Ninja doubts

[Keith M]

Philip, I wasn’t keen on the Ninja reels either, the one I ordered was a 2500 size and I returned it because a) It had extremely small diameter spools (and I’ve had experiences with coiled line on small diameter spools on other reels in the past) and b) it didn’t come with spool reducers and so needed backing line; so I ended up getting a Shimano Aero Match FA reel which was much better and had larger diameter spools and spool reducers, although it was a little more expensive but I thought it was well worth the extra cash.

The Ninja is a good reel in its price range I’ve no doubt about that, but if like me there’s something about them you just don’t like then it’s well worth paying the extra and getting a reel that suits you a lot better.

NB: I think the Shimano Aero Match FA has been discontinued now but there are others.

Keith

 

[S-Kippy]

This thread ( and others like it) prove what I've always thought ie that in a lot of peoples eyes Shimano can do no wrong and every other make of reel is inferior. That's not meant as a criticism of individuals on here, rather than the continued spread of the Shimano virus to which there is no known cure.

I dont have the virus. If anything I'm a Daiwa man as I like the bigger diameter spools and the airbail. The handle on some marques is not to my taste, nor the colour on others, but bar a couple of Shimmys a lot of my reels are Daiwas.....but that wouldnt stop me buying a Shimmy or any other brand if it was what I was looking for. I honestly do not get this obsession with Shimano reels....they are good reels but not IMO so much better than the opposition. I also have Wychwood, Sonik and Mitchell reels. All are excellent.

And dont get me started on Shimano baitrunners....ugly great brutes.

 

[108831]

I find that the quality of daiwa and shimano pretty consistant,both manufacturers make decent reels,some not as good as others,but no matter what the price the majority are more than usable,unlike many others that are just rubbish,I have two stradic 4000 rear drag models,both good reels,fish well and have done for years,but....I don't like the speed of retrieve,too fast imo,this requires more gearing,which means it has less 'feel' when playing fish,again imo,as I say brilliant reels for all that and I've caught lots of fish,many of specimen size,if I was barbel fishing these days I wouldn't use them(even though they were my go to reel for this),why,because the exceler reels I now use have better winding power and drag,the gear ratio is ideal,this is all based on what my experience and preferences tell me,everyone is different,many people catch more and bigger fish than me,but a lot more catch less. One particular event sticks I my mind was a day when I was trout fishing at Lechlade,I'd caught three and the fish had moved beyond my casting range,now anyone who knows Lechlade would tell you that many spots are very difficult to cast from due to bushes,there are three points that enable good casting,anyway there was a guy on a point 60-70 yds away struggling,I saw him starting to put his gear away for a move and quickly dropped into his spot after he had gone,well,I had a sarnie and a cuppa then had my first cast,bingo,a decent rainbow took my grhe nymph almost as soon as I started my slow retrieve,I say down,had another cuppa(as I wasn't ready to go home)which took 10 minutes of so,I recast,bang another,with one fish left to catch for my limit,I sat for 30 minutes eating what was left in my lunch box when the the guy who was there before me came round,he said he couldn't understand how he hadn't caught,after fishing the spot for hours(4 to be fair),I asked him what fly line he had on,he came out in a snobbish manner 'a cortland',I then said I meant what taper and weight,he bumped and said that he had paid £450 for his Orvis rod,£325 for his Hardy reel,and some ludicrous amount of money for casting lessons from a game shop in London,I said to him that all of that overpriced gear was useless for the venue,and he started shouting saying that it was the best,to which I said 'fair enough' and cast out again(full w/f line out)and caught my last fish instantly,this was on my Intrepid Rimfly reels,a mill end floater w/f #8 and a Bob Church fly rod,total cost of less than £100 quid,it helps if you can fish just a bit before you spend a fortune on gear...

 

[nottskev]

I always have a good word for the Shimano's I own. But there's no virus - there are lots of Shimano's I won't own: I'm not keen on front drags, whatever people claim about them; I won't entertain reels that can't backwind; I couldn't stand shiny multi-coloured ones; there's no chance I'd invest in their models - or anyy one else's - costing hundreds. But within the limits of what I like, they've proved perfect for me. I've tried various others, so I'm not under any viral spell, but the early TDM Daiwa's had more glitches than the reels I preferred and they went, and the Fox and Okuma baitrunners proved unbearably ugly and clunky. I know you didn't have me in mind as stricken by a virus; I'm just making the point that some Shimano fans whose reels are still purring after more than 20 years have perfectly good reasons for their appreciation of them.

 

[108831]

Kev,I've posted this on FM before,but God knows how many years ago,I bought two Shimano aero match III's,these were out of manufacture when I bought them and cost fifty quid each,instead of eighty or ninety,they both work brilliantly today and are of Japanese manufacture,they owe me nothing and have caught me so many fish,people just wouldn't believe,they are rear drag,today I prefer front drag,purely because they are in the main smoother,especially when you play fish on a relatively tight drag as I do,I agree reels must have an anti reverse switch,allowing backwinding,

 

[108831]

I will be very interested in your review Alan.

Couldn't wait,the rod is ordered

 

[steve2]

Over the years I have used so many different makes of reels and in most cases they have all stood the test of time and my abuse.
Some of my reels are now nearly 50 years old and the reel that in all that time and is still going strong is with out doubt the Mitchell 300 a right old work horse and can be picked up for a few quid on ebay. It hasn’t all the bells and whistles of these newer bright shiny reels but still does everything I need from a reel so why I bought all the others I don't know.

 

[Keith M]

I don’t have anything against Diawa reels, Diawa make some excellent reels and I’m certainly not a Shimano only person.
I have reels in my tackle den made by Diawa, Shimano, Drennan, Mitchell, Abu and a couple of other makers.

I have a few older Diawa reels some of which are big and clunky (which I don’t like) and a couple also have freespool, and some are small and light, and they are all still going strong apart from minor faults like missing plastic handle screw covers.

I certainly don’t have the ‘anti freespool’ bug or the ‘single handle only’ bug or the ‘one maker only’ bug or the ‘front (or rear) drag only’ bug like some anglers have, I like them all as long as they do what I expect of them.

Keith

 

[Lark]

This thread ( and others like it) prove what I've always thought ie that in a lot of peoples eyes Shimano can do no wrong and every other make of reel is inferior. That's not meant as a criticism of individuals on here, rather than the continued spread of the Shimano virus to which there is no known cure.

I dont have the virus. If anything I'm a Daiwa man as I like the bigger diameter spools and the airbail. The handle on some marques is not to my taste, nor the colour on others, but bar a couple of Shimmys a lot of my reels are Daiwas.....but that wouldnt stop me buying a Shimmy or any other brand if it was what I was looking for. I honestly do not get this obsession with Shimano reels....they are good reels but not IMO so much better than the opposition. I also have Wychwood, Sonik and Mitchell reels. All are excellent.

And dont get me started on Shimano baitrunners....ugly great brutes.

Ah yes... The dreaded Shimano Baitrunner virus that hit our shores during the late 80's.....
I had been using Cardinal 55's for years when my best mate/fishing buddy bought a pair of shimmy's (Triton Sea Spins, I think the first ones were called).
At the time I was getting fed up with the carp scene and sick and tired of the equipment-obsessed rhetoric of the specialist 'experts'. I absolutely refused to buy into the Shimano fest and stuck to my 55's and 300's.
A while after our last Redmire session my mate had all his gear stolen from outside work while he was on nights, including a beautiful pair of 12ft Armalites I had just built for him.
I decided that it was a good time to jack in the carp/specialist scene, so I sold him most of my gear to tide him over but he replaced his beloved Shimano's with the first baitrunners.
I sold the last of my 55's to a bloke in Devon in about 1992 for £90 + postage... He was thrilled with it, as were all the other people I'd sold them to.
Now very keen on the match scene, I invested the money I'd got from my mate into updated and better river gear.
Like S Kippy, I became a bit of a Daiwa fan, particularly their closed-faced reels, which had also faced similar prejudice from ABU closed-face reel fanatics... and probably still do!
I have used Harrier 120's and 125's since they first came out and cannot fault them and Daiwa's service and spares support has always been first rate when I've needed them. My first 'baitrunner' reels were Daiwa Regal's, which I've been using pretty heavily for my barbel and tench fishing since about 2008 without a single problem.
Reels are definitely an individual taste/obsession. I have five Mach 3 size 40's and one size 35 for my general feeder, pellet waggler, heavier waggler fishing and I wouldn't change them for anything else, past or present, on the market for quality, build, ease of use and extras that you get with them. If you can track them down on EBay you could do a lot worse!

 

[spenbeck]

About 3 years ago I finally moved with the times and retired my Mitchell 300-400-410s and bought some Ninja 3012s and 4012s. I've been very happy with them apart from an anti-reverse bearing going on one of the 4012s. The mitchell's still come out for light river work though.

 

[sam vimes]

This thread ( and others like it) prove what I've always thought ie that in a lot of peoples eyes Shimano can do no wrong and every other make of reel is inferior. That's not meant as a criticism of individuals on here, rather than the continued spread of the Shimano virus to which there is no known cure.

I'm not remotely convinced such a thing really exists. Quite the opposite, Daiwa are currently more fashionable, especially amongst match anglers. Shimano are definitely on the wane, and have been for a few years. I'd go as far as suggesting that quite a few slate Shimano unneccessarily based on myths. The introduction of reels without the anti-reverse switch was a bad mis-step. The huge reduction of their more targeted UK models was another. However, the way some go on, you'd think that every reel that Shimano make doesn't have the anti-reverse switch. You'll be lucky if it's true for more than 20% of their reels commonly available in the UK. I actually put my money where my mouth was on one of them. It's a fantastic little reel and the lack of anti-reverse switch is by no means an insurmountable issue. However, there's little doubt that my natural inclination is to grab a reel with an anti-reverse switch in preference. I understand entirely why many wouldn't dream of buying any reel without an anti-reverse switch.

I don't have any obsession with Shimano reels. I've tried all sorts of other brands. However, not surprisingly, when you've used Shimanos for many years, your preferences tend to develop along the lines and company characteristics that their reels tend to display. It's also inevitable that the feel of other brands tends to feel somehow wrong.

I make no claims that Shimano produce the best reels, or that they are better than others. However, I do know that they tend to fit my preferences. As I've never had a moments trouble with any of the multitude of Shimanos I've owned, it should be no surprise that engenders a certain level of brand loyalty for me. However, my brand loyalty has only ever extended as far as the arrival of a better product (that fits my preferences), regardless of the brand.

Inevitably, those that have had problems with Shimano, be it down to mechanical issues, breakages, poor after sales etc, or simply that the don't like the look and feel of them, it comes as no surprise that they'll look elsewhere for a reel that does fit their preference.

Preference is the bottom line. I generally like the looks, feel and function of Shimano reels. I don't tend to like the look and feel of many other brand of reel. That doesn't mean that other brands don't function well or that other folks can't prefer their looks and feel. I don't much care how others spend their money, they don't share my preferences and don't have to please me. However, they can tell me Daiwa (or other brands) are brilliant, or how rubbish Shimano are until they are blue in the face. It's rather likely I'll still be buying top end Shimanos until I encounter problems, they become really stupidly overpriced, or cease trading in the UK. Fortunately, if any of those things happen, the longevity of the reels I currently have will probably last me as long as I've got left, even if it means dragging thirty year old Stradic GTMs out of retirement.

 

[103841]

When I was into cycling in my youth it was considered the dogs danglies to have Shimano products on your bike along with Campagnolo. Guess I have always retained a mindset that Shimano means good engineering.

 

[mikench]

Philip I suspect you may be in France at the moment! I popped into my local Decathlon for some bait and had a look at the Revros reel in 1000 size at €50 and the Ninja in 3000 size for €55.

I don't know which size you want but on a simple play I'd go for the Ninja!

 

[S-Kippy]

Just so its clear. I have no problem at all with the build quality of Shimano reels.....I just dont particularly like them and would ( out of sheer spite) not buy one given the slightest excuse to buy something else.

Yes....I am that petty. I'd only buy a Shimmy if there really wasnt any viable alternative. My default setting is to ignore Shimano reels.

 

[mikench]

I feel a bit like that about Starbucks!

 

[Keith M]

I felt the same towards OKUMA reels until I tried their centrepins.

Keith

 

[108831]

And drennan...

 

[103841]

Just so its clear. I have no problem at all with the build quality of Shimano reels.....I just dont particularly like them and would ( out of sheer spite) not buy one given the slightest excuse to buy something else.

Yes....I am that petty. I'd only buy a Shimmy if there really wasnt any viable alternative. My default setting is to ignore Shimano reels.

A shimmy loaded with Sensor must be your worst nightmare Skip.

 

[mikench]

We all dream about different things.

 

[Lark]

Just so its clear. I have no problem at all with the build quality of Shimano reels.....I just dont particularly like them and would ( out of sheer spite) not buy one given the slightest excuse to buy something else.

Yes....I am that petty. I'd only buy a Shimmy if there really wasnt any viable alternative. My default setting is to ignore Shimano reels.

Likewise, I don't have an issue with the quality or capability of Shimano reels, or rods. I have a couple of
Nexave FD 4000's ( I wouldn't pay what they were asking for the Stradics.... Still wouldn't).
My only issue is that they were being rammed down our throats, along with several other brands/types of equipment that, should you be lacking in these reels, bivvies, bed chairs, landing nets you couldn't possibly be considered to be a proper specimen angler. I still retain a belligerent belief that the gear doesn't matter a toss if it does the job and satisfies your requirements of quality and longevity for purpose.