Ever since I started my education, on the day I left full time learning, I have filled this ageing brain with all sorts of useful information, facts and a good deal of rubbish, some will say most of it is rubbish! Nowhere amongst this cornucopia of learning is there a file labelled 'Fishing Reels'. I was never interested in the art of fishing as a lad so this information was not collected...
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| My little Baitfeeder 140 reel is great value for money but it came with no instructions... |
So far I have spent a lot of time filling the empty files with a mishmash of hints, tips and some very limited first-hand experience. Apart from the fact that the reel will pay out and recover the line there are all-sorts of other features that I did not understand. No instructions were included with any of the reels and my comprehensive three-book library skips over the reels by just labelling the parts without explaining how to use them. They may tell me what they are for but I need to know what they do.
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| ...and from the other side |
Back to the internet. A trawl through YouTube eventually turned up the answers I was looking for. I had already worked out what the main drag was for and now I could see the advantage of the
baitfeeder drag (Which I believe is the same thing as
baitrunner) when the rod is left in the rod rest. The main drag is adjusted from the knob on the front, the
baitfeader drag is set by the knob on the back and engaged by lifting the lever. It can be disengaged either by flicking the lever back down or by turning the handle. I also found the little 'switch' that allows the handle to be rotated in either direction when the clutch (ratchet?) is disengaged.
All this will seem obvious to most of you, but for me this is a revelation. I can now name all the bits of my reel and I know what they are for - I think!
Might have to go fishing again soon...
Ralph
