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Posts: 208
Location: North East PA , 20 mins from Chautauqua | I have used abu garcia 6501 left handed reels for years now and I have the same trouble every year . About halfway through the season my push button release will not pop back up after a cast and all I get is a free spinning reel handle . It's fairly easy to pop it up with my thumbnail to reset it but thats just a pain !I'm tired of getting these reels repaired for half the cost of the reel every year . Has anyone else had this trouble ? I'm thinking of upgrading to a lefthadned BG7001HS but I have never seen one in my area . any one ever use a left handed 7000 ? I'm afraid it will be to much reel and will just break like the 6501 always did ! I'll be useing it to run jekbaits with 80 lb braid . thanks
THE FERD | |
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Posts: 364
Location: in the white boat | This is a warrantee issue, and you shouldn't have to pay for it to be fixed! Send them to Spirit Lake, attention Reel Repair and have them fix it for good.
As far as the 7001 goes, its a great reel. I have one and love it, but it is a bit big for my hands. I hold my reels in my right hand when I'm fishing, and it cramps my hand up pretty good by the end of the day. The thing cranks in baits quick, and with little effort though, so I'll get used to it. I'll probably get a few more this season.
Hope this helps. | |
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Posts: 358
Location: London, England | Have a look here to see how to repair the 6501
http://www.timkelly.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/lasreel%20maintanence2.htm...
I have a 7001 (red) with the 4:1 gears which is a good reel and have recently bought a 7001HS (gold) with the 5.3:1 gears. The HS is a far better reel, very smooth with the ball bearings and easy casting, the high speed pickup of the line is great too, I would thouroghly recommend them. I have loads of 6501s and like them but after they've had a bit of use they do tend to let you down at the most inconvenient times, usually when you make your first cast of a week trip away somewhere!
I just take spare reels and a spares kit, but the 7001s were bought with the hope of a bit more reliability. So far so good, the only thing I've had go south on my 7001 has been the levelwind pawl wearing, and that can just happen on any reel, usually if a bit of grit gets into the worm drive. | |
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Posts: 1536
Location: God's Country......USA..... Western Wisconsin | I sold all of my 6501 reels over the last few years because of this and various other reasons. I now use all Shimano 251s with the exception of one 401 TE that I use for my bigger and heavier jerks and gliders. So far I have had no problems with wear & tear with these reels. Line capacity could become an issue on the 251s as they are a smaller reel that fits my hands very well. I just fill them full and find myself not making those extremly long casts that we shouldn't make anyway. By doing this, line capacity, for me has not been an issue or problem. I used one of the 251s for many years for jerks as well but recently bought the 401 TE to see if a bigger reel would be better for me. So far so good, the 401 is a geat reel but I still use use my 251s most of the time even for jerk baits. I only have one season on the TE so I do not know how the reel will be holding up. I do know that it is an awsome reel and I am glad I bought it, just don't know whether I got it for the correct reason and application. I do know that for pulling large tandems at high speed over the weeds or through the rushes it works great. | |
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Posts: 1270
| Abu recently changed the clutch arm and return spring on the 01 series of reels. Esoxjunkie is correct, this is a warranty issue, you should not have to be paying to get these fixed. Abu has a garanteed 48 hour turn around time on warranty issues. I would send it back with a note explaining the problem.
The 7001HS is the same reel as the 7000HS which is mechanically the same as the 7000 that has been around for ever. These reels, while rather large, are real workhorses. | |
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abu 6501 troubles !