sherman brown

when I started walleye fishing the central basin of Erie line counters were a must. my budget at the time was very little. i started with the Magda Pros but never liked them but I did catch fish with them. As soon as I could I upgraded to the Daiwa sealine sg17lca and the Accudepth plus 17lc reels that I bought used off eBay and they served me great for 15+ years. the accudepth was still working but I got a great deal on the sg17lc3b and upgraded. a few years later a couple of the sg17lca reels failed so I upgraded the Okume Coldwater 203 reels. these reel sizes are for walleye fishing. I run 3 divers on each side and to keep inexperienced people from letting out the wrong rod on the wrong side I like using the sg17lc3b reels on one side and the Coldwater's on the other side, and always get the rods set out on the right side. you don't have to buy all new reels at the same time, you can buy at your own pace 1 or 2 at a time when you find a good sale or good price. Convectors, Accudepth Plus, are both good mid grade reels. but the sglc3b reels are even better. so far I love the Coldwater reels they are as smooth as a baby's butt. but I haven't used them a lot so I can't say how good they are.

first, decide if you want new or rebuilt. you can choose to change out the block. then go to michiganmotorz.com and you can check all your options. They carry short blocks without heads, long blocks with heads, plus complete motors new and rebuilt. just to switch to a mpi motor I recommend checking them out.

I have been using them for 30+ years and never calibrated 1 yet. I just spool the same amount of line on each reel getting them close to full. I use the counter to get me back to the same spot I want to fish. if I let out 150' of line and get a fish I want my lure back as close to that spot as I can get, I have found with some line counters it's best to zero them each time before letting out line. many times my counters were on a half number and did not work, so I wouldn't know how much line was out. but now I try to remember to just reset my counter making sure it's on all zeros.

it doesn't hurt to upgrade the drags to start with. if you leave the drag tight when it's stored the washers are fixed at the position so you have no more adjustment on the drag. you should back the drags all the way off and let them set for a few days and then check them. for future reference when you are done fishing for the trip always back the drags all the way off for storage. I don't intend to offend you but like said above the Magda pro reels are the bottom of the list. you really should think about an upgrade. even if you replace 1 or 2 at a time you will be much better off. a convertor 30 is much better or a Daiwa accudepth plus 47, or Daiwa sealine sg47lc3b are all better choices. I walleye fish in the central basin of Erie and use small reels. I used the old accudepth plus 17lc for years and never had one fail me. but upgraded part of them with the old sealine sg17lca which serves me well. I upgraded part of them with the sealine sglc3b. then when I lost a couple of the old LCA reels I upgraded them with the Okuma Coldwater 203 reels. I love the coldwater reels they are the smoothest of the lot and the drags are great. but I've only used them for 2 week long trips to Erie. so I haven't used them enough to recommend them without adding a little salt. 10 years or more down the road then I will be able to say for sure. new washers should cure your problem. but you will still be using Magda reels.

they are the best you're going to find and they have more clearance than any others I've seen. I use them on my cannon riggers and the beads do get hung up at times. if I was still using the stops on mine I would try to use a end roller for a cannon rigger rigged in a way to retrieve my cable and still let the bead go through smoothly. but this is just 1 person's opinion.