Choosing A Multiplier

Great casting doesn’t depend on a reel’s tournament credentials.

- John Holden

BECAUSE this series focuses on good casting from the beach rather than specialist work, I’d like to dispel the widely held idea that a small and highly tuned CT multiplier reel is the only way to throw baits a long way.

Just about any multiplier, big or small, that conforms to a few basic specifications will do the job.

As versatile fishing tools, the larger models are superior, offering unrivalled retrieve speed, high cranking power and mechanical durability. Penn’s 525, and equivalents from Daiwa and Shimano, are fine examples of the genre, and they all have what it takes to throw a long way: accurate spool, good bearings and simple cast controls. If I could own just a single beach reel, it would be one of these beefy all-rounders.