Kast King Reel Owners

[JLeon77]

I have a few Kastking Stealth baitcasters and a couple spinning reels (triton and Mela).  They are great reels for the $$ and the Stealth is super light and casts a mile.   I use it for burning lipless cranks.  The spinning reels seem no less quality than my Abu Orra's.  If you're on a budget I recommend them.  

[Bucky205]

I don't understand all of the super positive reviews.  The write ups make it sound like your getting an STX equivalent for $39, that is not the case.  I received my Royal Legend this morning and was very dissapointed.  I played with it for several hours with different weights on a 6'6" BPS Carbonlite. The reel is attractive but doesn't perform well.  It looks like the internal brakes they brag about are no more than nylon blocks they press into the side of the shaft as you click them inward.  You can see where the brakes leave friction marks on the spindle as they apply pressure.  There is a lot of slop in the reel that is noticeable in the anti reverse system, and the handle.  The reel makes noise when casting and the drag is very inconsistent.  For what it's worth the casting distance is very good, and it is easy to cast.  In my opinion for the same money the Abu Garcia Black Max is a much nicer reel.  I may have just received a lemon, I will never know. The label has been printed and it's on the way back Monday, and I have absolutely no desire to try another one.  

[Bluebasser86]

9 hours ago, Bucky205 said:

I don't understand all of the super positive reviews.  The write ups make it sound like your getting an STX equivalent for $39, that is not the case.  I received my Royal Legend this morning and was very dissapointed.  I played with it for several hours with different weights on a 6'6" BPS Carbonlite. The reel is attractive but doesn't perform well.  It looks like the internal brakes they brag about are no more than nylon blocks they press into the side of the shaft as you click them inward.  You can see where the brakes leave friction marks on the spindle as they apply pressure.  There is a lot of slop in the reel that is noticeable in the anti reverse system, and the handle.  The reel makes noise when casting and the drag is very inconsistent.  For what it's worth the casting distance is very good, and it is easy to cast.  In my opinion for the same money the Abu Garcia Black Max is a much nicer reel.  I may have just received a lemon, I will never know. The label has been printed and it's on the way back Monday, and I have absolutely no desire to try another one.  

I don't think anyone that buys a KastKing is expecting it perform like a $150+ reel. If someone is, that's pretty unreasonable. I believe you do get more reel for your money with them because there's no middle man markup. I have 3, 2 that were given to me to try when they became a sponsor, and 1 I bought with my own money because I was so impressed with the first two. I really have no complaints with any of mine except they're not the quietest reels, but that's not a big issue to me. 

 

I'm glad you at least tried one before making up your mind on them. Just like anything in life, one size does not fit all. It seems a lot of negative comments on them are from people who have never owned or even seen one in person, but instead are going off of what they've heard somewhere down the line. If the same was said about their favorite X brand reel then it would be written off as user error, but for some reason since it's a KastKing, it's taken as gospel. I just don't get griping about a company when you've never used, and probably never will use their products (not speaking at you Bucky, just speaking in generalities).  If I see a thread about a company I don't particularly care for, I don't read through it and instead just move along, problem solved. 

[jtharris3]

Interesting info but, I'm going to stick with my Lew's and Shimano reels. They haven't let me down yet and if they do, both of these companies have a proven track record of standing behind their products. I'm a 'if it ani't broke, don't fix it' kind of guy. 

[greentrout]

Thinkin' about gettin' the Speed Demon for 69.99. Bad decision and I ain't in the poor house by any means. It has state of the art features that result in benefits. 40 inches IPT I'd like to try. KastKing could be the Harry's of fishing reels. Offering great reels at a true price to the consumer. I get my Harry's blades sent to me and have never looked back.

 

To each his own.

[Bluebasser86]

3 hours ago, greentrout said:

Thinkin' about gettin' the Speed Demon for 69.99. Bad decision and I ain't in the poor house by any means. It has state of the art features that result in benefits. 40 inches IPT I'd like to try. KastKing could be the Harry's of fishing reels. Offering great reels at a true price to the consumer. I get my Harry's blades sent to me and have never looked back.

 

To each his own.

That's the reel that I bought and I've really been happy with it so far. I've used it in some nasty places that I feel it would have failed in if they were built poorly.

[NYWayfarer]

On ‎6‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 4:40 PM, Bucky205 said:

The reel makes noise when casting and the drag is very inconsistent.  For what it's worth the casting distance is very good, and it is easy to cast.  In my opinion for the same money the Abu Garcia Black Max is a much nicer reel.  I may have just received a lemon, I will never know. The label has been printed and it's on the way back Monday, and I have absolutely no desire to try another one.  

 

I have the Stealth and I find the casting distance and the ease of casting to be extraordinary. I have the Black Max as well and there is no comparison between the two for me. Stealth is the winner IMO in casting, drag and weight.

 

The Royale Legend is the cheapest baitcaster by Kastking. I would expect the quality to be on the lower end of their spectrum. I notice this with my Kastking spinning reels. The Sharky II is a noticeable step up from my Mela II.

 

You could very well have a lemon. The good thing is Kastking customer service is great. Contact them and see what they can do. I was able to get a new drag knob for my reels as mine was defective. I sent them a picture and a new knob was in the mail the same day.