21farms

also, i think the drag stars are some sort of aluminum alloy on the chronarchs and a graphite composite on the curado Gs.

chronarch has two more bearings, different drag washer, titanium line guide and the handle is drilled. also the spool and handle go through the anodizing process twice. however, the thing that probably impacts the price the most is that the chronarchs are made in japan whereas the curado Gs are manufactured in malaysia where everything is less expensive.

the standard revo handle is 80mm long (the length of which is shared with "small" reels like the daiwa sol and curado 50e which also have 80mm handles). the standard shimano handle is 84mm long while standard lews, quantum, pflueger and BPS handles are 85mm long. daiwas are usually between 85mm and 90mm long. extended handles on many cranking reels are 95mm long. so, no, it is not just you...80mm is definitely on the short end. the good news is handles can be easily swapped between most revo, daiwa, quantum, pflueger, lews and BPS reels. i've installed 85mm and 90mm carbon fiber handles from lew's on almost all of my non-shimano reels and love them. shimano reels only accept shimano handles because of the differently-sized crankshaft...okuma goes their own way too. i can't improve on the septon knobs on my shimanos so i leave those stock. lag_issuez, as to your question as to why shimano doesn't incorporate bent handles, the answer is easy: swept handles are a daiwa innovation. the two companies seem to hate each other and shimano especially seems to want to be seen as the leader and not a follower. i think that's why things are slightly different with shimano products. magnetic brakes? nope, another feature daiwa introduced to the mass market that everyone else copied. notice how the shimano thumb bars don't stretch the full width of the reel and depress on a hinged point instead of straight down like on other reels? another daiwa design that was copied by everyone except shimano. why are shimano handles 84mm long instead of 85mm like everyone else's? because that's everyone else!

good little reel! i've had all three iterations of the prolite: the first one (like yours which has the pflueger spin-on handle and ITB brakes), the B and the C. to remove your handle, tighten the drag star all the way, pull in on the drag star and spin the handle off counter-clockwise.

your 51e and all star rod will work just fine with hollow bellies. keep the braid on but tie on a length of 12# fluorocarbon leader to the end and you're good to go.

the one that i have and all the ones i sampled were from last year's early runs too. i've read at least one report that BPS rectified the issue and all the later batches aren't grindy anymore. let us know what you find and i may exchange mine too. one word of caution, though...the display handles at BPS are super heavy and do a lot to dampen vibrations and mask grindiness. ask a salesman to let you try out some ones from their behind-the-counter stock.

if you're still within the return period, i think your best option is to exchange it for another one. the duralumin gears employed in the carbonlite are harder than brass and won't take to polishing as well. by the way, the johnny morris carbonlites and the PQ are different beasts and i highly doubt those parts are interchangeable. between the pre-johnny morris carbonlites and the PQ they are but not here.

where did you get the 35IPT figure? the 8.0:1 features 33IPT

actually, i'm not very helpful with rod reviews. it's pretty much all seat-of-the-pants for me so i don't know how much useful information i can give you, only general impressions. in terms of dobyns crankbait rods, i have the 705cb glass and used to have the 704cb and have fished the 705cb MF glass. the gloomis CBR845 fishes slightly under the dobyns 705cb but is significantly more powerful than the 704cb. fishing the 705cb MF reminds me an awful lot of the lamiglas SR705R/XCF705R i used to love so much: wet noodles that never, ever let a fish get unbuttoned but half the time you didn't feel the bite to begin with. the 705cb was at one time my favorite crank rod but i haven't taken it out once in probably the last year and half and i think its because i've gravitated toward lighter rods (the 705cb is 5.4 ounces, the CBR845 is 4.6 ounces but my veritas 7' M/MF is only 4.1 ounces).

i had a CBR845 and in my opinion, like many loomis rods, it fishes a little less powerfully than rated, especially if you get used to the dobyns rating system. i threw 1/4 oz. luhr jensen speed traps on mine and it was fine with lures of that size and bulk. however, the reason i sold mine was because, for some reason, my hookup ratio with it was poor. crankin' rods are my favorite kind of rods and i was happy to add the CBR845 to my collection of crankin' rods but i seemed to have a harder time converting bites to fish landed with that rod more than any of my others. the only explanation i could possibly come up with is that the CBR845 was too sensitive!

goose52, you caught my typo...you are correct, i meant 'doyo' with a D, not a T. here's their website: http://www.doyofishing.co.kr and here's the website for dawon: http://www.xn--c20bq6o5sh.kr/ you can see the browning reels pictured on the front page, along with the JM CL's unique brake setup.

nope. a korean company called 'dawon' makes the JM carbonlites and the browning reels. another korean company called 'toyo' manufactures a lot of the 'pure fishing' reels (abu, pfluegers) as well as many of the BPS reels.

speaking from my own experience, the only reason to buy this reel was for its light weight or to fill a specific niche in your lineup. otherwise, there are much smoother reels out there that are only a little bit heavier. i'm not saying that smoothness is the only thing that matters but a smooth reel does increase your enjoyment of using the gear and a grindy reel can mask subtle bites...in the end, enjoying fishing and catching fish are what it's all about right?

my first time out with them, i had one instance where, after the cast, the handle would not re-engage and just spun freely...the spool remained disengaged too. i tried a number of times to make it return to normal and only after i manually pushed up the thumb bar and pushed it down again did the gears engage. i just chalked it up to a rare occurrence and kept on fishing without thinking too much more about it. however, it happened again on my next trip. i cannot recreate it at home when i can take the reel apart when it is disengaged to see what is going on so i don't really know what to do. i'll take it apart in january and give it a complete cleaning and oil/greasing.

the main thing is to do your homework first to identify the parts you'll need and check their availability. shimanos were easy because they have a nice and simple single stack drag...you only need to replace the main gear and the pinion gear (and, in some cases, the key washer and a different size drag washer). plus, it's easy to order directly from shimano and they only charge a flat $3 shipping fee. with a revo, i'd imagine it could get kinda pricey because of all the different washers in their drag system. the tackletrap sells some gear conversion kits to make it all even easier.

i haven't fished one but i was at the TW store when they first came in and played with one. the very thing i noticed was how skinny the handles are, moreso than any other loomis, st. croix or shimano rod i've ever held. i didn't even realize i cared about how fat or skinny handles were until i got a couple of villains and realized that i actually cared a lot if it was too skinny. perhaps not a big deal to you but that alone was a dealbreaker for me.

yes, you're correct...i misspoke. what i meant was that you'd be getting to the power section of the rod faster and you would no longer have that nice tip flex that would aid in casting and fighting a fish. yep, i really like a slow reel for shad raps...i feel like the reduced resistance while cranking helps me notice strikes easier. here's another thought: gear swaps. i don't know about abu or daiwa but swapping gears in shimanos is super easy and inexpensive. i changed my citica Es from their native 6.3:1 to 5:1 and to 7:1 and back again. i did the swaps in my curados too. perhaps with your three reels, you can get a 7:1, a 6:1 and a 5:1...if you're not happy with one of them, just buy another gear set and make the swap.

if you snap 6" off a fast-action rod, it is most likely extra-fast now, not medium. in any case, i'd retire that rod. i'm 5'8" and i remember a time long ago when most rods were 5'6" and i thought even 6' was long. then again, i fished out of a 12' rowboat and couldn't stand while fishing. nowadays, it's hard to find many rods under 6'6" and i find 7' to be the sweet spot for me. i think after you get used to it, you'll like it more too. i have a ranger 520vx and find a 20-footer is a pretty roomy boat! here's my recommendations based on your list and your desire to keep them on the shorter side: 1) Jig Rod for casting/pitching light/moderate cover and 2) T-Rig Worm Rod you definitely want to go medium/heavy here and at least 6'6" with a fast to extra-fast tip (fast is much better at casting distance and accuracy and is more versatile whereas extra-fast makes pitching slightly easier and, at least for me, hooksets using jigs with weedguards a tad more positive). pair it with a fast reel...i use 7:1 and 8:1 reels here. 3) Crankbait Rod to cover crankbaits running 2-12ft 7'0" medium power/moderate to moderate-fast action. i too love rapala #7 shad raps and my favorite rod to throw those on is a 7' abu-garcia veritas rod with a 5:1 or 6:1reel. last year, i used the VRC70-5 which worked great for me but i recently picked up the 'winch' version (VRCW70-5) and plan to start using that instead this coming spring. for shad raps, you don't really need to go down to a 5:1 reel since shallow runners and shad raps don't have much water resistance and it doesn't sound like you'll be throwing DD22s...i just happen use a 5:1 because i naturally crank really fast and can't seem to help myself. a 6:1 reel would be a good choice and a lot more versatile too. 4) Spinnerbait Rod i still have not found a rod for spinnerbaits that i like more than my g.loomis SBR813C (6'9", medium/heavy power, extra fast action). on a spinnerbait rod, you can definitely go down to 6'6" and not lose too much. if you're on a budget, i'd recommend the falcon bucoo 6'6" MH/F and a 6:1 reel. some people like 7:1 reels for burning spinnerbaits but i find it tiring and even drop down to a 5:1 sometimes as i find it easier to reel fast on a light handle than to reel slower on a heavy handle. happy fishin'

toeshots, did you notice those 5 lb. display handles all the demo reels were mounted on? all that extra weight dampens and masks vibrations, making all the reels seem smoother than they really are. when mounted on a 4 ounce rod, things will change considerably. also, display reels tend to have the spool tension knob extra loose and, many times, missing altogether...this too has the effect of making the reel feel smoother than it really would when properly adjusted for actual fishing conditions. from the reels on your list, i've had examples of them all except for the browning (although my revo S was the 2nd-generation model and my citicas are the E-series). regarding the carbonlites, quake-n-shake is so right...you gotta be real careful with them and make sure you get a good one. the first one i ordered online felt like an eggbeater...i drove an hour to my closest BPS to exchange it and had the clerk take out a bunch of them before i settled on the best one but, even then, it still wasn't what i would consider smooth. so, a couple of weeks go by and i decide i can't live with it and drove back for another exchange. they had just gotten in a fresh shipment and i went through a few boxes before i finally found one that was "fairly smooth". it is still the roughest out of all my reels but i'm keeping it because it is the only sub-6 ounce reel i currently own. the citica and revo S are fine, dependable reels. personally, i find the 80mm revo handles to be too short while the knobs on the citica are too small...but, maybe that's just me. i'd actually recommend you add the BPS pro qualifier to your list...on sale for $80 and not far off from the revo S or citica IMHO. as for the daiwa TD pro, i found absolutely nothing special about it..."meh" might be a good word. if you were willing to go to $140, the daiwa lexa 100 should be included. i've only used mine twice so far but it is smoother than all my under-$180 reels.

good post goose. thanks...i'm very interested in the new cumaras. it cracks me up that you say it is only "fairly light" at 3.65 ounces...my goodness man, what would you consider "very light" for a 7'2" rod? the color is okay with me...what i don't like so far is the bottom placement of the hook hanger.

it'd be easier for me list what plastics i DON'T throw on baitcasters: 1. dropshot and that's it. and to part 2 of your question, what setups i'm using: mostly shimano cumara rods in medium to medium-heavy power and fast to extra-fast actions in lengths from 6'8" to 7'2" paired with curado 50s and daiwa sols. i always use seaguar fluorocarbon with plastics. part 3, why do i think it helps? well, i like the control a baitcaster offers...being able to thumb the spool to place the lure exactly where i want it and being able to feather it into the water softly are the two biggest reasons. i also hate battling against the line twist i often get on spinning gear, especially with fluoro lines.

i have two of the lew's tournament pros in 7:1 that i fished a lot this year...great reels, excellent performance and no issues. there are lots of similarities tothe abu garcia revos and it's pretty obvious they share a lot of the same DNA. i picked up a couple of the 3rd-generation revo STXs at the beginning of fall and found that i actually preferred the lew's to them. just a few weeks ago, i got my first BB1...they seem pretty nice but i won't have a chance to get them on the water until spring. i did email lew's about ordering carbon fiber handles for them and their service manager responded very quickly and i ordered three sets. he even gave me his direct phone number and even his cell number in case i needed to get ahold of him on weekends! i was very surprised when i took of the BB1's aluminum handle and weighed it...it was only 1.0 ounce, just 0.1 ounce heavier than the carbon fiber version of the 95mm handle (the 95mm handles on the abu skeet reese revos were 1.5 ounces). as far as not being to get 200E's anymore, just do what i did: order chronarch Es. with BTD's sale right now, it's even a better deal than the 200Es.

fall of 2006 i believe

the first-gen premiers were 2008 models but started shipping in the fall of 2007.

hmmm, i dunno. the revos frames were always aluminum alloy but x-craftic was all about corrosion resistance. nothing i've read from the early previews and reviews say anything about corrosion resistance, leading me to believe that there was a running change made to which type of aluminum alloy abu-garcia was using. i had various gen1 and gen2 revos including S, SX, STX, inshores and toros and thought they were mostly okay (i never had a premier though and actually loved the toro 50). revos did give me a lot of bang for the buck though because they were not excluded from sales like shimano and daiwas were/are and their free sweatshirts are easily the best sweatshirts i own. i currently have two shiny new 3G STXs and plan to use them a lot come springtime. i do agree about the curado Es though...bang for the buck at $179 was terrific...the only reason i sold mine was because of the green color . i'm in the market for a couple of chronarch Es right now.