budhastalin

Just my .02, I have fished the yo-zuri, the lucky craft, the rapala, the berkely one, and the kinami. The yo-zuri lipless crank bait has a great finish, but got scraped up easily. It seems to run extra extra "noisy" but has failed to produce like I hoped it would. The Kinami lipless baits I have been suprised by. Inexpensive, durable, great action and they catch fish! And of course the Lucky Craft is truly a sight to behold.

I use this reel several times per week. It is very smooth and overall I am pretty pleased with it. I have used an old cardinal from the 70's for most of my life and I really like that it is a bit of a throwback to the original. The most important feature is the rear drag, it is very smooth and easy to adjust, it also never seems to budge the way some rear drags sort of "drift" from getting handled. The only thing about the reel that I have had an issue with is that it has developed a strange "shake" for lack of a better word when the spool oscillates down. I believe that it will be easy to rectify however with a little oil. I primarily fish for trout and salmon with this reel, and it is great to use with a 6' rod and 6# test or with my big 8'6" rod and 12# test. It also performs well retrieving bass gear. I don't know if I would pay $65 for it, I got mine for 39.99 on sale.