MarauderYak

That's funny. But did you know Zebco (Quantum) was originally a bomb company? Zebco was short for ZEro hour Bomb COmpany.

If you wait a couple of weeks (until June), that's when a lot of companies start discontinuing reels to make room for new models. You'll see some good sales starting then.

The BPS Enigma reel is a good reel for teaching casting. You can set it so that a normal cast requires no thumbing at all, and then slowly free it up as they get comfortable with casting. If you start off with 4+ of the inside breaks turned on it eliminate that huge backlash that requires a re-spooling.

It'll be lighter and IMO cooler than that reel.

And I was just trying to let you know that they were going to introduce a new reel based on the Pixy and designed for all around use. The key difference will be that it is made with more durable gears. Just trying to let you know you were sorta getting your wish.

The Pixy just isn't made for heavier use. It's designed for light tackle & small fish. The gears will wear out relatively quickly if you use it for heavier fishing, and you'll have a tough time finding magnesium gears. If you want a similar reel, but designed for the US market, just wait till ICAST & you'll see a new Daiwa reel that fits that description.

Ayu fishermen are THE crazziest sport fishermen. They'll spend $5000 on a rod. They have to wear a completely different (matching) outfit every day they fish. And they have to catch the fish with style... they swing it up in the air, grab their net & catch it. And you can only catch an Ayu by using another live Ayu, so you have to buy your first one. The kicker to the whole thing, is that Aye taste horrible.

Just a couple of points... You should have no trouble exchanging it. Just ask the store if they are in stock, and if they aren't, ask them when they will be. There are 2 BPS stores in Canada. Shimano Canada and Shimano US are technically different companies, and it's illegal to set retail pricing in Canada.

I don't think they're made anywhere. They were made in China, but they were unavailable for around a year. I had one person at US Reel tell me the factory closed, and sales rep told me they were unhappy with the quality & were looking for another factory to make them.

The pros are not always promoting the high end gear, but the popularity of pros has helped with sales of fishing gear. More sales means more companies coming into the business, and existing companies expanding. All this means companies can afford to make the high end equipment we love to drool over.

KVD is the best tournament bass fisherman in the world. There's nothing wrong with people wanting to know exactly what he's using & how he's using it. In fact, if nobody cared what any of the pros used; you wouldn't see the high dollar tournaments. Without the tournaments & pros selling product, you wouldn't see the selection of high end gear we have today.

What shaft did you bend? The spool shaft? I don't see how this could happen on any reel while fishing. And if it got bent... why would you "machine it down"?

With the cost of tooling up a LH reel here in the US, and the sales volume Ardent has on their current reels... they would be losing a lot of money. That would be a horrible business decision. They will make a LH reel when they create a model that will have better volume.

I had my hands on one today. It's not the same as any of the reels mentioned (nor any other reel I've seen). It seems like it might be just slightly larger than the old ProLite, but according to the scale I weighed it on, it was only 7.6 oz. To me, it felt as smooth as PQ, but I didn't have both side by side to compare.

The first several batches of casting rods were defective as well. The foregrip would crack, and the handles weren't glued on properly.