Your Worst Gear Purchase?

[Bass Junkie]

Back the truck up, you say about buying good solid products but base everything st croix is with their crappiest rod line?

No, I do not base everything St. Croix on their "crappiest" rod line. First of all, it is not their lowest end series. Also, I have used St. Croix products from a couple of series, the Mojo being the ony one I personally purchased. The rest have belonged to fishing buddies. I have not been impressed by any of their products, and am not impressed personally with the company either. Your mileage may vary.

[The Rooster]

Mine is not so much a fishing rod or reel. It's a trolling motor. I bought a Minn Kota power drive 55 I wish I had passed on. First, the pedal went bad and I had to have it repaired. Then the motor went bad and I bought a new armature for it that didn't fix it. I've had it a few years but it hasn't been used that much really since I haven't had the time to fish like I wanted. It's now dead, I don't know what to do for it so it's just leaning in the corner downstairs and I replaced it with something else. I have an awful lot of money in it for it not to work. What's worse is when it did work it wasn't all that great. I was warned here on the forum not to buy it but I did anyway. It was too slow to respond for me to use it like I needed. So, that was my worst fishing related mistake.

[tugsandpulls]

pinnacle deadbolt casting reel brought it back after 30 min

[Dave Hull]

no flying lures or banjo minnows?

 

Berkley Vanish was VERY disapointing!

 

Go ahead and laugh but I've caught many a bass on the Banjo minnow!

[flyfisher]

Banjo minnow is a good bait

[Matt Jungblut]

My worst gear purchase would dotline telescopic lure retriever which i bought at tacklewarhouse [free shipping over $50]

the thing was $35 and never worked so i put it up sale. I think I got maybe $20 for it. Well when i went to ship it cost $15 so i sent it. I get an email from the guy a few days later with a pic of the tube i sent it in on tube there is a sticker from post office saying this is how they received  the rod tube in his town. So of course the stand up guy i am i refund the guys money. So that is my worst purchase.

[Hooligan]

Worst purchase I made in a reel was a JDM Daiwa, not because the reel was poorly designed, but that it was poorly represented.  Ended up being a total lemon that had mismatch bearings and a gear set from a TDX that had stripped the levelwind.  Paid a chunk of change for the reel, then a chunk of change in parts to get it back on the up and up.  Finally fished it, hated it.  Just didn't fit right and never wanted to cast the way it should.  Pretty sure the spool was off center on the shaft...

Rod- wtihout a doubt the worst rod purchase I ever made was a Kistler Zbone.  Ridiculously overpriced, and ridiculously undergunned.  I fully expected it to be the cat's meow.  More appropriately, it was the fly's fart.  Total lack in power, the 9" hand measured 7.5" to the foregrip, it was terribly balanced, and there was enough epoxy on the guide wraps to finish another three rods.  One guide was actually plugged.  The worst part?  Nothing EVER has been done about it.  I sent it back to them a year ago, and have heard nothing.  Period.  I've never been so poorly treated in the process of being a consumer, and never been so disregarded.  I've got at least a dozen emails exchanged, including one that said they have my rod, and then another saying they don't have any idea what I'm talking about.  I'm not bitter, I just refuse to ever do business with them again.

[Hooligan]

I bought a bunch of crankbaits, in several colors in depths - pretty much that entire segment of their line. All the baits of one particular color imploded in my tackle box. None of the other baits, including Rapala, Lucky Craft, Megabass, Ima, OSP, Jackall, Strike King, Storm, etc. did this, so I'm pretty sure it was a problem with that particular run of baits. Luckily, BPS was able to dig up the record of my purchase, and refund my money. To this day, I rarely fish any of the other baits from this brand (which will remain unnamed). They were not cheap baits, either.

Pretty well guarantee you that I can nail the bait on the head.  Had a similar experience with a brand of baits in two colors...

[skeletor6]

Worst purchase I made in a reel was a JDM Daiwa, not because the reel was poorly designed, but that it was poorly represented.  Ended up being a total lemon that had mismatch bearings and a gear set from a TDX that had stripped the levelwind.  Paid a chunk of change for the reel, then a chunk of change in parts to get it back on the up and up.  Finally fished it, hated it.  Just didn't fit right and never wanted to cast the way it should.  Pretty sure the spool was off center on the shaft...

Rod- wtihout a doubt the worst rod purchase I ever made was a Kistler Zbone.  Ridiculously overpriced, and ridiculously undergunned.  I fully expected it to be the cat's meow.  More appropriately, it was the fly's fart.  Total lack in power, the 9" hand measured 7.5" to the foregrip, it was terribly balanced, and there was enough epoxy on the guide wraps to finish another three rods.  One guide was actually plugged.  The worst part?  Nothing EVER has been done about it.  I sent it back to them a year ago, and have heard nothing.  Period.  I've never been so poorly treated in the process of being a consumer, and never been so disregarded.  I've got at least a dozen emails exchanged, including one that said they have my rod, and then another saying they don't have any idea what I'm talking about.  I'm not bitter, I just refuse to ever do business with them again.

 

And all the posts about how the z-bones are perfectly balanced, extremely sensitive, and are works of art when it comes to craftsmanship. Glad to hear the other side and some feedback in regards to their Customer Service.

[Sherlock 60]

Line: Berkley Trilene Maxx.... Anyone who has used it knows why...

 

 

x2. Only line I ever used that could cause a bird's nest on a spinning reel. Repeatedly.

[Sherlock 60]

Worst purchase I ever made was buying two ABU EON reels...and they were my first baitcasters. I am an ABU fan now, but I never could get the EON reels (with the "Planetary Gears") to cast worth a hoot.

[Capt.Bob]

Berkly Vanish, worst line ever, other than that maybe a Shimano G6 Curado, WOW what a step backwards! Other than that I have been very happy but for all my gear I only buy, Avid or better St. Croix, Shimano, and Lew's, how could I not be happy!!

[alexczarn]

A cheapy Shakespeare baitcaster. Ditched it after like 2 sessions.

[rdollar80]

I bought a Skeet Reese W&M reel when they first came out
(back when they cost about $100). I used it for a summer and that fall the line
guide quite working on the worm gear. So I had seen an article in a Bass Pro
Shops magazine for reel repair. I boxed the reel up had the address on it and
was ready to send it. I got to thinking and figured that I needed to call the
repair guys and make sure it could be fixed. 

 

I called and spoke with a really nice and knowledgeable
lady. She told me that they did not do any kind of work on the Skeet Reese
reel. She then told me that the actual manufacture of the reel was Shakespeare.
She gave me a phone number to their office and I thanked her for her time.

 

I called the office and the first thing I get is a freaking
recording telling me that they do not fix nor do they sell replacement parts
for the Skeet Reese reel. They did go on and say if you had a broken reel you
could send it to them with I do believe $50 dollars and they would send you a
new reel. I thought to myself why in the world would I waste $50 on a second
reel.

 

I later went to Bass Pro Shops and was buying another reel
and was talking with the guy in the reel dept. and he told me that had a similar
issue with one of his reels. He told me how to fix the Skeet Reese reel with
some aluminum foil. I went home and tried the aluminum foil fix and to my amazement
it worked.

 

I still have the reel and the aluminum foil is still holding
up.

 

[doublest]

Reels:

1.About 20years ago Thought I'd give bait casters a try as I had used mostly Quick Microlites for years. The only B/C reel I had used prior was an old Pflueger Nobby of my dads spooled with the old black braided nylon line. I had many memories of picking backlashes.Then alas I saw an ad in the local paper with a sale and rebate on the new Abu Garcia 5600AB I thought why not give it a try. Then after using it a few times,I thought why in the hades did I waste my dough on this POS. Wouldn't cast out of my shadow. Sold it quick after 1 year of frustration.

2. Another harrowing experience with a reel was with a Shimano Spirex spinning reel. Couldn't get half a days fishing from it, the line twisted so bad even after KVD treatment.

[lmbfisherman]

When I first decided to buy a baitcaster and learn from it, I bought a crappy combo from a local retail store.  It was an Abu Garcia combo with a 5 bearing reel called Sapphire Crest.  It was and is the crappiest reel, all I kept getting was bird nest after birdnest.  Even decided to give it another go now that I'm experienced.  Still backlashes like crazy even if I tuned it.  I HATE that THING!  I'll probably do the trade in during the BPS SPring Classic and trade it for a BPS PQ.  Unless I can get the significant other to allow me to get a Chronarch.  lol

[Greenstealth]

Had a similar gem from Quantum...X-factor PT BURNER from Gander Mountain. Total trash, inconsistent casting and backlashes no matter how you set it up or how heavy a lure you'd be using. Shoulda bought a chronarch that day.

WOW. What's crazy about that is I had a chance to buy a chronarch marked way way way down in the bargain cave at cabelas. You hit the nail on the head, the reel was just inconsistent. I went back the next day to pick the chronarch up and it was long gone.

[Hollisray]

Well mine has to be a baitcaster i purchased.

now don't get me wrong i own two shimano spinning reels and they

are great.I wanted to purchase one of there baitcasters i did a lot of reveiw reading

and decided to purchase the caenan boy was that a mistake.

while spooling the reel with line the spool and bearing made the worst grinding

noise i have ever heard in a reel.

figured i just got a defective reel. returned it and tried another it did the same thing.

[thehooligan]

Worst purchase I made in a reel was a JDM Daiwa, not because the reel was poorly designed, but that it was poorly represented.  Ended up being a total lemon that had mismatch bearings and a gear set from a TDX that had stripped the levelwind.  Paid a chunk of change for the reel, then a chunk of change in parts to get it back on the up and up.  Finally fished it, hated it.  Just didn't fit right and never wanted to cast the way it should.  Pretty sure the spool was off center on the shaft...

Rod- wtihout a doubt the worst rod purchase I ever made was a Kistler Zbone.  Ridiculously overpriced, and ridiculously undergunned.  I fully expected it to be the cat's meow.  More appropriately, it was the fly's fart.  Total lack in power, the 9" hand measured 7.5" to the foregrip, it was terribly balanced, and there was enough epoxy on the guide wraps to finish another three rods.  One guide was actually plugged.  The worst part?  Nothing EVER has been done about it.  I sent it back to them a year ago, and have heard nothing.  Period.  I've never been so poorly treated in the process of being a consumer, and never been so disregarded.  I've got at least a dozen emails exchanged, including one that said they have my rod, and then another saying they don't have any idea what I'm talking about.  I'm not bitter, I just refuse to ever do business with them again.

 

 

Glad i read this, TW has the Zbone rods on sale right now and was looking at possibly getting one....

[Fishes in trees]

How rude.  A few pages back someone was bagging on Berkley Iron Silk line.  That line in 17 lb test was the best square bill line I've ever used.  True, you had to baby it for the first few casts of the day, It had to get wet, a squirt of Line Magic every so often helped the manageability issues.  But wow, what a tough line.  In 2 years of using it for square bills, I think that I only lost one due to line breaking, and that was when I went way too long between retying.  

 

Late last year I got some Trilene XL Armor coated and it looks alot like the old Iron Silk.  I fished it two days last fall at Truman, throwing deeper diving cranks in timber and didn't lose a crank due to line failure.

[TNBassin']

I gotta say Spider Wire EZ Fluoro. That stuff was flat out JUNK. Stiff, memory like a telephone cord, and that was after a bath in KVD LnL. Soured me on using anything but mono or Yo Zuri hybrid. Worst reel I ever bought was....A gen 2 Revo SX. It was smooth and looked nice, but man I couldn't get that reel tuned to save my life. I know everyone else loves that reel, but I HATED it.

[B@ssCrzy]

Bought a terribly cheap baitcaster at Wally World.  Combo cost maybe $30.  Fished with it one time and took it back.  Did not buy another baitcaster for 10 years I hated that thing so much.  Finally bought a curado e7 and never looked back.