FishTank

Gander Mountain is closing out the Ultra Soft Line for $4.97 for 2, 4 and 6lb. 8lb and up is $6.97. They said as far as they know they are no longer going to carry it. I bought the last of what they had in the 6lb, 10lb and 15lb.

I looked at the Fuego last year and almost brought one home but I decided to go with a Zillion. I have great success with this reel. I don't think the Fuego would have been a bad choice either but when I consider the other reels I own, I think of the Zillion as the workhorse of the bunch. It just gets the job done. It is not exceptional at one thing or the other when it comes to the aspects of a fishing reel, it's actually very good at all of them.

If you are going to fish soft plastic for the most part, I have my Core paired with a Loomis BCR803 and it's a match made in heaven. If you're looking to fish some cranks, I'll second RW's suggestion.

Abu Garcia (Pure Fishing) is offering a rebate for $50 if you buy a Revo and a Fenwick or All Star Rod. After the rebate it would put you in your price range for a Fenwick Techna AV or one of the new Elite Tech rods. Both are sweet rods. http://www.abugarcia.com/media/File/08352850Rebate.pdf

They can all have problems. There's a long thread at TackleTour regarding the Core having the same problems as some Revos - roughness and grinding. The Revo is scarcely a year old. And who knows whether or not the problems we hear about are on first-run models, or newer reels. I read the reviews and complaints on the Core and it seemed to pertain to my only complaint as well. Which is that the Core is not as smooth as I would hope it would be. It is still smoother than the Premier I owned when it was fresh out of the box and I can't recal anyone saying it was rough like the Revos or that it had grinding, just not smooth for a $300+ reel. The Premier I had sounded like a coffee grinder and ever worse after I had it serviced by Abu Garcia. What I think the comments on Tackle Tour refered to where the Daiwa guys that have the Steeze and are trying to compare it to the Core. I do know a couple of guys that have bought the STX this year and love them and they have had zero issues. But I also know one local tournament fisherman/bait maker that had 5 Revos STXs, three of which he returned with problems and the other two he sold. He now has 8 Cores. This guy is the one that convinced me to go with Core. With that said, I will not be purchasing more than the one I own. I not convinced this reel is worth $100 more than the 50MG but it is, so far, a perfect match for it's intended purpose, the rod I have it on and my style of fishing. Just to reiterate what I said about the Premier, I had high hopes for this reel and I do wish that it would have worked out. I may take a second look at the STX but not for until next year.

I had a Revo Premier and had several issues with it. When I got this reel I had high hopes because of all the hype I had been hearing regarding the Revos. At first this reel was everything I wanted it to be and more. It was light weight, casted extremely well, felt smooth and the drag was good but not great. After a week it started to make some noise towards the end of the cast but it performed fine. Then I started to get backlashes plus the noise. I sent it back to Abu Garcia and when I recieved it , they said that they had serviced it and all should be fine. It was fine for about 3 or 4 casts. Then I started to get the grinding noise again and it did not seem to matter where I put the breaks, it performed with the same amount of breaking power. I then wiped some of the excess oil off of the break side of the spool. This helped but the grinding was louder and finally I started to have problems with the drag slipping. I set the drag the same as I do with all my reels but when I had a fish on (nothing over 4lbs) it would slip and was not smooth at all. I ended up returning it and getting a Shimano Core. This reel has gotten about 40-50hours of use over the last three weeks and has been flawless. I would take your Revo back, if you can, get another one and if it does not work out then maybe a Shimano Citica or a Daiwa Advantage would be the ticket.

Tho guy has some skill. I hope he is able to take somewhere besides youtube.

I had a Quantum Energy Pt Tournament, had a few issues with it and ended up returning it. I have not fished the MG enough to give a solid opinion but with short time I did fish one, I can say it is a fine reel. Another recommendation would be a Daiwa Zillion. Solid reel for the money.

I can give a solid opinion on the Zillion. I've said it before, IMHO, the Zillion is the best workhorse reel out there.

I have both rods, would say the IMX is the better of the two and it is well worth the money. Both are excellent rods though.

Go for it but you will need a Loomis BCR803 to go with it. ;D

$70 to be exact and a little Shimano clothing bonus. I had gone to great lengths to get the Premier to workout for me so I the owner of my local tackle shop cut me a good deal. It's nice to get great service. I could have all so picked up a Shimano Calais 201-5 or an older Team Daiwa Z105HL for an even exchange. Both these reels were new and in the box. He has just been unable to sell them (this store has made me a customer for life). As far as the 50MG goes, I have fished it and it was a pretty good reel. The one I fished had been well used by a buddy of mine. The paint was mostly scratched off and the drag needed some work but other than that it worked great. To compare it to the Core, I would say the Core casts better, has more power and has the over all feel of a better reel but these are marginal comparisons. Is it worth the extra cash? Maybe and maybe not. Only time will tell.

Rooster Tails still catch a lot of fish for me. The original Rapala is still one of my favorites as well.

I had one of the new Curado 201 for about a week and returned it. It was ok but I liked my older BSF Curado better. Like everyone else I did not like the size or the weight. I have to be picky but it was just uncomfortable to fish for the purpose I had intended it for. I have fished but do not own the 100 size and I liked it a lot better, go figure.

I have the Fenwick Elite Tech 7'3'' Riggin Stick. I would work great for a Carolina Rig rod but my personal favorite is the Loomis MBR 844C (only 7' though).

The more stuff Roland tries to sell the more he reminds me of this guy.

Well I took the plunge, took my defective Revo Premier back and for a few extra bucks I picked up a Shimano Core. I have been fishing it for about 3 weeks now and it has been a pleasure to use. If I had to pick one thing that this reel excels at, it would be casting. It has to be one of the best casting reels out there. Not joking, I can almost empty the spool. I can through an unweighted Senko, with no breaks on, from one end of a lake to another. With that said, this reel is the best I have ever used for soft plastic. This may sound weird but when you palm the Core it seems to add to the sensitivity of the complete setup. I have also found that the Core makes for a great flipping and pithcing reel as well. The Core also makes a giant leap forward with the design as compared to the Curado. I would hope that Shimano takes a lesson from this and incorporates how the Core is made into their new reels. The only thing that I would complain about with the Core is the smoothness. For the price I would think that it would be smoother on the retrieve but it is smoother than the Premier I had. I would compare the Core, minus the small back play, to the Daiwa Zillion in this category. It is smooth but I was hoping for more. When it comes to drag, the Core does not disapoint either. I have hooked a 14lb catfish and a 6lb largemouth with this reel and had no problems what so ever. Overall I would say the drag was smooth and powerfull. Bottomline, if my confidence in Shimano was shaken by the Curado, it has been restored with the Core. This reel, so far, flat out kicks butt.

I have never been a big fan of Chrysler products. I have pushed a few further than I have driven them but they have come up with a great idea. I hope they sell a ton of cars. http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/06/news/companies/chrysler_jobs.ap/index.htm?eref=rss_topstories

I have the Elite Tech 7'3''Riggin Stick and it is a nice rod. It's kind of heavy but it cast a long way. As far as sensitivity goes, it's average. I would put it somewhere between the St.Croix Avid and the Loomis IMX. If I was looking for just a new rod I go with a Loomis IMX series. But if you're looking for a good combo, Abu Garcia has a deal were you can get $50 back if you buy a Revo and a Fenwick rod. Overall I would say it is a fine rod for it's specific purpose.

http://www.***.com/descpageDVT-DBSL.html You might try these from Tackle Warehouse but I like the 6/0 1/4oz weighted hooks from Reaction Strike. Dick's has them now. I'm not sure where you can order them on line.

Just want to give a heads up to any of whom are still considering getting a Shimano baitcaster. I think all rebates need to be in the mail by May 1, 2008 and from what I here Shimano is being very strict about this.

I too have this reel and it is, IMHO, the best workhorse reel for the money. I use it for just about anything but I like it best for lipless cranks, jerkbaits, and buzzbaits.

I have a topic that I will start once I have all the info and details taken care of but it involves me returning a Premier after it was serviced by Abu Garcia. In short in came back in worse condition than I sent it out in. I have not fished the STX but others on this forum have nothing but great things to say about it.

I found this on Shimano's website and thought it would be useful. http://fish.shimano.com/publish/content/fish/sac/us/en/customer_service/reel_maintenance_instractions.-MainContent-0001-DownloadFile.tmp/Maintenance%20Tips-%20Baitcasting%20Reels%20(2%20pages).pdf.pdf

If gas stays this high, the only thing this country will be able to produce is debt.