walt-14 Posted February 13, 2020 Posted February 13, 2020 Have access to grab one of these from a relative who’s looking to get rid of it. Does anyone have experience using these? Thoughts on them? Quote
swhit140 Posted February 13, 2020 Posted February 13, 2020 I'd say if it is free give it a try. 1 Quote
billmac Posted February 13, 2020 Posted February 13, 2020 I have one I got last year. Fine so far. Quote
Michigander Posted February 13, 2020 Posted February 13, 2020 I think as long as it isn't broken out of the box, it should be a serviceable reel, for a few seasons at least. You will just probably never think it's a nice reel. Quote
Michigander Posted February 13, 2020 Posted February 13, 2020 I've been eyeing the Alijos 300 by them recently because it is the only $100 low profile baitcaster that I can find in the big boy sizes for swim baits. Next up is the Abu Garcia Max Toro for $130 but I don't have a high opinion of that company's reels either. Quote
greentrout Posted February 13, 2020 Posted February 13, 2020 bought for 22 dollars to use around 2 acre neighborhood pond ... so far so good ... braid ready and light ... 25 inch IPT ... 5:2:1 ... 13lb max drag ... 10 bb ... flame 2000 ... 8.5 oz ... enjoy using it ... good fishing ... 2 Quote
Michigander Posted February 13, 2020 Posted February 13, 2020 56 minutes ago, greentrout said: bought for 22 dollars to use around 2 acre neighborhood pond ... so far so good ... braid ready and light ... 25 inch IPT ... 5:2:1 ... 13lb max drag ... 10 bb ... flame 2000 ... 8.5 oz ... enjoy using it ... good fishing ... How many hours of casting and reeling do you think you have on it? Quote
The Guy Posted February 13, 2020 Posted February 13, 2020 I bought a torrent just out of curiosity a couple of months ago. After cleaning the bearings it’s been fine. It’s not as palmable as my more expensive reels. It is smooth and casts far. It’s a $30 baitcaster though, it’s better than what I expected but I don’t plan on it lasting for years. Guess time will tell. Quote
DINK WHISPERER Posted February 16, 2020 Posted February 16, 2020 I have the Phantom on a Dobyns 734 fury rod. That's my beater combo for ponds and carrying in the back of the truck. It's held up fine so far to the abuse. It's a little geary feeling but a cleaning will probably fix that. Quote
greentrout Posted February 16, 2020 Posted February 16, 2020 On 2/13/2020 at 2:06 PM, Michigander said: How many hours of casting and reeling do you think you have on it? depending on the weather ... i'm on the little pond at least 3 times a week with an hour or more of fishing ... i'm retired with time to burn ... this is not my only fishing ... but would not hesitate to use it on some of the bigger waters i fish if needed ... has performed well ... good drag ... smooth crank ... crisp bail ... and casts great with mono and braid ... good fishing ... 1 Quote
Global Moderator Bluebasser86 Posted February 16, 2020 Global Moderator Posted February 16, 2020 A friend of mine fishes them a lot and has had good luck so far and he fishes more than I do. 1 Quote
Michigander Posted February 17, 2020 Posted February 17, 2020 I just got the Alijos 300 in the mail today. Seems ok for a $95 size 300 low profile baitcaster. It's about as smooth as the Abu Garcia Max Toro I played with at the store. Obviously neither of those were under load so who knows. This Alijos has a fun little knob thing on the spool to keep your line from slipping which I think is superior to having holes in the spool. I'm going to open this thing up and take a look inside, hopefully I find adequate grease and not metal shavings... lol.... Quote
Michigander Posted February 17, 2020 Posted February 17, 2020 Ok, so I just got done tearing down the reel and taking a look. I did indeed find metal shavings! Thankfully, it was just around the nut in the star drag adjuster so that was easy to clean off. No metal shavings in the interior of the reel which made me happy. There was grease in there but I regreased it because the lube job wasn't awesome. A lot of grease gunks weren't actually on moving parts but what was in there would have been fine if I had left it alone. What was interesting was that the bearings weren't oiled very much. Most of them looked kinda dry so I fixed that too. Overall, the design and construction of the reel looks fine and it is much smoother now that I worked on it. I doubled the free spool time but it still kind of sucks. If I get bored later this winter I might tear it down again and supertune it. Also, it has carbon drag washers which was nice to see. Quote
The Guy Posted February 19, 2020 Posted February 19, 2020 On 2/17/2020 at 7:14 PM, matrx10503 said: Piscifun has kind of a rep going that you need to lube/oil them out of the box. I think the reps even admitted it. Still pretty smooth operating though with their factory grease job, just you'll start to notice much sooner that it probably needs maintenance. This was true in my experience. My torrent’s spool bearings started screaming after the second or third use. Quote
walt-14 Posted February 20, 2020 Author Posted February 20, 2020 After reading what everyone was saying, I figured I’d pick it up from my relatives and give it a try. I noticed though when I got it, that the drag was set very lightly. I tightened it down as far as it could go and I still could pull out line with relative ease. Is there something I’m missing that would cause this? I feel like when I tighten the drag all the way down, I shouldn’t be able to pull any line out at all. Maybe I’m having a brain fart when it comes to solving this, actually hope that’s the case otherwise I’m afraid the reel is already screwed up. Quote
walleyecrazy Posted February 20, 2020 Posted February 20, 2020 Does the line happen to be braid? If so chances are there is no backing and it is just spinning on the spool. 2 Quote
PressuredLakeFisherman Posted January 19, 2021 Posted January 19, 2021 I bought one just 2 weeks ago, Its a long story but bear with me. Right out of the box it seemed like part number 48 (the paper washer) a peice that is sitting on the cap on the other side of the handle was jagged and missing. I contacted customer service and they are terrible, Its back and forwarth back and forwarth and its 2 days for every responce, being MLK day+the weekend there was a 5 day wait in between all of that. Spooling up line was another issue, When I put line on it flew off of the reel and got wraped up constantly under the spool. Sense I know my way around a spinning reel decently I could manage it but for the new angler that would be annoying. Finally I soaked the line in some warm water and it helped, but it still was giving me tremendous problems. Another problem was when I was out on the lake I caught a small 1/4 pound bass, and then a panfish sized bass and it started squeaking every now and again. I am finally returning it after fishing with a week because customer service sucks, I got a part that seemed broken or damaged from the start, the line doesnt twist on the spool, but constantly falls underneath and gets wraped around below it. (This is brought up even more when flipping and pitching, do not flip or pitch with this reel, you have been warned. Roll/side casts are deplorable as well and cause line to wrap up under the spool) And finally the reel is starting to sqeak catching 2 very very very small bass. (My conclusion) Well it did seem like a nice reel out of the box, It isnt the smoothest but for 24 dollars it was reasonably smooth. Also the antireverse was very crisp and your handle would not slip backwards. Finally the graphite body and aluminum spool seemed rather durable, but the reel just is for looks and not for use. BUYER BEWARE, dont buy this reel, it has given me tons of headaches and customer service doesnt even bother to help so just refund straight through amazon. I do have their sword2 fly reel and that is very well made and of quality value, but this, dont even bother. Id rather fish my zebco 33 than this peice of crap! 1 Quote
Gary_Snyder Posted January 19, 2021 Posted January 19, 2021 I think tackle advisors does some reviews and comparisons of those reels on Youtube. Didn't look too good, I would not buy one. 1 Quote
Eric 26 Posted January 19, 2021 Posted January 19, 2021 I own 4 Piscifun reels 2 bait casters and 2 spinning reels. The spinning reels are their top of the line carbon x reels in sizes 1000 & 2000 I will say they’re sized around a 1500 & 2500 and only buying them last summer I can not speak for their long term capability but I’m very impressed with their performance so far on par with my carbonlite 2.0 1500 which saw quite a bit of use last year and is made by Daiwa. As far as the baitcasters I bought a Spark (reg.) last spring $40.00 reel and it performs as one would expect for the price. It is not going to hold up to 5-10 lb bass being pulled from the Everglades but for fishing ponds it is very enjoyable and more than capable. My 4th reel is a Piscifun Saex Elite bought about 4 years ago and only available through Ali Express as of now as far as I can tell. The reel is the same as the Ardent Apex Elite with centrifugal brakes and magnetic brakes with red instead of blue trim. I purchased it on sale with a bfs spool for around $110.00 and have been using it with no issues since then, I own Abu,bps,Daiwa Tatulas ct & type r’s and find my Piscifun every bit as capable as the rest of my reels and with proper maintenance being that way for years to come. 28 minutes ago, Gary_Snyder said: I think tackle advisors does some reviews and comparisons of those reels on Youtube. Didn't look too good, I would not buy one. P.S Tackle Advisors reviewed the Spark Pro and gave it a pretty favorable review which was why I purchased the reg.Spark in the first place. Quote
Gary_Snyder Posted January 19, 2021 Posted January 19, 2021 4 minutes ago, Eric 26 said: P.S Tackle Advisors reviewed the Spark Pro and gave it a pretty favorable review which was why I purchased the reg.Spark in the first place. If you dig deeper and look at some of the other reviews where he compares reels, it did not do so well. 1 Quote
Super User J Francho Posted January 19, 2021 Super User Posted January 19, 2021 32 minutes ago, Gary_Snyder said: it did not do so well No referral partnership with them through Amazon. Quote
Eric 26 Posted January 19, 2021 Posted January 19, 2021 24 minutes ago, Gary_Snyder said: If you dig deeper and look at some of the other reviews where he compares reels, it did not do so well. Not saying you’re wrong just saying the one review was favorable. I enjoy,respect and personally find his reviews to be fair and the most accurate. And as you’re saying I agree most of the “Chinesium” reels do not seem to be very well made at least not for long term use when reviewed. As the old saying goes you get what you pay for. Quote
Chet C Posted January 19, 2021 Posted January 19, 2021 On 2/13/2020 at 2:09 PM, greentrout said: bought for 22 dollars to use around 2 acre neighborhood pond ... so far so good ... braid ready and light ... 25 inch IPT ... 5:2:1 ... 13lb max drag ... 10 bb ... flame 2000 ... 8.5 oz ... enjoy using it ... good fishing ... hope your flame is better than mine, i get line behind the spool at least twice a day. it's a pain. switching over to Pflueger Presidents as i find them on sale Quote
Super User J Francho Posted January 19, 2021 Super User Posted January 19, 2021 9 minutes ago, Chet Cognigni said: i get line behind the spool at least twice a day This is almost always some sort of user error. I don't see anything unique to that reel that would contribute to the problem, and it is likely you will continue to get it with other reels. We have a few articles that might help: https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/spinning-reel-tangles.html https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/line-twist-spinning-reel.html Quote
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