Elite in regular use?

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Cat
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Elite in regular use?

Post by Cat »

Evening All,
Trying to focus on 'other' matters, so I was wondering if anyone has used, or uses an Elite on a regular basis, and what are their experiences?
I'm going to line mine up for this season... luckily it's one with the metal (albeit monkey metal methinks) main gear, but with a shallow spool (need to find a deeper one at some point).
Regards Cat

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Tonkin Wand
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Re: Elite in regular use?

Post by Tonkin Wand »

Always a plentiful supply of spares and used reels at all sources. I have used and enjoyed this model but as all Morritts reels they were made for a price market. You dont say what the target species is to be.What is the Elite is to be used for. Give it a chance to prove itself.The handles and alloy castings and want withstand abuse, but I have found them a very acceptable reel.There are at least two models labeled "Elite" so be sure of the interchange of parts.

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Michael
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Re: Elite in regular use?

Post by Michael »

I've had one since a nipper and one I inherited from my late Father. I did have a third, but I dropped it on the concrete edge of a canal and the body shattered. I've always liked the collapsible bail arm...

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Cat
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Re: Elite in regular use?

Post by Cat »

I think it's actually engraved 'Not for Carp'! If I use a Morrits for larger species, it's a Continental; actually an excellent reel...worm gear, strong and simple.
I have a few Elites, but only one good spool that is complete with 'pipe cleaner', and all with plastic gearing.

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Stingray
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Re: Elite in regular use?

Post by Stingray »

I use Elites fairly regularly and find them good quality and really good value when they were released with the caveat that they are a bit more mechanically complex than is good for them. The three-way ratchet was always a potential issue and even though the second version of the Elite improved the ratchet quite a lot it remained somewhat fragile mechanically (not the pawl itself but the mechanism) and is a common failure in these reels: I have had a couple of dozen and about a third of them have had one ratchet issue of another. The bale fold mechanism is also something that was radically changed from the 1st version Elite to the later and, again, the 2nd incarnation improves on the first but the bale-fold is the other feature which is liable to mechanical problems. For me the elite would have been a much better reel with a simple ratchet and no bale-fold which is indeed the way Intrepid reels went from thence forward pretty much excepting the Cresta, another big sea reel like the Surfcast in which all those bits worked well.

PS. Part of the design problem (for want of a better term) with the Elite, particularly with the first version, lies in its origin as a shrunken version of the original Intrepid Surfcast: mechanisms which were excellent in the much larger Surfcast were more delicate and fragile in the Elite. Surfcast reliable; Elite not as much.
Last edited by Stingray on Fri Mar 20, 2020 4:17 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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Catfish.017
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Re: Elite in regular use?

Post by Catfish.017 »

I use several models of Morritts reels starting with an early Standard coupled with my 9' three piece boys rod. Next is a Classic, the first reel I ever owned, not the actual one as this didn't withstand reeling a 4 oz lead and a trio of nice Dabs up onto Mumbles Pier! This matches nicely with several lighter rods. An Elite goes with my various Avon rods as does the Continental which as Cat says has the best 'innards' Finally a couple of Supremes go on the Carp rods, a nod to Fred J Taylor who used one with his Mk1v.

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Cat
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Re: Elite in regular use?

Post by Cat »

Now, that really has reminded me that I have a couple of Supremes that need to be stripped and serviced. Both have plastic gears (did they produce any with a metal gear I wonder?). What are they like to use?
I agree Stingray that the Elite is fiddly, in particularly the ratchet of whichever design.
I bet no one now uses a Black Prince unless for a bet!

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Stingray
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Re: Elite in regular use?

Post by Stingray »

Cat wrote: Thu Mar 19, 2020 8:58 pm Now, that really has reminded me that I have a couple of Supremes that need to be stripped and serviced. Both have plastic gears (did they produce any with a metal gear I wonder?). What are they like to use?
I agree Stingray that the Elite is fiddly, in particularly the ratchet of whichever design.
I bet no one now uses a Black Prince unless for a bet!
The Supreme never had a metal gear. I like the Supreme: full featured, full size reel. A friend of mine always swore by them for Carp and Pike. A point re plastic gears: I've never had a problem with them.

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Beresford
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Re: Elite in regular use?

Post by Beresford »

I had one about 40 years ago unfortunately a lively Irish pike caused it to totally fail. I also had Black Prince that I hated even when I was first given it aged eight. It was terrible even then. I replaced it with a Mitchell 320 as soon as I could get my hands on one.

Ever since the Elite failed I've used various Mitchell reels and the Hardy Altex. Honestly nothing would convince me to ever use an Elite again when, for me at least, there are far better options.
The Split Cane Splinter Group

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Catfish.017
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Re: Elite in regular use?

Post by Catfish.017 »

For me there are few if any occasions during a fishing season where I feel I need my equipment to be super efficient. Indeed part of my traditional angling ethos is putting myself in the shoes of our counterparts of say the 1930's 1950's when whatever was available would be pressed into service. I often fish a little Crucian pool in Summer using an ancient Greenheart Flyrod, a type of rod recommended for the purpose by several angling writers of that period. Even my Intrepids are too 'modern' for that scenario, I use an old pressed steel centrepin sometimes with silk line and real Gut hook lengths! For every thing else my Intrepids are perfectly adequate. The only problem I ever encountered was with my first Supreme on which the 'Flyer' bush was rather worn. I hooked a good Barbel using it one day on the Wye. The pressure this fish exerted caused the 'Flyer' to tilt on its shaft and lock periodically . Over the next few months I bought three more Supremes, finally getting a good one with no wear on the bush. I built another decent one using parts from the other three and of course I have a ready stock of spares available for any mishap. The only other reel I use regularly is a Mitchell 304, a truly excellent reel and the lightest of all the traditional fixed spools.

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