Kast King Stealth

[mllrtm79]

I saw Glenn's post last week about the exclusive BassResource discount on the stealth, and I had a $10 card on my amazon account from Christmas, so I went ahead and ordered one ($41 out of pocket). It came in Thursday, I spooled it up Friday morning. (12lb big game backing/40lb GM braid) I read some reviews and watched a few youtube videos on it, so the first thing I did after spooling was open the side plate and set all 4 centrifugal brakes on before I even tried to do anything else with it. 

 

Initial thoughts, nice looking reel, a bit longer in the nose than ones that I'm used to palming. (I am using: black max, quantum burner, shimano caenan, and quantum accurist) I put my index finger on the reel body below the level wind on those, but down more on the rod on the stealth because of the "grille" for lack of a better descriptor. Where my thumb rests above the level wind was very smooth (almost slick) which took a bit to get used to. 

 

I now had to decide where it would fit into my assortment of fishing equipment, so while it rained on Friday, and through my fantasy baseball draft on Saturday it just rode along in the truck in the nice little velvety sack that it comes with. 

 

Sunday was a club tournament, so while we were waiting on boats to be unloaded I pulled one of my black maxes off of a M Vendetta and put the Stealth on, tying on a jointed structure jig. I was able to use it for an hour or so along a shallow shoreline, and I have to say I am impressed so far. I roll cast 90% of the time or more, and I did backlash with it one time when I accidentally skipped the jig (operator error, short stroke) but the reel performed flawlessly. 

 

Sunday night I showed it to a friend who has a tackle shop nearby (he'd not heard of them) who raised his eyebrows at the price (and weight) of it, then said "if you don't mind, pull the side plate off" and then was poking and prodding the brake systems for a couple of minutes. Finally at the end of the inspection he said "Hmm, $50? I think I'd tell my wife to buy 4 of them"

 

Sorry to get long winded, but that's the way I am, and it's my thread . Long story longer: I'm impressed and excited to get it back out on the water to use it more, which is probably as much as any one of us should ask from a new piece of fishing equipment. 

 

Now, to find a permanent home for it in my arsenal (probably a $$$ custom rod that will completely negate the cost savings and maximize the weight reduction). That ninja monkey... 

 

[david in va]

What line did you spool it with?

 

[lmbfisherman]

12 lb mono backing with 40lb braid.  In the first paragraph.

I also would like to know what your friend was looking for?  Not sure how you can make an assessment just by looking at the brakes.?

[david in va]

11 minutes ago, lmbfisherman said:

12 lb mono backing with 40lb braid.  In the first paragraph.

I also would like to know what your friend was looking for?  Not sure how you can make an assessment just by looking at the brakes.?

 

 You lost me on the Brakes. No one has looked at my reel but me until today.

As far as backing I am guessing you put the mono on first and tied the braid to it? I am going to master this thing before it is over. AS for me I have all 4 pins locked, the magnetic drag  screwed down to the max as well as the spool

 thanks David

 I half way read your post my bad should have seen the line

[lmbfisherman]

1 minute ago, david in va said:

 

 You lost me on the Brakes. No one has looked at my reel but me until today.

As far as backing I am guessing you put the mono on first and tied the braid to it? I am going to master this thing before it is over. AS for me I have all 4 pins locked, the magnetic drag  screwed down to the max as well as the spool

 thanks David

 I half way read your post my bad should have seen the line

Sorry, the brakes question was @mllrtm79.  As for backing, yes that is accurate.

[mllrtm79]

13 hours ago, david in va said:

You lost me on the Brakes

it's a dual braking system:

the external (magnetic) setting I put on 6

the internal (centrifugal) I put all 4 tabs in 

hope that answers your questions

14 hours ago, lmbfisherman said:

I also would like to know what your friend was looking for?  Not sure how you can make an assessment just by looking at the brakes.

I'm not sure exactly, I didn't ask why he wanted to look inside. Maybe @Delaware Valley Tackle could answer that question, as someone who looks at many different reel's internals daily.

14 hours ago, david in va said:

mono on first and tied the braid to it?

yes, I put the mono on, just enough to cover the knot really (and fill some of the "V" of the spool), then uni-uni the braid to it and fill the remainder. In the first pic, you can see that I stopped filling just shy of the beveled edge on the spool. 

[BassGirl71]

The Stealth is a really great reel. I am looking at getting another one before the season kicks off. 

[mllrtm79]

Update on the Stealth: I used it a little in a tournament on Sunday, and for a few hours on Tuesday. Unless I was trying to overpower the cast I had no issues, smoother is better with any BC... I used it with buzzbaits, spinners, and rattletraps so far, and so far the reel is performing well.

I am looking for a 6-8 lb pig to really test it out with, but so far only dinks with it... Maybe I can get out and look for stripers on Saturday, that would test it's strength 

[lmbfisherman]

6 hours ago, LowRange said:

The centrifugal pins are on the palming plate.  How does that even work?  

It was my first thought when I saw the tear down on YouTube.  Don't know how it works.  Maybe DVT can tell us, I believe he purchased one.

[NYWayfarer]

17 hours ago, LowRange said:

The centrifugal pins are on the palming plate.  How does that even work?  

 

I am not engineering genius by any means but the spool has two sides. The pins apply some resistance to the spool to slow down the spin. What difference does it make what side of the spool the pins are touching to slow it down?

[david in va]

Well, I will give it a thumbs up , But my accuracy with the 6' 6'' rod leaves a lot to be desired. I can hit the water but no where close to my close faced reels 

[hunterPRO1]

1 hour ago, david in va said:

Well, I will give it a thumbs up , But my accuracy with the 6' 6'' rod leaves a lot to be desired. I can hit the water but no where close to my close faced reels 

im assuming you mean spincast ? like a zebco style reel ? 

 

 

[david in va]

40 minutes ago, hunterPRO1 said:

im assuming you mean spincast ? like a zebco style reel ? 

 

 

yes that be right

[offsidewing]

How do magnets work on aluminum spools?

[hunterPRO1]

1 hour ago, david in va said:

yes that be right

im the complete opposite, i can land a lure in a cup 1 out of 6 or so times with a baitcaster, but with a spincast i have some similar problems to a man who is to drunk to fish,,, finding the water

 

maybe not that bad, but still much less accurate, im similar with spinning reels, but getting better, its almost like im oppsite of most people, i took very quickly to a baitcaster, but have problems with other reels.

 

 

 

[nascar2428]

Any updates on this reel? Has it met expectations?

[NYWayfarer]

12 hours ago, nascar2428 said:

Any updates on this reel? Has it met expectations?

I don't know about the OP but mine is still kicking! Just make sure to oil it up every few trips.

 

Mine is on a Abu Garcia Medium action Vengeance rod.

 

[mllrtm79]

12 hours ago, nascar2428 said:

Any updates on this reel? Has it met expectations?

it has met all expectations, and I got a 2nd one for Christmas. They are both at the local shop for cleaning/oiling currently. There has been some talk about the drag washers on some of these being install wrong at the factory, so the Kenny is checking that out for me too. 

I have had zero issues with this reel, or the KK Assassin that I got a few months later.

Imo it is a very nice reel for the price point, probably as good as any until you spend at least twice as much.

The issues that I have heard about on here or in conversations about the KK reels are the drag washers (easy fix) and some being shipped dry (easy fix) or with a large amount of grease in the gearing (easy fix). 

I have my original still on the M vendetta, and the new one will be on the Diawa Tatula 7'2" HF that I also got for Christmas, will be my jig/texas rig combo. (between the two the total weight is 10.1 oz, so I may actually have to add butt weight to it)