[briansnat]

Last sppringr I bought a Pfleuger President 20 to go with my new ultra light trout rod. It worked great at first, then started having issues with the handle coming loose (AKA the storage position). Being used to Shimano reels, I'd tighten the nut on the housing opposite the reel and that would only make it hard to crank and it would loosen again after a few minutes of casting.

Finally I got so fed up that this winter I transferred the reel to my ice jigging rod, because at least that doesn't have to be cranked as much and the handle wasn't as much of an issue.

So yesterday I'm looking for a new reel for the UL rod. The President 30 has a $10 rebate and actually is a slightly better size fit for my rod. I'm thinking that this is supposed to be a good reel and maybe I got a lemon, so I bought it. I get it home and I'm having problems with the handle again, just as with the other one. I'm thinking that maybe this is just a POS reel and I'm about getting ready to give up and I start reeling the thing fast in frustration. And the handle starts to tighten. Apparently, the Pfleuger has a completely different mechanism to tighten than handle than Shimano and other brand reels I've used. You don't tighten the nut, you turn the handle forward to tighten.

I guess I have to dig out the ice fishing equipment and get that 20 so I can put on on my old Fenwick UL and retire the 30 year old Shimano on it.

Anybody else have a piece of equipment that they just couldn't figure out at first?