Q: I have seen electric multiple reels and they seem very expensive. Why would anybody want to spend so much money on a reel or need to use one? From a sporting fishing perspective, are electric reels even fair?
PAUL CARSON, RAYLEIGH, ESSEX
DL says: Electric reels are not intended for day-to-day angling. They are designed for fishing in extremely deep water, typically depths in excess of 500-600 feet and down to over 1,000ft, or even much more. They are, as you would expect, intended to relieve the tedium and physical effort involved when retrieving a terminal rig from such very deep water. Increasingly anglers are fishing in areas that once were regarded as being totally unfishable due to the depth. For example, some adventurous anglers I know are now fishing at incredible depths off the coast of Norway and are catching many weird and wonderful species previously unknown to rod-and-line fishing. In addition, several UK charter skippers are starting to venture much further out and fish close to the Continental Shelf off the western coast of the British Isles. In many parts of the world sport fishermen are now regularly deep dropping baits during the daytime to catch broadbill swordfish, and in all cases an electric reel is a distinct advantage. These reels are of particular benefit when retrieving rigs to check that baits are still intact, and that the hooks have not been stripped bare by small fish or squid. Trust me, the novelty of reeling up a rig from even 500ft to check a bait soon wears off. Once a fish is hooked, it can either be played using the electric power source or fought manually. I agree that in the first instance this is hardly a sporting option, as often the rod is left in the holder and not even held, but in the latter instance when the fish is fought without the aid of power, I do not see any conflict with sporting ethics.