£200 to spend!

[Plod]

Hi guys,
Well, having worked Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New years eve and New years day, I've amassed enough overtime pay to treat myself to a new rod and reel.
I'm looking to spend £200 or so, and fish mainly off beaches onto generally clean ground. Looking to take the step up from fixed spool to multiplier, and have been weighing up the differences between the 525 supermag and the abu 6500 mag elite. What are peoples thoughts? I think I'm opening up a can of worms with this one.
Also, would you recommend spending more money on rod or reel?
All advice welcome, and thanks in advance.

Regards, Darren

[big guy]

well i would advice to go down the second hand route. ebay's a good place to look for the second hand bargains.


the reviews for the 525 super mag have been very good, but brand new the cheapest i've seen it is £125. so you should be able to pick a second hand one up for under £100.

as for rods if your going brand new then maybe a shimano or daiwa moonraker or possibly a supercast if you can get a deal. as for second hand look at the century, greys, conoflex, zippy or maybe daiwa AWB's.

i personally would say the 525 super mag with a century tip tornado match or lite (depends on what size leads you cast and how much you can compress a rod)

[Plod]

Cheers Big Guy,
I've been looking on e bay, and have seen some of the big name makes on there. Problem is I dont know enough about them to see if I'm getting a bargain, or paying way over the odds. I saw a basic Daiwa slosh20 reel second hand go for £75 the other day!! I know for a fact you can get them brand new for £63 and just don't want to be the plonker that everyone laughs at for paying too much, like that guy did.
I am a pretty poor caster, and having been on the forum for a while now, realise that a few lessons will improve my casting far more than spending a fortune on a rod. With that in mind, I do need something that is forgiving for the novice, but capable of producing decent distance when I improve.
I don't want a lot do I!!

Cheers, Darren

[Ben]

i have a penn mag and super mag, also got a abu mag elite for xmas
only used it afew times but from what i can see, the mag elite is more for casting but the penns have more guts to them

[gullyworm]

I d agree with big guy with regards to the rod.
Ive just read a thread on another forum ref fave rods and the tip tornado range get a lot of mentions.
Ive got to say ive been very impressed with mine since getting it,proper fishing fod not a broom handle yet it still has bags of power.
As for the reel,well you ll need a bit more than £200 but i d go for one of the mags or a 7ht,a lot depends on where your going to fish.
T T lite and a 7ht are a lovely combo for clean ground where as T T sport or match with one of the mags would be better for mixed ground,but then your going to spend way over 200 quid.
I m rattling on ,so i ll shut up,,,for now

[Ben]

it is worth having a proper look on ebay, check this out
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/zziplex-2500pt...QQcmdZViewItem
watch out for postage though!

[Plod]

Cheers Guys, great response and thanks for the link Ben. Still can't get my head round buying something secondahand that I haven't physically seen. Not so bad when you buy new, as you know it will be spotless.

I shall ponder for a while.........

Darren

[pingu]

i have 2 second hand reels, 7ht and 525 mag off ebay, both have neen v good and only about 1/2- 2/3 price 7ht is very forgiving on casting but prefer 525 for retrieve

[andyg]

Abu Suveran SX Rod
Abu 6500 Mag elite

IMHO

Should be able to pick em both up brand new for about £230 - £240

[Ben]

i have had the rod and it was a nice rod, but not quite what i was after