Well, I finally got out fishing, forgetting only my boots, big socks, mitts, guernsey and most of the bait I'd normally take.
The reel is as nice as I'd hoped, just about feeding line to a 2BB float in a "current" more like a drift, but its two predicted faults made their presence felt; the biased check made moving swims difficult with the reel set up for right-hand wind, and the not-terribly tight clearance between drum and back-plate let slack line into the works. An un-spotted feature then emerged - the check spring around which line tries to get, having gained the sanctuary of this guarded space, is SHARP, so don't 'ee go a-pulling and a-hauling when it happens, unpick it all carefully!
Also, the big spool has a flywheel effect, so anything resembling a Wallis cast needs timely and strict braking.
If, like me, you are so long between trips that you have to re-learn the motor skills each time, this will accelerate the process; nothing convinces you that slack line is the enemy that never sleeps so quickly as a 'pin whose diet of choice is nylon, apart from a cheap closed-face in a direct headwind. (Feel my pain - and it was over thirty years ago!)
So; a bargain, and once your head knows what to do and you fingers have learnt/remembered how to do it, a lovely bit of kit. Not one for the can't-be-@rsed, though.
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