[levellinebrad]

Last fall I got the hankering for a 9' rod so I bought a Tsunami 9 foot from flemings candy shop. The plan was to put another Akios cts on it but Tommy was out goofing off in the surf and it would be a week before he could ship me one. Since we were leaving for cape lookout in a few days, I ended up buying a daiwa saltist levelwind. I can cast it pretty well most of the time but I definitely get more blow ups and I'm thinking it's the levelwind that causing it. I'm not a great caster but I very rarely get blow ups with the akios even when trying to hit the moon. I'm wondering if I could just take the levelwind off or if I should sell it and buy another non levelwind. What say ye ol gear gurus?

 

[Jollymon]

Sell it or set aside for when you need it,

Get the Akios or my favorite Avet .

 

[DaBig2na]

So you waited until the last minute to run buy something and you ended up buying something you shouldn't have.
Now you're stuck with it. Taking the level wind out is not a good idea. Last time i was in Fleming they had a few silver Saltist level winds .. Levelwinds are useless for surfcasting! Unless you striper fish in Lake Norman I don't know what to tell ya. If you take the level wind out you will have some ugly holes where the bar was. Not Tommys fault he was fishing... I saw him that week actually, he was lucky enough to park that chevy beside a Ford.

You probably should have bought that 12' Tsunami Trophy xh he has on the bottom shelf also. A 9' rod is kida short especially if you're planning on getting the full benefit of the Akios. Fleming can order almost anything and have it in a week.

 

[Garboman]

Last fall I got the hankering for a 9' rod so I bought a Tsunami 9 foot from flemings candy shop. The plan was to put another Akios cts on it but Tommy was out goofing off in the surf and it would be a week before he could ship me one. Since we were leaving for cape lookout in a few days, I ended up buying a daiwa saltist levelwind. I can cast it pretty well most of the time but I definitely get more blow ups and I'm thinking it's the levelwind that causing it. I'm not a great caster but I very rarely get blow ups with the akios even when trying to hit the moon. I'm wondering if I could just take the levelwind off or if I should sell it and buy another non levelwind. What say ye ol gear gurus?

Open it up to see if the Brakes are installed. I think your blowups are because no brakes installed.

Level wind device will slow it down if anything, not cause blowups. I have ABU 5500's and they cast just fine with level winds.

We took the level winds off ABU 7000's back in the Day, I still have mine and may send them off to hookless for the bar conversion, which gets the bar out of the way of your thumb.

7000 ABU is a great casting reel and with smoothy drag washers installed makes decent Drum reel.

 

[Guest]

I have the same reel. Are u getting full blown spool over-runs or crack offs? Crack offs and blow ups could indicate the first guide on the rod is positioned to close to the reel. With that and the levelwind being positioned to far on either end of the reel will put a hic-up in the initial punch/pull when casting. I assume a 9' rod has an eye fairly close to the reel and the spool width of a 30 size would make for a really bad angle.
I've noticed with these synchronized levelwinds is when spooling or re-rigging make sure the line is feeding on and off the spool in harmony with the levelwind. Whenever u engage or disengage the reel the level wind will go back in the opposite direction. If never keeps continually going with the flow of the line. Mine casts great.... Not near as good as an open top BG but fair. No brakes or static magging. But I keep a keen eye on the levelwind and its relationship to the line direction on the spool. I have the 20. Musky guys love em for there casting, speed, and crankin power but I'm sure that will change soon when they find out about the magged akios with levelwind. I just got one. Gonna make a sweet pluggin reel. You can also static mag that saltist. Real easy to do and reversible

 

[levellinebrad]

So you waited until the last minute to run buy something and you ended up buying something you shouldn't have.
Now you're stuck with it. Taking the level wind out is not a good idea. Last time i was in Fleming they had a few silver Saltist level winds .. Levelwinds are useless for surfcasting! Unless you striper fish in Lake Norman I don't know what to tell ya. If you take the level wind out you will have some ugly holes where the bar was. Not Tommys fault he was fishing... I saw him that week actually, he was lucky enough to park that chevy beside a Ford.

You probably should have bought that 12' Tsunami Trophy xh he has on the bottom shelf also. A 9' rod is kida short especially if you're planning on getting the full benefit of the Akios. Fleming can order almost anything and have it in a week.

Yep. I knew I was making a mistake when I bought it. I talked to Tommy while he was out there and he was going to hook me up with one if I would come to Hatteras. Time was a little short and I couldn't do it. I may just keep it for the wife, I don't think she would like a non levelwind and she's starting to enjoy fishing. Well, she enjoys reeling them in. I'll just get another Akios from Tommy and put it on something, not sure yet what. I've got the other akios on a 12'8 4-8oz and was looking for something a little shorter than that but longer than my 7'6" rod. Maybe a 10' 1-4oz with a 555? I'm not sure what I need to get.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[levellinebrad]

Last fall I got the hankering for a 9' rod so I bought a Tsunami 9 foot from flemings candy shop. The plan was to put another Akios cts on it but Tommy was out goofing off in the surf and it would be a week before he could ship me one. Since we were leaving for cape lookout in a few days, I ended up buying a daiwa saltist levelwind. I can cast it pretty well most of the time but I definitely get more blow ups and I'm thinking it's the levelwind that causing it. I'm not a great caster but I very rarely get blow ups with the akios even when trying to hit the moon. I'm wondering if I could just take the levelwind off or if I should sell it and buy another non levelwind. What say ye ol gear gurus?

Open it up to see if the Brakes are installed. I think your blowups are because no brakes installed.

Level wind device will slow it down if anything, not cause blowups. I have ABU 5500's and they cast just fine with level winds.

We took the level winds off ABU 7000's back in the Day, I still have mine and may send them off to hookless for the bar conversion, which gets the bar out of the way of your thumb.

7000 ABU is a great casting reel and with smoothy drag washers installed makes decent Drum reel.

I'll definitely check the brakes. I can't remember if I took that one apart after I bought it or not. Thanks

 

[levellinebrad]

I have the same reel. Are u getting full blown spool over-runs or crack offs? Crack offs and blow ups could indicate the first guide on the rod is positioned to close to the reel. With that and the levelwind being positioned to far on either end of the reel will put a hic-up in the initial punch/pull when casting. I assume a 9' rod has an eye fairly close to the reel and the spool width of a 30 size would make for a really bad angle.
I've noticed with these synchronized levelwinds is when spooling or re-rigging make sure the line is feeding on and off the spool in harmony with the levelwind. Whenever u engage or disengage the reel the level wind will go back in the opposite direction. If never keeps continually going with the flow of the line. Mine casts great.... Not near as good as an open top BG but fair. No brakes or static magging. But I keep a keen eye on the levelwind and its relationship to the line direction on the spool. I have the 20. Musky guys love em for there casting, speed, and crankin power but I'm sure that will change soon when they find out about the magged akios with levelwind. I just got one. Gonna make a sweet pluggin reel. You can also static mag that saltist. Real easy to do and reversible

I'll have to measure those guides. I'm still pretty new to surf fishing and surf fishing gear. Thanks

 

[DaBig2na]

I think a woman can easily handle 11' rod...I had Lamiglass G1000 built specifically built for that purpose. I put an Avet SX MC cast on it. Last woman to use it caught eight Garbos on it in the course of a day. She caught her first Drum on it the week before.

 

[Guest]

There is no brakes. Just a fast boat reel. There is alot of info available for static magging. Some guys do it to these reels and only costs a few bucks and a few mins time. I've looked into it but have never done a reel so I can't vouch for any additional control it may offer.