bulldog1935

@CatfishAndBass - you're kind of putting me on the spot - we don't know for sure that spool pin impacting pinion is causing the noise. If it is, it's not a good thing, but there's nothing I can see in the blurred pinion photo. I'm not familiar with the stubby spindle in your photo. Every reel I know with this configuration, Ambassadeur, Akios, Rocket TG, Kast King, duplicates C3 Ultracast spool design and all have a fixed spindle that's wider than the reel frame. One possibility for making noise is that you lifted the drive from the spool, and dropped a brake shoe into the centrifugal race. Another possibility, the noise is from the LW and needs oil. I'm going to have to see schematics of your reel to tell you anything more - they don't provide them on their website.

The Japanese make it a point to have both. They don't own the amount of tackle we own, can't afford the space to store it. And they don't have the free time to fish that we have - their fishing most always includes travel by train. They look at the whole, gestalt or karma, and believe the spirit of their tackle is a valuable part of the day's experience. The Japanese also bring this same dedication to tackle on their bench. Probably won't find this in Malaysia or China (even Sweden) - but the Japanese believe they're sending more than an object, which attains perfection in workmanship and function. Quoting myself, on the FFR thread I linked just above, agreed with my friend Takeru, if fishing isn't a spiritual experience, one is doing it wrong.

Have to say I don't really understand the question or most of the answers. 1917 Hardy St. George fly reel that I fished for 5 years, then sold for twice what I paid. (kinda cool, fishing the reel for 5 years paid for my T160 kayak) 1918 FE Thomas Special fly rod fishing even harder All my tackle gets fished hard and cared for - and the tackle above, I'm the 4th generation with the task. I'll add, I've fallen in the river and hurt my knee, but not the tackle. Some tackle I won't risk on kayak, mostly for multiple ways it could get damaged or destroyed. Other tackle, that's exactly what I put it together for. Probably not for everybody, but to me, this is too pretty not to fish. Editing to add it has a perfectly defined function - skip-casting 1/8-oz bunny shrimp to visible redfish backs under mangrove overhang.

If it's a continuous ratchet noise in freespool, sounds like your clutch is not fully lifting the pinion. Could be my 2nd possibility above. Best photo I have of this part below is borrowed - if the freespool lever is not properly aligned on the spring-loaded white nylon ball, and in the frame groove, it may not be lifting the pinion gear all the way.

@CatfishAndBass -like I said, the parts are out there. Here's the details on my CS Rocket I built this high-geared 4500CT without a reel, just from parts. Farthest cast I own, and will do it with 3 g. In addition to the Japanese (Avail, Valleyhill) and shops like Mike's in BC, extreme surf upgrades are made in UK and Italy. Akios in UK sold this hot version for awhile, barstock frame, stainless gears, BB drive - - https://akiosfishingtackle.com/product/akios-shuttle-656-lsi-kuro-levelwind-multiplier-reel/ The upgrade parts were fabricated and the reels finished in UK, but the 656 swap parts with Ambassadeur C3, and the Akios version cost 3x. RocketReelCo makes their CT version, sells completed drive plates with BB drive and stainless gears - MannFish in UK makes a high-speed stainless gearset.

How about Japanese wood lures?

Your reel appears to be a dressed-up, re-labeled, Ambassadeur 6500C3. The easy possibility is the spool is not centered, so the spool pin is impacting the pinion gear - too easy to do overtightening the palm-side thumb nut for brakes. To test this, open both thumb nuts a couple of turns - try casting with the reel tilted to either side. When the palm side is up, the spool pin will impact the pinion gear - if this is the sound, tighten the drive-side thumb nut until it goes away. Then tighten the palm side to incipient side play in freespool, or to your casting brake setting. Second possibility is a little more esoteric, and should be intermittent - doesn't make the ratchet sound sound every cast. If the clutch is not fully disengaging, the pinion does not lift completely from the spool pin, and you get the same sound. If this is the case, the drive cover will need to come off for maintenance, and possible part replacement. There are 2 different designs for this function - in the older design, a spring aligns the clutch lever and causes the lever ramps to fully lift the pinion - in the newer design, a nylon ball pushes the clutch lever for alignment. These reels are not difficult to rebuild, because the parts are big and make sense. If it's not a ratchet sound when you cast, maybe describe it better. If you remove the palm cap, it's easy to remove the spool. Replacing the spool bearings simply requires removing the spool from the frame, the spur gear and spool-pin/brake washer from the spool. Spool bearing size is 1044. (CT surf reel) There's also an endless supply of upgrade parts to improve casting in these reels - full-ball-bearing level wind, zirconia pawl, alloy rider, BB idler gear, shallow braid spools, mag brake add-on. (CS Rocket)

mine are too busy on rods to sit still for a group photo.

It gets worse...

Adding a note, the best braid buy out there is Florida Fishing Products - I believe it's supplied by Varivas. First Stradic spool lasted 4 years.

Braid in the 90s wasn't worth caring for. That all changed after 2015 and, especially, after 2018. Coated X8 braids are a great choice, Sufix 832 - Japan X-braid (all made by Izanas - YGK, Duel, Varivas) double the breaking strength for the same diameter. I fish 100% braid - all but 2 of my baitcasters have shallow spools, BFS-mod, and cast into next week. If you haven't tried BFS inshore, you don't know what you're missing. But I also use braid on baitcaster for river kayak, finesse to frogger. My two exceptions are both deep-spool Super Duty, because no aftermarket spools are available for them. Build up a spool arbor with 20-25-yds, 20-25-lb nylon mono (not fluoro), tie that backing to your working braid using a low-profile knot such as Alberto that will pass your line guide. This is holding 120 yds working braid, diameter equivalent to 20-lb 832. Casting 1/8 oz, this will give BFS a run for its money. Here's the capacity calculator for stacking lines of 2 different diameters: https://www.pattayafishing.net/advanced-fishing-reel-line-capacity-estimator/.

So you have a real budget to work with. For light weights, linear mag brake excels. It would be nice to see inside your Zebco palm plate so we know what brake you're used to. With half your budget for a reel, Lew's might be a great choice.

Amazon.jp uses their shipping-container and US Customs broker across the big pond. From US Customs, FedEx Ground takes over. Makes me happy, local FedEx delivery is very reliable. Also keep in mind, there was a big back-up leaving Japan during Golden Week national holidays up to May 6.

Another Japanese X-braid fan here - go-to for me is most often Varivas (Shore) Casting. From 832, YGK, Duel X-wire, (<all good) Yamatoyo (<not so good), Varivas Casting has the toughest coating in the long run. Also no reason to limit breaking strength - PE#1 is 22-lb.

If it gets the job done, and you can fish it reliably, keep fishing. If you want more distance, a longer shore fishing rod might be useful.

I fish BFS from limestone creek to surf. If I'm fishing from a boat, I may be acting captain or guide, but it's someone else's boat. I fish kayaks, some limited reservoir fishing, where I go to wide-range MM baitfinesse in a flexible-use rod. In river kayak and coast kayak, I have limited MH niches, but progressive ML is bread-and butter. The math for me goes back to weightless Ambassadeur in the early 80s. If you get past spinning tackle for light-long cast, and can make the useful cast distance on BFS, the latter is always superior. (set-up right, BFS will outdistance spinning) The math - with baitcast tackle, you're in constant tension-contact with your falling bait, while spinning tackle requires line coils to straighten before you can get to where you start with baitcast. I do have 2 spinning tackle preferences - tandem jigs and complex float rigs.

@philbert1922 You should definitely try the 1016 stock spool - w/ 12-lb mono/fluoro, it will routinely cast 1/8 oz 85 to 90', which is plenty to fish. If you want supreme distance, Ray's Studio honeycomb SV spool gives you similar lure weight range, capacity for 6-lb mono and, better, fishes PE#1.2 braid, which is 25-lb breaking strength in Japan X-braid. I had to thumb to keep 1/8-oz casts out of my buddies across the tide pass, and from this side of the pass, I could fish the same broken grass where far-away Tony is fishing below.

A couple of backwards perspectives on this thread. In low-end reels, Shimano can sell smooth feel. In low-end reels, Daiwa builds tough. Where Shimano takes off is in their worm-drive reels, beginning w/ Stradic, for line management with fine braid.

@philbert1922 Mag-Z Boost 1000 G1 has slightly deeper capacity, and Jun rates it for casting no lighter than 1/4 oz. Steez/TD-Z Hypercast is Daiwa's deepest 1000 spool - Hedgehog shows discontinued, but Jun Sonada has stock.

My BFS reels always have fun and they don't rotate, they're full-time in all my niches, inshore/shore River kayak even surf

@Bazoo I will always remain a glass fan. Fishing close, exceptional skip-casting, big-fish tough. Also fish well below their rated low-end. you could always rebuild your favorite glass rod with new guides made for braid. Since I'm here, there's always "Japan Underground" - Bright River Rivermaster grip has small enough offset for a low-profile reel, and glass is king in rod blades made to match (nice IM6 blades also).

@Skunkmaster-k - also doesn't sting if you do what my buddy did. He left his Daiwa-BBB telescope with his Son-IL's Shimano Ultegra on the back seat of a rental car in Albany - now owned by a car-vacuum technician.

honestly can't say I ever met an LP reel that I loved

Seven-year-old tackle has definitely been discontinued. We've spoiled the tackle makers, buying into their planned obsolescence and N+1 marketing. When Daiwa wouldn't support parts for my 7-y-o Millionaire in 1984, I didn't buy another Daiwa until 2019, and then because their product defined my niche. Lew's was the last maker supporting decade-old reels, but even they don't do that anymore.

I posted on TackleTour that my BFS-mod Daiwas aren't allergic to fishing with low-grade JDM Abu Baitfinesse rods. I liked all the Abu rods I've tried so much I went back for seconds of two models. Xrossfield is closing out all over Japan. Snagged this 4-pc for $45, decided to put this in my kayak back-up dry bag, and add the 2-pc for full-time kayak niche. Make sure you don't rule out this rod for bass finesse and bottom contact. In reels, it was Tica, little Cetus micron that fished 7 hard years in salt finesse (still going, and retired from that niche). BTW, if you have a Daiwa with optional A/R switch, it was built by Tica.