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Dink Mendez

My lew's BB1N are wearing out- What to replace them with!!!

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Hi fellow Crankers,

I have four old Browning Lew's BB1N baitcasters and about ready to die on me. FELLOW CRANKERS- What low ratio reels are you guys having success with. I use four 7 foot 8 inch fiberglass rods for cranking. What reel do you members suggest?

Almost forgot! Have you members heard of anything positive about Bass Pro Shop brand Reels?

Thanks

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If you are looking for a lower ratio than the 6.2:1 Curado B200, it also comes in a 5:1 ratio model, the CU200B5. I think Shimano upgraded the Curado this year to a much more expensive reel. Another sweet cranking reel is the Ambassadeur Promax 1600 with a ratio of 5.3:1. These reels were sold in the early 1990's but you can fine them on EBAY for $50-75. Parts are readily available from ABU and independent parts retailers. The Promax has 6 interior bearings and is a round reel, all metal, with a very light aluminum spool riding on 2 high grade bearings. The spool bearings are the same as a Curado (3x10x4mm) and ABEC7 bearings are only about $8 ea. You can turn the cast control entirely off, put one plastic brake block in the centrifugal brake and let'er rip with no worries about backlash. Do that with another reel! Outstanding with 8-12 lb line and one of the smoothest retrieves you'll find anywhere. The Promax had very weak silver gray paint from the factory that was the first thing to go on these otherwise excellent reels. But that tends to keep the prices down! The Promax 3600 is the same reel with the same gear parts but is about 1/2" wider. A similar but less expensive reel, the BlackMax, is the same reel with fewer interior bearings but the same casting quality and a better, black annodized finish. I have mostly Shimanos including a Scorpion 1000 but when it comes to crankbaiting I almost always clamp a Promax 1600 on the rod.

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Dink,

there is a number of different ways to fish a crank. A high speed reel can be used in just about all of them because all you have to do is slow down your reeling. I will tell you this, there has been times when I parallell a bank and I am trying to cover as much water as I can, I could use a faster reel.

If you really like the reels you have, take them to the shop and see how much they would charge you to go throught the reels. I have done this many times.

Tally

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I am using the Bass Pro Shops Pro Qualifier low profile reels and have been very pleased with them.I do allot of deep cranking and have to use a good crankin reel to be able to throw some of these deep divers all day long without destroying the reel . I do allot of tournament fishing and have landed several pretty large bass with these reels and never had any problems.drag system in them is great and and always seems to work properly without re adjusting them all day.I gave around $80.00 each for the four i have and if i do buy any more it will probably be these same reels.I use 7 foot crankin rods with these reels and love them.Reels are like anything else as far as everyone having different opinions but as for me i like them.I also have some of the shimano and diawa reels but they dont do anything these wont ,their just more expensive.

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I've owned and used the Shimano Bantan Curado reel shown in the link above. In fact I've owned two of them for the last 8 years or so.

The Bantam Curado is an excellent reel for the money. I've used mine to throw heavy musky baits for all these years and they are just now starting to show signs of needing a part replaced here or there. If the reel can take the punishment from musky fishing for that many years, it will hold up for many, many more years of ordinary use such as bass fishing, etc.

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Dink,

Like Tally said.... you control the speed of the bait. With a low speed reel this can wear you out if you do it for any period of time. You just need to pay attention to what you are doing. :wink:

Tally,

The reason that he cannot get the reels referbished is because they don't make them any more. Zebco no longer has the parts for them, and reel repair dealers are raping peoples wallets for the parts. A pinion gear for a BB1NG that I had normally sells for 12.50 A parts dealer tried to sell me one for 42.00. ^%#^^& crook!!!! :censored:

Cranker,

I have owned Diawa, Quantum, Lews, Shimano, and Bass Pro reels. I know what you are saying about the performance of these reels. However, there is a large difference between any of these reels and the Scorpion 1000. The Lews BB1NG and the BB1N is the standard cranking reel of David Fritts and many other crankbait fishermen here in the Piedmont of North Carolina. I have owned three BB1NGs There is a huge performance difference between my Scorpion and those reels. I sold every one of my Lews. You could not pay me to touch one anymore. I agree that the price of some of these high performance reels will take your breath away..... but so will fishing them.

Skeeter B)

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The fabulous pinion gear!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is there a reel out there that has a pinion gear that holds up? Knowing what I know now about reels (and I am no expert), I think if I was starting out again the first thing I would look for in a reel is one that has the best pinion gear and then start eliminating other reels. Just my 2 cents and maybe they just don't make a pinion gear that holds up to heavy crankin'

Tally

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In 1989 I bought 2 black Quantum 410 MGs. I paid $48.00 apiece for them. They had bushings in them instead of bearings. I wouldn't even begin to estimate the number of fish that these two reels have hauled in. My sons are still fishing them today. Never had to replace a part. They are starting to break down now. But they are still being used. Proper oiling kept the bushings from wearing. The reels will throw as far as most of todays modern reels. It was money well spent. According to reel manufacturers, the average expected life of a reel is 7 yrs. Beyond that is a plus.

Skeeter

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Hey Dink, I have one of the SLOW Curados for my deep crankin of large baits, Fat Free Shads, Poes 400s etc. It has a 3.8-1 ratio. Its a little too slow for the smaller baits but I find that trying to crank the large baits with a ratio over 5-1 that I loose alot of the sensativity through the reel (if that makes sense).

When I have to use a faster gear ratio (because the slow ones are on other rods) I do more of a "pull the bait w/ the rod and reel up the slack" type of retrieve. This greatly increases my sensativity also.

Mr B

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Hey Dink, I have one of the SLOW Curados for my deep crankin of large baits, Fat Free Shads, Poes 400s etc. It has a 3.8-1 ratio. Its a little too slow for the smaller baits but I find that trying to crank the large baits with a ratio over 5-1 that I loose alot of the sensativity through the reel (if that makes sense).

When I have to use a faster gear ratio (because the slow ones are on other rods) I do more of a "pull the bait w/ the rod and reel up the slack" type of retrieve. This greatly increases my sensativity also.

Mr B

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Well Skeeter,

Thanks for all the ideas and research you put out there. However, I did alot a research. Fritts make a comment in a article I read. ( http://probassanglers.com/davidfrittscrankin.htm) He said " Reel speeds of 4:3-4:5 allow him to crank quickly without overwhelming the baits action".

The baits action seems to be very important to me. Now using a fast reel, wouldn't the baits action be changed in some way.

Skeeter, You live in Crankbait Country. I'm sure the locals still use the old lew's reels. Have any of them started replacing them lew's yet. What is the consistent thoughts out where you live. What kind of reel replacement are they playing around with. Since the NEW lew's reels aren't worth a nickel.

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Dink,

To each his own. Personally, I think that the fisherman can control the speed of the bait himself with a high speed reel. But it takes concentration. Most folks don't like to do that. It is easier to slow down a high speed reel that to speed up a low speed reel. How can you fish quickly with a 4:3 ratio reel? Many of the guys down here still love their Lews. Even though they have their parts failures, they are still loyal to them. They too cuss the new ones. They do not like them at all. The folks that I talk to seem to like one style or other of Abu Garcia. Most of them are older round models. Some are using Shimano Calcuttas. The rest are going to either Curados or the high end Quantums.

Skeeter

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Skeeter,

I appreciate your thoughts on the subject. I was just concerned about the action of the bait. Since all my lew's reel are breaking down. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try something else. It's going to be very hard to go against tradition. Since Zebco, bought out Lew's they ruined the lew's reputation of a ounce great reel.

Skeeter do you know if the Shimano Scorpion reel come in a 5:1 ration?

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The only Shimano Japanese reel that comes in that gear ratio is the Calcutta. Diawa Japan has quite a few reels with that ratio but they are expensive. Go to www.japantackle.com and check them out. They list the gear ratios with the reels. That is not the only place to get them. And you can find some sites that have a little bit better price. But the best information in the world about these reels is on that site. Check out the link called Jun's recommendations. Tons of good info there. Even if you do not get one of these reels there is still alot of great information about reels in general that can help you make an educated decission about what you do buy. You will really learn what to look for.

Skeeter

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Several things. I use exclusively a 5.1 reel speed ratio except for buzzbaiting then it's 6.1. Been cranking for 30 years. With the deep diving cranks I prefer the 5.1 over the slower 3.8-4.3 simply because the only way to really get a good hook in the fish is pressure and when they start running at ya...you're not going to get it. It won't matter what kind of a hook set you use when you're hooking 20 ft. out and 15 ft. down and deeper, you're not going to get the barb in the fish. You've got to crank down on them fast. I can slow down the rate at which I turn the handle to get optimum action out of the crank bait...reel gear ratio isn't as important because you can feel how the bait is working. Even with deep cranks (even using the same bait) sometimes the fish like it fast other times slow...and other times erratic. I just know I do a lot better strike to landing ratio with the 5.1 because I have more control over what happens after the fish hits, and I don't get any fewer strikes using that ratio than I did with the low gear ratio reels.

Also about the pinion gear skeeter. I used to do reel repair from 89' to 94' for a little place here in Mo. It's never a good thing to just replace a pinion gear without replacing the drive gear. Through use, they wear together and mesh a certain way. When you just replace one or the other than chances are the older of the to gears is going to wear down too much and start causing other problems not to mention the reel won't reel as smoothly. Wen wouldn't replace just a pinion gear because the pinion and drive gear wear in together. I don't recall exactly but I think they even came as a set and that set cost like $40.00, then again maybe that's just how we ordered them. You did well to get rid of the Lew's BB1n/BB1ng anyway cause they had the durability of soggy Kleenex after Zebco bought Browning anyway. Though they were great reels in the 70's and 80's.

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basstech,

I understand what you are saying about getting both gears. But the problem was that the spool would not completely disenguage when the button was pressed. The pinion would not completely clear the flats on the spool shaft. You couldn't tell it when you depressed the button. Then when you made the cast the inside of the pinion where it goes over the spool would strip. Eventually the inside of the pinion would round out. So, it would happen alot. It also happend on 3 different 1NGs. So it wasn't just one bad cookie in the bag. I never fished the old Lews reels. But the reason that they were probably good was because the were made by Shimano. I have seen and held these reels. But I have never fished one.

Skeeter

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Oh Yeah, I forgot about that...that was a very common problem. I think that's was the primary reason we had to replace so many...probably half of what we sold. It's been a long time...I still got a BB1n that does the same thing...kept wondering why I don't use it every time I see it. :grin:

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