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I think I posted on this here (although it might have been elsewhere) that I managed to break my brand new 665 2-speed. I talked to Tracy Melton where I had bought it and he said he would take care of it. And I have no doubt he would have, but I decided to send it back to Accurate. They were very busy and I did not get a new one until a month later. But it did arrive. They have not torn down my reel yet but have promised to let me know what happened. Matt theorizes that since I cranked the drag preset up as high as I could (to nearly 50 pounds of drag) and then had great trouble forcing the lever forward, that I may have compressed a washer inside or something like that. I have no idea, since I have trouble making our can opener work properly. If so, I guess it makes sense that you should never force anything, but then the manual (or what passes for a manual with Accurate), literally tells you to crank up the drag as high as you can. I figure an old fart like me should not be able to break any Accurate on earth, but I guess I did.
Kil was absolutely right in that it has complete freespool even at the heaviest settings I reached just before killing my first one. (Actually the reel was still fishable and held its drag. It just croaked like a sick frog and the clicker didn't click.
So that was interesting. More interesting to me was that tonight I spooled the replacement up with 300 yards of JB 130 hollow (yes, I know it is overkill) and got it on really, really, really tight and hard. I could easily have fitted another 100 yards onto the spool. Earlier, I had put 300 yards of 100 pound Power Pro on the same reel, only a single speed and had lots left over. So I am thinking you could probably fit close to 500 yards of JB 80 pound hollow on the reel.
Something that will come as no surprise to the more experienced salts on this board was that when I finally got it through my dull brain to spool it up by cranking in low gear, it really helped keep my arms from falling off. However, it hurt enough that if I ever have to respool the 900 yards of 130 on the ATD50W I bought through T.J., I will drown myself or hire someone else to do it--to spool the reel that is, not not to drown me!
I am going to make the 665 my chunking reel for my first two trips by strapping it on a Calstar/Accurate 760H, then if it proves inadequate, I will use the 50 wide. The way old Uncle Russ's luck runs, I will hook the largest yellowfin the Gulf has ever produced and have it spool the little reel and spit in my face.
I don't think I will ever try more than 35 pounds of drag on this reel again, given what happened before. I anticipate when I do some tests tomorrow night, I will max it out at 30-35, at which point the lever will become too stiff to push easily, and at that time, I will not push for more. (I never intended to fish it that heavy anyway, I assure you.) Later, I may replace the 130 with 80 hollow. In any case, I don't intend to cast with it, although I do have a 700H for it.
Russ
Kil was absolutely right in that it has complete freespool even at the heaviest settings I reached just before killing my first one. (Actually the reel was still fishable and held its drag. It just croaked like a sick frog and the clicker didn't click.
So that was interesting. More interesting to me was that tonight I spooled the replacement up with 300 yards of JB 130 hollow (yes, I know it is overkill) and got it on really, really, really tight and hard. I could easily have fitted another 100 yards onto the spool. Earlier, I had put 300 yards of 100 pound Power Pro on the same reel, only a single speed and had lots left over. So I am thinking you could probably fit close to 500 yards of JB 80 pound hollow on the reel.
Something that will come as no surprise to the more experienced salts on this board was that when I finally got it through my dull brain to spool it up by cranking in low gear, it really helped keep my arms from falling off. However, it hurt enough that if I ever have to respool the 900 yards of 130 on the ATD50W I bought through T.J., I will drown myself or hire someone else to do it--to spool the reel that is, not not to drown me!
I am going to make the 665 my chunking reel for my first two trips by strapping it on a Calstar/Accurate 760H, then if it proves inadequate, I will use the 50 wide. The way old Uncle Russ's luck runs, I will hook the largest yellowfin the Gulf has ever produced and have it spool the little reel and spit in my face.
I don't think I will ever try more than 35 pounds of drag on this reel again, given what happened before. I anticipate when I do some tests tomorrow night, I will max it out at 30-35, at which point the lever will become too stiff to push easily, and at that time, I will not push for more. (I never intended to fish it that heavy anyway, I assure you.) Later, I may replace the 130 with 80 hollow. In any case, I don't intend to cast with it, although I do have a 700H for it.
Russ