Johnny Morris Carbonlite

[MrSwimJig]

Well after 3 months of fishing this reel on a weekly basis I have not had any problems and the reel still casts and performs great. It is still very smooth and the drag is still outstanding. I am very impressed with the performance up to this point. Lets see how it holds up the rest of the season.

[Goose52]

I bought two of the 6.4:1 models. One is still NIB. The other has been in use off-and-on since March but I don't have enough time on it to give any opinions regarding long-term durability. The reel that I have in use has the rough spot once-per-turn as reported by a number of folks - but I don't notice it in actual use. The centrifugal brake system makes a somewhat noisy whirring sound as first reported by Hooligan. It does cast well and has a good drag.

I have the reel mounted on a 7'mf Carbonlite rod and the whole rig only weighs 9.9oz including the line - pretty dang light...

[Diggy]

Any updates with noisy gearing or build quality?

[McAlpine]

Whoa, I was nearly set on getting the Abu MGX (going for lightness) but this at only .5oz more but $220 less put the brakes on that. Will definately follow this for more info. Ive read good things in the past about the Carbonlites

The weight savings alone is not the only reason to buy an MGX. I'm sure the new carbonlite is a very good reel for the money. However; even as an owner of several carbon black's and JM"s, I gaurantee you that there will be a night and day difference between the new CL and an MGX.

An MGX is a work of bloody art. Trust me on this. And if you want one, go hit ebay. You can get one for about $250 in the box.

[21farms]

Any updates with noisy gearing or build quality?

i returned my first one and got my second one in april which i handpicked from all the stock they had on hand at the manteca BPS which turned out to be a 5.4:1 ratio one. while testing them in-store, i noticed quite a variation in smoothness between the samples. even though i picked out the best of the bunch, it's still not what i would consider a smooth reel. i've fished it maybe five times now and i was hoping some of the grindy feeling would go away with use but it hasn't. the gold pre-JM carbonlite was so much better in this department. on the plus side, the unusual egg shape has turned out to be very comfortable to palm and it has also proven to be able to cast even lighter lures fairly well.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

i returned my first one and got my second one in april which i handpicked from all the stock they had on hand at the manteca BPS which turned out to be a 5.4:1 ratio one. while testing them in-store, i noticed quite a varition in smoothness between the samples. even though i picked out the best of the bunch, it's still not what i would consider a smooth reel. i've fished it maybe five times and i was hoping some of the gear-y feeling would go away with some use but it hasn't. the gold pre-JM carbonlite was so much better in this department. on the plus side, the unusual egg shape has turned out to be very comfortable to palm and it has also proven to be able to cast even lighter lures fairly well.

Ive used mine for like 7 months and pretty much the same findings. I did though open it and grease the gears and that made it noticeably better but yeah not the smoothest reel. Casts equal to my 50E with little cranks will throw a fat ika farther though. Controls the line very well, I live where its windy a lot and it does very well throwing directly into the wind.

I made it my bottom contact reel this alleviates the gear feel greatly in that I use the rod to move drag lure along so the reel just takes-up the slack.Thats the thing though with no tension it feels smooth reeling but add a far amount of tension say 1.5 squarebill and the gear feel come in. So this makes finding a good one in the store a bit difficult.

[Jim_M]

Fishing one frequently now for ~9 months or so. I clean reels as often as I clean guns. Soooo I have not cleaned the reel. Zero problems. I catch fish with it. Going to get a lefty next time. I have gotten used to few other southpaw BC reels. And yes, I agree with the above, its size and shape make it a winner in the palming department. Your mileage will vary

[craww]

Used mine more than any other reel I own this year. Its held up well other than some mysterious scaring on the side that Im still not quite sure how it happened. Casts great and is super light. I wouldnt hesitate to get another if I needed a reel. Based off the issues folks had when they first came out, I'd definetely handle the model you get in store FIRST.

Tip if you put a piece of tape over where the pins stick out on the centrifugal brakes you can actually run odd numbers of brake settings.

[kickerfish1]

Have had the 7:0.1 since it came out. Everything about the reel is great minus the gears. It is going in for a clean and lube shortly. Also may inquire about possible replacement gears in high speed ratio. If they fixed the gears on these reels they would be a great buy especially since they go on sale quite often. For $90.00 new I don't have many gripes about the reel at this price point.

[J Francho]

What is wrong with the gears?

[kickerfish1]

What is wrong with the gears?

The gears feel grindy. It almost seems like when the handle is rotated and reaches a certain point in the gears that something catches slightly. You can feel them as you retrieve the handle even at slow retrieve speeds. I am guessing it is a quality control thing among these reels but the general consensus seems to be that the lower speed reels don't have this problem to the extent that the high speed models do.

I am going to have the reel serviced this off season and will have more to say about it then.

[78Staff]

Really want to try one of these. I actually bought 4 of the previous model when they went on sale right before these new ones came out, but in a moment of stupidity I changed my mind and returned them. I have regretted that decision because you can't find the old one anywhere now . I had thought the new one would offer more ratio's in LH, but they never offered them.

Still, would like to try the new one, just waiting on the next sale which I assume will be Black Friday maybe? Trouble is I have no local shop so will have to hope to get a decent one via mail order.