I bought a Calcutta Conquest 100 HG from Japan. It’s beautiful and smooth as butter. It’s going to be a workhorse for inshore saltwater fishing. I’m wondering if someone can point me to an English translation of the manual available somewhere online. I’m not turning up anything in my searches but fi...

?.. And for God's sake, freespool time is the most useless indicator of bearing quality there is :lol: LoL ....Not to mention if you load a spool with fluorocarbon line it's going so spin longer due to the weight of the line alone, which has nothing to do with the bearings. On the other hand, re-re...

Thanks for the additional thoughts Cagey. Drags are not a problem with 1-5 lb. smallmouth, 15 lb braid and 8-10 lb leader. Many reels have sealed drags (I doubt my Core, Pixy or Chronarch do) but for the extent mine get splashed ("dunked" may be too strong a term for what happens on a typical outing...

Thanks for the reply Cagey. My concern is not the water per se, but rather the sediment left behind. I get considerable build-up on the level wind, for instance, from particles and algae that are in the water. Yes I've spun the reel without the seals installed, but haven't had it on the water (just ...

I installed a set of Boca ABEC 7 Orange Seal bearings in my Core 50. I've never messed around with Orange Seals before. I've never actually replaced bearings myself before though I've had several reels "super tuned." After installing the bearings without any lubrication I did the "spin test" on the ...

I don't see weight listed in the features/specs in the original post. Neverthess, I am accustomed to paying a premium for lighter weight in a lot of products. Consumers can choose and, absent price-fixing collusion, the market will adjust if something is out of whack. Fishing from a kayak a lot of t...

Does anybody have a phone # or web address for Okuma parts? I struck out going to the Okuma website (WTF?). I found Mile's Reel Repair ... seemed to get there from the Okuma website ... but they don't list the part I need, which is 0940009 on the Helios 5/6 fly reel.

Every situation is different. In a relatively featureless lake you have plenty of room to let the fish run. In moving water with significant current and obstructions, the tables are turned.

Internal polishing and bearing upgrade would be #1 on my list. Drag upgrade could be done at the same time. I had these done to my C-50 by DR several years ago and it outperforms my stock Pixy and Core 50 noticeably.

On the other hand, with a whiffle spool I'll tie into one of the holes. I'm not worried about sharp edges because I'll never get down to that knot (again). It happened once to me with an arbor knot and indeed the line popped at that knot.

I keep some double-stick tape on hand and wrap the spool with that for traction. I'll spool with just braid the first time, then when the line gets short, I top off with backing and spool onto another reel that needs line, or reverse the line on the same reel. There's nothing better IMO than totally...

Thanks for the replies guys.

A few years ago I had some reels tuned by a guy named "DR" who was a frequent poster on this site. I don't see him here any more. I am looking for a place to send at least one reel (Core 50) for bearing upgrade and tuning and would be interested in and appreciative of recommendations since I don't w...

zenbassr wrote:considering these two models are practically the same, here's a good place to start if you haven't seen it already:

http://tackletour.com/articlereelmainte ... tdsol.html

No I had not seen that ... thanks!

I'm a Shimano guy and picked up my first Pixy this year. Between trips I pop open the sideplate on my Shimanos, remove the spool, swab out the centrifugal brake raceways and other surfaces, rotate the brake "shoes," clean spool shaft, minimal lube, etc. What is the comparable light cleaning routine ...