Commercial kingfisherman, Drew Mudaliar, has reported that his Fin-Nor Marquesa MA16 lever drag reel has landed more than 2 tonnes of kingfish since he took it out of the box. Mudaliar’s commercial fishing operation in Eden, NSW, specifically targets kingfish using metal jigging techniques. Mudaliar said: “It’s an excellent reel. My Marquesa MA16 has now caught more than 2 tonnes of kingfish on jigs — and that’s straight out of the box before a first service. The MA16 is doing great at what is a tough job, being used for commercial kingfish jigging almost daily. It has already proven to be better than any reel our operation has used regardless of the cost.
“We have used a lot of different jigging gear throughout the entire market range. Quite frankly, our level of use has tested everything to the point of failure.
“What impresses the most with the Marquesa is that it has done a mountain of heavy work and its function remains as new, which is as good as any reel I have used. The points of weakness in a jigging outfit that we always expose are simply not there.
“I employ some avid fishermen and we fight over this reel. The marriage of the lever and preset drag operation is far better than any other reel I have used,” said Mudaliar.
“I run 80lb braid on the MA16 and fish with the drag set at about 10kg. It can land up to 50 fish per working day, often with an average size around 8kg.”
The Fin-Nor Marquesa range includes six models: MA12, MA16, MA20, MA30, MA20T and MA30T. The bodies are made of 6061-T6 aircraft-grade aluminium, forged then precision machined. All models have a tough carbon fibre lever drag system, quick 6.1:1 gear ratio and ergonomic handle.
Fin-Nor Marquesa reels won Best Reel at the 2009 Australian Fishing Trade Association Awards.