anyone have any experience with these reels, how do they stack up against shimano calcuttas in the same class??
thanx for any replies

Newells are alot cheeper than calcuttas and fish like a coffee grinder. thre a no bells and whistles reel that gets the job done. Its a nice reel if you take care of it but they get coroded real quick and need mantainance. I use one from my kayak for plastic and its done a bang up jub but i really beat it up so every so often i take it appart and clean it and grease it. The famous newell line is "some guys swear by them and some guys swear at them", its true. Theres also different series of newells. I dont really know what they are but theres like the c, s, and g or something. Some are good and some are not. A little research and youll find out which ones are good. If you have the money though id get the cutta, its a smoother reel and less mantainance.
hope that helps,
Daniel

I have both calcutta's and Newells. I happen to have 3 220's and I too use a 220 for kayak fishing. A Newell 220 will never be as smooth as the Calcutta but once it's broken in chances are it will outcast and definitely outlast calcutta. The drags are in these reels is the same size as a Penn 500 making them little work horses. They are very resistant to corosion. Any reel used for kayaking will generally require more frequent maintaniance then those used on boats. These reels might make a lot of noise but they are the hands down strongest lowest maintaniance light line reels I have ever fished and I have been fishing our local coastal waters for 27 years on a weekly basis. If you don't take my word for it just take a look at the captains and crews equipment on most of the local party boats. You will find most of them using preferably old or new P Series Newells. I'm not too impressed with the change they made to the S sereis in the way that the bars and reel seats are attached to the frames. The P Series is the best but the S series is definitely good too. A good Newell should last you a lifetime.

JerryG

awesome reels! like he said....they sound like $#!+, but get the job done and do it good! cast like no other, very resistant to corrosion, and super light! all graphite! i own 6 newells...they have all served me well...



joe