The Fixed Spool fishing reel is an essential piece of
fishing tackle and has come on a bundle over the past 10 years without increasing in price! As a coarse angler in my youth I had in my
fishing tackle the Mitchell Match reel which was the Rolls Royce of reels with single hand casting, 3 ball bearings and sensitive drag settings. Now even the cheapest coarse fixed spool reel is smooth with reasonable drag settings and functions admirably. The term fixed spool means that on these reels the spool is stationary (fixed) and the line is wound around the spool via a bail arm.
There are a number of sizes of fixed spool reel that can be carried in your
fishing tackle with the smaller numbers 20, 30 and 40 being used for float / match fishing going up to size 60 being used for specialist anglers and sizes 65, 70 and 80 being used by sea anglers. In order to cast and allow line to run free the bail arm is cocked, the rod is flicked and
the rig cast out then the bail arm is reset either manually or by winding the handle. These reel are easy to master and provide easy maintenance and servicing. The only down side is if the line is allowed to become loose on the spool it can sometimes be wound under the fixed spool. This is easily remedied by taking the spool off, unwinding the line and placing the spool on again - easy! Keep at least two sizes in your
fishing tackle to allow for more than one fishing eventuality.