I have to back this up Phil. I have never understood anglers saying you can't play and land big fish on a 506. You can, you just need to set the clutch to the fish you can reasonably expect in a given water.Phil Arnott wrote: ↑Sun Feb 04, 2018 9:13 pm I've caught some quite large fish on the 506 including a few 5lb chub, barbel to 7lb, tench to 7lb and carp of at least 11lb. The secret is to set the clutch correctly and don't wind the handle when the fish is running because that locks the reel and stops it releasing line.
I now only use mine for trotting and the largest fish I've landed recently have been chub to 5lb (the reel was bought new for me as a teenager in the mid-70s). However, my late mother fished with hers until only 2 years ago and her best fish was a 15lb carp on 5lb line after she had hit 80! My girlfriend, who has only been fishing for 2 years, landed an 11lb carp on the same reel last summer, again with 5lb line.
The 506 may not give me quite the control of a 'pin but it does the job if you set the clutch right and it's a fine reel to teach someone with.