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.

I always spin the spools, but you have to understand that there are quite a few factors working together to determine how "well" it spins. There's the inertia of the spool (determined by mass and shape of spool), effects of the cast control system, bearings (quality, quantity, and placement), and several other things (lubricants, tolerances, etc). When I spin the spool I'm trying to feel how easily it starts to spin, how much effect the cast control has on the spool when set to "off" (both at very slow speeds & at higher speeds), checking for play, and any abnormal resistance. Just keep in mind that it's not all about how long you can get the spool to spin.

On the reel that has marks; if you were to pry out the magnets that don't have marks... you'd see the mark is on the other side.

While they make more money for each high dollar reel sold, their profit margin usually isn't larger. You'd be surprised at how big of a difference there is on some parts. A $100 reel might have 10 cent bearings, while a $400 will likely have $2 - 5 bearings. Quite often the handle of the expensive reel will cost 5 - 10 X the cheaper handle. All those upgraded components and finishes add up fast.

That's from a marker. The factory marks one of the poles of the magnet so they know which way to install it.

I've fished with one, but don't own one. If you struggle with backlash, this is an awesome reel. You adjust the weights like most centrifugal systems, but the inner weights really slow the spool when it is spinning at slower speeds. When I turned on 2 of those weights, I was throwing a 3/8 oz tandem spinnerbait & wasn't using my thumb at all (not even when it hit the water). The cool thing is, I was still getting good distance on my casts. I was amazed by that aspect of the reel, but I could also feel those weights when I was reeling in. It didn't feel bad, but I could feel them. Since I normally don't have much of an issue with backlash, I won't be getting one. But if you get a chance, you should atleast try casting one. It's pretty cool to be able make long casts without using your thumb.

Dude, go ahead. Many up here use them on their centrepin rods. in freezing temp, you just mash the ice out of them. That's their best application if you ask me. Just don't ever bend them more than once without giving them time to cool down. You won't feel it, but when you bend them way down heat builds in the bend. If you bend them repeatedly in quick succession they break. It might just take twice, or it might take 25 times, but they break if you do that.

If you wait till next week, the Tourney Special combos go on sale for $60. I'm looking at their sale flyer right here.

If you want to make the comparison more realistic, then you'd have to say that several models of the new Bentley had to be pulled off the sales floor because drivers couldn't fit inside them. Then on most the other models, the first several production runs had hoods that were likely to split open and/or windshields that would fly off while you were driving. Then, if you look over most any car for sale today, there were minor flaws in the paint, or a trim piece not lined up, or even a taillight lense missing. For the top of the line car/rod, I would personally expect more.

If you have a NRX casting rod with a manufacturing number smaller than MF-62014, I'd contact Loomis about having it replaced. These early rods had multiple manufacturing issues with the handle & foregrip. Keep in mind that the Xpeditor cannot be used with NRX rods as well. If you find a defect, I'd think you'd want to contact Loomis rather than use your golded ticket. IMO, there's just too many manufacturing issues with these rods to make them worth the risk.

my my my how many times do i have to explain this....................................... I gave up. I used to chime in every time this came up, but it never seems to help. Even later in the same thread someone would make a post that they "heard" Silstar makes all BPS reels, or somone told them Pflueger makes all BPS reels. The funny thing is that you rarely hear the same discussions about rods. People would never believe that there are Shimano, Abu, BPS, and MegaBass rods all coming out of the same factory.