Well I've been on a journey the last couple years trying different brands. Here is my thoughts and what I ended up falling in love with!!
I start with an Abu Ultra Max and loved it but wanted to upgrade, so I tried a lews MCR laser and absolutely hated the thing so after it blew up I switched to Diawa Tatula CT, it was okay but had issues with the drag as I like to throw baits into heavy cover and would catch fish fine , but never had enough power to get the big girls out and after a while started to slip, so I moved to the Shimano curado K and liked it till the hearing and grindy feeling or noise just started to annoy me so I gave that to a buddy not long ago. I bought 2 BPS Johnny Morris reels and rods April/may 2020 (for time frame.) There WERE amazing out the box but that's where it ended. The rods and reels where the carbon lite 2.0 and signature series. Well after 8 to 10 hours of use everyday for 3 weeks the first to go was the carbon lite 2.0 combo the rod was good but I hated hook keeper location and the reel was smooth on retrieve but sounded like a bad diesel truck on the cast and it only ever saw soft plastics weighted at 1/4oz at the most. Ended up being the duralumin gears or whatever they call it has cracked and crumbled. Next a few days after the Johnny Morris signature combo its looks amazing but.... it completely locked up mid cast and never worked again... the gears shattered and froze the reel, also the rod was beautiful but the actions fished way heavier than its ratings. Basically a broom stick for MHXF. Now my all time favorite reel is my Abu STX gen 4 but its 25ft down in water and muck next to snapping turtles den ( disabled vet, I had muscle spasms only yak) I cried that day lol watching her sink like the titanic. So any ways this morning I took my BPS Johnny Morris combos back to BPS with receipt, they have me full refunds and I ended up getting 2 Abu Garcia Gen4 revo SXs in 7:3.1 and paired them up with 2 st croix mojo bass in Medium power fast action handset me tell you what... the power is unreal as well as the sensitivity in the rods and my God are they accurate and the sx can cast a country mile!! I love this combo so much I'm go na but 2 more but in medium heavy. Now I can feel and see that this combo will serve me well for many years to come. Hell I still throw my old faithfuls an Abu pro max3 and black max that go to hell and back on pond hoping days. My rods have always been veritas or curado or dobyns fury rods. Of all the rods I have, I'd say the mojo bass is my favorite followed by dobyns then veritas and curado. I know this isn't a good blog as to why but... my general thoughts where
Diawa and shimano are good but lack drag and power to get em out the cover and timber in the lakes and ponds I fish.... and diawa thimb bara break, shimano gets gritty even slx
Lews both the MCS and mach series just didnt impress me and didnt like them at all.
I tried quantum, nothing to write home about
BPS Johnny Morris series lool beautiful but are IMO b.s. junk and no way has any reel I ever had blow up in 2 to 3 weeks.
Now my abus ja e never ever failed me, maybe I'm lucky IDK.... but the SX feels just as good as my STXs and my pro max and black max just keep kicking. I clean and oil my reels once a month as I'm a disabled vet (Iraq) so I fish everyday 8 to 10 hours. So I'm def an Abu believe now. And will be all I throw.
As far as rods go my favorite has always been dobyns till I got the mojo bass today wow I thought for the price it'd be hard to beat dobyns but I swear you can feel a fish fart with that rod.
So that's my hear story for today. Been fishing for quite a few years now and each reel minus Johnny Morris had a good 6 month to 1 year run before i made a decision. Hope this helps some of yall.
Also my criteria for reels are
IPT OR LINE PICK UP
DRAG/POWER
ABILITY TO CAST weightless plastics.
So as of now Abu is my go to and say croix is my new favorite rod.
If this made no sense I apologize
