Catfishing Information

[dgallow]

Tiny,

I looked through the tips section and didn't see much reference on how to balance a spool or how to check for imbalance. Care to delve into the subject?

About all I've found is at the following link under the ABU 6500CT Mag section http://neilmackellow.sea-angler.org/reel_tuning.html Figured the same type thing would work on about any ABU!

[tiny]

it's of little value on a fishing reel as they won't need to turn fast enough to require balancing. the idea behind the balancing is the smoothness of how the line comes off the reel .. if it's out of balance you'll know about it as the reel will vibrate when you cast and a lot of times it's because of big knots or something like that making the wind of the line on the spool lop sided. if you're competition casting it's important and a lot of guys won't even use a knot or tape as they'll take a small piece of tap and hold the end of the line on the side of the spool then spool up a bunch of wraps over the end and then take the tape off leaving no knot at all ... this would be a problem in fishing if the line were to ever get a little loose on the spool ... tape is the best thing to use when fishing and if you ever think you might loose a reel overboard with the spool disengaged then that's not a good idea either as the line will just keep coming off the reel ... if you're casting at 250 yds then tuning might be necessary to get a few extra feet but if you're just casting over 125 yds then it's not and won't help at all.

[dgallow]

Yep, it's for fishin! Some have compared my distance castin efforts to the story of the monkey and the football! LOL

Sometimes those 7's would scream on a long cast. Don't believe it was a lube problem as I use molydenum disulfide mixed in the oil and that really slicks things up....maybe too much. Next thought was spool imbalance/vibration as I really didn't pay close attention to wrap back then.

Haven't tried tape as I've always tied directly to the spool. Lately, I'll cant the reel either right or left so as to put the tension on the line in the opposite direction the levelwind is movin...make sense?...that seems to keep the line lay pretty even and minimize uneven build-up on the sides. After a few casts when the line seats, things wind up pretty even.

I did the cotton reel wrap on the initial lay on those 7's like the article stated and it did a nice job of keepin things even once I let the levelwind engage and fisnish the wrap but I still canted the reel to prevent side build-up.

If tape will make things smoother then I'm game! And I'm knockin on a big chunk of oak when I tell ya I've never lost a rod to Davy Jones!

So ya use tape on your fishin reels? Full wrap or just a small piece? Side or centered?

[tiny]

the tape isn't going to make any difference ... when I used tape I was distance casting over 300 yds sometimes and the spool rpm was up over 35,000 rpm ... that's when you can tell if your spool is out of balance. the noise you're hearing is most likely your brake blocks .. they'll scream pretty bad if they're real dry ... I use a drop of 3n1 oil on the brake blocks to keep them from screaming as I'd imagine what you're hearing is like a ssssshhhshshshshshshhhhhh if it is then that's the brake blocks riding on the dry brake drum. they can get pretty loud too. like a scronching sound when they get real dry. reel tuning is of no value if you're not throwing well over 200 yds and then it's really not of any value then either as you're only going to gain maybe 10 ft or so ... the distance improvement isn't much at all. also you have the primary spool tension tight enough that the spool has no side to side play? if not then tighten it a little until the spool doesn't move side to side ... that'll also create noise if it's loose. oil or put some teflon or sylicone lube on the spool dog too that the spool shaft goes into on the crank side ... the little gear with the teeth and a hole through it that the shaft goes in ... if that's dry that'll make racket. I'll almost guarntee your noise isn't from balanced problems ... it really has to be way out of balance before you can get noise from it and that's just not possible without intentionally trying to spool it up whacky like. if you're ever over this way bring your reels and let me take a look at them and I can probably find where the noise is coming from

[dgallow]

Will prolly be a little easier for a vist now as our friends moved from Prue to Cleveland! Lookin forward to it, just don't know when as my older girl has a month worth of volleyball camps to ready her for high-school play. I'd like to have you work with me some on castin technique as that is a major downfall!

After readin your post it's likely the brake blocks as I've never made it a habit of lubin them....seems on one of the old ABUs I had it said not too so that prolly stuck in my head.

On the old 7's, the original blocks are made from a cloth type material similar to the insulation on old house wiring. When I upgraded the spool I used the new style plastic blocks and will lube them a tad. Sometimes I'll play with varying the number (1-4) and size of brake blocks....has enhanced smoothness of the ABU in some cases...some it don't matter.

Spool dog and corresponding part of spool shaft are adequately lubed with teflon (Rem Oil) and moly. Should things get dry from neglect that moly is a good thing to have floatin around!

I use the right cast tension knob (crank side) to visually center the spool in frame, then adjust the left knob to take out lateral slack and set final tension. Initially, I'll set the tension in free-spool where the sinker won't move unless rod tip is wiggled. After the first cast, then I tweak as needed to get the most out of the cast while preventing excessive line over-run. Seem correct?

[tiny]

okay ... that's a problem also as the cap under the reel handle should be tightened down all the way ... it's just a bearing cap and not an adjustment at all on 7000's ... on 6500's it is. loosen off the left knob a little and tighten the right one down all the way as it's supposed to be that way ... the spool will be centered if no one's put too many brass plates in the right hand cap. to maximize distance the spool tension should be nil and just depend solely on the brake blocks to control the reel by adjusting the size of the brake blocks to your casting style ... if you have the proper amount of brake blocks in which is normally two medium sized fiber blocks which are what belong in the 7000's normally the plastic ones are for smaller reels

[dgallow]

Easy enough to reset the caps!

Now those blocks which I put on the new spool on the old 7 were the ones which came with the 7000WM. They looked liked plastic but might be fiber....can't imagine ABU tying to cut corners there as the blocks aren't that costly. Only way I knew the old ones were fiber is they had faded to a light brown color over the years....prolly original circa 74. I'll look at that a little closer.

I'll add something unrelated here....was doing a bit of searching on ebay and came across this store called fisherman's warehouse.....auctions of 50 pk of various size gamma circles were goin for less than $8 with S/H at <$3....figured you prolly go through more terminal tackle than most and that might help a bit! A search for 'gammakatsu circle' should pull it up! They've got other stuff too!

[tiny]

The original color of those fiber blocks are kinda tan looking when theyr'e dry ... look like a tiny cork or something and ya got a bag of different sized ones with the 7000 c3's in the 90's and they were all as you described so they're probabaly the same color as they were. light tan looking fiber. There's no need to worry bout the plastic ones if they're heavy enough and the brake drum diameter is the same and all that you may be better off with those. if that one's the one making the racket though then ya just put a drop of oil on the brake drum to see if that's where the noise is coming from ... amazingly enough the brakes work about the same with oil on them as they do without and much smoother casting though .. the oil seems to actually create a smooth kinda resistance itself. it can get ugly though if ya get a little teflon in the brake drum hahaha or silicone maybe ... I got some teflon on mine and whenever I'd put a fresh spool of 20 lb breakaway line on it .33mm was the size of it ... I'd cast it a few times then all of a sudden about the 3rd or 4th cast right in the middle of the cast for no aparent reason POOF!!! backlash city all the way to the hub

[dgallow]

[tiny]

5w20 motor oil works well too but it's a little slicker than 3n1 but heavier so it kinda ballances out ... you can also use a little bigger brake with oil on them too for better control if more is needed but it makes the reel cast a lot better with still good control.