My new reel: Johncoo Ares

[Tatulatard]

This is a 9.5 ounce aluminum frame and dual aluminum side plate double bearing supported 200 to 300 size reel.  Spool size is identical to tatula 200 or lexa 300.  I'm going to call it a 300 size low profile.

 

I got for $66 with two spools.  I plan to use the deeper of the two with 20 lbs big game and braid on the other. I have no time on the water with it and only can give my initial impressions

 

Braking: it has powerful magnets similar to a lexa 300 and that's a reel i use to skip weedless huds with no spool tension.  One of the concerns with cheap chinease reels is that the magnets can often times be really weak and this is not something I want in a big bait reel.  Luckily these are formidable 

 

Size/palming: its ok.  Compared to a tatula 200 its wide too but not as flat on the side and the part of the frame your rest your thumb on is noticeably higher than my tatula 200, lexa 300 or bass pro revolution 300.  Length is much shorter than the lexa 300 and about equal with the tatula 200

 

Build quality: this is a tough one.  For starters it gets an aluminum frame and handle side plate.  It also bizarrely gets an aluminum non handle side plate but the cam locking bearing holder is still a carbon plastic meaning that the aluminum side plate provides no additional rigidity.  I've only seen this in doyo reels with the plate finishes like the coba and aurora.  This is reel is painted.  It has nice little touches like a rubber insert in the thumb bar, dual bearing support on the pinion and a wide conical level wind.  It has a metal clutch and kicker.  Dual clutch springs although one is comically small.  Mine reel has one or more raspy bearing I need to service and there was very little grease in the reel.  I'll have to give it some TLC right away then put it on the$60 lews 7'4" H+ mod fast and put it to work to see how it does.

 

[PhishLI]

41 minutes ago, Tatulatard said:

Dual clutch springs although one is comically small.

That one's there for the articulated kick lever. The larger spring on top is doing the heavy lifting.

 

Crazy that you can get all of those build elements plus an extra spool for 66 beans.

[waymont]

That company makes excellent hard baits and hooks.

[Tatulatard]

2 hours ago, PhishLI said:

That one's there for the articulated kick lever. The larger spring on top is doing the heavy lifting.

 

Crazy that you can get all of those build elements plus an extra spool for 66 beans.

Thanks for the mansplaining on what the tiny spring is for.?

1 hour ago, waymont said:

That company makes excellent hard baits and hooks.

That company, I suspect, does not make anything.  I have seen the same reel platforms for sale elsewhere.  The only other instance of this platform is for a $125 reel.  "Johncoo" seems to be a lower common denominator chinease brand.  I think a "Johncoo" brand will be as low as we see this platform be sold.  I'll let you all know how it responds to maintenence and fishing use over the course of a season or two along with my two piscifun reels.

[A kid from Canada]

I'm interested in seeing how it works for you. Did you consider other budget HD reels like the Alijos before making a decision? The only Chinese reel I own is a Piscifun Allow M and I'm pretty happy with it and I'm curious about other CDM gems. 

[PhishLI]

2 hours ago, Tatulatard said:

Thanks for the mansplaining

#NoWideStanceYo

[newapti5]

Looks like a winner. It even has a cone line guide for heavy lines. 

[Tatulatard]

12 hours ago, A kid from Canada said:

I'm interested in seeing how it works for you. Did you consider other budget HD reels like the Alijos before making a decision? The only Chinese reel I own is a Piscifun Allow M and I'm pretty happy with it and I'm curious about other CDM gems. 

Yeah but they want $80 for that one when I can get a tatula 200 for $117 from the same site.  This one was $66 to my door and I got two spools.  This was more of a curiosity purchase along with the lews sg1 laser rod the reel is on.  I want to see how it compares to my other higher end similar setups.

[waymont]

14 hours ago, Tatulatard said:

That company, I suspect, does not make anything.

OK OK....They sell nice hard baits under their name.

[Tatulatard]

So far so good with the budget big bait low pro reel.  I have a few cheap reels I use from them to time on cheap rods just to keep me honest and have real experience with budget tackle so I can recommend them to newer or budget anglers.  Usually I am left wanting when using one of the budget rigs wishing I had its higher end counterpart instead but not with this one.  I really don't notice a difference between this reel and my tatula 200 or lexa 300 when casting and working 2 to 3 ounce baits.  The rod is struggling a bit at 3 ounce but the reel has been great at that weight.  The conical level wind does work and the line fluff on a hard cast with 20 lbs big game is between the tws tatula 200 and non tws lexa 300.  

 

 Brakes are good and I get very good distance and enough control to cast a glide straight into the wind.  It doesn't have quite the braking power of the lexa 300 so skipping a hud is probably out of the question but most don't need that level of control. The knobs are my only complaint but a handle swap from the same site I got the reel is cheap and easy.  The knobs are big but are too short for a barrel type knob for my preference.  For that length I would prefer a flat knob.  If I had to be nit picky the top of the frame is taller than it needs to be and both the tatula and lexa feel shorter when palmed with the thumb on top of the frame despite all 3 reels having the same spool dimensions.  The tatula 200 and lexa 300 just package that spool into a more compact reel.  Weight is also a bit excessive with the overkill aluminum non handle side plate.