re: Electric Reels

Aint gonna be popular AT all but.....I have 4 electra mates on Penn 9/0s on straight guide fiberglass rods, straight butt, with swivel tips. They are about 50 ish years old. I have redone the electra mates COMPLETELY. I have owned them for about 20 years. All in I have about $200 in the 4 of them. They ain't automatic, don't have a jig function, but they will winch up a 10 pound queen snapper or a 50 pound grouper 1000 feet as good as any electric reel. I have caught truckloads of fish with these reels. The only thing I do not like is the straight butt but there are ways around that.


I used one of these for years off Stuart as a kite rod. I have used them as downriggers BUNCHES of times. Folks scoff at them....I have been on boats and had people on my boat that had very nice electric reels and when we got back to the hill we had caught about the same weight. They ain't pretty, they are heavy as hell but they are flat out bullet proof and if something does go wrong they are like a ford tractor...you can fix them with a 16d nail and some bailing wire. They are readily available on ebay for around $300. A $100 80 pound road and $100 worth of braid and youre in business for about half the price of a daiwa without the rod and the line. I understand in the era of Sitka and $1000 waders an electr-mate is a joke but they ain't a joke at catching weight....