The Fin-nor Offshore spin series was introduced in 2006 and has proven popular among big-fish hunters who jig, cast, troll, cube and live bait. The no-nonsense workhorse design includes an aluminium body, side plate and rotor; machined stainless-steel drive and pinion gear; fully-supported stainless steel main shaft; four double-shielded stainless steel bearings; and an oversized multi-stacked Offshore drag system. The Fin-Nor Offshore spin reel range includes six models from the 4500 to the massive 9500. The body and spool are aluminium and the impressive 11-disc stainless steel and cotton/carbon fibre drag system is capable of 30kg in the sizes 6500 and up. The drive gear, pinion gear and centre shaft are all stainless steel, and the gear ratio is a powerful 4.4:1. Field reports on the Fin-Nor Offshore 6500 spin reel have come in after 24 months fishing on board Craig McGill’s Fishabout Charter Tours in Sydney. McGill said: “We’ve been using the Offshore 6500s on our Fishabout charters since 2009. They have been used for live baiting, trolling and casting lures for kingfish, bonito, jewfish, Australian salmon and cobia. It’s an incredible effort for a spin reel to handle that much constant charter fishing, rough treatment and day-to-day exposure to the elements. “It doesn’t take us long to find any shortcomings in reels and we’re amazed by our Offshore 6500s, having withstood punishment for two years and still performing so close to their original condition,” McGill said.