U.S. Reel

[Sam]

On the back inside cover of the January issue of Bassmaster Magazine, there is an ad for U.S. Reel.

I have not heard of U.S. Reel so I went to their web site, trying to find out more info about their new reels and their costs.

Anyone out there have any U.S. Reels?

Anyone out there have any of the new U.S. Reel series?

Check out their web site. The reel works backwards from the current baitcasters and it does not have a level wind eyelet and the line comes off the bottom of the spool.

www.usreels.com

Thanks for your input and opinions.

Merry Christmas  

[GonzoFishing]

I seen that ad too and it looks interesting. I looked into buying a U.S. Reel spinning reel for inshore saltwater fishing but I read a few bad reviews so I held off. I figured I'd wait until they work the kinks out before buying one. This was when they first came on to the market so its possible that they have improved. Curious to see what owners have to say.

[ghost]

Tell you this much....those reels are sure not made in the U.S.

[Maxximus Redneckus]

All i can say is tangle time ..If u have line coming to the spool from the bottomm u better not have any slack line or it aint gonna lay right on spool simple as that   and im pretty sure this concept was tried 100 yrs ago and that why we have what we have today  

[roadwarrior]

I bought the original which sucked. Initially they were

marketed by Ray Scott in conjunction with a super

lightweight rod he designed. I bought the package

and was very disappointed.

Randall fishes the newer models and recommends them.

[pitchincrazy]

Maximum Redneckus,

    The line comes from the bottom of the spool then over the levelwind, then out to the first guide.  While it is true that there needs to be some tension on the line for the levelwind to work, it is not much.  Just pulling any bait through the water is enough.  

    The line could have come off the top of the spool and under the levelwind and it would be functionally the same as far as line lay.  But, there are other additional advantages to having the spool rotate backwards.

    You are right that levelwinds similar to this were used a long time ago, there was always the problem of line piling up on the sides of the spool.  Only until a new design was developed over the last 8 years by the original inventor of the Childre Speed Spool reel did the line lay correctly due to a special design.

   

All i can say is tangle time ..If u have line coming to the spool from the bottomm u better not have any slack line or it aint gonna lay right on spool simple as that and im pretty sure this concept was tried 100 yrs ago and that why we have what we have today

[Maxximus Redneckus]

Still needs to be a way the line goes back and fourth side to side tension from a crankbait at all times will do it but what if ur using a jerkbait ??? jig??? like i say shimano,garcia etc been in this game a long time not even there most advanced baitcasters have this line laying system.newtons law when it comes to fishing line on a baitcaster is the line has to be controlled other then just line laying it has to be controlled from goin to one side more or the other Long distance casters dont use a levelwind at all but then again they aint fishing with it either

[Randall]

I bought the original which sucked. Initially they were

marketed by Ray Scott in conjunction with a super

lightweight rod he designed. I bought the package

and was very disappointed.

Randall fishes the newer models and recommends them.

Here is my take on the US Reels. I had told Roadwarrior that my US Reel at the time was a great reel but I had not had time to put it to the test really. At that time I was landing big largemouth on them, loved the drag and wide spool and had no issues with the reel. Over time the reel started having durability issues with plastic parts breaking and the gears stripping. To be fair I am tough on spinning reels and don't know anybody who is tougher on spinning reels fishing for bass than I am. But, I expected way more from the reel for the price. It also had an issue with the bail spring having a pinch point where the line would get caught up and damaged and that drove me nuts.

In looking at the new reels in the Pro series the part that caused the pinch point seems to be gone from the reel and the reel has been redesigned. Maybe they have made the necessary changes and the new reel is better. I have been using the BPS wide spool reels and although they are great reels the drag system doesn't seem to be near as good as the US Reel that I had before. I would give the new reel a chance but would look it over very carefuly before buying it. I don't know the price of the new Pro Series either. It could end up being way over priced for what you are getting. I feel the first models were way over priced for what I got out of the reel in the end.

I dont know about the baitcaster. Would be interesting to try just to see how it works with that design.

[cart7t]

Still needs to be a way the line goes back and fourth side to side tension from a crankbait at all times will do it but what if ur using a jerkbait ??? jig??? like i say shimano,garcia etc been in this game a long time not even there most advanced baitcasters have this line laying system.newtons law when it comes to fishing line on a baitcaster is the line has to be controlled other then just line laying it has to be controlled from goin to one side more or the other Long distance casters dont use a levelwind at all but then again they aint fishing with it either

Garcia actually did have a reel that took the level wind out of the equation on the cast.

This is an Ambassadeur Ultra Mag XL Plus circa 1983 - 1985. On this particular reel the level wind disengaged and free floated on it's spindle. You can see in the picture the level wind on this is disengaged from the drive bar below. When the retrieve was started, the drive assembly below would catch up to the level wind and lock it in.

These were some of the smoothest, long distance reels available back then and can still out cast quite a few reels today despite the fact they have very few bearings. The larger, wide spool versions of these were often modified by casting distance pro's for competition by taking the level wind completely off. You see them occasionally on Ebay

[Maxximus Redneckus]

cart i used to have one them ya they are great casters but what im sayin is there has to be a way for the line to go back and fourth without tension and with tension when your reeling it back on the reel we all no what happens when we miss the line guide hole  ;D

[cart7t]

cart i used to have one them ya they are great casters but what im sayin is there has to be a way for the line to go back and fourth without tension and with tension when your reeling it back on the reel we all no what happens when we miss the line guide hole ;D

Hey, I'm with you.  I'd have to have some proof that the retrieval system was fool proof before I'd buy one.

I think the ultimate test would be to attempt a walk the dog retrieve with one of the lighter topwaters like a Sammy.  That retrieve requires just the right amount of slack and tension at the same time, I'm not sure the reeling ability of that reel wouldn't somehow screw that up.  

[cart7t]

Just checking US reels website, the only place I could find selling the baitcasters was All American Outdoors. They want $191 for the SC1000 Pro model + shipping. The lower end version was $179. None of the other listed dealers is offering the baitcasters, only spinning reels.