Blaine Donders

Ark reels are Haibo. So are a lot of Ardent. To be fair, Haibos are really good stuff.

I have a Cara Head Turner that has been extremely durable. There has been a couple times of user error it should have broke, but didn’t. 4 years in at this point. I bought it as soon as the new Cara was released.

Pride Grass Rake 2.0. Awesome rod and light!

I must be in the minority and had good luck. I have had gen 1 concept a, c, and z’s. I now have the same reels in the gen 2 and love them. I have had zero issues with them and they are a pleasure to use. I run 6 of them all the time. The Z Slide is my favorite. As to the service since Rapala? I have always bought needed parts from them until Rapala. With that said, the $40 service fee includes: Cleaning and inspection. ALL required parts to bring the reel back to oem. Return shipping. I’d rather have the parts but that isn’t a bad deal. I wore out the pinion and main gear in a Concept Z and the parts would have been more than the $40.

I have Smoke S3’s, Tour S3, and Smoke HD’s. Excellent reels in every way except for light lure use. You will not be disappointed.

I service my own reels. I have owned Daiwa Tatulas in all sizes and generations. I have owned Shimano from the Chronarch MGL on down including the Curado K, 70, Scorpions, and all the first gen SLX’s. Use what you want. There are merits to all of them. Doyo’s are fine. Banax is fine. Haibo may be one of the best right now. Having had them all in little pieces on my bench, I say who cares. Use what you like. There is no drastic difference in the quality of the small parts in any brand. I will also add that that the only reels that I have owned that always end up feeling geary as a coffee grinder is the Shimano 70 and the Scorpion 70. I have had at least a dozen and they are ended up rough to the point you could hear it and feel it. Heck I have a Black Max that is 7 years old that isn’t wore out. It’s a reel. Buy and use what you want. You want to buy a plastic Shimano for $270? Do it. You want a plastic Revo X for $100? Do it.

XPS is good to go in my book. I have had great luck with it.

Up to this point they were Banax.

The spool is deeper on the Coastal. So if you want an SV spool with greater capacity and a longer handle, the Coastal is it.

Buy it.

There is nothing wrong with the Smoke HD, the Smoke S3, the Tour S3, or the Vapor. I use them a lot. Great reels. I’ve never had a bad Banax.

It’s great with light baits. 8# fluoro and it holds enough as well. I can’t skip for beans, but I do know any chance I have is with a Tatula sv. I blew them dang Lew’s up.

I’ve owned both. The KVD is a Tournament MP with different paint and knobs. The JM Platinum is as well, save for the all aluminum build and bearings stuffed into every nook and cranny. The JM Platinum is the nicer feeling of the two, only because of the finish on the entire aluminum exterior. I had zero complaints with either. I’d go on the price. I would gladly pay $50-$70 more for the JM though.

I have a medium KLX that will cast 1/8 with the right reel. I have a Hakai with 8# mono on mine and I throw a 1/16oz jig with a 2” grub as a trailer.

I don’t know about their spinning reels, but the current casting reels are made by Haibo, which is as good as Banax or Doyo in my opinion.

There is nothing wrong with the Inception, gen 1 or 2. They are great reels. Here is the deal. If you rely on the brakes in the wind? Pony up for a Tatula 100. If your thumb does the talking? The Inceptions rocks. If you are considering a 13? You will hate the form factor of the CT. The 100? Very nice. Period.

I have the 7’2” heavy Mojo Glass I use for 3/8 -3/4 chatterbaits. I like it a lot, but it’s the only glass rod I have and the only other one I had was a Shimano SLX glass, and I hated that pig. So limited sample!

I use 1/10 and 1/15 ZMan Ned heads

Pride Grass Rake 2.0

This hasn’t been my experience. I only fish open water or grass.

Dream Tackle sells their own version of this reel. I’m pretty sure Banax makes them. The DT versions are more colorful with a shallow spool version as well. Like a power finesse spool. 7&8 speeds only.

I have the regular spool version with 10# Tatsu on a ML Rod. I throw 1/10th Neds all the time. The shallow spool versions were listed on all the internet sights when everything was preorder for the Hakai. Once the regular spooled reels started to show up, the skipping and pitching version disappeared. Haven’t ever heard why.

I have or had both. In my hands the Veritas blows away the Dobyns for weight and sensitivity. Spend a couple bucks more and get the Tournament PLX and you will be really pleased. Seen them on sale a while back for $130. The CT is probably a better reel, but man is it a tank compared to a Revo4 or a Revo5. If ergonomics matter to you, get the Abu. If you just want performance and don’t care if the reel is a porker, get the CT. Ergonomics with a setup matter to me so I would go Tourney PLX with a Revo5 SX. Not even close. If that doesn’t matter to you, ain’t nothing wrong with a CT Fury combo.

Pride CS73H and a Pride Grass Rake 2.0 are my two favorite jig rods and will cover from 3/8-5oz between the two.

KastPro. Made in USA as well.