i was fishing with my cabo 80 and mydragonfly jigging rod(300) when i got a large hit. the fish swam right to the boat so i reeled the slack. then it shot out like a rocket(50+ pound kinG mackeral). next thing i see is my reel flying into the drink after taking out the large guide on the rod. i was wondering if the alps reel seats have failed anyone. they have the nut facing the towards the tip. will that cause problems? i think if the drag seized it would have pulled the whole thing out of my hands rod and all, so i dont think it was the drag. i have nothing negative to say about the rod, i am just trying to figure out what may have happened. either way im out 450.00
A down locking reel seat should not make any difference. I would look for another reason for the failure. Mount the reel again and see if either the foot of the reel does not go in far enough or if the knurled nut is somehow not locking down and loosens with use. Does the Alps have a second locking nut? Most likely, the culprit is the reelseat is not big enough for the reel that you are using. All is probably not loss if the blank is still intact. That first guide can be replaced.
i dont have the reel anymore. its in the gulf of mexico. i think the reel seat may have been to small for the cabo 80, which has a large footprint. the rod is made for a large spinning reel. i dont know...
Could you post any pictures of the reel seat? I'd like to see a closeup to see what damage or clues there might be. Sorry you lost your reel, that has to hurt. A fishing buddy e-mailed me just a few days ago about another friend's Penn 9500 not fitting the reel seat very well on a new rod, we were trying to figure out what to do about it. Tom - DBG
Normally, the fuji graphite reel seats fits spinners very well. Also, I have not had a problem with the Aftco reel seats except for the size 80 Intl reels where Aftco made a reel seat that has wider opennings. When I was at a rod building show, I spoke with Bill Batson and he told me that certain seats do not fit the foot of some spinning reels. As a custom rod builder, I always make sure that the intended spinning reel will fit the reel seat being used. The spinning reels, as explained to me by Mr. Batson, do not use any industry standards and are different from one reel to another. This should be a heads up to mount the reel onto the reel seat first and not to assume that they are all standard. Not so much a problem with conventional reels except the large internationals.
Sorry for your loss. If it's any consolation the Cabo 80's are going on ebay for $145 with free shipping! Gary
the line broke when it bashed the largest guide. the reel seat looks fine. i seem to remember the foot being just a little to big for the seat. it closed well however. a good lesson learned. as for the rod what should i do about the guide? i dont think i could replace the guide without serious surgery.
gary, does puglias on veterans have the saragosa reels? Not sure man. I haven't been there since January. Gary
That sucks... 2 years ago i bought a sea magic PM205066-SPIN to go with a penn 9500 for my first big E trip. The reel doesnt fit the seat right either. Call Chris and ask him if he could swap the rod for you. Another fisherman swapped a conv. dragonfly jig rod due to a cracked reel seat, maybe he will swap it out.
My Cabo 80 was a tight fit on the my Dragonfly 400 as well. I called Chris and he shipped me a new 400 with Fuji seats. It fits better, but is still a tight fit. I jigged with it last weekend and it worked well. (30lb Aj's). I will test it this weekend hopefully on some small yellowfins. I would call Chris. I think he will stand behind the rod. Let us know what happens.
the line broke when it bashed the largest guide. the reel seat looks fine. i seem to remember the foot being just a little to big for the seat. it closed well however. a good lesson learned. as for the rod what should i do about the guide? i dont think i could replace the guide without serious surgery. If the blank is still intact, it is a simple job to re-wrap a stripper guide on. The only obstacle is being able to match the thread colors. Any rod builder should be able to fix it for you.
Thanks for posting and sorry for your loss. I almost mounted an ALPS 20mm today to a rod I am making for my stella 20000. After reading this post, I rechecked the fit. The ALPS 22 fits perfect, but the 20 is a little tight at both the collar and the rails. I am now going to use the 22. I was going to opt for the smaller 20 due to its compactness and it is lighter. The great thing about rod building is that you can make sure everything fits perfect.
Earlier this year had a similar accident while fishing tuna in the gulf, the reel foot snapped in two and took out the first two guides on a brand new Hots wei world. The rod survived but the spinner was lost. The rod now has been redone by a friend and is doing duty as a conventional. The original cost of the rod plus the redo is now protected by a conventional reel with a clamp.
I recently got a cabo 80 and noticed that if the rod does not have large reel seat hoods only a very small amount of the reel foot goes under the hoods. Reel seats are not universal fit all like Bellyups said match your gear for proper fit.I have married my cabo to my OTI 50lb popper it's the only rod I have that it fits. Thanks for bringing this to everyones attention I'm sure it will save someone from going through what you did.