My Prefish Review Of The Johnny Morris Carbonlite

[barroncooper]

I picked up my 5.4 jmcl today and the first thing that i noticed was how freaking light it is!!! I turned the handle of the display an few times and the rough spot that some are talking about was there for sure. I wanted to buy the reel so I had the rep open 4 or 5 of the in box reels to rule out the fact that it just might have been the display. To my dismay that wasn't the case, they all had a rough spot when turning the handle. I bought it any way thinking that the duralumin drive gear would take a few trips to break in. The first thing I did when I got home was begin to disassemble and prepare for a proper cleaning and re-lube. what I first noticed is that the reel takes a little more attention when disassembling than others do. First of all it is true that a couple of the side plate screws do in fact screw into plastic instead of a brass grommet...WTH were they thinking with that? Also the palm side spool bearing requires you to remove 3 screws that hold a bearing retainer in place instead of a typical bearing retainer clip. Also this retainer is backed by a couple of really fine springs that could fly out if you aren't careful. the handle side bearing is a little different too. Instead of the bearing retainer clip being on top of the bearing, it is underneath it and the bearing comes out from the back as well. When inspecting the bearings I did notice that there is a ton of assembly lube inside this reel. the cast control cap was slap full of it. The bearing that is on the spool shaft would not free spin at all it was so gummed up with grease. After I soaked all of the spool bearings, I let them dry and lightly oiled them with some ardent reel supreme micro lubricant. One thing to note when reassembling this reel is to not over tighten the orange palm side bearing retainer, I accidentally did and one of the holes got a minute crack in it. fast forward all is reassembled and I give the handle a turn. It us much much more effortless to turn but the rough spot is still there but a little fainter. I guess like I said before that after a couple of trips cranking of dd22's it will break in. Over all I'm satisfied with the quality of the reel except for the fact that the side plate screws screw into plastic instead of a grommet. I hope they weren't leaving them out for weight. If so the should've added the grommets and left out 2 handle knob bearings. I don't personally see the need for 4 knob bearings. I'm ready to take the thing fishing and pull some big colorado blade spinner baits. Once that happens I'll report again on how it fishes if anyone cares to know.

[barroncooper]

I would like to add a little about the rough spot on the retrieve thing. If the cast control knob is fully loose, the reel is super smooth. Only when you add some pressure by either the cast control knob or applying some thumb pressure to the spool to simulate some lure drag does the retrieve become substantially rougher. just thought I'd add that in there. Has anyone else noticed this and also does the duralumin take some time to break in? It seems like a much harder metal than brass.

[Goose52]

I have two of the JCLs - one has the rough spot (you feel it when putting some pressure on the spool) - the other reel does not.

Barroncooper - good report - thanks. Did you by chance take a magnifying glass and check out the teeth on the drive gear for burrs or other problems with components on the drive shaft that would cause that roughness once per revolution?

I had noticed those little phillips screws holding the palm side bearing as well. Looks like I need to invest in a high-quality phillips driver small enough to handle those little buggers...

[rubba bubba]

I have 2 lefties - 1 had a small bit of stickiness as mentioned but a drop of oil on the level-wind guide solved that.

[craww]

I would like to add a little about the rough spot on the retrieve thing. If the cast control knob is fully loose, the reel is super smooth. Only when you add some pressure by either the cast control knob or applying some thumb pressure to the spool to simulate some lure drag does the retrieve become substantially rougher. just thought I'd add that in there. Has anyone else noticed this and also does the duralumin take some time to break in? It seems like a much harder metal than brass.

I think its the pinion gear. Mine felt kind of rough. A little grease seamed to help mine. I cant comment on the duralumin break in. An old trick the linders used to do was after loading the gear teeth up with toothpaste, they'd put the drive shaft in a drill and turn the gears at high rpm's to simulate break in. May be worth a shot to you, just make sure you keep everything in alignment and clean up after your done.

[Goose52]

I think if it was the pinion gear...you'd feel the rough spot x times per handle revolution (x= 5.4, 6.4, 7.1). Since many of us are feeliing the roughness exactly once per handle revolution, it seems that the problem would be on the drive gear or another component on the crankshaft.

I will eventually make the time to pop the hood on my rough one to see what I can see...

[craww]

Good point, to be honest my reel doesnt have the issue you describe. I did notice the pinion in mine seemed a little rougher than normal, a little sandpaper and regrease of the main gear smoothed it out.

[barroncooper]

alright this reel is now rough as you know what on the retrieve. I think i have it figured out though. it's not the meshing of the gears... I don't think. I think it is how the pinion is riding in the yoke. there seems to be some sloppiness in how the spool shaft goes through the pinion gear not keeping it in alignment. this is allowing the pinion to **** one way or the other and the teeth are grinding against the yoke. especially when you apply a little bit of cast control pressure. a pinion gear bearing would solve this i think. any way I'm taking it back and getting what i know works for cranking... a curado e or g 5.

[barroncooper]

alright gentlemen I've narrowed it down to the pinion, drive and yoke. Unbelievably, I took the drive gear, pinion and yoke out of a cheap bps extreme i won as a door prize and placed them in the jmcl and what do you know the thing is smooth as butter. who ever makes the reel needs to go back to the drawing board on this one. I've always been a firm believer in all brass gears. as I've said before, it doesn't take a mechanical engineer to know that when 2 different metals mesh one is going to wear faster than the other. every reel I've had from that has an aluminum drive gear from revos to the new quantum smoke forms issues after a while. this one is the opposite though. it started with an issue.

[craww]

Bummer man. I had high hopes for this reel, but have to admit, the build/design quality ain't there. I suppose I had too high of hopes for a reel that can be had NIB for sub $100. They should've just upgraded the old C.L. Took mine out on friday for all day use flinging jigs in timber. It casts great, pitching it wasnt as good as expected. Still havent flushed the spool bearings for what its worth, I'm sure their LOADED with junk. The drag however is really really good. Best I've ever seen on a BPS reel. Smooth and powerful. The side plate screws really bug me though. Stupid, just stupid design lol.

[Diggy]

I have a 7 ratio reel. I'm a firm believer that if you buy something new you shouldn't have to do these things. Luckily the one I have is okay but if it has any probs, you best believe it will be going back.

[Jason Penn]

i have one of the 5:1 and it's smooth as can be. the 7:1 i have was a little rough the 1st time i fished it. i broke it down and put a little grease on the drive gear and it helped out a lot. i noticed this past saturday, it still has a little bit of noise, so i may have to grease it a tad bit more.

i planned to order another 7:1 online this weekend, but they were only available in the left hand retrieve. i'll probably try another and see if it's the same way. if it works good, i might just return the 1st 7:1 i got.