My 1 year old Series 7 9-45 has just packed up. The bobbin does not go in and out. I was only float fishing on a 6.9lb main line with 5lb hook length so it wasn't under any particular stress. I've tried to see what the problem is but it appears not to be designed for ease of maintenance. Now solely reliant on my red 6-30 until a reasonable priced replacement turns up on the auction web sites. So obviously I'm not particularly impressed.~ Update: I've now stripped the reel down and I have got to the bottom of the issue. Although all the cogs, bearing and other misc. bits seem to be well made of suitable metal like material, the big cog that turns the bobbin spindle up and down is fixed via a bush in its centre into the inside of the plastic case: the plastic case around the fixing screw has failed, probably due to the sudden shock of a big bite with the clutch hard on! Thus the cog moves within the case and away from the teeth of the associated cog on the winding mechanism. My lesson learnt is that in future I will only buy reels with a metal outer case. As I previously said I'm not impressed and think that the design is not fit for purpose: Sorry Drennan I love your terminal tackle but not your plastic housed reels. As I hail from the a cost conscious county I may effect a repair by using a longer screw through the body with a nut on the outside!
Back into fishing after a 30 odd years absence. Recently purchased a Drennan red range float rod and a Drennan FD 3000 reel, look and feel great but haven't tried yet because of this long winter! Things have changed a bit with fluro and braided lines?? I still use mono and go by poundage breaking strain lol. Coarse fishing is still the "little brother" to game fishing here in NE England but things are improving ie some venues where thirty years ago were fly only are now available to coarse angling. Very good videos, keep up the good work.
Garry Robson. Hi glad you like the video’s. You will not be disappointed in your tackle choice look for a long term test on the rod in the future. Like you I have been unable to fish the waggler but one is planned for the near future. Tight Lines
I have two of these excellent, good value Reels. After each fishing session I wipe them over with Cheap, Moist, Disposable, Baby-Wipes which really clean-up the Reels ready for the next trip. Thanks for the Videos!
Michael Forde. Hi thank you, I only have a cheap pin but love using it, which is not often enough tho’. That reel was only washed not polished and is ready for some new line. Tight Lines
Richard Aldridge Hi glad you enjoyed the review. One of my cats and my dog are wannabe film stars they are always trying to get in the action! Tight Lines
Hi Bill. Me again. Slowly watching most of you videos. (Big fan). Like yourself I am a massive Drennan fan. Loving the Ultralight float rod I got last year along with reels and poles and other rods I use. Was going to ask if you would recommend their luggage sets. I need a new carry all and had a Shimano one until a few furry friend got into my shed and are most of it. Unsure as what sizes are like in their sets. Thanks for any help you can give in advance..
Roger Ackroyd Hi I have the smallest holdall and the quality is impressive . Size wise this holds plenty, I carry two Daiwa rollers a side tray and loads of other hardware. The next one in the range is the same size but also has an end pocket. After that the next two are big and enormous and in my opinion are to big to carry and need a transporter. What you buy depends on how much gear you take with you. I’ve had mine over two years and can’t fault it, it seems to be made out of good quality materials and I haven’t broken the zips or anything else.Tight Lines
Easy Fishing thanks very much. The small size should be ample for me. Needed for pan landing net. Baits. Lunch. And side tray . Big thanks again. Keep up the great video content. 👍👍🎣🎣
i actually really like this reel, i tend to use really small reels the three spare spools are really good. the only problem is the styling looks exactly the same as my 1st sports direct reel and it was a piece o crap lol
BUSHCRAPPING . Well that is the problem with people like Sports Direct. It might look ok but the engineering is rubbish. I can never understand why firms do this ie selling rubbish. If someone in these big companies got their act together they could grab a huge market share, but while they try and sell “boys/kids/starter” outfits they will only put people of fishing ! Tight Lines
Nice video Bill i think i mentioned to you before that i actually have almost the exact same reel, only its the feeder variant. Tbh theres' no difference between the float and feeder Drennan Series 7 reels from what i can see. I wont knock Drennan because these are great reels for a very reasonable price but the fact they have a float and feeder variant of what are pretty much the same is just them trying to make you buy both with one for float fishing one for feedering. At least thats what it looks like to me, but yea i recommend these reels too, just dont buy both types as they're both the same! I should say there is actually a difference, in that the spools for the feeder reel are a bit bigger. Still wouldnt get both, if you never bomb or feeder fish then i guess just get the float fish one, but if you do both then just get the feeder one.
cns180784 . Hi you are right that there is not a lot of difference size wise but the 9-40 has a bigger spool for heavier bs Lines. Did you notice Peter Drennan use one these reels the 9-40, in his 3 part video catching barbel on the River Wye? If they can handle that then in my opinion they will be good for normal feeder fishing. Tight Lines
Hi i'll check those vids out. I just saw two new types of poles released by Drennan in a tackle shop today, one was a Red Range 14.5 meters long and comes with 5 or 6 top kits! £399 very well priced. That will probably be the next pole i get, if i get another one. Just realized, this pole isnt exactly new and i have seen it before, its the Red Range Target Carp pole, looks good and sounds good what you get. Would be good to find an unbiased customers' review of it like the one you did Bill of the 11 meter. Just watched those three parts to that video of Peter Drennan on the Wye, yea he's using the same reel i have which is great to see. After that i just watched a video of Drennan and Alan Scotthorne fishing the Wye where Alan fishes the pole using a flat float...50 gram! serious float, and he catches some nice Barbel, good videos.
cns180784 Hi sorry about the delay in answering your pole question. Unfortunately it would appear that Drennan have dropped the 13 and 14.5 mtr Red Range poles from their range, I guess that they didn’t sell well enough but we will have to wait and see! The next one up in the range is the Combat Carp which retails at about £599 and is quite a big step up in materials and handling. My experience with them is limited as I have only handled one in a shop. Nice all round pole for the money tho’ with a great spares package but as I haven’t fished with one I can’t advise on owning one! The trouble is the lower/middle pole market is very crowded with every manufacturer vying for your custom and picking a model to suit your pocket and needs is tricky. I got burnt when I bought a Daiwa SR5 16 mtr Pole as it was very quickly superceeded and after 4 years I couldn’t get spares! So I sold it on, it was great with a match kit at 13 mtrs and was very top heavy with the power kits in place and was sold at only a 16mtr package and should have been sold as a 13mtr package! I will be doing a video with my Tricast XRS pole witch goes to 12 mtrs, for carp on the canal and I must admit I love this pole. £360 at 9 mtrs plus two extensions to 12mtrsand is an awesome bit of kit with a brilliant spares back up from an UK company. I am in the process of uploading another running line video on the canal which I hope you will enjoy. This is another one for the pole haters! Tight Lines
Haha well i went fishing today and had a nice day and was very busy as expected. All three lakes at my local fishery were nearly full only a few pegs left on two of the lakes, on the lake i fished there was a match with 21 people so the first 21 pegs were taken by them alone. Nearly all of them were on the pole! the pole rules lol That said i shall be back on the feeder rod soon, i have a session in mind where i want to fish a method or cage feeder using a hair rig for the first time to fish a boilie or pellet on the hook. Might not be for a few weeks though depending on whether i go fishing next week and because i want to fish a venue i havent fished yet and want to give that a blast on the pole! caught a mixed bag today was catching a lot of small Crucians, skimmers and a Bream on a 4mm soft pellet to start with and then caught a couple of Perch but mainly Roach (and one Gudgeon!) on double caster. Caught some decent Carp towards the end back on the pellet and by the end of the day as well as catching fish i caught the sun! today was easily the best day in terms of weather that i've been out fishing so far. Look forward to watching your video.
If you want a general purpose float fishing reel With 2 spare shallow spools I would highly recommend this to anyone on a budget.
I recommend them too.
Me too
My 1 year old Series 7 9-45 has just packed up. The bobbin does not go in and out. I was only float fishing on a 6.9lb main line with 5lb hook length so it wasn't under any particular stress. I've tried to see what the problem is but it appears not to be designed for ease of maintenance. Now solely reliant on my red 6-30 until a reasonable priced replacement turns up on the auction web sites. So obviously I'm not particularly impressed.~
Update: I've now stripped the reel down and I have got to the bottom of the issue. Although all the cogs, bearing and other misc. bits seem to be well made of suitable metal like material, the big cog that turns the bobbin spindle up and down is fixed via a bush in its centre into the inside of the plastic case: the plastic case around the fixing screw has failed, probably due to the sudden shock of a big bite with the clutch hard on! Thus the cog moves within the case and away from the teeth of the associated cog on the winding mechanism. My lesson learnt is that in future I will only buy reels with a metal outer case. As I previously said I'm not impressed and think that the design is not fit for purpose: Sorry Drennan I love your terminal tackle but not your plastic housed reels. As I hail from the a cost conscious county I may effect a repair by using a longer screw through the body with a nut on the outside!
Back into fishing after a 30 odd years absence. Recently purchased a Drennan red range float rod and a Drennan FD 3000 reel, look and feel great but haven't tried yet because of this long winter! Things have changed a bit with fluro and braided lines?? I still use mono and go by poundage breaking strain lol. Coarse fishing is still the "little brother" to game fishing here in NE England but things are improving ie some venues where thirty years ago were fly only are now available to coarse angling. Very good videos, keep up the good work.
Garry Robson. Hi glad you like the video’s. You will not be disappointed in your tackle choice look for a long term test on the rod in the future. Like you I have been unable to fish the waggler but one is planned for the near future. Tight Lines
I have two of these excellent, good value Reels. After each fishing session I wipe them over with Cheap, Moist, Disposable, Baby-Wipes which really clean-up the Reels ready for the next trip. Thanks for the Videos!
I have 4 of them, they have never let me down !
Great vid good reel I've several cardinals and a 1930s Leeds centre pin still pings of line trotting floats in fast flowing rivers .
Michael Forde. Hi thank you, I only have a cheap pin but love using it, which is not often enough tho’. That reel was only washed not polished and is ready for some new line. Tight Lines
Hi, Just got hold of one of these reels, love how it looks and feels, what breaking strains did you put on the spools? New to fishing, since the 70s.
Good video mate - I was pondering whether to get one myself.... you've just sold it.
Cheers
I've just bought this reel to go on my 11f drennan series 7 puddle chucker pellet waggler rod and what a great reel it is.
Just brought a feeder and float version of this. On part from this recommendation. Its one of the few to come with spare spools and a decent guaranty
hedgerowpete . Hi well if my experience is anything to go by, you will get a lot of trouble free pleasure from these reels. Tight Lines
Good review bill,assisted by the cat, I watched another of your videos where you was assisted by your dog,adds a light touch I think.
Richard Aldridge Hi glad you enjoyed the review. One of my cats and my dog are wannabe film stars they are always trying to get in the action! Tight Lines
Why doesn’t anyone tell people to slacken the the clutches off after they have used them and put them away ?
Hi Bill. Me again. Slowly watching most of you videos. (Big fan). Like yourself I am a massive Drennan fan. Loving the Ultralight float rod I got last year along with reels and poles and other rods I use. Was going to ask if you would recommend their luggage sets. I need a new carry all and had a Shimano one until a few furry friend got into my shed and are most of it. Unsure as what sizes are like in their sets. Thanks for any help you can give in advance..
Roger Ackroyd Hi I have the smallest holdall and the quality is impressive . Size wise this holds plenty, I carry two Daiwa rollers a side tray and loads of other hardware. The next one in the range is the same size but also has an end pocket. After that the next two are big and enormous and in my opinion are to big to carry and need a transporter. What you buy depends on how much gear you take with you. I’ve had mine over two years and can’t fault it, it seems to be made out of good quality materials and I haven’t broken the zips or anything else.Tight Lines
Easy Fishing thanks very much. The small size should be ample for me. Needed for pan landing net. Baits. Lunch. And side tray . Big thanks again. Keep up the great video content. 👍👍🎣🎣
beautiful review.. very nicely done!
DumbestFisherman TV. Hi thanks very much Tight Lines
i actually really like this reel, i tend to use really small reels the three spare spools are really good.
the only problem is the styling looks exactly the same as my 1st sports direct reel and it was a piece o crap lol
BUSHCRAPPING . Well that is the problem with people like Sports Direct. It might look ok but the engineering is rubbish. I can never understand why firms do this ie selling rubbish. If someone in these big companies got their act together they could grab a huge market share, but while they try and sell “boys/kids/starter” outfits they will only put people of fishing ! Tight Lines
beautiful review.
Eric Pijpop. Hi thanks for the nice comment Tight Lines
PS the reel scrubbed up beautifully
Nice video Bill i think i mentioned to you before that i actually have almost the exact same reel, only its the feeder variant. Tbh theres' no difference between the float and feeder Drennan Series 7 reels from what i can see. I wont knock Drennan because these are great reels for a very reasonable price but the fact they have a float and feeder variant of what are pretty much the same is just them trying to make you buy both with one for float fishing one for feedering. At least thats what it looks like to me, but yea i recommend these reels too, just dont buy both types as they're both the same!
I should say there is actually a difference, in that the spools for the feeder reel are a bit bigger. Still wouldnt get both, if you never bomb or feeder fish then i guess just get the float fish one, but if you do both then just get the feeder one.
cns180784 . Hi you are right that there is not a lot of difference size wise but the 9-40 has a bigger spool for heavier bs Lines. Did you notice Peter Drennan use one these reels the 9-40, in his 3 part video catching barbel on the River Wye? If they can handle that then in my opinion they will be good for normal feeder fishing. Tight Lines
Hi i'll check those vids out. I just saw two new types of poles released by Drennan in a tackle shop today, one was a Red Range 14.5 meters long and comes with 5 or 6 top kits! £399 very well priced. That will probably be the next pole i get, if i get another one. Just realized, this pole isnt exactly new and i have seen it before, its the Red Range Target Carp pole, looks good and sounds good what you get. Would be good to find an unbiased customers' review of it like the one you did Bill of the 11 meter.
Just watched those three parts to that video of Peter Drennan on the Wye, yea he's using the same reel i have which is great to see. After that i just watched a video of Drennan and Alan Scotthorne fishing the Wye where Alan fishes the pole using a flat float...50 gram! serious float, and he catches some nice Barbel, good videos.
cns180784 Hi sorry about the delay in answering your pole question. Unfortunately it would appear that Drennan have dropped the 13 and 14.5 mtr Red Range poles from their range, I guess that they didn’t sell well enough but we will have to wait and see! The next one up in the range is the Combat Carp which retails at about £599 and is quite a big step up in materials and handling. My experience with them is limited as I have only handled one in a shop. Nice all round pole for the money tho’ with a great spares package but as I haven’t fished with one I can’t advise on owning one! The trouble is the lower/middle pole market is very crowded with every manufacturer vying for your custom and picking a model to suit your pocket and needs is tricky. I got burnt when I bought a Daiwa SR5 16 mtr Pole as it was very quickly superceeded and after 4 years I couldn’t get spares! So I sold it on, it was great with a match kit at 13 mtrs and was very top heavy with the power kits in place and was sold at only a 16mtr package and should have been sold as a 13mtr package! I will be doing a video with my Tricast XRS pole witch goes to 12 mtrs, for carp on the canal and I must admit I love this pole. £360 at 9 mtrs plus two extensions to 12mtrsand is an awesome bit of kit with a brilliant spares back up from an UK company. I am in the process of uploading another running line video on the canal which I hope you will enjoy. This is another one for the pole haters! Tight Lines
Haha well i went fishing today and had a nice day and was very busy as expected. All three lakes at my local fishery were nearly full only a few pegs left on two of the lakes, on the lake i fished there was a match with 21 people so the first 21 pegs were taken by them alone. Nearly all of them were on the pole! the pole rules lol
That said i shall be back on the feeder rod soon, i have a session in mind where i want to fish a method or cage feeder using a hair rig for the first time to fish a boilie or pellet on the hook. Might not be for a few weeks though depending on whether i go fishing next week and because i want to fish a venue i havent fished yet and want to give that a blast on the pole! caught a mixed bag today was catching a lot of small Crucians, skimmers and a Bream on a 4mm soft pellet to start with and then caught a couple of Perch but mainly Roach (and one Gudgeon!) on double caster. Caught some decent Carp towards the end back on the pellet and by the end of the day as well as catching fish i caught the sun! today was easily the best day in terms of weather that i've been out fishing so far.
Look forward to watching your video.