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| Anybody have any experience with Smooothies drag washers and/or ceramic bearings? I've heard that they can really improve the performance of Garcia reels, especially the Smooothies.
If you are wondering what the heck I'm talking about, these are custom upgrade items (reel candy) sold by Hattarrass Outfitters and others. As I understand it, the Smooothies washers make it so you can better adjust the high-end drag for really big fish. The bearings allow surf casters to sling lead weights up to 300 yards.[:0] Kinda like Herman Munster when he hooked a steak from a distant grill. I'm not into distance casting, but I hear the ceramic bearings are much less affected by moisture, wear and drastic changes in temperature.
Looks like tricking out each Garcia reel would cost about $50 or so. Could be a great winter project for the likes of me and maybe you.
So, you try this yet? Hear anything? | |
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| Just a mention on these ceramic washers and tricked reels. I fish the Outer Banks on occasion and these are very popular there for surf fishing. I watched a sharply spun Abu 6500 'improved' reel spin for over 3 minutes !!! Back and forth, back and forth, I thought it wouldn't stop. Very impressive. How this translates to muskie fishing, I'm not sure. Bahmer | |
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| Thanks for all the interesting responses.
To clarify my goals, I'm looking for improved performance in these areas...
1. I find it difficult to adjust my drag setting such that it is almost, but not quite, totally locked down. Right now, either it is "as tight as I can get the SOB" or it's too loose. Therefore, rather than have a weak hookset, I lock the muther down. Also, I can't count on the "almost locked down" setting to stay that way for very long; it seems to become looser after just a few hours of casting. I want to "Be like the Extreme One" and move to 50# florocarbon leaders, but I think I need the reel's drag system to perform better then it does right now. I'm hoping that the Smooothines will enable me to achieve that improved performance.
2. It seems to me that the casting performance of my reels is variable, with one factor being the changing tmperature of the bearings. A couple hours casting increases the bearings' temperature and the reel (not me!) is more prone to backlashes. I'll tighten the adjustemnt to better control the "line out", later switch rods, and when I pick the first rod back up the "line out" is too tight so I have to loosen it up again. And the cycle of constant adjustments is continual. I'm hoping the ceramic bearings will eliminate the variability that creates the need to continually adjust the line out tension.
So anyway, those are my reasons to try to improve the performance of my Garcia reels.[:bigsmile:] Do my ideas have merit, or am I just fartin' in da wind? | |
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Tricking Out Garcia Reels (Smooothines and Ceramic