# Bait Caster brake change



## tailchaser16 (Sep 23, 2008)

Do any of you bait cast users ever change out the brakes that come in the box on your reels?
I have never but was wondering if they go bad or something.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

It's not that they go bad (unless you're fooling around with the reel and lose one or two..). It's that different anglers have different needs... If you're tossing heavy plugs one set up might suit you just fine - but if you start fishing with light lures then different brakes might make things work better... 

A lot of this is close to voodoo - and a really good reel man can assist an angler in properly setting up his (or her) reels... Most of us just fumble along using trial and error to go with whatever brake setup we choose...

That I know of... the brakes on bait casters don't "go bad" though...
Hope this helps...


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## SomaliPirate (Feb 5, 2016)

I have a Ambassadeur 5000 that my dad bought in 1968 and the brakes still look good whenever I break it down. And that reel has been fished hard over the years.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

tailchaser16 said:


> Do any of you bait cast users ever change out the brakes that come in the box on your reels?
> I have never but was wondering if they go bad or something.


Depends on what reel you are referring to. The older Shimanos came with pink and green brakes and you can buy grey ones. They are different thicknesses and weights so you can fine tune your cast settings. I’d have to go open up some of mh old Shimanos but I think pink ones were heaviest, green were lighter and the grey ones are lightest.


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## tailchaser16 (Sep 23, 2008)

Maybe I should have rephrased my question:
the older Shimano reels came with pink brakes on the spool. Yet in a baggie there were green and more pink. I know the green are different sizes, but always wondered why they gave more pink.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

I guess in case you lose some? 
I always popped three pinks out and replaced with greens and just leave two greens popped out across from each other and never worried about them again.


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