Prairieschooner,

I also resisted the Large Arbor reels for a while until I finally broke down and bought one. Now that is all I have on all virtually all of my rods. I love them.

I fish mostly from drift boats and I seldom use my reel when fighting a fish. I just strip the line in and release the fish. But, when I want to switch rods or after I have made a really long cast to hit a particular target, that large arbor sure picks up the line quickly. Like half the time. Well worth it. Also, there is less coiling of the line, at least the coils are in bigger loops rather than tight circles.

Have fun out there and get some fishing in this year.

Larry ---sagefisher---