Feeder fishing tackle has made many massive advances in recent years, as this style of fishing has become so popular right across Europe. Who would have thought, for example, that we would have a Feeder World Championships? Browning have been at the forefront of feeder fishing gear for many years, and one of the areas where they excel is reels.
Recently, I have been using the new Black Viper MK FD reel, which has been designed with long-range feeder fishing in mind. This 50 size reel, can add metres to your cast, thanks to the large spool and worm-shaft gearing which gives exceptional line-lay. Perfect for modern braided feeder lines. The machined alloy spool has been specially designed for fine diameter braided lines, with a shallow profile that doesn’t require huge amounts of backing. This shallow spool profile actually helps save weight, giving a very well balanced setup when combined with 13 foot (3.9 metre) and 14 foot (4.2 metre) feeder rods.
When fishing at range you also need a reel that retrieves line quickly. This makes regularly recasting much less of a chore, and means less time is wasted each time you want to refill the feeder, or change hookbait. The retrieve on the Black Viper is just right, and the specially designed rotor imparts very little line twist too.
This is a reel that feels very solidly built, with no slack in the handle, or spool. Everything is tight and responds instantly, just as you would expect with Browning’s engineering. For long-range feeder fishing it has few equals.
Tight Lines!
Pat Cuddy
An incredibly well built reel that will give years of service.
Tjis reel balances perfectly with longer feeder rods of 13ft or 14ft.
The line-lay is exceptional.