Thank you. Very good stuff on the reels. Your explanation of line capacity, years of usage info, mechanics, breakdowns and maintenance makes it a "LEGITIMATE review". None of that "I took it out of the box last week and fished with it twice, so now I'll give you a review." You gave us a comprehensive review of your years of experience in 16:46 minutes. Much appreciated!

"I ain't in no mood for no dogs"...I need that on a t-shirt!

Can you make a new video like this with your recommended rods and reels for 2023? I would really appreciate it and I’m sure many others would as well!

Thank You for your recommendations Dave, you answered my reel question again.

Awesome video. I'm reel shopping right now. This helped out a lot. Thanks Dave have a great day.

Dave you been missed thanks for coming back

Awesome video my friend. Lots of great information.

One of the best review/comparison of conventional reels I’ve seen so far. Thank-you for making this video. Helps with my online purchase decision.

Catfish dave i have to say you got me into the non level style reel ive bought a few old penn reels from the 30s and 40s and i love them what iam running on my catfish rods just amazing they still work like new just needed a lil tlc

Just ordered a Diawa Seagate 35H & A longitude 12 ft surf rod you were using in another one of your videos. I bank fish here in Kentucky and appreciate all the information & knowledge you throw out!

Great breakdown of reels.👍

Thank you for sharing that info my brother. Great video.

Thank you for all you do man love your channel

I still enjoy my 7700 Abu and my 9'6 Heavy action Whisker Seeker for big cats. Eating size I use my Abu R60hc Record reels. I have several of the Abu Pro Max 6500 solid framed reels from 92-93 still going strong. I don't do the huge fish much. I like to eat catfish and crappy. Love watching you wind them in thought!!

Thanks again Dave. I'm trying to decide what to buy for getting bigger Catfish here in Minnesota. I have all the gear for regular fishing in Minnesota. I subscribed, and enjoy your videos.

Thanks Dave for telling me about your red wagon. I bought one and it works great

Love your videos Do a video explaining the navionics app and where you would fish on the river please

Good review, thanks, Dave. I bought a Seagate 50H for sturgeon and was so pleasantly surprised by how nicely it casts for a big reel, the power, and ruggedness.

Great video keep them coming

The weather should be cooling down Catfish Dave I bet your happy Love your video's your the very best at what you do !!!

That channel was perfect eater size ;) All my spinning reels are Daiwa minus one Penn. Had really good luck with their low profile casting reels, too.

You've got a lot of great videos & equipment reviews! Another feature I've found necessary for CASTING is to have a stiff-enough rod. A sloppy - too soft - rod will fail to propel the sinker fast enough to keep up with the spin-speed of the reel. When that happens, even good thumbing skills may not save the caster from a backlash/overrun .

Thanks for sharing the info

I’m with you dave on those reels ,, the one thing that I will not fish with is a reel that does not have a loud clicker ,, that is the single most important thing on a reel , right up here with a smooth drag.

I take your advice and i catch monster's too. Thanks Dave

Thanks Dave for sharing

thank you for the reel info

That was some reely good casts. Was up your way last week to purchase a solo skiff and thought I was going to feel some nice cool air. NOT 100 degrees Talk was there was a geyser shooting up from between Dollies hoo............

Thanks for the great info today brother :)

Thanks for a very informative video. I have considered getting reels without a level wind but I couldn't understand how to control the line when reeling in. Now I know and I'll be buying some

Nice reels. I like the them daiwa I have one but mine has the slider. I don't think I've tryed one without for a while. It was a old one thou. I also have few okama reels one has the line counter I like them so I can find a hole that's getting bites. I think my daiwa has counter also. But I got mine for trolen up in mich. But I've used catfishing I like them. But spinner are my fav. But thank you. Been great watching and seeing your reels. You have a good weekend sir. God bless

Hey Dave... we use a lot of conventional reels here in HI..... we turn off the clicker when we cast ( longer distance ) and it’s off once we reel in ( fish or no fish ) .....the clicker is usually the last parts of the reel that needs to be replaced....yeah it may help with backlash when throwing but it cuts down distance a lot ... we’ve done it that way for so long that it’s not even a problem.... my best advice is to wet your spool of line before casting and thumb the edge of the spool to prevent line burn on thumb....

Definitely respect this video. So far my ambassadors are good stuff. I did get them new

Great job catfish Dave keep up the great work

Thanks for the info. 👍🏼

I had a Sealine 50 back in the 80s that I used for sturgeon and striper on the west coast . It was all aluminum housing back then and it would cast a country mile too on my 11ft Diawa surf rod with the folding big eye! Was a great setup, it got stolen...

The catfish Dave sausage biscuit. I like that idea!!

great Video..thanks for the "real" reel talk, great info,...and I ain't in no mood for a dog's or people!

You know the dogs pester you because throw all that fresh fish on the ground. Lol. It is a pleasure watching you cast and make it look so easy with a bait caster. Cheers

Everyone has there own preferences when it comes to reels. I love my Tennessee orange abu Garcia rockets

I have a bunch of Newell reels that I started buying in the 1980s at that time they were the state of the art to this day Newell is all I use along with Penn

Appreciate all the info

Alright Dave. You talked me into trying one of them dagblasted Daiwa’s. Have used Abu Garcia’s for 40 years but what the heck. Will give the Saltist a shot

I have the saltist 50 and i love it. I picked it up new on ebay for $189 new. Great video dave 👍

Thank you Dave, I bought the seagate 40 and was about sell it because it didn't have the level wind. I guess I will give it try, just not used to that.

I have four original Sweden made Abu Garcia 6500's I bought in 1992-1994. Two of them are just now starting to show some wear and tear. (drag plates wearing some and anti- reverse wearing) Both still work and the clickers are still fine and have caught many fish both fresh and saltwater. Just got to take care of them with a little TLC after each trip which in real life means a little oil after 5 or 6 fresh water trips and EVERY saltwater trip. I have heard some of the new Garcia's are made in china and suck but some of the round reels are still made in Sweden. Make sure you get the Sweden made.

Well. After I looked that new reel you got is 6.4:1 so you got me by .1. On a side note. I just ordered 2 seagates off eBay for $124 a reel. I’ll be leaving the little licking river and fishing the mighty Ohio next season. Time to step it up.

Damn Dave you ain't lying😎👍

Those are some nice set ups Dave! Thank you for the stats on them sir👍 I’m gonna try one of those, I’ve always been a García guy🎣

Very cool 😎 👍🏼

Another great one

Nice explanation of your gear preferences. If I'm not mistaken, the Saltist is an auto-engage reel. Meaning that you don't have to flip the lever by hand to engage the retrieve mechanism. Instead, when you turn the handle, the lever automatically flips and engages the retrieve gears. Really like Daiwa products. Thanks for sharing Dave!! Catch a Giant.

I’m such a tight ass I don’t even buy cheap baitcasters lol thanks for the video

I learned to use a reel like that (no line minder) by removing it from a reel. Didn't take long to learn to lay the line with my thumb but now and then I'd get excited and forget to do it.

You tthe man, Dave

Your right catfish Dave you get what u pay for .to all the broke guys stop being cheap save your money and if your married dont tell your wife its not any of her business any way

Thanks for the info!!!!

Hey, professor Dave welcome to the elite group of fisher-people who use fish-en buggies. Thanks for another great episode.

the 35h is your best, I like my my old Penn Squidder reels.

My next setup will include a 12 surf rod, ( i gotta rewatch your video describing your rods); and a daiwa 35 seagate or saltist.👍tight lines!

I havent fished for over 25 years, but when I was a kid in Missouri that's all I did. Wasnt much else to do where I lived. I'd get up at 4am and ride my bike almost 10 miles to catch fish and then ride back. Back then I used Zebco reels. The big ones for Cats and the smaller ones for everything else. Not exactly sure if I could figure out how to use the reels you are using, but if you (or anyone else) could recommend me a reel that I could probably figure out and heavy enough for 20lb (or bigger) cats Id sure appreciate it. I'm not even sure that Zebco makes good reels anymore and I dont have the money to buy stuff twice til I get it right. Thanks

Catfish Dave what do you think about Penn fishing reels saltwater reels and use them for freshwater fishing? I also have 18 surf rods and the smallest one is 11 foot the biggest one is 15 or 16 ft and I have about seven of them all except to have Shakespeare open face fishing reels and I have one that I have the Abu Garcia 7000 haven't had any problems with the Abu Garcia 7000 nor have I had any problems with the Penn fishing reel but to my surprise the Shakespeare open face fishing reels does me the same justice as the Abu Garcia 7000 or my Pen fishing reel what is your opinion your honest opinion about the Shakespeare open face fishing reels I also use 40 lb monofilament fishing line with a 80 lb leader and a 6 oz weight when I through my line out into the lake when I am bank fishing and It cast pretty darn far especially the Shakespeare's I don't know if you're familiar with Lake Texoma Denison Dam Spillway but if not look it up I can throw every single one of my fishing rods and reels from the Texas side over the wall will not over the wall but aiming towards the wall at an angle and I still go about 30 yards past that wall where the current breaks and them big blue sit right there waiting for bait and I have caught some humongous blue catfish and then I have to fight them in the current because sometimes the floodgates are open and that's usually when I cast towards the wall that divides Texas and Oklahoma and when I hook a 40 or 50 lb blue catfish I do have to walk down about a hundred yards or so to catch my fish and bring it to the rocks on the bank and I have also used my fishing rods when the floodgates are not open after they close them and Fish on the Texas side and I have caught big stripers and catfish and they hold up real nice my fishing reels do not get stripped the gears are fine I do keep the maintenance up on them I always oil them down and I replace my fishing line like after the 6th or 7th time that I go fishing depending on the size of fish that I've caught off of those lines because they stretch and they get them stress marks and that's how you lose a fish I've learnt that throughout the years that's why when I buy my fishing line I always buy the 1000 yards spool of fishing line and it's cheaper to me that way and I can get them in three or four different colors I can match them to the colors of my fishing rod builders and people ask me where I buy them I always tell them somewhere else where I don't buy them but they do stretch out real nice and I can put a lot of tension especially when I have to fish in the current and the line stretches because I've been hung up and I've had to walk back about 30 yards to break the line and that's going pretty daunting far backwards putting pressure on the line to break the line and of course once I do that I do respool my fishing reel because all my line gets tight I can still use it get a 6-oz way cast my line out as far as I can and really back in but because I stretched it 30 yards back I just replace the fishing line to prevent any hiccups and avoid losing a fish in case I get a giant one but give me your advice on that brother and I love your fishing reels they are badass I'm going to look into those I got the model numbers and the name brand and imma see if I can't get me one or two of those I like the second and third one that you showed and they're very similar except you said it was one bearing less and about the price is equivalent to the first fishing reel that you showed and share with us but thank you for sharing your knowledge about the fishing reels and the equipment that you use when you go fishing brother God bless you you are the best catfish fisherman on KZfaq ever I love your channel I love you the way you enter react with the viewers you are funny you have a great voice you can sing and you are a very patient man and anybody is going to fish off the bank for catfish has to have a lot of patience which tells me or at least I assume that you might be a little grouchy or you're not grouchy at all except maybe when you're fishing and you get frustrated Wyndham festy Gars come around and hit your bait or you catch a turtle like you have in a few occasions on your videos thank you for taking the time to make the video and share your video with us it takes a lot of time to edit the videos I am in the process of learning to edit the videos so I can upload V videos that I've have already I'm just waiting for my daughter-in-law to come to my house this weekend and I will unleash V videos 2 days apart and a 10-day time frame that way it gives the beers two days to look at each video I may go three days in between and stretch it out to 15 days and that'll give me enough time to go fishing again and edit another video and brother I did not know this equipment cost so much money I have invested already $2,500 and I am not done I may invest another $1,500 I want to buy the best to upload the best video and I have done my homework and I use my credit card and I hope with the views I can pay off that debt and I hope you will subscribe to my Channel Once I upload my videos I will let you know I'll send you a notification about it send you my KZfaq channel name and therefore you can watch my videos I also use skipjack cut shad and believe it or not I've been using boneless chicken breast to catch catfish for the last 10 years I seen a Vietnamese woman using boneless chicken breast and she was slaughtering the catfish and I was not catching nothing not off of skipjack not off of cut Shad Shad gizzard and I asked her if I can buy one full bonus chicken breast offer $15 for that one piece she said no and she was kind enough to give me that chicken breast and oh how quick did the catfish bite off the chicken breast I went to Walmart got me some chicken breast I replaced the chicken breast that she had gave me I gave her a pack and I use chicken breast for the rest of the night I caught a 76 pound Flathead which I released back I caught a 25 lb Flathead which I kept cuz my father wanted to keep it and I caught about 15 Blues the smallest one was about 5 and 7 pounds and the other ones which was about 11 of them Waze between 10 and 17 lb and the very last two one of them weighed 28.6 pounds and the last one that my father caught came in at a whopping 68.47 lb we release those two big blue catfish back into the water we took six of the smallest ones and the other ones weighed between 10 and 12 pounds and we kept nothing over 12 lb and we release the rest a lot of them were females and they were spawning and we kept only the males and we had a nice fish fry with the family and the grandkids DayZ update Oh yeah and when I was fishing for shad and Skip jacks and bluegills I landed for bluegills that weighed over a pound each I also kept those and between me and my wife we frame them up took the scales off got some corn meal with black pepper and salt and I battered those four big solid black with a big fat lumpy forehead bluegills that I've only seen them caught in Mexico and they call him the black African bluegills I'm just translating how they call them in Mexico by name into the English language and that's what it translate back to the big black African bull bluegills is exactly what they call them as a slang name . and I'm going to spell it out in Spanish for you maybe you can look this species up and maybe you can give me the right name for it in English so here it goes mr. catfish Dave I'm going to spell it out for you in Spanish and how they call the fish in Mexico and the name of them in Spanish so here it goes and then you can look it up on KZfaq or maybe you can Google it and there's actually two names and I'm going to share them with you and the first one is ( MOJARA AFRICANA ) and the second one is ( MOJARA HUARACONA PRIETA AFRICANA ) thank you and I hope you get back with me and give me the correct name that they are called in the United States of America and what they are really called by the name in English in the United States I've only seen them a few times on KZfaq but they just called him bluegills and these suckers get humongous they get bigger than a crappie they get like 16 to 18 in big and I have caught and 18 in black bull bluegill and I caught that bluegill out of a golf course in one of their ponds when I was fishing for largemouth bass and this sucker actually hit my spinnerbait and after I caught that one I went to Walmart got me some real red wigglers live worm got me some 4 lb test line and got me a bobber and I was fishing about 18 in deep and I slaughtered them big black African bull bluegills I caught roughly and approximately between me and my brother and my father about a hundred and sixty of them in about 5 hours and we had permission to fish that Golf Course ponds because my brother-in-law runs and manages that Golf Course and they've got some humongous largemouth bass and them pawns and we bring them home and we eat them my personal bass on a largemouth is 14 and a half pounds and it was a big one and between me and my wife we ate it I fellated I got me some cornmeal some black pepper with some songs and I better my fish up all I did was half my fish soaking in cold water with ice I took each one one by one out of the cold water put it in the bag shook the bag and threw it in the deep fryer and I ate every piece of that fish tell bones and all because it fried that well and that is the best fish as far as bluegill I have ever tasted and to me those particular bluegills are even better than black crappie or white crappie!!! I Am speech texting into my phone mr. Catfish Dave and I apologize for this long humongous comment I left behind and I'm probably will be going to get bashed on it but it's okay because this comment is for you and if anybody sends me a stupid ridiculous reply on this comment I am going to go off on them because I respect everybody's comments

Thanks for the information Dave! I have been using Abu 6600s for 3-4 years because that is what was recommended to me at the time. I have always made them work and really didn't have any other point of reference to make a comparison. I fish from a boat in the tidal waters of VA for blue cats. If I'm fishing the big rivers I don't need to cast far, but the fish are larger (40-80). That really gives the level wind parts (pawl) a workout. When I fish the Intercoastal Waterway tributaries I get the boat up tight to the bank and cast a good ways to the channel where the fish (15-40) hold up. Casting 2-3 oz. weights and reeling in 40 pound cats is killing these level-winds and my casting distance is suffering. I just checked out a Saltist 30H and could not believe the difference. That is a smooth reel and it seems bullet proof. I trained my thumb years ago on tuna, amberjack, and kings. We don't need no stanking level-wind! I guess I could have just taken the level wind off the Abus, but the Diawa reels are a night and day difference. I'm going to take it out on the water Tuesday and give it a trial run. If it works out like I think it will, I'll be getting another Saltist 30H and two Seagate 30Ws for my battery of 4 rods (2 med, 2 med-heavy). Thanks again for the info.

I only use the diawa sealine 250h from 1986! My dad has passed before he passed them down to me and I bought more secondhand! Even though it is a graphite frame, these reel will outlast any reel just like a Toyota Corolla!

Good to hear tech talk. I service my own reels and a few for my friends and it all made sense. Been quite a while since l've bought a new reel, usually just go to ebay, get a used one, then give it a good cleaning inside and out. l'll keep the Saltist, Seagate, and Sealine in mind. BTW, l'm very familiar with the area, my granddaughter lives in a subdivision across from Carl Cowan.

As always great vid very informative.

The biggest problem with the ambassador style reels is that the level wind does not disengage. It spins back and forth during cast. The new low profile does disengage. When Daiwa hit the lower gulf coast they cast so much better Penn had to come out with the hlw to sell anything. My favorite is 50H. Learn from long cast tournament casters.

When the level wind mechanism blows up, just take it off. Take off the pawl, worm gear, and you have a conventional reel. Good info here. Thanks Dave.

When it comes to low pro baitcasters and spinners I’m definitely a Shimano fanboy but I’ve been thinking about putting a legit cat fishing combo together to keep it brief u sold me on their quality my motto with mechanical stuff is I only wanna buy it once and cry once

Dave I managed to get my hands on an Daiwa Saltiga 30t for a decent price what are your thoughts on this reel, your opinion is valued,thanks for your time I'll be watching your videos.

good info

Muy excelente...Daiwa was my first BC, an HT1000 from the early 1980s and I still have a fully functional one that gets out for line light trout fishing during the cold weather months. Good stuff Catfish Dave.

That okumo is unreal I bought one watching these videos and I can cast my spin reel a 1000 miles

Have you tried the older penn squidder? Last forever and no lvl wind

Curious what rods are you using. Always enjoy the videos

Dave, would you mind telling us what size rods you use?

Awesome reels Dave are you still using okuma surf rods

All right catfish Dave hopefully you can answer this question just recently bought two reels Dela X 40 SHA for my surf Rod set ups even bought the Kumo rod that you recommended. one question I have does this reel come with brakes installed? Last question did you change your brakes to different colors or did you keep them as factory sorry about the long comment all the way from Indiana love your channel and an avid subscriber @catfishdave

David, I have an old sealine 50H I got it for my 50th birthday 17 years ago for sturgeon fishing.. (I have gone twice).. I live next to the big ole columbia river now, and have never fished for catfish in a big river before (I am an old trout fisherman) But I have been watching your videos and am starting to get the bug.. how much weight do you use on your line to keep from drifting much? Also what about water clarity? The river looks muddy (a tan type of colour) most of the time.. would that hamper cat fishing? I know that I am used to fishing in nice clear rivers lakes and streams so I am not sure how all of this muddy type water will affect things.. Let me know if you can.. thanks Dave for your sharing it is inspiring.... Carry on and be safe..

Dave when you get those their are 2 small plastic bushes what in the h are they for I have bought several love them

Dave have you ever used any rods by American Spirit. They got some good ones .

Dave have you ever fished kerr lake VA/NC? We have the record for blue cat, 144 pounds

What kind of knot do you tie your sweivels on with?

Slosh 20 diawa- 124.00- not expensive surf reel- but for 4 months out of the year it's works great.

Dave...Dave...you used to catch so much more fishes with Barbie dolls. Did they take em’ off the market?

Dave you need an amazon affiliate and a tackle warehouse affiliate then you can put a link in the description and make little bit of money

I never could fish with a bait caster, just me , I use open face reels at least they come in up to a size 90.

That's the only way to eat a sausage biscuit. Good video.

I’m more interested in dragging. Are these the same reels you use on your boat?

how you got the brake blocks set. the blocks are expensive by the time you get them from australa

I appreciate your videos more than a simple "like" and "subscribe"

Did that dog crap on your boots? Enjoy your videos

Great samitch. Just enough bread to keep your fingers from getting greasy.

Pull the kids around at Disneyland style rod holder

Suppose I could take the level wind assembly off one of my reels to test if I’d be comfortable with a conventional reel like that.

What brand mono?

CNC model reel for me

I do gear reviews on my channel and can confirm everything Dave said. The Abus have tiny gears and a 10 piece frame that can never feel solid. Overpriced by a factor of 2.

Is that Carl Cowan

How do you keep from getting backlash?