Trotting with a Closed-Face Reel 

I done the tooling for the orange match spools for the 506 for my friend Ray Mumford. They were made of glass filled poly carbonate with a chamfer on the leading front ledge for the line to run very smoothly.The two locating inserts were made of brass and we sold 100 s to the match men. If I remember correct we sold them for £1 each . Happy days

After market engineered spools are available which have a top and bottom "o" ring to replace the chenile idea. They are engineered/turned aluminium and heavily drilled to keep weight down. Very well made. Allegedly if you wound fast, the "suction" on undrilled spools could pull the line behind the spool and create a tangle. I find the 507/8 perfect for my grayling rivers the Churnet and Dove. Both rivers not big rivers. Thanks Mark a great summary.

I’ve always preferred closed face reels over fixed spools for trotting. Have, over the years, pretty much owned and used every model going. The DAM CFM, affectionately known as coffee grinders, were a particular favourite of mine being very light and smooth. However my all time favourite was the Ryobi Mastermatch CF1 which, like the DAM, had a carbon body. I still own and use these today and they are still as good as they were the day I bought them.

Just bought myself a Mitchell match to pair with an old daiwa harrier Ivan marks and a sundridge proton Kevin ashurst rods ,can't wait to use them all

Great video - pairing up a 501, 1044 or 123m (favourite Daiwa) with one of the classic early carbon or boron rods is one of my favourite things to do. A Titan 2000 or spliced tip stick rod - think Tri-Cast Diamond, Norboron or Shakey Mach2 Boron - is the ideal partner for one of these classic reels. I love the Mitchell Match but it used to drive me crazy with line round the bale arm and the 'wrong way' line lay.

Woolworth also did a version under their Winfield brand. I had one as a kid and it was pretty terrible. For similar work I've begun using a tiny 1000 series fixed spool reel. UK users tend to overlook them for more versatile 2500/3000 size reels but for close in trotting the 1000 works very well.

I’ve had all 3 of the daiwa’s and they were ok but there’s something about the Abu 500 series that just seems a bit better . Had 505 ‘s , 503’s , 506’s and 501’s and still use a 505 now and I’m always looking on eBay and carboots for them

Been a favourite reel of mine for over 50 yrs.. still use one today bomb proof engineering.

Ive owned and used most closed faced reels over the last 40/50 years or so, infact ive still got 8, consisting off ABU,s, Daiwas and Ryobi,s, IMHO the Ryobi cf100 is the cream of the crop, particully the one with the green finish as iam told it had harde,r more robust gearing, sadly, most spares for it are not available, but the fact that ive never needed any speaks volumes for the robustness of the cf100.

Think the ABU 506M or 506match did away the back wind pawl still Love and use mine some of the 506 spools had a plastic skirt on to stop the line getting behind the spool .Some one even engineered a upgraded spool that worked well if they had put a roller guide in the pick up pin they would have been even better . Appreciate your uploads regards

Nice one thanks

Olympic made the BM3 which also came out with a Shakey model number too and Silstar also brought out a nice little closed face. I would also add that I love the DAM coffee grinder and will reach for it out of pure nostalgia now and again. Totally agree regarding the 440 but would add that, just my personal opinion, the Browning 810 was every bit its equal. Thanks so much for this piece, got a big smile on my face and my tackle shed to look through!!

I have a daiwa 120m. Great reel but better having a open face for distance. Good info mark.

I have a Daiwa 125m for my river trotting, this replaced a 120m that I had for 20 years before it gave up. I find the main advantage is on the strike - When trotting with a standard open faced reel, you have to take your finger off to close the bale arm, giving the fish a moment of slack that can be deadly, especially with barbless hooks. This isn't a problem with the closed face. As for handling big fish, I took Barbel of over 8lb on the 120 but used to backwind them rather than rely on what was a pretty iffy clutch. I still have my old Shakespeare President 13ft from the 80's and it pairs up beautifully with the 125m, very balanced.

I love my Mitchel Match as well! Great Reel.

Ryobi was the other reel.

I currently have a couple of Diawa 125m and use them regularly. Closed face reels are just so easy to use for normal river distances. Altho’ the drag could be better

Aay Bee yew 😂

Hit the nail on the head when you say there good for close stick float work. Also fits those with small hands struggling to reach the spool. Of course there is the 501 which is probably the best of the smalller ABUs. I use 507, and 501 every week

I own x2 506 reels . In my opinion the 1044 is a much better reel and the finest ABU ever made. I do not count the 507 ploughman as an ABU as it is no longer a standard original. My ABU 1044 ,shimano match 25s i have 2 of these and my shimano aero match 3 are my go to reels currently.

Ryobi made a good one..

I jad the daiwa 120

a bit of a marmite reel....does that daiwa have ability to swap handle for cack handers?

You don't "wind in" a fish. You lift your rod to gain line on the fish then wind the less tensioned line on the quick rod down stroke. A bait caster or centre pin will but the others are not designed to be a winch.Just making the distinction to help novices get longivety on these reels. No offence intended.