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My gripe is that the "stems" are too short. Just because we are fishing lighter line and maybe don't need the capacity, doesn't mean my hands have shrunk. Have same difficulty and worse spring trout or steelhead fishing with a noodle rod, where your likely to be wearing gloves and the bail is whacking your knuckles or rubbing thru your glove. Wish the manufacturers would leave the stem length standard on spin reels and not make them shorter as they go smaller. I understand trying to keep them proportionate and lighter, etc.. just my hands are still the same size regardless of if I'm ice fishing or surf fishing. steve b

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Was just wishing for some adult size UL reels. Quality has come a long ways ! Lets see, my first Ul spin reel I can remember was a green 'lil Heddon I believe. Got a lot of use outta a brace of Quantum Snapshots over the last couple decades. Ceramic finger/trigger good with gloves and braid lines. Just picked up a couple new Gndr Mtn Tournament reels, 10 ball bearings ! Like a fine Swiss watch. STILL wish stem was, oh, about a hlaf inch or so longer. steve b
Check out some of the reels made specifically for ice fishing, they usually make them with a longer stem to fit better on gloved hands.
Thanks Anthony, will look into ice fishin' specific reels. My ice gear is all old enough to vote ! Was no such thing then. steve b
No need for so called ul reels. Stick with standard sizes. Two important benefits are: #1- easier casting #2-- longer casting distance The reel ul fun is the rod and the light line. You can fill the larger spool with bargain line and top off with 50 yds of good stuff.
I have gone this route too. Have used #2 reels with small/wide rubber band cut/glued to fit arbor to shim out line capacity. Still... steve b
I have gone to 1000 series Shimano reels rather than 750 series - wider spool and bigger handle makes a big difference.

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