Non-Levelwind Reels for Copper?

[ReelPower]

Gents,

Picked up an Okuma CV 55 ss bidding online but DUH forgot the check to see if it had a levelwind. It doesn't. It has an open spool.

I'm rigging up a couple of copper rods for this season so copper newbie here.

Have any of you used the open spool non-levelwind reels for copper? Opinions?

I was thinking about 450' copper and 300 yds. power pro on the CV 55 ss.

Should I re-sell it? Use it? Thanks in advance for any advice.

Jarrett

[A-TOM-MIK]

Jarrett,

Nothing beats the simplicity of a line winder on a level-wind

However I know of a few anglers who do use the non-line winder type level-winds

One friend of mine has this special bobbin type rubber thingy he puts on his thumb, he has mastered the art and does quite well

I know of two other incidents which were brought up to me through the years where anglers lost fish

- One customer of ours said he used this type reel and had good luck for an entire season until one day when he had the fish close to the boat (during the heat of the battle) and forgot to continue the process of using his thumb and the leader dug down into the copper (something I rarely hear of with line winder models), the line bound up and the fish took one last run and away it went as the leader snapped

- Another incident was during a LOC event when again in the heat of the moment the angler wasn't evenly spooling the copper and the reel loaded up on one side and jammed at the swivel to the leader, thus resulting in a possible lost placing LOC fish as he claimed the fish was large (typical, but hey you never know)

So, chances are you could be fine, but with the limited time many anglers get to spend on the big water and also the slender chances of taking that fish of a life-time (what copper will yield from time to time) why take the chance?

If you have many days to put in and don't mind the added burden then you'll be fine, to each is own

HIH

Tom

[rolmops]

I have used my Penn Senators 112 and 113 with copper and single strand monel wire,mostly trolling/jigging for striped bass in Cape Cod Bay. It is just a matter of getting used to,but the level wind is a lot easier to work with.

[ReelPower]

Thanks guys...it looks like a solid reel and the as spool is nice but perhaps better for bottom fishing.

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[gotaway]

ReelPower

I use that same setup for my 450 copper...I have 4 reels that are non levelwind.....It didn't take long to get used to it...but...when someone else is on the rod, reminders are needed or what A-Tom-Mik detailed will happen.............If you're going to sell it let me know what you want for it

Joe

[Fishtails]

Tom raises some good points. My first two copper setups were non level wind Diawa Sealine 400h & 600h reels. They worked very well and never had any problem, you just get used to using your thumb and it comes pretty naturally. The thing you need to watch out for is to not load the reel too close to capacity. If you, or someone on your boat doesn't spread the copper out evenly when reeling in a fish and your reel is close to capacity the reel will get full on

one side and jam up before you get the fish to the boat. At that point you hand line it in or thumb the fish back out and crank it back in.

Experience talking..lol

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