Strong reels, ski's

I broke my second revo Toro winch yesterday, reel seat snapped off. They’re plastic. I’m done buying revo Toro winches despite absolutely loving their performance, but the plastic seat isn’t holding up in my boat.

Looking at Diawa Lexa 400 HD.
Metal reel seat?

Not buying any more reels with plastic reel seats (in the musky price range anyway)

For those with the newer abu’s, daiwas, Shimano, etc which ones are your favorites that have metal reel seat?

Looks like Calcutta 400D is metal

My gear gets shared with many anglers who come aboard and the smaller reel profile isn’t needed by me, but lots of guests appreciate it.

Thanks much for your metal reel seat musky reel recommendations.

Ryoga

I have had Ambassadeur (Abu Garcia) 6500c3 reels for over 30 years and they’re still holding out. I used the 6500 for muskie, but the 5500 would be the smaller profile you might want for your guests. Definitely a metal seat and the price range won’t bankrupt your fishing budget.

http://www.abugarcia.com/abugarcia-reels-baitcast-reels-round/abu-garcia-ambassadeur-c3-round-reel/1315357.html

I have 5600’s, and 7000’s and not strong enough for sturgeon for sure, but they work for skis with exception of big baits. I guess I neglected to mention that my musky stuff is 95℅ used for cranking in sturgeon. So winching power is priority.

The Abu winches are a little small on line capacity when I switch from braid to mono in the winter but they do get by.

Also, is it just me or has the quality gone down on the abu’s legacy lines?

I have some various Shimano reels, Calcutta 400B, 400TE, Curado 300E. They all have metal reel seats. The Calcuttas are bullet proof as I have only had one burn out on me in 10 years under heavy use. They aren’t as comfortably as the low profile reels though. I haven’t had any problems with the Curado either but have only had them for 2 years. I have heard great things about both the Daiwa Lexa and Okuma kamodo. I think the 400D is just a revised model of the 400B with better cranking handles so i’m sure they use the same good reel seat. For a smaller profile reel I would get that Kamodo 350, Lexa 400HD, or Curado 300 Thats what i’ve narrowed it down to. I don’t think you can go wrong with either of those 3 reels.

Happy Shopping!

If you’re using it for sturgeon, one of the Abu 6500 will work fine. If you’re using it for muskies, I don’t recommend it because the pinion yoke is plastic and it has a tendency to burn out after a few thousand casts and retrieves. It’s a cheap and easy fix, but it sucks when it happens when you’re on the water.

If you’re looking for a muskie reel, you can’t go wrong with the Shimano 400 series (B, D, TE, etc). As Pat said, they are bullet proof. They don’t make the TE model anymore, but I can pull mag dawgs, double 10s, etc with minimal effort with mine. If you can find a used 400 TE, I’d snatch it up. One word of caution, though. The Shimano rep told me that they’re going to (or already have) stop making parts for the 400 te.

I agree, you can’t go wrong with a Shimano 400?? Your pick

I also broke 2 reel seats on my Toro’s. Both of them happened trying to get the rod out of the rod holder when I got snagged up when trolling. One was still under warranty and the other wasn’t. Garcia replaced both with brand new ones at no charge. Have you talked to them yet? I agree, you shouldn’t expect that to happen when paying around 250.00 for a reel. Good luck.

I just recently picked up a Shimano 400D. Very expensive reel but I think I made the right choice. Hope it lasts for years to come.

I called Abu a little bit ago, they said to send them in. Hoping a free replacement for each but i am willing to buy parts. Just not willing to buy another one. Have 4 already.

I think a trip to cabelas to put a Shimano in my hand to look that over is in order and hopefully a Lexa too.

The 6500 & 7000 series just doesn’t have the winching power I look for in a sturgeon reel, mostly because I tend to use nothing smaller then 8-9′ XXH rods and expect a reel to winch in a fish under those circumstances. Those abu’s just don’t cut the cheese for me… You can catch sturgeon with lighter gear-most people do.

Appreciate all the info gents.

Any comments on ryoga?

Shimano 400te and shimano 700.
Bullet proof….

Guess I thought about it last night and realized the few that can’t handle a bigger reel can’t handle the pull of a big sturgeon on big gear anyway. I’ll just use my cat gear those few occasions.

Have plenty of smaller profile reels that’ll work like the Cardiff and corvelas, 5600’s, revos, etc.

Sometimes I just have to wrap my own head around what I’m asking

FBRM,
I would look very closely at the Diawa Saltist reels. In the 20 or 30 size- 40 gets huge.
I used both an older 20 and 30 for 3/4 years muskie fishing before picking up a Tranx.
+ Great power, Reasonable price, Strong drag, loud clicker, level wind and durable.

– not casting reels- into the wind is backlash prone even to an experienced fisherman.
I had the old silver ones. The newer black Saltist engaged on the turn of the reel handle- a full turn almost. The silver ones you had to flip the lever.

I sold off one of my reels a couple of years ago for $80 but new they were around $200+_ on sale. I use the 30 for trolling aplications and Sturgeon fishing. I was 95% muskie fishing and 5% sturgeon fishing.

Good luck

Steve

FYI

I just took a knife to the piece that broke and I misstated it as being plastic in my first post. It is cast aluminum, must be anodized also.