Boogey Man

Sorry for the confusion, lol. I just hadn't used it enough to give it really lengthy review. I did have a chance to use it few more hours this morning, for the money it's an impressive little reel.

Yep, that's what I meant. Also describes most of the bass I catch, lol.

Pull out on the silver spring loaded plunger on the handle side, and twist the palming side up while holding the plunger out. It has four breaks, click them in to turn them off, or out to turn them on.

With lighter lures, i had to set the mag brake about half too. Might try that.

Great review! I think folks who look at Pinnacle for their past reels are missing out on some fine products. I used mine a few more times last week and continued to be impressed with the Primmus. Small, lightweight, cast both light and heavy lures very well.

What was the lightest lure you threw? I tried a 1/8th oz Strike King Mini King spinnerbait and was pretty impressed. I think Lew's has winner with this reel. To be honest, I'm liking this reel more than the Tournament Pro.

I use 6'9" MH ex. fast Carbonlite as my plastics rod and actually most of my jig fishing too. Good rods for the money, caught a lot of fish on it, plus set the hook hard on more stump bass than I care to mention, lol. Have to agree on the Pinnacle Perfecta too, VERY nice rod at a good price, but you have to like that ACS handle. I have one and if it weren't for that, I'd own several more.

I know the first few times I took one apart I was pretty nervous lol. Despite all the claims about how this company is built better than that companies reel, the all basically have the same parts and similar designs. This one was almost a continuous clicking on the retrieve but quite as a church mouse on the cast. The rep at Ardent responded to my initial email within an hour and emailed back and forth several times through the day, so that was a good sign. I mostly bought this reel because I wanted to try a reel with magnetic brakes as all the rest of mine or centrifugal or dual. Plus I got it NIB for $90, it retails for $149. I hope to hear something from Ardent by the end of the week.

Yeah, every lure i use with it is a chatter bait, lol. I've taken this reel apart probably 5 times, cleaned, relubed, rechecked, still never found the problem. I contacted Ardent and Friday and sent it back to be checked. Probably what I should have done when I bought it. But that's kinda like pulling over and asking for directions when you are lost, lol.

I got this reel Thursday in the 6.8:1 gear ratio and had a chance to use it yesterday. Flushed the bearings and cleaned the grease off the brake race, it had a pretty heavy coating on it. Put it on a 6'6 inch Carbonlite. This reel is tiny, anyone who likes palming a smaller reel will love it. Smaller than the Tournament Pro. Casting distance is just as good as the Tournament Pro but for some reason it was a little easier to dial in than my TP. It doesn't have that buttery smooth feel the TP does, rather a nice, smooth "connected" feel, kind of like some Diawas. I used this reel with several different lures of varying weights. It handled a 3/16 oz. spinnerbait with no problems. The lure i used most was a Rapala F09 original floater which weighs 3/16 oz as well. Not the easiest lure to cast with baitcasing tackle but I was more than impressed. Casting into the wind with the Rapala was doable but I had to use a little more thumb. The biggest bass I caught was only about 13 inches so I was not able to test the drag. Just pulling line of the reel by hand the drag does feel smooth tho. Overall, very impressed with this reel and plan to give it a good workout in the next few weeks. For $40 less than the TP, I think this reel is just as good, maybe even a little better given its smaller size. For anyone looking for a great reel at good price, this would be a great choice.

Lews Tournament Pro, can be had on the auction site for less than $150, or the new Tournament MB, can be found for around $115.

I have one Micro Magic, a 6'6" m/f. It's my all purpose rod for lighter lures. I love everything about this rod but I may be one of the few who hates the micro guides lol. I've tried the same reels on this rod and others with regular guides using 12lb test mono and honestly get more distance with the other rods. With the Duckett, my cast also tend to "hook" to one side on the cast. Plus with my eyesight getting worse with age, it's a trick stringing up those tiny guides, lol. I know I'm in the minority, but if I get another Duckett it would be the Macro Magic. Overall I think they are good rods for the money.

Never thought of that, thanks for suggesting. I'll give that a a look too.

No, there's no mechanical AR that I noticed. It's just weird that it does it under load. Casting is quiet. Actually casts as good as any reel I have. It was doing it new out of the box and I should have returned it, but I thought noooooo, I can find this noise. And I was wrong, lol.

The Serrano retails for about $170, but like most other reels can be found online at deep discounts. Are we all talking about the same reels here lol?

I thought that was my knees knockin'

I have an Ardent Apex Elite that makes a clicking noise on the retrieve. It only happens when under load like when reeling in a fish but even noticed today it does it when reeling in a 3/8 oz jig. It casts like a bullet and no odd noises when casting so I don't think it's the spool bearings. I've pretty well cleaned and re-lubed the whole reel, worm gear and all, no improvements. Figured I'd ask here before I send it in for professional help lol.

Haven't used a Tatula, but did have a Serrano I sold. It was a very nice real, small and very palmable. I had it for a couple of years and the finish was very good, held up very nicely to boat rash. Just as smooth the day I sold it as the day I bought it. Very well made, the internals were just as good as the innards of most other reels lol. The only knock I had and reason I sold it was the breaking system. It was a 2-4-6-8 system on a rotating dial. Sometimes 2 breaks were not enough and 4 was too much. For heavier baits 3/8 oz and up it did very well, lighter baits, not so great. Tackle Tour did a review of it if you haven't already read it.

Wow, that's a smoking deal on the TP . I've got one TP I've had since they came out, still smooth as day one. I have a Tournament MB on the way, it's supposed to be here Thursday. Lew's makes some nice reels at a nice price.

I got a Pinnacle Primmus last fall. I was fishing at a small pond a few weeks ago, the bass weren't cooperating and I didn't have a spinning combo so i tried a Strike King Mini King spinnerbait with the Primmus. It had 12lb mono and was on a 6'6" Abu Garcia rod. Figured what the heck, lol. I was very impressed with the distance I was getting. So, thought how low can I go, so I tried a 1/8th ounce in line spinner. Impressed again. I'm sure with a different rod and lighter line, the Primmus would make pretty good finesse baitcaster that can be had for a pretty deep discount on some sites.

Stren clear blue flourescent for these aging eyes, lol. I tried flourocarbon for a while, didn't notice a different in my success rate, even in gin clear water, so I went back to something I could see.

Out of the 100 dollar market, I think St. Croix is being left behind. Between the Veritas, CarbonLite, ***, etc, there are many other good rods out there. I bought a Mojo a while back, it was the Medium 6'6" Topwater/Jerkbait rod (I think lol), it was a well built quality rod, but was just too tip heavy and unbalanced for me. I returned it. I have a 6'6" medium Veritas and Carbonlite for comparisons.

I looked at a few at a tackle show and didn't put a reel on them to see how they balance so take this with a grain of salt, but felt tip heavy compared to other rods without reels. A well built rod, but nothing to make me choose it over any other rod in that price range other than the name. Never owned a Loomis, thought this might be my first, but nope.

I have this rod. It's a fun little rod to fish.

Not all people fish with Avids or are given gear to use and write reviews about. I say if you like it, and it works for you, go have fun, regardless of price.