Baitrunners for lure fishing in the Fens

Ten years ago, these were the reel most people used for pike fishing in the Fens - the good old 8010 Shimano Baitrunner.

I still own several in this size. One thing that strikes me is how the old GT series are still going strong, while some of the newer models have given up the ghost.

One of the (then...) new GTEs jammed solid the first time I bent into a fish using it. The shop I bought it from sent me a new one.

One thing you soon notice is as the models evolve, the line lay changes. So even if the spools from the old 8010 GTs fit the REs or even the new(ish...) cheap ST6000 RA reels, you can't just transfer spools and expect tangle-free fishing, as the braid doesn't lay the same after a few casts.

Instead of buying new reels for this season's lure fishing experiments, I'm planning to nick a couple off bait rods I rarely use and press them into service.

This is probably all wrong, should be using multipliers etc. But if I get bored with it - which, let's face it, is always on the cards with me and lure fishing - they can always go back on the bait rods.

The newer 10000 series Shimanos are probably the best reels I've used for most of my bait fishing, which tends these days to involve float-legered deads. Metal spools, so none of the wobbles you got with the old plastic ones. Click here for a review of those.