Shaun Solomon said:
^that's interesting. I assume you removed the clutch bearing and pawl and just cranked the drag down super tight?
No, not exactly.
There is no pawl, those are in the old school reels that had the "happy switch" where you could switch them from on the drag to direct.
Fishing spinners in fast water, I loved those old reels because I need to be in direct to control spinner blade RPM.
As of about 1990, all reels went to the anti-reverse, one way bearing at the reel handle.
This marked the end of the happy switch.
I wanted to use the new Curado but hated fishing "locked up" with no back reel capability.
I asked all the reel repair gurus if the new Curado could be converted to direct.
They all said no.
So, I started experimenting, asked an old machinist friend if he could make up a certain size bushing and I found a needle bearing that was almost the correct size.
Combining a mylar bushing, the Shimano clutch bearing cage, needle bearing and some Ambassadeur washers I got the thing running.
That was 2003 and it's been bulletproof.
Only a micro tiny fraction of fisherman would want something like this.
It's always in direct, so it changes all aspects of using and general handling of the reel.
You even need a keeper to hold the reel handle when the rod is not being used.
It's a real bear to fight fish. I lost my first steelhead with it because I thought I could just thumb the spool.....wrong.....burns.
The answer was to reel backwards (fast) when he wants to run.
And both hands are low on the rod, so you can't move your off hand up on the rod like you can with a drag.
This equates to forearm pain with a big fish.
You learn that a drag system is an extreme luxury....almost a cheat.
But for those of us that need the ultimate control of spinner blade RPM, fishing in direct is the only way.
Kicking the reel in and out of gear is far too slow.