302 manual pickup

Sooo... I am just going to jump in right here and ask a few questions if you dont mind haha i scored a pair of 302s in workin order on ebay for about 35 bucks. from what i have gathered that seems to be a decent deal. I plan on these being for surf fishing and some king fishing if i can get hooked up! my question is this, what is the manual pickup and what does it do? i have the cross wind pretty well figured but if yall will can you explain exactly what these do to and for the reels? i have read through the DIY articles and understand how to do the mods as explained pretty much but not for sure what they do for you. Thanks in advance!

About average price depending on the condition. In a nut shell, the pum replaces the automatic bail wire. You have to manually hold the line up for the pick up to grab it as it rotates by. Hence the name Manual Pickup. It is a skill that has to be acquired thogh a fair amount of practice - just to get it to pick the line up on a regular basis without getting all screwed up. Nevermind when a king is peeling line off at about 50'/sec. Not difficult to get your pickup finger tangled around the line when it's ripping off like that.
I'll allow one of the pum guys explain why they like it over the bail wire. It's not a skill I've mastered yet but I did manage to hookup a couple of time last year with my 303. Personally, I don't see an advantage but that's just me. I know a lot use it because they think it looks cool to fish like the regulars. But it ain't the reel - it's the user. Hell, I've seen many tourists hook up on $20 wally world specials-blind hog occassionally finds an acorn. :boohoo:

thanks dive!!! that helped a lot! i am assuming the cross wind mod makes the spool go up and down to make the line spool straight?

for beach or bottom fishing, I would stay with the bail....with a little slack in the line on a manual the line can come off the roller and well....a mess might be had ....only good when holding it(rod and reel) and i haven't spent enough time to master it....but will be working on it or selling what manual reels I own :boohoo:

10-4 thank y'all