Closed Face Winfield 444 Baitcaster Reel and a Senior moment !!!

[Tonytoned]

One thing to think of when chosing a rod is the ring spacings when you have a reel on top. With a reel under the rod the line is always away from the blank, when the reel is on top as the rod bends the line gets closer to the blank the more it bends. If you have too few rings the line can rub on the blank. Low bells on a rod will of course make the problem more acute.

Thank you Reedling. I will bear that in mind

[Duckett]

I used to use these a lot for my spinning but, when I learnt to use them as a teenager, I found it far easier using a rod with a trigger grip.

I got rid of my last one (an old ABU) a few years ago when I found that it really didn't get along with 8 strand braid. The number of wind knots I got went through the roof and tangles inside the reel face became more common. Though, I should have foreseen this as manually flipping a bale arm over is the safest way of using any braid for lure fishing in my experience. In practice, that means I don't use braid with any of the vintage fixed spool reels I currently own - you can't manually flip the bale back on any of them.

[Willsmodger]

I liked this little reel so much I've now got my own.
In no way vintage, it's a Shakespeare Synergy Classic, £12 from a well known second hand retailer. I couldn't turn it down.
I doubt it's been used as it still has the little plastic Stren tag attached.
I believe it was originally part of a spinning combo, although there was no sign of the rod.
After catching a couple of red signal crayfish from my local canal, I was told by my brother that in a lower stretch he had about 50 small Perch.
So, the Synergy, some crayfish lures from a well known auction site ordered, just need a rod now and I'll be after mommy and daddy.

All the best.
.

[Tonytoned]

I liked this little reel so much I've now got my own.
In no way vintage, it's a Shakespeare Synergy Classic, £12 from a well known second hand retailer. I couldn't turn it down.
I doubt it's been used as it still has the little plastic Stren tag attached.
I believe it was originally part of a spinning combo, although there was no sign of the rod.
After catching a couple of red signal crayfish from my local canal, I was told by my brother that in a lower stretch he had about 50 small Perch.
So, the Synergy, some crayfish lures from a well known auction site ordered, just need a rod now and I'll be after mommy and daddy.

All the best.
.

Thank you for that information.

[Duckett]

I liked this little reel so much I've now got my own.
In no way vintage, it's a Shakespeare Synergy Classic, £12 from a well known second hand retailer. I couldn't turn it down.
I doubt it's been used as it still has the little plastic Stren tag attached.
I believe it was originally part of a spinning combo, although there was no sign of the rod.
After catching a couple of red signal crayfish from my local canal, I was told by my brother that in a lower stretch he had about 50 small Perch.
So, the Synergy, some crayfish lures from a well known auction site ordered, just need a rod now and I'll be after mommy and daddy.

All the best.
.

I'd love to hear how you do with the crayfish lures Wiilmodger. I've tried them on the River Lee, which is seemingly infested with the blighters, but have never managed to catch anything on them. Is there something large perch are scared of?

[Willsmodger]

When I find a rod I will give them a go and report back.
I was interested in the number of small perch my brother caught. A successful spawning and what must be an abundant food source has obviously helped.
I don't know how long the red signal has been in the canal as I hadn't fished it for ten years or so.
I never caught any when I fished it regularly, and I never heard of anyone else doing so.
So, optimism abounds, the crayfish lures have arrived and are pretty small, about two inches.
It's these juveniles that must make up a part of a predators diet.
I could see how size for size a perch would be wary of feeding on adults. That's a good point.

All the best.