No problem. What I'm saying is, if you are going to catch more than a few hard running 20 lb fish, don't skimp on a reel. Now, sure, you can catch fish on any old reel your local mass merchant stocks. Those reels (40-80 dollars) will be made from cast aluminum, stamped gears and bushings and fiber washers. This is fine, and I've used many of them, however, almon are hard running fish, and will cause the drag system of any reel to generate a lot of heat.
The higher end Shimanos and Penns (and others) are built to handle this. The are machined to high tolerances, have multiple composite drag plates, sealed ball bearings. You are paying more money, but getting a lasting tool. I'd never buy a used stamped reel. A used high end, yes. One of my Abu 5500s is an E-Bay find and I caught my largest steelhead on it (no photos, but it was a 40 inch female fish - February - released) but they, while not a true "high end" reel, are a proven workhorse with spare parts available for a total rebuild, if necessary.
I remember a day in 2004, the Best Day Ever, on the lower Muskegon River. The water was clear, temps were in the low 30s and rising, and in order to get a fish to strike, we were running 8 lb test. After about 3 fish on, things started getting weird. When those chrome bullets would hit my plug, they'd peel off 20-30 yards of line shooting back downriver to Lake Michigan. Ping. The line would snap. Not only had I lost my steelhead, I lost all my terminal tackle. This happened at least twice before I realized what was going on.
As the fish pulled line off the spool, the drag was tightening. I'd used this reel on Pere Marquette salmon the previous summer, not on a lot of fish, maybe half a dozen, but the drag was fried from horsing 25 lb salmon on 14 lb test line. That was the closest I'd come to starting back on cigarettes. My buddies wouldn't give me a smoke, bless them. I swore that day never to skimp again. My Stradics have worked flawlessy.
I assume this is what your after....
http://www.piscatorialpursuits.com/images/russy.jpghttp://www.piscatorialpursuits.com/images/jasspring.jpgHere is a regional forum, on which I have no experience:
http://www.salmontroutandsteelhead.com/Also a copy of the magazine "Salmon Trout Steelhead" will have some good how-to articles and river info.
Go fishing with whatever you can. Don't stay home because of equipment limitations, every hour on the river is paying into the bank of time that needs to be paid to have success.
Any reel will work delightfully for a while, but after a few fish, and the fever starts to rage, get a new one. The 40 dollar reels will start to fail after half a dozen salmon. They may last a lifetime of walleye and crappie, but anadromous fish will cook the drags in a week. There is no worse feeling than fishing for 10 -20 hours, getting into a hot pod of fish and having a tackle failure.
Live the dream.
edit to add - I'd go Garcia - Just my preference The Axxar is a high speed retrieve reel - High Gear Ratio. Looks like a discontinued C3 ambassadeur model.
That Penn would work, too, but might be a little more difficult to cast. I don't see a free spool button...
Check the drag by winding about 50 yards of line on the reel and cranking the drag to about 4-5 lbs of resistance. Have the seller hold the reel. You take the tag end of the line and run off across the yard. You are looking for smooth and steady resistance. Jerky or increasing resistance is reason to walk away.
http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/spo/1423672830.html - I like this one for bank fishing.
http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/spo/1423669708.html
