Kastking Stealth

[NYWayfarer]

17 hours ago, Russ E said:

 

biggest bass for 2019 was on a speed demon spinning reel. they do make reliable reels.

I am a big fan of their spinning reels. So many folks ask about their baitcasters but IMO Kastking spinning reels are the superior product. The Kastking Sharky 3 is one of the best spinning reels I own.

[EGbassing]

I've decided to get a Shimano SLX but I still want to try a Kastking Assassin at some point. 

[Eynt]

Last year I got back into bass fishing.  Bought two KK pro tournament bass rods.  1 Sharky spinning reel and 1 speed demon reel.  Have to give them credit on looks, they are attractive. 

 

Less than 10 times out on the water, one rod started to make cracking sounds and the sharky reel started to act up.  The paint on the speed demon reel rubbed off but still cast really well.  But the tension nob was so loss that I had to constantly double check it. 

 

Bought three KK large spools of braid line.  The most expensive spool with x8 strands have random clumps.  

 

During the same time I bought some lews reels and daiwa rods and had not a single problem.   

 

My point is their quality control is pretty bad.

 

 

[greentrout]

 

13 hours ago, Eynt said:

Last year I got back into bass fishing.  Bought two KK pro tournament bass rods.  1 Sharky spinning reel and 1 speed demon reel.  Have to give them credit on looks, they are attractive. 

 

Less than 10 times out on the water, one rod started to make cracking sounds and the sharky reel started to act up.  The paint on the speed demon reel rubbed off but still cast really well.  But the tension nob was so loss that I had to constantly double check it. 

 

Bought three KK large spools of braid line.  The most expensive spool with x8 strands have random clumps.  

 

During the same time I bought some lews reels and daiwa rods and had not a single problem.   

 

My point is their quality control is pretty bad.

 

 

 

baloney ...

 

 

 

[Eynt]

Whats baloney about my statement?  I have nothing against KK. They look good and are cheap but you do get what you pay for.  That's all i'm saying. 

 

I can't remember the exact line I bought but it was in yellow and was clumpy.  I think it was the wax or paint.  But when I pick at it, the line frays.  Does not give me confidence so I don't use it.  I still use the other spoils of line and will continue to do so.  But I'm going to give J-braid and Power Pro a try next just for comparison.  Again, i'm getting back into the sport so really behind. 

 

 

 

 

[Bluebasser86]

Never heard of a rod making "cracking", sounds or "clumpy", line? Also not sure how a tension knob can be so loose that you have to constantly check it? It shouldn't need to be set that loose to begin with. 

 

I've got probably a dozen KK reels now, a few rods, and a bunch of spools of their braided line. Only issue I've had was a Sharky III that had kind of a weak bail spring. At any rate, an email to their CS department and I had it swapped out with a brand new one in a week.

 

Some things are bound to get through the cracks in any mass produced products, but for a company offering more budget minded products, I think they actually have really good QC. 

[NYWayfarer]

20 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Never heard of a rod making "cracking", sounds or "clumpy", line? Also not sure how a tension knob can be so loose that you have to constantly check it? It shouldn't need to be set that loose to begin with. 

 

I've got probably a dozen KK reels now, a few rods, and a bunch of spools of their braided line. Only issue I've had was a Sharky III that had kind of a weak bail spring. At any rate, an email to their CS department and I had it swapped out with a brand new one in a week.

 

Some things are bound to get through the cracks in any mass produced products, but for a company offering more budget minded products, I think they actually have really good QC. 

I agree. The few issues I had with any of my dozen plus Kastking reels and rods were solved with an email to their service department. 

 

They even vent sent me some free stuff for the inconvenience. 

 

BTW I watch Brett’s vid on Facebook about the Bassinator reel. It a dual SPEED baitcaster?!!! Kastking used to have the Triton which was a 2 speed spinning reel. This is their first 2 speed baitcaster.

[greentrout]

36 minutes ago, NYWayfarer said:

BTW I watch Brett’s vid on Facebook about the Bassinator reel. It a dual SPEED baitcaster?!!! Kastking used to have the Triton which was a 2 speed spinning reel. This is their first 2 speed baitcaster.

1:28  

 

 

 

[Bluebasser86]

2 hours ago, NYWayfarer said:

I agree. The few issues I had with any of my dozen plus Kastking reels and rods were solved with an email to their service department. 

 

They even vent sent me some free stuff for the inconvenience. 

 

BTW I watch Brett’s vid on Facebook about the Bassinator reel. It a dual SPEED baitcaster?!!! Kastking used to have the Triton which was a 2 speed spinning reel. This is their first 2 speed baitcaster.

I'm not sure if it's a 2 speed baitcaster, or if it's available in 2 speeds? Kind of unclear from what I heard in the video. 

 

Honestly, I spent most of it trying to see what brand bladed jig he was throwing. Brent isn't, or at least historically hasn't been a fan of bladed jigs. Last time I saw him I gave him a handful of my baits, including a black and blue, which was the color he was using in the video and it appears to be a bait that the blade is connected by a split ring like mine, made me wonder. 

[Russ E]

2 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I'm not sure if it's a 2 speed baitcaster, or if it's available in 2 speeds? Kind of unclear from what I heard in the video. 

 

Honestly, I spent most of it trying to see what brand bladed jig he was throwing. Brent isn't, or at least historically hasn't been a fan of bladed jigs. Last time I saw him I gave him a handful of my baits, including a black and blue, which was the color he was using in the video and it appears to be a bait that the blade is connected by a split ring like mine, made me wonder. 

I wondered the same thing. it also looked like it was a centrifugal brake reel, instead of the magnetic brakes of the RLE.

If your baits are getting used on the MLF circuit that would be cool. They work pretty good for some of us amateurs.

[J Francho]

Shimano had a 2-speed reel.  Finicky thing.

[redmeansdistortion]

Abu made the 5500 and 6500 in a 2-speed too.  It was pretty popular with musky fishermen because it would retrieve a bait at 6.3:1, and when you hooked up, it would switch to 3.8:1 to winch the fish in.  

[Paul Roberts]

If you are at all concerned about braking I'd steer clear of the Stealth. I'm not new to BCing, and regularly use reels from 35 to 1 yr old. All work perfectly well, the newer ones quite a bit smoother. Except the Stealth (EDIT: The Stealth is a smooth reel, but...) The brakes appear to be virtually non-existent on it. It is VERY easy to backlash compared to all my other reels.

 

The talk is that it's the super-light spool. Maybe. But I'd think you could makes brakes commensurate. To be fair, I still have to try something else with it: I could be over-powering my casts. And it might pair best with more forgiving rod actions. Anyway, lots of reels out there that cast far and... brake easily. Maybe the Stealth will cast a bit farther? Remains to be seen.

[EGbassing]

44 minutes ago, Paul Roberts said:

If you are at all concerned about braking I'd steer clear of the Stealth. I'm not new to BCing, and regularly use reels from 35 to 1 yr old. All work perfectly well, the newer ones quite a bit smoother. Except the Stealth. The brakes appear to be virtually non-existent on it. It is VERY easy to backlash compared to all my other reels.

 

The talk is that it's the super-light spool. Maybe. But I'd think you could makes brakes commensurate. To be fair, I still have to try something else with it: I could be over-powering my casts. And it might pair best with more forgiving rod actions. Anyway, lots of reels out there that cast far and... brake easily. Maybe this one will cast a bit farther? Remains to be seen.

Thanks. I went with a Shimano SLX. It seems pretty nice so far.

[lmbfisherman]

11 minutes ago, EGbassing said:

Thanks. I went with a Shimano SLX. It seems pretty nice so far.

I hear nothing but good things about the SLX, so I'm sure you will be happy and I'm glad Shimano listened to the market.  Although I probably won't get one myself as I'm biased towards the Curados and Chronarchs.  

[Paul Roberts]

1 hour ago, EGbassing said:

Thanks. I went with a Shimano SLX. It seems pretty nice so far.

If brand means anything anymore -here's to hoping it does- Shimano makes great reels. I have/had Daiwa's, Abu's, Quick, Shimano, and BPS. All have been good. My very first was a Shimano Bantam Mag I bought in, I believe, 1984. I still use it regularly! I love that reel. ❤️

 

I've been kinda lusting after the Curado's. But, I don't need another reel.

[EGbassing]

50 minutes ago, lmbfisherman said:

I hear nothing but good things about the SLX, so I'm sure you will be happy and I'm glad Shimano listened to the market.  Although I probably won't get one myself as I'm biased towards the Curados and Chronarchs.  

I love it so far. The handles are perfect.

[greentrout]

 

[Paul Roberts]

I'm bringing this one back up, bc I've come to terms with my Stealth. I clicked on all 4 of those brake tabs on the spool shaft, and... simply don't over-power the cast. My older reels seem to need some oomph, and my newer ones don't, but they can handle it. The Stealth casts well, with a gentle stroke. And my thumb is right there. It's a bit noisy (but so is my Daiwa CT) when all those shaft tabs are engaged. Less so when I go easy with it.

[K.Mac]

On 2/28/2019 at 8:14 PM, greentrout said:

 

 

Now thats what I'd call a great testament on this real!

[dodgeguy]

Get a Lews lfs from sportsmans outfitters for like $85.

[NYWayfarer]

15 hours ago, dodgeguy said:

Get a Lews lfs from sportsmans outfitters for like $85.

That's a great alternative choice.

 

Kastking has a real contender now with the Crixus Armor X IMO. It is an aluminum framed reel with lots of bells and whistles plus Winn Grip knobs for under $90. I could have gotten one for $60 on an inner circle deal. I am kicking myself for not pulling the trigger on that one.

[NOC 1]

On 3/2/2019 at 7:03 PM, Eynt said:

Last year I got back into bass fishing.  Bought two KK pro tournament bass rods.  1 Sharky spinning reel and 1 speed demon reel.  Have to give them credit on looks, they are attractive. 

 

Less than 10 times out on the water, one rod started to make cracking sounds and the sharky reel started to act up.  The paint on the speed demon reel rubbed off but still cast really well.  But the tension nob was so loss that I had to constantly double check it. 

 

Bought three KK large spools of braid line.  The most expensive spool with x8 strands have random clumps.  

 

During the same time I bought some lews reels and daiwa rods and had not a single problem.   

 

My point is their quality control is pretty bad.

 

 

The year before last I thought I'd save some money and bought all KastKing mono and Flouro with which to re rig my gear. I don't remember exactly how many spools of what I bought but I usually buy 18-20 300yd. spools, a mix of 6,8,10,12,15,and 20lb. lines. I'm sure the KK mix was similar.

 

I lost so many lures on that stuff that at the end of the year I bought 18-20 more spools of the P-Line Flourocoat that I had been using before. I don't normally like to knock different products, but in this case I feel justified. I had seen the reviews of the KK line warning me that it had problems and I had bought the stuff anyway and it was IMO even worse than what people had said. In places you could actually see the thin spots. I know I lost over $100 of lures due to line breaks. Hands down the worst and most unreliable line I've seen in my 63 years.

 

I didn't have the problems before using the KK line and I didn't have the problems after getting rid of the KK line...Maybe that isn't scientific proof, but at this point, I know what I know and I know I'll not be buying any more KK lines.

[ike8120]

6 hours ago, NYWayfarer said:

That's a great alternative choice.

 

Kastking has a real contender now with the Crixus Armor X IMO. It is an aluminum framed reel with lots of bells and whistles plus Winn Grip knobs for under $90. I could have gotten one for $60 on an inner circle deal. I am kicking myself for not pulling the trigger on that one.

I bought 2 of them The Bassinator on a budget