Tony Stevens
Member
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2004
- Messages
- 11
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Jeff Woodhouse in his article or review would seem to be too, by far in favour of the Shimano Company. In my experience over many years different manufacturers have produced far superior reels to those from the Shimano stable, in fact from personal experience I would put Shimano well down the table of top quality reels. Of brands that I have owned and abused the french made Mitchell would have to top the list for value for money. My CAP lasted 30 years and sold second hand for far more than I paid for it. My current Penn spinmaster is over 20 years old and seems indestructable. It handles from 2lb. lines to 10lb and is equally as good for float fishing as it is for ledgering but for modern technology I find it hard to go past the Okuma range. Here in NZ the fishing is for, on average much larger fish than in the UK so reels get hammered and I am sorry to say that in my humble experience that the Shimano reels that I have owned have had to be given away cause they just don't have the bottle!
If anyone would like to shout me an ABU Suverain to try ( they were never imported to NZ) I belive that they may well proove the ultimate in F/S reels.
It pays to be a decerning buyer and make your own call on what would seem to be quality; in my experience weight is the first means of accessing what is in your hand. Helical cut gears of navel brass or bronze weigh far more than die cast aluminium. Machined alloy bar stock is no contest when it comes to cast impregnated phenolic resins for life of bodies etc. etc. and a well reamed phosphor bronze baring will well and truly outlast any but absolute top quality ball or roller barings if well maintained.
For some it would seem that the "lable"is the most important reason for owning something. Lets get back to quality of engineering and shy away from lables, looks good and unadulterated crap that is mostly on offer these days.
If anyone would like to shout me an ABU Suverain to try ( they were never imported to NZ) I belive that they may well proove the ultimate in F/S reels.
It pays to be a decerning buyer and make your own call on what would seem to be quality; in my experience weight is the first means of accessing what is in your hand. Helical cut gears of navel brass or bronze weigh far more than die cast aluminium. Machined alloy bar stock is no contest when it comes to cast impregnated phenolic resins for life of bodies etc. etc. and a well reamed phosphor bronze baring will well and truly outlast any but absolute top quality ball or roller barings if well maintained.
For some it would seem that the "lable"is the most important reason for owning something. Lets get back to quality of engineering and shy away from lables, looks good and unadulterated crap that is mostly on offer these days.