new shimano aero match reel

[caught any mate]

hi all,thinking about treating myself for xmas,it would be a big cash outlay for me,but if these reels are as good as the manufacturers state,it will be a good investment.Any unbiased opinions,cheers.

 

[itsfishingnotcatching]

I bought a 3000 Rarenium, it's half the price of the Aeros but I'm not totally convinced it's £100 better than my Stradic. I am impressed with how light the Ci4 reels are and when trotting for a few hours the benefits become more obvious. If he's looking in, Sam Vimes is a font of knowledge for most things Shimano.

N.B. Pay no attention to ANY comments on Shimano reels by that S-Kippy chappy

 

[floatfish]

I have had several Shimano reels over the years, admittedly at the cheaper end of the range, but I have never found any problems with them, they all do the job they are supposed to. In my opinion from experience, they don't make bad reels.

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

Well I thought they were good reels, had mine 6 months, the bearing went, sent it back only to be told i would have to pay for the repair, shimano don't do the repairs themselves.

You then have to try and get the money back from shimano, as the reel was under warranty. I didn't buy mine, I won it in a competition, so i told them to poke it.

The stratic is a good reel, but sold mine. Wouldn't buy shimano again.

Not Biased just the truth.

 

[robtherake]

Shame, I quite fancied one of those, although it would have been the slower retrieve spinning variant (still for float fishing, mind.)

 

[dannyboy1]

Rays right Shimano reels are poor nowdays, I remember the old ones from the 1990's and early noughties they went forever, totally reliable.

Unfortunately the new ones are just living off the name, I told my dad not to get a new stradic he didn't listen. He's now admitted time its poo and he wishes he'd of listened to me.

Personally I'd look at other manufactures like Daiwa or Spro that's my opinion.

 

[itsfishingnotcatching]

My Stradics only about four years old and apart from a replacement bail arm has not let me down. At around £90 I'm not convinced there are many better reels around at the price, each to their own

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

My Stradics only about four years old and apart from a replacement bail arm has not let me down. At around £90 I'm not convinced there are many better reels around at the price, each to their own

Well i have a Mitchell Match 0ver 40 years old, never needed any new parts.

Only 4 years old and needed a new bail arm, ?? not great. I have heard that shimano are cutting the price's of Reels, not sure if it is true. We will have to wait and see.

 

[barbelboi]

The feedback I've been getting is that Shimano are not producing the same quality as their 'made in Japan' days. My (made in Japan) Stradics and Aero5000GTE's are around 16 years old and still going strong in regular use...........

---------- Post added at 20:13 ---------- Previous post was at 20:12 ----------

Well i have a Mitchell Match 0ver 40 years old, never needed any new parts.

Only 4 years old and needed a new bail arm, ?? not great. I have heard that shimano are cutting the price's of Reels, not sure if it is true. We will have to wait and see.

Mind that gap Ray............

 

[itsfishingnotcatching]

Well i have a Mitchell Match 0ver 40 years old, never needed any new parts

I was given a 300, may be older than yours Ray, not been tempted to use it though

 

[dannyboy1]

Well i have a Mitchell Match 0ver 40 years old, never needed any new parts.

Only 4 years old and needed a new bail arm, ?? not great. I have heard that shimano are cutting the price's of Reels, not sure if it is true. We will have to wait and see.

I have a Shimano areo (the first one with the 'fighting drag)' it would of been about 1994 time I brought it- still going no spare parts needed. I rest my case your honnnor,

I do have to say in Shimanos defense to remain fair, that the price of the Shimanos now to then in comparing today's reels are much much cheaper. They are also much much poorer too! Get what you pay for??

 

[robtherake]

Price went down recently from ~£200 to £120. I suspect there'll be a few unhappy bunnies who paid the full amount, post launch.

 

[sam vimes]

It doesn't matter a toss which brand or model of reel you care to mention. Someone, somewhere will have had a bad experience with them. The bigger the market share a brand has, the more likely it is that you'll find someone that has had a genuine bad experience. However, the general trend is undoubtedly leaning towards Daiwa reels at the moment. Look hard enough and you can find people griping about them too.

Personally, the odd lemon excepted, I can't quite get my head around what some coarse anglers do to reels. I've not managed to break a reel in use, of any brand, in over thirty years of fishing. I've got Stradics that are getting towards twenty five years old that are still going strong. I've got much more recent Malaysian made Twinpowers Ci4s, that see more use in a year than many would give them in ten, they are just fine. I still can't say for sure that the Twinpowers will be going strong in another twenty years. However, I am utterly convinced that they are far superior reels to the old Stradics. One thing that does strike me is that the original Stradics were around the £120 pound mark in the early nineties. Does anyone seriously expect a reel that costs about the same now to be of similar quality? Similar can be said of the Mitchells, they were anything but cheap reels in their heyday.

The new Aero Match reel first appeared only a while after I'd bought the last of my Twinpowers. I rather liked the look and feel of them but, though tempted, I couldn't justify buying one. I never did get my head wrapped round the reasoning for the double handled version being labelled as the match and the single being labelled as feeder.

Truth is, I've got enough reels to meet my needs for years to come. If I buy new it'll be just because I can. Nothing has been tempting enough in a while. However, the new Super GT RD is tickling my fancy. It's not got all the latest whizz-bangs fitted, so it doesn't have the price tag. However, it's got enough to be tempting, including the odd feature that addresses longstanding Shimano weaknesses (rubbish plastic line clips). The large diameter spool, with optional reducers, is the main plus point for me. Others might appreciate that it hasn't got a double handle!

 

[Ray Roberts]

Like Sam I have a few Stradic's and a Ci4 Twinpower and they have never let me down.

The Ci4 has had a bit of use now and I can honestly say that it is the best reel I have ever used.

The only reels I have had fail were a pair of Mitchel 300's, one stripped it's gears and both had bail arm springs fail. I have also had a couple of closed face reels give up the ghost but the stradic's still work as good as when they came out of their boxes.

 

[sis the roach]

yes if its made in japan and its says it on the reel then its well made but the newer ones are not if you look ON THE REEL SEAT unless its a stella the old reels were made in japan and were alot better i have bought i have 30 reels the newer ones are not as good in my opinion my old mate john dean went on to them for float fishing

 

[dannyboy1]

Your not on your own Roachy

Sent from my HP 8 G2 using Tapatalk

 

[sis the roach]

got a rarenium 3000 myself bail spring broke twice

 

[trotter2]

Just reading the comment about a bail arm going in 4 years and the buyer saying that's acceptable.
I have had an abu 501 since the 70s and its been hammered, still going strong and no repairs.
Now that's a reel IMO

 

[robtherake]

Still occasionally use a 1954 Mitchell 308. There's a tiny amount of paint loss, but it runs as smoothly now as it ever has, despite NEVER getting any attention while it's been mine, apart from the occasional wipe down. Another 308, slightly newer (1962, I think) served well for 30 years, until I stripped it down, lost some parts and then broke a screw off and left the threaded half inside the rotating head. mg: I'd need a donor reel to fix it up - the cost of the individual parts exceeding the current price for a goer on Ebay. Maybe I'll get lucky at the boot sale; the old thing deserves resurrection after gamely battling with whatever came it's way since I was a spotty thirteen year old.

I've yet to have a reel fail in service, although I have sent a few for a swim when they failed to meet expectations. I read an article recently suggesting that fish should always be played by winding, rather than the usual pump-and-wind situation. Maybe that's where I've been going wrong - too much mechanical sympathy.