Hi Fred
The line out alarm (or ratchet as I know it) is a must have item when fishing for tope. I cast out, then slacken off the drag and switch on the ratchet. I could leave it in free spool with ratchet on, but the tide pull (combined with big rafts of weed) is enough to pull line from the reel - hence the slackened drag.
Anyway, the reason for all this trouble is that when a tope picks up a bait it instantly runs at speed. Without a slackened drag the rod would be pulled into the sea before the angler could react. I have seen this happen !!! I simply didn't beleive it was possible until I got my first tope run...
It is exhilarating to hear the ratchet screaming as a tope picks up the bait and runs !!! I have successfuly used my Abu 6500 mag elite for tope fishing, but it just isn't the same without the ratchet screaming
