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Thread: Did I damage my spinning reel?

  1. #1
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    Default Did I damage my spinning reel?


    Put in a couple of good hours trolling this morning. Very productive, but at one point I think I might have damaged one of my reels.

    You know the sound your reel makes when a fish hits and drags line off the spool? Or you manually pull off a few extra feet? It's that rapid click-click-click sound. This reel is not making that sound anymore. I've loosened and tightened the drag a couple of times but to no effect.

    The drag still feels the same. I can loosen or tighten the drag and get the amount of pressure I want. But that sound is gone. And I've come to rely on the sound if I'm not looking at the rod tip.

    Any ideas?

    Thanks!

  2. #2
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    The clicker broke. Depending on the reel you might be able to order a new one and install it or take it to a good reel repair shop. Just think when you were a kid and you clothespinned playing card to the spokes of your bike to make a sound like a motor. That's what the clicker is. They often break even on better reels. It won't change the function of your reel at all, you just won't really know whats going on with your drag. I find it very disconcerting myself. I need the click.
    Good things come to those who bait.


  3. #3
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    Thanks GRIZZ. I thought it was something like that. I hope Eagle Claw sells spare parts, and at a reasonable price.

  4. #4
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    If it's a cheap reel your out of luck. You are better of just getting something new. The cost will be close to the same. Take a look at the newest lower end Shimanos. Solstace FI or Sienna FD. Pay careful attention to the letters at the end because shimano has been making changes to the very newest reels that make them the equivalent of the shimano reels I used to spend over $100 for. These are only $30 or $40 dollar reels that will blow the doors off what you have. Get them somewhere that moves a lot of reels so the stock is fresh from the factory. Grab a reel, open the bail, slowly move the bail up to the trip without tripping it. Once the bail is up against the trip try to trip the bail by force, not momentum. If it trip easily, its one of the newer ones, if it locks up put it back on the shelf and look elsewhere.

    I am hard to impress when it comes to reels. They have to be the whole package regardless of cost. These new Shimanos are the whole package even at that price. Frankly, I have never seen better reels in that price range and they are the best inexpensive reels I have ever handled.
    Good things come to those who bait.


  5. #5
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    I can't fish when clicker breaks...it drives me nuts. Fishing with 2# test I have to know when the fish is pulling drag. GRIZZ is right about the Shimanos....but I also own the new Pflueger Supreme XT along with the Stradic from Shimano. I actually prefer the Pflueger for my Crappie fishing as it takes in about 10 inches less line on one turn of the handle than the Shimano...but I love them both. I am both a Shimano man.....and since the new Pfluegers came out I use them also.

    Regards

  6. #6
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    Pflueger is really doing nice work with their higher end reels. I am so tempted to get a new patriarch. That brand new supreme looks interesting too. Anyone had their hand on it yet or the new president?
    Good things come to those who bait.


  7. #7
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    GRIZZ...I first bought a Supreme XT for my great nephew for his graduation in May. It was the 25 model for UL fishing. Then I bought myself one about 2 weeks later. Then my nephew...the father of the great nephew...bought 2 Supreme XT's a week later....LOL. Before that all of us were strictly Shimano guys. The new Pfluegers are really worth the money. I have fished mine all summer and it has performed flawlessly. The drag is as smooth as any reel I have ever fished. I don't want to get tied down to one brand...you can get a bad apple in any barrel. I will get the new Supreme XT in the 30 series on Black Friday....and knowing myself like I do I am sure I will also go ahead and order the Patriarch in the 25 series. I also plan on getting a new Sustain. All I do is fish..it basically is my life. I will tell you that the Supreme XT does not lay the line down on the reel like a Stradic dose...but it is not a problem. It is mostly aesthetics.

    Regards

  8. #8
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    Try taking the spool off of reel and take a look underneath to see what exactly is going on. Clicker pawl spring could have broken, grease or foreign body build up, spool clicker pawl out of alignment with spool shaft sprocket. Lots of things can cause the click to stop. Pay attention to the order of the drag washers inside the spool center when removing spool and you should be able to figure out why the clicker has stopped. When reassembling the spool spin it slowly by hand onto the spool shaft. Somtimes this will cause the spool to seat into place with the clicker pawl and sprocket alligned correctly. If the spring or clicker pawl underneath the spool is not broken it should start to click again when reassembled.
    Owner - Russell's Reel Service - 618-252-0760 - Service, repair and parts for all brands of fishin' reels.
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  9. #9
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    Many thanks for the suggestions! Here's my plan in If-Then order (If that doesn't work, Then...:D)

    1. Try ReelMan's recommended trouble shooting. I have the schematic but doubt it's the click gear (to be the click gear would mean sheering off every tooth on the gear; highly unlikely). Here's a photo of the inside of my extra spool from my Eagle Claw GUN-20 (same brand but the broken one is a lower-end model):

    Name:  GUN-20 inner spool.jpg
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    The arrows point to what I think is the click cawl and/or spring ReelMan refers to. It certainly looks like the bicycle clicker that GRIZZ mentioned. (BTW, it looks like the drag washers are a separate assembly held in place in the front of the spool by a retainer clip, i.e. I shouldn't have to take the drag assembly apart to service the clicker cawl/spring)

    2. Send it back to Eagle Claw under warranty repair.

    3. Save up for a Shimano recommended by GRIZZ.

    Oddly enough, I don't mind options 1 and 3. If I have send it back to Eagle Claw (option 2) I'll probably just wait until the snow flies.

    Still open to other options and ideas...
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  10. #10
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    What does the clicker look like on the broken one? Is it obviously broken? From the looks of that one, it could just be a spring, and if your handy you may be able to fix it. If not you'll know what it is and you can just order an overpriced, but probably still pretty cheap replacement from a reel parts place or Eagle Claw, that is if they even bother to have replacement parts.
    Good things come to those who bait.


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