Reels to match 9ft rods

[Chris87]

Morning!

New user here, joined on the back of searching online and stumbling across your forum

Im a relatively novice carp angler, having recently been using 8ft sonik xtractor recons paired with sonik vader 6000fs reels for a couple of years

I have now upgraded to 9ft insurgent rods after finding a blinding deal on an auction on ebay. 

My wife has surprised me with a trip to France this year with couple of my friends for a week with chances to catch bigger carp. 
 

Therefore i’m looking to purchase some decent reels plenty capable of some larger fish on the chance of hooking one.
 

Im going to the essex carp show next weekend and ideally looking for relatively light reels for max £200 per reel if possible,

so far shortlist has been;

shimano 5500 xtd or ci4 - are the ci4 worth the extra £?

nash scope gt6000 - although these seem to be sold out everywhere 

daiwa emblem 35 - but not sure if id want these as they seem heavy by comparison to previous options 

Thanks

 

[framey]

Why not use the old reels if you are happy with them 

 

few examples to look at 

daiwa ninja range

daiwa ss2600

daiwa gs4000

okuma reels also get good write ups 

[Chris87]

Thanks for the reply, was looking to upgrade them if i’m honest - plus while the wife lets me and I’m going to the carp show it seems prime opportunity as theres often some bargains. Its quite packed there previously so wanted a shortlist of what to keep eye out for

I see a lot of good reviews on the okuma inception 6000s. I guess I want to ensure the reels are up to the task if im lucky enough to hook a good fish and I’ll be honest I don’t have a great knowledge of what is required - hence coming on to forums to get opinions 

 

cheers

[framey]

I think if you stick to the named brands you won’t go far wrong 

I have a mix of everything from 

 daiwa shimano fox and okuma sonik wychwood and never had any troubles with any of them 

[elmoputney]

 Okumas are brilliant reels  tbh, I use 8k although they might be a little bulky for you,but the inc6000 do get a lot of good write ups, @B B has some I believe, he likes nice reels, I don't think you would go far wrong with a set of those tbh 

[salokcinnodrog]

10 hours ago, Leggs87 said:

Morning!

New user here, joined on the back of searching online and stumbling across your forum

Im a relatively novice carp angler, having recently been using 8ft sonik xtractor recons paired with sonik vader 6000fs reels for a couple of years

I have now upgraded to 9ft insurgent rods after finding a blinding deal on an auction on ebay. 

My wife has surprised me with a trip to France this year with couple of my friends for a week with chances to catch bigger carp. 
 

Therefore i’m looking to purchase some decent reels plenty capable of some larger fish on the chance of hooking one.
 

Im going to the essex carp show next weekend and ideally looking for relatively light reels for max £200 per reel if possible,

so far shortlist has been;

shimano 5500 xtd or ci4 - are the ci4 worth the extra £?

nash scope gt6000 - although these seem to be sold out everywhere 

daiwa emblem 35 - but not sure if id want these as they seem heavy by comparison to previous options 

Thanks

 

Welcome to carp.com

Your reels are fine. Don't be conned you need to upgrade every few years. My advice is use your gear to destruction, until you NEED to upgrade.

I have some Shimano Aerlex 8000's I bought in 2003 that I still use for fishing and spodding. They actually cope better than some newer reels.

I also have Shimano DL's I purchased in 2010'ish, still being used for pike fishing. My Shimano Beastmasters must be 5 or 6 years old.

 

The one thing you might find, is that the current trend for 8/9ft rods don't cover everything. Your casting distance might be compromised. A longer rod (within reason) casts further than a shorter rod.

Just a point of note, most of the Sonik items I bought have not stood up to Nick normal use/abuse.

Sonik SK-Tec recliner that the extending legs retract under any weight, Sonik Vader rods where guides  have dropped or broken rings.

I use my gear regularly, no other rods by Rod Hutchinson, Century, Shimano, Daiwa, Shakespeare or even Dragon have had eyes break. The one exception was a rod guide on an Abu rod where spodding with braid grooved the tip and butt rings.

It may pay to think about upgrading/upsizing your rods for France or larger waters in UK to 12feet.

 

 

[B B]

Iv got a set of Okuma 6000s use them on my ESP 10ft’s had a crazy catfish in the low 20s and the reels were fine you’d have no trouble handling a big carp on them. They come with a 5 year guarantee the line lay is great and a nice drag have a play with one when your at the show 

And welcome to the Forum 👍
g

Edited January 20, 2023 by B B

[Chris87]

Thanks for the advice all, admittedly I caught my first catfish on my old setup at a lake I visited for a few hours and i thought at first it was a new pb! Turned out to be a lively 16lb 8oz catfish. So still a pb for me 😀

Ive had no issues with sonik as such, i have a lot of their gear, bar an issue with one of the side support poles on their axs bivvy which was bent but i didnt notice until i put my bivvy up weeks after an ebay purchase. I contacted sonik direct and to my surprise they sent out a replacement free of charge which arrived the next day without asking for proof of purchase! Blew me away - personally never had customer service that good. 
 

I definitely want to change my reels regardless, so will check out the okuma and shimanos as the nash look like they’ll be impossible to get anyway. My bro, and most of my fishing buddies all have shimano dls and swear by them but I was hoping for a lighter reel, after using my recons with light reels I personally wasn't keen on the feel of the 12fts with DLs when I helped a friend by striking a fish on his setup.