New shimano distance surf reel and rod

[Mr. Sandman]

Waiting on line to get vehicle serviced so I thought I would put in my 2cents on this new gear...Went to the surf demo on MV the other day, met Roy L. And tried a few of the set ups.
They had a 12' 11' 10.5 and 9.5'er with a 10000 and 5500 series reels in different classes spooled with pp super slick.

They cast easy and do what they are advertise to... Distance. I really liked the concept of shallow/tall spool with slow spool movement, that is the key to low line resistance. I bought the a higher end of the 5500 series and put it on a 9.5 st croix I had at home. Tested it against a Stella on a 9'5' shimano spinner in the salt pond near my house.

The biggest distance difference came from lures in the 1-2 oz that are most effected my line resistance. Small metal. Lipped lures have a lot of drag themselves and the improvement in distance while better was not as much as the metal.

IMO There are pros and cons

Pros:
great distance easy casting in a light weight design.

Smooth operation

Manual bail

Good design

Like the spare spools and fillers that allow one to fish light line
Very nice drag design, very accurate

Light weight combo , easily fish with this for a long period with minimal fatigue.

Like the graphite yoke a lot on the higher end 5500.




Cons
Handle too small bring back the Stella egg

Has anti reverse! Omit this on surf reels. This is a time bomb, no one uses this in the surf and the always crap out

Wish you made the higher end reel in a 5500 size with 100:1 spool ratio instead of 50:1

The higher end reel should have a water proof body. If you can make a smooth reel with a good Handel in a waterproof design that casts like these do... You would really have a breakthrough design.

Manual bail is very nice (which is what I prefer)but also make a no bail option.

Don't like the tiny screws that hold the drag seal in place... Those will break off . But you give 3 spools with reel so I guess they are disposable.

Overall. I like them. They will sell a lot of these as is, they cast a ton esp with streamline lures and are very light. But there is a little room for further improvement in my opinion for the hard core guys.

[Sea Dangles]

What did you get for a ride Jim?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Mr. Sandman]

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

What did you get for a ride Jim?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

At the moment I am riding on other peoples boats. Which is not all that bad.... I find I am not worried anymore when I wake up and hear the wind howling in the middle of the night.

I really liked the mirage, great layout for up here. But last season I was doing a lot of over-nighting on it and now want to move up so I can sit down at a table inside and eat and get a bit more interior space. When you get older, comfort becomes more important. Still want some serious fishability but more targeted to offshore.

I have a trip already planned to the sunshine state to find a another ride but don't know if I will have one this season or not. Looking to upsize a bit. Would like to be in something like a 38' express but we will see. There are a few possibilities on the table. I hope by the end of the year to be back in a bilge tinkering.

[Sea Dangles]

Well if things go right I will have a boat house on Edgartown Harbor by the end of the summer. You can slum a ride on the Onslow if you don't mind the wind in your hair.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Moron_Saxatilis]

I did not know anti-reverse wasn't great for the surf. Why is this? I just picked up a Cabo 80, love it so far. I have many penn 4500,5500, 6500... and the reverse mechanism tends to get sloppy over time.