reels

Shimano 10,000 for me but before them i used the Shimano 8000gtb which were fine as well.

Shimano 8000 GTE-C ....... lovely reels.

During my winter break I am also going to load the spare spools with some 50lb braid from your advice Terry - which braid do you use ?

AND going to get a whip for the liveys

for a whip rod you cant bear Argos, m8. 10.00 for a lovely whip rod. everyone seems to use the shimano reels.

I use Eco Fibre its not the thinest of braids but it breaks around 42lb which is well enough pressure to be putting on the cats when stopping them from legging it under the trees & things.
If you can get hold of the last copy of Whiskers there is a very interesting feature of mono's & braids & there actuall breaking strains.
Nash Bullet came out the best with a bs of 21.5lb on the 20lb braid....107.5%
Whilst Power Pro came off the worst at 36% 53lb braid broke at 19.1lb.
Hope this help Chris.

you dont want baid to be too thin, though.

you dont want baid to be too thin, though.

-nickcatfisher99

Very true but you dont want it like ships docking rope either.....lol

no, lol.

has anyone used the Okuma Powerliner 85's? im thinking of getting a pair of them.

Best cat reels for uk imho are 4500b shimano baitrunners - really powerful reels well suited to Catting. The bigger 6500b are also good but maybe a bit heavy for average UK Catting. These are the reels all the ebro guides use now because they are the only fix spool reel that stands up to regular big cats and heavy gear.

Best to avoid any reels with a long spool for Big cats as they can flex too much towards the end of the spool oscillation.

On this web site I have seen advice to use normal 5000 size baitrunners for Catting - in terms of cranking power these reels are not up to the job of landing big cats quickly. I rate those as Barbel and small to medium carp reels.

a bit expensive, lol.

Maybe Nick but these days you get what you pay for, You wont go far wrong with Shimano.
As for Okuma, well i wont slate them as i have never use any of there gear but are they cheap? if so you may find yourself looking for more reels next season bud.

it's true that you get what you pay for but when your on a budget you pay for what you can afford. i've got to find 100 quid by june for my membership, i need loads of kit before i can get night fishing next season, it all mounts up. the powerliners aren't cheap, they're usually 60-70 pound each, but i know a website that sells them for 39 quid. atb

yea u get wat ya pay for but some of the cheaper reals are pretty good

i think the okuma reels are an exception to the rule, m8.

Shimano mate.

Oh and you are right phill after watching everybody elses reels fall to bits i think its time I changed that advice and beefed it up a touch myself, I just love the 5000's though, such a sensitive reel. As I have said the site is getting totally rebuilt over the winter as there is a lot of stuff on there that needs changing now. But I still wont be going anywhere but shimano.

am getting some shimano next year i hope lol

but which ones should i go for? an i have a reasonable budget .

how big is reasonable? if you can afford them, the long cast reels are lovely. my mate let me borrow his spair for a while so i could fish after i bust my reel and they're lovly.