Fishing Forum

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Would like to start a forum on Deep Drop Reels to discuss pros and cons as well as maintenance and problems. One should include type of fish your reels are mostly used for. Would hope to gain good insight as to the best one to use for all around deep drop fishing.
Name like Shimano Beastmaster, Kristal 600 series programmable, Diawa T1000, and of course, in my opinion the best but also the most expensive, the LP or Lindgren Pitman s 1200. LP is made locally 100% in the US. It has huge line capacity and tremendous pulling power and a huge price of about $5000.00

Some of these reels can be programmed to stop at preset depths and some can even jig automatically. So if you are not familiar with deep drop fishing, just try using a large manual reel, like a Shimamo Tiagra 50W and simply run out several hundred yards of line with bait on it. Then 5 minutes later crank it up to change the bait and you will immediately understand why electric reels are necessary. You can also try cranking up a 50 lb snapper from 4-500' and that may be all you need to go electric.

So lets see if we can get a good discussion going on the various types of deep drop reels on the market.

I am in the market for 2 and would like a little useful unbiased history on what everyone else has experienced with various models.

My best,

shor
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Welcome to the site Shor. I can't say I've ever heard of anyone using such a reel for Freshwater fishing. I'm going to move your post to our Saltwater fishing board, maybe you will get a better response there.
WH2
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Thanks, actually I just noticed there were freshwater and saltwater sections, earlier this morning when I posted something on knots.
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Thank you for your post. Deep drop reels are rather cool.

A standard 7:1 ratio reel can even be tiring at 60 fathoms. You are talking about depths of 83 fathoms. In most of the ocean lined states of the coast, there is usually a 60 fathom limit during parts of the year and only decreases during other times.

I happen to have a commercial license and have fished depths of 200 to 400 fathoms. An arm can get tired and an electric reel is more realistic for retrieval of a couple of hooks.

Most of us that are fishing deeper depths will generally use a winch since we are using 100 or more hooks.

I do have a Daiwa MP3000, a Lindren Pitman LP S 1200 TTN and a Hooker Penn 70 VS. All good reels yet very heavy for normal fishing. They are good for bringing up the Humbolt Squid from the depths.[cool]
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Thanks for the contribution here. Tell me about your reels. How long have you owned the Diawa? Has it performed well for you.
I know how nice you s 1200 is. That is the mac daddy. How old is it? I understand you can sell them for more than cost. Any problems or cocerns with it?
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I have almost 1 year with the Daiwa. It is on OK reel for the price. It is one that I was sampling from one of my sponsors.

I would not have paid the $4,000 buck for it since I prefer the winch over hauling a single or double hook by hand. I do like the gear ratio. It comes in handy for trolling too. [cool]
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I am still debating on whether or not to spend the money on a quality electric.
I have always purchased quality fishing reels but $5000.00 for an occasional trip is hard to justify.

I have read where owners of older model Diawa and Shimano simply trash them because they no longer have any value. That is not the case with a Lindgren Pitman S 1200. If you have an old one you still have a very good reel. Improvements have been made with addition of a level winder and different material used for the spool.

Used to have to buy a $600 titanium spool for smaller braid and wire etc. because with heavy loads the spool would spread but now the 3rd generation is made of a composite that holds up very well. I am told by the manufacturer that the titanium is no longer necessary.

I may go with a couple of cheaper used ones to start. Electric reels are really for meat hauls, the trip when you want to fill the boat with meat. I fish for the sport and much prefer to cast for Mahi, Wahoo etc or troll. However after 4 men on my boat were worn out after cranking up about a 50lb snapper from 350' using a Shimano 50W I began to think that if you are going to go down to that depth and beyond it is not fun unless you have electric reels. In fact it is just plan stupid.

Can you pull a dredge with that Diawa or do you think it would break the reel.


Steve
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