BPS Rick Clunn reels

[Hawgin]

I see that BPS has these on sale right now for $68, and I have been looking at picking up a new reel for crankbaits and spinnerbaits.  I see that have one with a 5.2:1 gear ratio, and I'm guessing with his name attached it is a decent reel, but I don't know anyone I fish with who has actually used one.  Does anyone have one, and is it a quality reel?  

Please no suggestion like "well if you only spend $25 more you can get this or that".  I just want to know about this specific reel.  Thanks.

[Plastik]

I know a few people who have them and love them.  I dont know any more details, but as far as i know they where happy with spending the full 100$ on them.

If you want to save a few extra abes, I would suggest buying one off ebay, at least to check it out.

P.S.  I am bidding on one right now, dont ruin me!!!

Plastik.

[dodgeguy]

i have one.the first one i got was defective.the second one is fine and i love it.bps replaced the first one with no problem.it is a great reel for the money.i really like the brake system.

[dink]

I have three.  Two of the grey ones from 3 seasons ago and one blue one I git in March '05.  The two grey ones are starting to show their age but that is after 600+ trips.  I still use them today.  The blue one was disappointing right from the start until I oiled the bearings a bit.  It works just fine and also still gets used regularly.  It is a decent value at $68.

[sodaksker]

I bought one of the blue ones about a year ago.  I don't like it for two reasons.  The main reason,  it is the reel I backlash most easily, the 2nd reason is that there seems to be a little "play" or "loose" feeling between the crank handle and reel while reeling.   It does cast a mile though.

[volpster31]

i bought one of the original grey models & it lasted 3 months before the thumb bar broke....maybe the newer models are made better...but i wouldnt take my chances on another one.

[dodgeguy]

which leads me to this question.did you send it in for repair?if not why not?it has a 1 year warranty.if you did then how has it been since then?i work on $40000 jeeps all day.even they come back sometimes broken within a week.does that mean the product stinks?we fix them under warranty and they go back out.all manufacturers have issues.it's only fair to give them a chance to correct a problem.

[volpster31]

no i didnt return for repair dodgeguy....

i actually bought it from a tackle shop in my area that gives you a discount for buying bass pro items thru them so i wasnt sure if i could....it broke at the end of the season & i just put it away...im not saying they are JUNK, im just saying I wouldnt buy another one...ive owned a lot of reels in the past & never had one break for no reason......

[FishTank]

I am new to baitcasting this year but a salesman at BPS tried to teach me how to use a baitcaster with one of these reels.  He was trying to sell me a good reel for under a $100 but out of all the ones he tried to show me, the Rick Clunn reel (blue one) kept backlashing.  He went through three of them before he found one that worked properly.  Needless to say, I did not buy it.  I did notice that the reel seemed loosely constructed.  There was some play in the handle, spool, and the line guide.

[dodgeguy]

he obviously had no clue how to set up a reel.any good salesman who is trying to sell a newbie a baitcaster would set it up right so it wouldn't backlash at all.

[Hillbilly_Hooker]

I have a Rick Clunn reel that I bought a few months ago.  I've used it in a few tournaments, including one that I just returned from.  This weekend's tournament is that last time I will ever fish that )*(#$EO)~  reel!  My reel backlashes about every 3rd or 4th cast and I do not have that problem with any other reel that I own, including other BPS reels that are different models.  I hate this reel and I will replace it with something else before I'm on the water again.

Hillbilly

[FishTank]

he obviously had no clue how to set up a reel.any good salesman who is trying to sell a newbie a baitcaster would set it up right so it wouldn't backlash at all.

He actually was an old school fisherman that was the most experienced fisherman in the store. He could pitch a 3/8 oz casting weight further than I could cast overhand with my best spinning equipment. He also set a Quantum Accurist and a few other cheaper reels and had no problems. His issue centered on this reel only but being it was a BPS product he wanted to succeed in his demo and since I was new to baitcasting, it was all just a lesson to me.