The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

hi the 500 series are brilliant reels ,they allow single handed operation .they can with a little tweak here or there be as near perfect as you can get .they was origanally designed for light spinning with 6-8lbs lines .the standard spools are there for not suited too light lines unless you use a reduced length of 50-70yds of 3-5lbs lines ,later models like the 506 & 506m came with a shallow spool which allowed 100yds of 2-3lbs lines.the reels do have the same drawbacks all closedfaced reels have

in that the angle the line leaves the spool ,when at the top of its oscillation can cause drag or jerky line release but unlike other cf reels you can minimise this with a simple trick ,because the 500 series had a oscillation ratio of 1:1 (one rotation of the handle = one oscillation of the spool) which ment you could set it so the spool would be at its lowest point (for optimum line release) for a given handle postition (pointing strait down ,ideally positioned to start cranking) thus reducing the internal angles the line has to flow through .

the other thing is the fixed anti-reverse ,as the reels was origanal designed for heavier lines ,so was the drag but as most british anglers had discovered they was great for quickfire match fishing where its single handed operation ment you could feed while casting with the reel & controlling the line release/flow .but the drag wasn't sufficant too work with the finer lines matchmen used so the anti reverse pawl was removed to allow backwinding which was much when handling smaller fish (less than 5lbs) once done it ,the reels was a real pleasure to use .

most favoured was the 501's & 506's but the larger 507's with its wider spools was king of the c/fs as its wider spool gave even better line release/flow but if only it came with a shallow spool ,well there was a birmingham tackle shop that made some and the legend complete ,well it was untill they fell out of favour as people moved away from river fishing ,as like centrepins closed faced reels where effectivly one trick pony's ,ie trotting .they was more adaptable in some other area's than centrepins but couldn't compete with the jack of all trades open faced reels .

closed faced reels are one of my prefered waggler reels & secondary choice for trotting as they fill the gaps in the centrepins armour ,and my other prefered choice reels are my mitchells (410's) as they cover most of my ledgering needs ,leaving my baitrunners for heavy ledgering and big fish angling.

I started with a 506 in the 70s still very much used my river match anglers.

I bought a 506M many years ago (about 35). I still have it though I haven't used it for a long time. Initially I was a bit disappointed. It felt a bit 'empty' and I remember thinking why did I pay so much for this reel. Bear in mind that I was, by this time, used to the very solid feeling Mitchell 410. I did get used to it eventually and came to love it. I may get another one some day and start using them a bit more again.

There was one of the barbel masters of the 70's used a 506 (or 506M) regularly on the Severn. I am afraid I cannot remember for sure who it was but it may have been Trefor West. I do recall watching him on a VHS video using it quite successfully.

Kevanf1, I think the man you are referring to was the old 'Meat Master' himself.....Ron Lees.

Well known for his liking for luncheon meat and closed face reels. He won a lot of matches on the Severn in the 1960's and 1970's. Legered meat was his calling card for the prolific head of smallish Barbel in the Holt Fleet stretch of the Severn, when it was in flood or just highish. He was a very good angler on the Stick and Waggler but it was his use of the meat that gave him 'fame.' He dropped out of the match scene, losing his competitive edge, due to age and with the arrival of the pole, a method he did not like in the 1980's. A great character of his time though!

By the way Trefor West likes or liked, as he may have changed since I last saw him many years ago, the Cardinal 54 the little brother to the legendary 55. Both are 'open faced' Fixed Spool Reels with very good clutches for the time.

I hope this has helped?

Mole Power!!!

Moley wrote:Kevanf1, I think the man you are referring to was the old 'Meat Master' himself.....Ron Lees.


I hope this has helped?

Mole Power!!!

It has indeed, Moley comes to the rescue again Yes, it was Ron Lees, I can remember it now. It think it was something like Clean River Productions? There was a whole series of them with Ron and some with love him or hate him Des Taylor. I think there was one or two with Trefor West which is why I got confumbulated