During the two decades of fishing the beaches in the UK I was always armed with a multiplier reel, usually an early Penn model; a Penn 160 or 180 being highly favoured at the time. During the 70's, ABU of Sweden introduced their Ambassador range and these chalked up most of the casting records at the time. However, in as much as I would like to have owned the ABU reel, the price was many times that of the Penn, so by necessity I remained satisfied with what I had.

When I arrived in New Zealand, my early months were spent in the far north and at that time I was quickly converted to a fixed spool. I was unused to fishing big surf beaches and these reels were without doubt the way to go, espeially with the conditions one generally encountered on the likes of 'The Ninety Mile Beach'.

Now four decades later, and well into my senior years, I am tempted to make a change and once more trial a multiplier reel, but of course the brands that are popular today are completely unknown to me. Normally I would seek the advice of a local retailer, but unfortunately it's not unknown for some to be more interested in the sale than the client's actual needs.

I would happily make the purchase from Tackle Tactics, but first I would like to handle the reel to be sure it would work well with a Veritas rod. I am concerned the reel seat on the Veritas is fixed (a common design fault) and when using a multiplier I would prefer to have the reel seated at the lower end of the butt section. This issue can be overcome with reel clamps, although it would make the rod look very untidy.

So the crux of the problem is just what reel would be recommended by regular users? I have mentioned many times I only fish with light tackle, five and six ounce sinkers find no favour, so the reel must be at home with four or five kilo breaking strain line and four, preferably three ounce sinkers.

Recommendations based on personal experience would be much appreciated. I have used multiplier reels for many years so I have no worries with over runs and would expect the occasional bird's nest. Some things in life never change.