag on them is poor at best. I tend to fish really light line when panfishing and a good drag is really important.
The Piscifun ones have a fantastic drag. Better than some of the spinning reels I have. They are cheap too compared to 13 fishing or some others. They came out with a new model last year that has spool control and its fantastic. The earlier model does not have spool control but you can easily use a finger to slow the spool down. I fought easily a 10 pound pike with it until it broke the line and it was handling it with ease.
I went totally back to spinning reels. Biggest loss of gear I did couldn’t even sell them for a decent price. I would try one see how you like it and go from there. Search the markets you can usually find used ones.
The Piscifun ones have a fantastic drag. Better than some of the spinning reels I have. They are cheap too compared to 13 fishing or some others. They came out with a new model last year that has spool control and its fantastic. The earlier model does not have spool control but you can easily use a finger to slow the spool down. I fought easily a 10 pound pike with it until it broke the line and it was handling it with ease.
Maybe when I get the itch to try another one this year I’ll try the Piscifun one. The last one I tried was the 13 ghost. It broke when my fishing bucket fell off my tailgate. Broke right where the reel seat meets the shaft. Tried to return it, no luck. had only used it two times. Tossed it in the garbage and moved on.
I have an inline reel on my pan fish rod. After about 5 years of trying to make it work for me, I have given up. I plan to replace it with a spinning reel this year.
I ran out and bought a okuma fly reel the moment I saw James using one. I have given what I believe to be a completely fair shake when it comes to inline reels. I’ve owned all of the popular ones. 6061, black betty, 1:1 clam spoolers, eagle claw. all gone. All that I have is a single Freefall. unless i’m using a spoon or a 5mm jig, freefall it does not. especially out in the elements.
they for the most part drove me nuts but I kept on keeping on. well maybe this one will fix it…maybe this one will be better. I will say the freefall is the best out of all of them I used but still pales in comparison to the ease of use of a spinning reel. as such over the past 2-3 years its been almost 100% spinning reels for this guy. the freefall is a JIC option.
as for lure spin (the main reason to even consider an inline), the guy i do 95% of my ice fishing with never made the transition. uses presidents almost exclusively, and there was rarely a time where i attributed my catching more fish than him to line spin.
The cut down on line spin is by far the #1 advantage of the inline reel. I will say after watching lures and line on a underwater camera that they do indeed cut down on line twist and thus spinning lure’s. Rather or not this results in more bites from fish or not I’m not really sure. To cut down on line twist on a spinning reel there are several things you can to. I will often take the spool off and soak the line in really warm water. This will lessen the line memory loops for a short time. May have to repeat the process often. Its also a good idea of getting use to closing the bail by hand. This cuts down on the twist some by making that fast rapid spin of the reel when closing the bail by spinning the handle hard. Some will use a Small quality ball bearing swivel a few feet above their lure ( I’m not a big fan of this one ) but know others who do it and have success. The one thing I do often on each outing is to leave several feet of line out and run the line between my thumb and forefingers from several feet above my lure down to the lure several times slowly while applying pressure to help stretch the line some while also forcing the line twist from that section of the line.
I’ve tried many of the popular inline reels and never liked any of them until I came across the Genz Spooler from Clam. It’s the only one that I haven’t had line issues with because it has an actual line guide. It also has a really nice drag where if you take your hand off the reel, the drag is already engaged and acts like a regular spinning reel type drag offering resistance at whatever level you set. Also feels solid in your hand.
They are also cheaper than most of the other comparable inlines.
I hate them for the sole fact if you set them in the slush snow then try to use them they freeze up.
huh…any reels set onto slush will freeze up.
When I was young, I dream of owning a Swish rod and reel combo. I used a fly reel for a couple of years before the geared inline reels came out.
One thing for sure if you have to use very light lures of like 1/64th oz. or lighter, the straight spool offers less water resistance for the jig drop. You also get a better jig response just due to that as well.
A couple thoughts on line spin. Back in the 80’s and 90’s when I was learning how to get better at catching walleyes, the conventional wisdom on crawler rigs was that you needed to keep your crawler perfectly straight on your hooks to prevent it from spinning through the water. The thought was that this turned off the walleyes. Fast forward 10 years or so and we had slow death hooks and all kinds of different rigs designed to MAKE the crawler spin through the water. I think it’s another case of you never know what the fish want on a given day. I’ve spent time fishing 3 and 4mm tungsten jigs through the ice for panfish, one on an an inline and one on a spinning reel. Some days the fish hit both equally well, some days they show a preference for one or the other. That said, I reach for my noodle rod with a Free Fall inline reel more often than not. The bigger spool on an inline also causes less of a “slinky” effect in my line and I feel my hookup ratio goes up on light bites.
That said, I reach for my noodle rod with a Free Fall inline reel more often than not. The bigger spool on an inline also causes less of a “slinky” effect in my line and I feel my hookup ratio goes up on light bites.
Not to hijack or get the original post off topic here but I bring this up each year and some think I’m crazy ( Some are right but for other reason ) As nice of a job as a good noodle rod does at detection bites, None of them are as sensitive as a good spring bobber. Especially if you like to fish real lite Jigs like a 3MM tungsten jig. Often on panfish it is a slight uplift bite and there is no better way to see than than on a spring bobber. Those 3MM jigs just don’t put enough of a load/bend on even a quality noodle rod. For several years I’ve wanted TUC rods to put a spring bobber on their Noodle or bullwhip rods. I see on their website that they now offer the Fusion with one. Not sure why not in the Noodle or bullwhip.
I’ve tried out a bunch between Clam and 13 Fishing. I don’t know if I one that I call a favorite yet. Maybe it’s because I still prefer spinning reels still or that I haven’t come across an in-line that gave me that “Wow” factor. On the 13 Fishing ones, I feel like I can never get the drag or drop speed dialed in just right.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Brian G wrote:</div>
That said, I reach for my noodle rod with a Free Fall inline reel more often than not. The bigger spool on an inline also causes less of a “slinky” effect in my line and I feel my hookup ratio goes up on light bites.Not to hijack or get the original post off topic here but I bring this up each year and some think I’m crazy ( Some are right but for other reason ) As nice of a job as a good noodle rod does at detection bites, None of them are as sensitive as a good spring bobber. Especially if you like to fish real lite Jigs like a 3MM tungsten jig. Often on <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>panfish it is a slight uplift bite and there is no better way to see than than on a spring bobber. Those 3MM jigs just don’t put enough of a load/bend on even a quality noodle rod. For several years I’ve wanted TUC rods to put a spring bobber on their Noodle or bullwhip rods. I see on their website that they now offer the Fusion with one. Not sure why not in the Noodle or bullwhip.
I would bet they felt that the noodle tip plus a spring bobber that you’d have with the Bullwhip and PN was too bouncy/flimsy for jigging and hooksets.
Keep in mind I ice fish almost exclusively for panfish and normally 15 feet deep or less. I do not use a float, sometimes a spring bobber, I like the titanium ones under the Frabill name. I absolutely love the cheap Shakespears. I have several. And I agree they do not have the best drag, but it is good enough. I have landed bass better than 5 pounds on 2 and 3 lb P-Line Flouroclear. I will say this, when I get a new reel, I do clean and properly lube it, including the drag system. Really simple. I love the free spool system for dropping my bait. They have been basically bullet proof thus far, for several years. Give one a shot before you pass judgement based on other Internet Wisdom. lol. Did I mention they are inexpensive? Someone once told me they are just a fancified Skooley reel. LMBO. If this is anything like a Skooley, it is powered by dynamite and real tornadoes!
I jumped on the inline bandwagon for a few years. Not bad, but normal criticisms were my experience; ice up when cold outside, poor drag, can slip off the spool and create a mess. The only advantage I thought with these was less line spin…thought. One day in the permy the fish weren’t cooperating so I put the camera down and took video of the tiny tungsten jig on my Black Betty 6061 inline reel…spinning. Put the same jig on a spinning reel combo with a tiny swivel and flour leader…no spin. I have changed back to all spinning reels except one 13 fishing freefall on my extra lite setup (3mm tungstens).
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