Best Heavy Baitcaster (with Clicker) for around $50

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fallschirmjaeger
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2018/09/27 09:18:18 (permalink)

Best Heavy Baitcaster (with Clicker) for around $50

I'm looking for a decent heavy baitcaster reel for big cats, stripers and sucker rigs.  I would like it to have a built in bait clicker as well.  I've been looking at the Abu Garcia 6500s (the Swedish made C3 and C4 versions) on eBay, and they look like they would be just the ticket, but (I don't care about used reels vs new) finding them for closer to $50 seems to be more challenging than I thought.  There are a LOT of Penn made models, however I would like to keep the gear ratio above 5 and I'm having difficulty determining which models have which gear ratios and are equipped with bait clickers.  Am I overlooking certain brands/models here?  I would prefer the reel not to be monster sized and I prefer the single knob 'power handle' type handles.  Does anyone who knows baitcasting reels better than I know of something that would fit my requirements?  I'm trying to avoid the Chinese made gear here...
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    FishinGuy
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    Re: Best Heavy Baitcaster (with Clicker) for around $50 2018/09/27 09:25:35 (permalink)
    Abu is probably what you want. Handles are replaceable. I have a couple 5500s I modified to install clickers on. I like them. Cast pretty good too.
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    fallschirmjaeger
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    Re: Best Heavy Baitcaster (with Clicker) for around $50 2018/09/27 09:27:13 (permalink)
    Thanks FishinGuy.  The 5500s are a lot cheaper on the used market than the 6500s...  How hard are they to install the clickers on and how expensive will it be?
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    FishinGuy
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    Re: Best Heavy Baitcaster (with Clicker) for around $50 2018/09/27 09:39:27 (permalink)
    You can get a complete side plate from a 6500 or just get the switch and spring and modify with a Dremel tool. I had a link for the procedure but sadly the page seems to no longer exists.
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