21farms

for live lining, it's perfect. i thought maybe you were plugging with it. i use mine in the salt for deep jigging...love it.

yes, that's how they are because they're not meant for casting. you disengage the gears to let line out (e.g., for trolling or deep jigging) and reengage when you have enough line out. but, since this is bass forum, i'm thinking this is not the right reel for you?

'hate' is a strong word but i'm with ya. i had two and they frustrated the heck out of me. it cracked me up when i read TT's review of the SX...on his first cast, cal ruined a fresh $30 spool of line.

the gen-1s were worse! abu tried to fix the SX's squirreliness by adding a second row of magnets in the gen-2s but it only helped marginally.

centrifugal for me but keep this in mind: dual-braking reels are touted as "the best of both worlds" but they don't truly give you the full sense of what either system is like when fully realized. it like going to a surf-and-turf restaurant where you have a choice of a succulent lobster tail or a fat, juicy steak but can't decide so you order the steak & lobster combo. what you end up getting is a smaller sirloin steak instead of a big new york strip and the tail from a small slipper lobster instead of a big maine lobster. still good but not the same as ordering one or the other separately. just to take this further, take a look at the centrifugal brake assembly from a curado....big brake blocks that slide effortlessly up and down on smooth brass pins. then, look at the centrifugal brakes from a dual-braking reel...tiny little brakes that cannot respond as quickly to the varying speed of the spool. or, on the magnetic side, look inside a daiwa with sophisticated V-mag or Z-mag brakes where a centrifugally-operated arbor extends closer to magnets to receive more braking force when the spool is spinning faster and less when the spool slows down. then, look at a dual-braking reel's fixed magnets that apply the same amount of magnetic braking regardless of spool speed. in summary, a good implementation of either braking system, centrifugal or magnetic, will perform significantly better than either or both of the braking systems of a dual-braking reel.

dan isaac (reelex) who has been field-testing them says that they are not a rebadged existing JDM reel

if you mean performance-wise, i wish i could tell ya. i only received my antares a couple of weeks ago and i've been battling a torn tendon in the elbow of my casting arm and have not been out on the water. off the water, they're both gorgeous reels. the antares is quite large and really fills up the hand...maybe too much so for many people as i have large hands and it's borderline too big for me. the antares is hefty too and feels extremely solid and smooth. i think i got it just because it is shimano's pinnacle of their non-DC line...i'm sure i will get a lot more use out of the metanium just because it is smaller and more comfortable and lighter...not to mention that 8.5:1 gear ratio will make pitchin' senkos extra fun. here are some comparo pics i just took for you:

here's a few more from different angles. even the way the thumb bar depresses has this cool sounding "whoosh".

i got a metanium XG and it is the cat's meow. seriously, i've owned many nice reels but the met is the best i've ever fished with. i ordered mine from japan and it only took a week to get to me.

solid, reliable reels. i really liked that it is available in the 4.7:1 gear ratio because it's perfect for the way i like to fish my 5-inch swimbaits. what i don't care for is the standard handle. so, i fitted mine with a 95mm carbon fiber handle.

???????? daiwa introduced them to US consumers on a few of their reels starting in june 2007, calling it a 'swept' handle. swept handles first appeared in the first JDM zillions in late 2006. daiwa claims it is their innovation, TT acknowledges daiwa introduced it and i remember when they first came out.

shimano and daiwa are fierce rivals in japan, with each trying to position themself as the leader in innovation. bent handles are a daiwa innovation which other companies quickly copied for themselves. shimano probably doesn't want to give a tip of the cap to daiwa, although the new JDM shimano metanium features a new ever-so-slightly curved handle which they don't say anything about in the sales literature. shimano has their own proprietary knob material called septon, the most unique thing about is that it remains tacky even when wet. the only advantages of EVA foam are that it is light and inexpensive and some people like the way it looks but it does not wear well and looks terrible after exposure to salt. shimano's "thing" has never really been about weight...rather smoothness and reliability. why no sales or promos? marketing position and pereception, mainly. top tier companies work hard to build their image and to maintain their premium status and don't often have sales or promos because that dilutes their their brand and their ability to charge premium prices. yamamoto baits is another company that has done an excellent job with this...in the face of hundreds of copycats, they're still able to sell a ton of senkos at top-tier prices.

the numbers refer to the reel size. shimano made or makes bass reels in 50, 100, 200 and 300 sizes, with the larger the number the larger the reel. some of the JDM (japan domestic market) shimanos are 150-sized and there's a rumor that shimano will introduce a new 150-size reel at icast this year. a "1" at the end of the number (e.g., 51, 201, etc.) indicates that it is a left-hand retrieve. the letter following the reel size indicates the reel's generation. this progresses in alphabetical order, starting with nothing (which is usually assumed to be the 'A' model), followed by the 'B' model and so on. for example, the first-generation curado was the CU-200. the next generation was the CU-200B. now, here's where it gets tricky: shimano skips certain letters for superstitious and/or marketing reasons so the curado E, for example, is NOT the fifth-generation curado in case you haven't noticed, all USDM (united states domestic market) shimano casting reel names start with the letter C (citica, curado, chronarch, core, etc.) while all of their spinning reels start with an S (symetre, saros, sahara, stella, etc.). hope that helps.

with the black max and the silver max, the biggest thing hindering better performance and feel is the graphite frame which is not as rigid or solid as an aluminum frame. even if you dropped in a set of boca bearings and switched to carbontex drag washers, you'll still be limited by the flexy frame. i think you'd be much better off putting that money toward a better reel. everything starts with solid frame because that provides for better gear alignment, the spool shafts sit on the bearings better which in turn allow the bearings to spin easier, etc. as to why people install better bearings, they do help incrementally...maybe slightly better casting distance, definitely smoother and increased durability.

i did not like the tank-like proportions or weight of the 200Ds but the 100Ds were absolutely terrific. still, i like the Es a lot more...their shape is still about the most comfy in my palms that i've found.

jacob, if you want a daiwa because you liked the px type-r so much, get an alphas...this is as close as you can get within your $200 price range unless you can find a beat-up pixy for that price. the lexas, zillions, advantages, et al are different animals.

by the way, i should mention that their sizes are a little wonky if you're used to shimano and daiwa sizing. i first got the 9535 based on the listed line capacity. when it arrived, i was surprised at how big it was. i was expecting it to be about the size of a daiwa 2000 or a shimano 2500 but it was bigger than both of those. i had to exchange it for the 9530.

i have one in the 9530X size. i like it very much but, if you can believe it, it's TOO light...my favorite spinning setup balanced better with a 2-oz. heavier daiwa caldia.

yes, they're good people

from your description, i had the exact same issue with one of my 3G STXs. i sent my almost new one back to ABU and they returned it to me within a week. i put a little silver dot on the bottom of the reel foot so i knew i got the exact same reel back. the included work order said they adjusted the clutch plate. IMHO, having them apply a fix to your reel is MUCH BETTER than them sending you a new reel since you can rest assured the non-engaging clutch problem has already has been addressed; if you got a brand new one, it might have the exact same problem. besides, when i got mine back, it looked like they cleaned out the excess lube that was there from the factory and relubed it correctly. good luck.

i too have an antares in my sights. the current models are lighter than the previous model, which i have fished with. hands down, the absolute smoothest reel i have ever used.

from my very first cast with my shimano aldebaran BFS, i knew immediately it was the best baitcaster i've ever used (and i've pretty much used 80-90 percent of what's out there in terms of low profile baitcasters). my metanium HG arrives this week so my opinion might be changing...

i reported almost the same exact issue in another forum. i have a 2.5-year old veritas 7' medium/mod-fast casting rod that i absolutely adored. it weighed 4.1 ounces and was CRISP. one day, my braided line got caught in the trolling motor and pulled my rod tip down into the blades and snapped off the top 5 inches. i bought a replacement of the exact same rod and, straight out of the rod tube, i could tell there was something different about it. it felt heavier so i put it on the same accurate scale i always use and it came it at 4.4 ounces. i also doesn't feel as "alive". i think typical manufacturing variances with rods (since most are still rolled by hand) are the reasons most manufacturers don't list rod weights.

cool!

i haven't gotten to use mine yet but i noticed the lower pound-test is nice and thin but the #15 supercast is about the same diameter as #20 powerpro and the #20 supercast is like #30 powerpro.