jeb2

Excellent points. For the kind of money they are charging for these, you'd sure expect a lot more information and support. The little bit they have on their website is mostly very general and cryptic. They have NO info hanging on the reels themselves. I wonder how many folks even realize you have to register them now to be eligible for the Wild Card. And really, it's only gotten worse since Shimano pulled the contact center from Loomis into Shimano. I've called them several times about more detail on rods, and they have NEVER been able to do anything beyond read the catalog or website to me, even after being transferred to folks that were suppose to be the guy in the know. Shameful, really.

I understand. My personal testing comparing a blue and green 853 says there is no difference, but I'd be interested in any evidence to the contrary. I always figured the raw blank was weight savings.

No doubt. I'm a little embarrassed I never noticed that before. Now that I know, I might start leaning toward the green rods. My blue NRX's are looking kind of beat up in places, which I attribute to them not having a clear coat/epoxy finish.

I had both a green and blue 853 for a while. I did not notice any difference at all, and I compared them closely. But the green one broke and I replaced it with a blue one, since I prefer that color.

I've purchased a lot of diamonds for my wife over the years. A LOT of them. But I won't buy the colored ones. I consider them industrial grade garbage that they're just trying to foist on an uneducated buyer. She kind of likes some of them, but knows she's not getting any from me.

I just went and looked at mine. I have some of each. The blue rods for sure have no finish on them, besides the wrap areas. Just a raw CF look. The green ones do have a finish. I guess I just thought it was from the green color they made such a fuss about when it came out. But maybe it's some kind of clear coat? AFAIK, all of the green ones have always had the rod specs between the split grips. Mine do for sure.

Great deal! I can't think of a current production reel at twice that price that is as good, especially in that weight range.

The one I own is not that great at finesse. And the Tackle Tour review does not give them a solid rating there, either. Actually, the Gen2 Premier is better at smaller baits on the same rods with the same line. Do you own an MGX that is better at finesse than your Gen2 Premier? Can you point me to where you've read reviews on them? I've been looking for some, but the forums I'm on have been mostly silent about them so far.

Good question! I had not been paying any attention to that so far, so just went out to the boat and looked. I do NOT use reel covers and do not excersise much care about that kind of stuff. To me, these things are tools. I buy good tools, but don't care if they get to looking like tools. But there's not a scratch on my G3 STX yet. Very impressive, and surprising. Maybe they did do something about that issue afterall.

As KSRonH says, the Gen2 Premier is also available in the 7.1:1 ratio.

Great advice! The bearings are almost always way over lubed from the factory. I pull all my reels down when new and flush/lube the bearings. Even on the high end stuff. Bought a new Daiwa Pixy Type-R the other day, and the bearings were as bad as any I've seen for being over lubed. Makes a big difference in casting ability! I clean mine every 3-4 months, in a rotation. I have a notebook where I keep track of it all.

You can see my thoughts on this in this current thread in this forum: http://www.bassresou...of-revo-premier Not many reviews of the Gen3 Premier yet. IMO, the reviews will be very mixed, at best, as they have been for the MGX. I've been fishing the Gen3 STX alongside my 4 Gen2 Premiers since the G3's first arrived. I had one on pre-order, and my local dealer was one of the first to get them in stock. It's probably about as close as it gets to the Gen2 Premier in the Gen3 lineup. And it is not quite as good a reel, in my experience. It's very close, but it has more gear noise. Besides the above, I own/owned a Gen1 SX, Gen2 SX and an MGX. If I were buying ANY Revo baitcasting reel today, it would be another Gen2 Premier (if I could still find a new one), no question about it.

Yes, the Gen2 got the dual brakes, and the very strong and smooth drag system. Not sure if the Gen1's had the "infini" spool (sp?) where the spool shaft is 2 piece. Anyway, the Gen2 is great, great reel. Probably the very best AG low profile reel ever produced. The Gen3's went away from what made the Gen2's so great, the dual brakes. They now use the IVCB brakes. I have those in my MGX and they are not as good/versatile as the dual brakes. They have just not been as well received on the forums. I've still yet to read a non-sponsored persons review of a G3 Premier. Very odd, that. Fortunately, the dual brakes are still available in the G3 STX, and it is actually lighter than the G2 Premier. And much cheaper. But mine is not quite as smooth at times as the G2 Premier. Nothing horrible, just a little gear noise when retrieving a lure quickly, something none of my 4 G2 Premiers have.

I also use the VMC Spinshot hooks. I do set the hook. Not like when fishing a jig or rig, but it's not just a reel and lift, either. I've found my hook up percentage is always better when I set the hook. I guess you just need to experiment to find what works best for you.

All my spinning rods are either GLX or NRX. The sensitivity of all of them is excellent, and the SYR is no exception. Because it is a bit stiffer tipped, I think it is a bit more sensitive than the DSR for feeling more aggressive taps/hits. But it may loose a few fish because they might detect that resistance more so than the DSR. Many of my dropshot fish never bang the lure, they're just there when I pick up the line a bit. I think that's were the DSR may produce a few more fish, but looses out on the sensitivity a bit to do it. I have a Certate on the SYR and a Stella on the DSR. I'm not into figuring out where the balance spot is on a combo, so I can't really say on that part of it. Both of those reels are relatively heavy, at least compared to most of my baitcasters, but they seem to work well with those rods.

I have both the 822DSR and 822SYR. Your description above is pretty accurate. The DSR still has good backbone and caught me a TON of dropshot fish this past year, but the tip is pretty light for more general stuff. The SYR should fill rest of your requirements well, and I have drop shotted with it, too, and it worked very well for it. If I were only going to have one, it'd for sure be the SYR.

I have the Calcutta TE250DC, too. A good reel, but even it is not up to the ability of the Calais DC. The 4x8 DC system that is only installed in the Calais is just superior. The super long casting distance and accuracy that the DC system brings to the table has caught me more than a few fish. As you say, schoolers are a good example. Long crank bait casts aid in keeping the lure in the strike zone longer, too. I fish mostly clear waters, so max distance can be important. For sure not all the time. But this thread was about casting distance. And the DC is king of that hill, at least in terms of stock USDM reels.

I have a bunch of higher end reels to compare against, and mostly agree with you. My Curado E's, STX and Premier's don't give up much, if anything, to most of them. A steez can really send a lure downrange pretty well in ideal conditions, but can be very fussy about it. The game changer is my Calais DC, though. Nothing else comes close.

You're right, same basic reels. But it depends on the model. He could be comparing a Revo S, for example, to the Patriarch. The Patriarch is equivalent to the STX. Or was, at least. Not sure if the Pflueger's got the same Gen3 updates as their kissing cousins did.

TackleTour does reviews, but I can't think of any shootouts like you're asking for.

The Gen3 Premier no longer has the dual braking, which made it such a well received reel in the Gen2 variety. I own an MGX with the IVCB system, and it's not as good as the dual brakes, IMO. I went to a Gen3 in the STX as soon as they came out, and it works great. I have no desire to get another IVCB reel at this time.

The Pflueger Patriarch is basically the same as the Gen2 Revo STX. It does not look like it got the same updates this year that the STX did, so if you're choosing between a Gen3 STX and the Pflueger, I'd get the STX.

Been using Invisix for several years on my BC's, mostly 12#. I have no complaints about it. I use the San Diego jam knot as well.

On the Rapala scales I've seen and own, you can re-weigh the same fish over and over and get big differences each time, often times more than several ounces. Even with fresh batteries. I do not trust any weight I read about when one of those scales is used.

I absolutely agree with you.