CaughtMeABiggun

The TFO Professional rods are their lowest price point rod listed for Bass on their website. I have 4 of them and they fish very well.

Will do. I took it out on the water today but didnt get a chance to use it.

Just ordered a Calcutta Conquest SE from Digitaka. Already in the states and on its way to me. Smooth sailing.

Update after fishing with this reel. It's solid. I definitely don't think it would have been as good as it was today without the servicing and handle replacement. To be totally honest it fished as good as my Zillion and I was completely shocked. I was able to bomb a lipless in the wind. It was extremely smooth and quiet. I have to say it is worth the price if you are ok with voiding the warranty and doing some immediate upgrades. I still would recommend a Zillion or a Shimano over this reel because all they need out of box is line. If it continues to perform as well as it did today I might have to eat some crow and order two more if they are BOGO again.

I picked up a couple of Academy H2OX ethos rods on closeout. Seems like that whole brand of rods and reels are being downsized if not discontinued. I have been impressed with the rods I have from them. Seem to be pretty good bang for buck. I would hate to see that go away.

I ordered a Tatula X during the Black Friday sale. First impression is it is better than my 2023 Tatula 100s. Seems to be smoother and tighter feeing. Has anyone spent some time on the water with one yet? Curious to see what others think about it.

I upgraded the handle today to a carbon 110 mm handle with much better bearings in the knobs. Reel is as quiet as my Curado 150 MGL now, but not as precise feeling. It kind of reminds me of a more metallic feeling Tatula 100.

To clear up any confusion I don't believe there would have been any fee for a warranty replacement. To return the reel would cost shipping plus a 20 percent restocking fee. I think that is ridiculous. If you bought the reel from a vendor you could more than likely return it without any fees. I would not recommend buying an Ark product directly from Ark. Knowing what I know now it would have been a waste of time to film the reel and try to get a replacement because I think what I experienced out of box is considered ok. If given a replacement it would have been the same. If Ark wants to make this better, they just need to make sure the customer's experience matches the expectations set by the price. Until then use this thread as a means to make an informed purchase. I have no doubt my reel will be fine now as others in this thread have enjoyed their Ark reels.

Additional update. I went ahead and serviced reel. I must say it is much better now. A couple of things I noticed was that the handle shaft and level wind gears were very greasy, but main gear and pinion gear appeared to just have oil on them. I love quantum hot sauce. I greased the main gear, pinion gear and added some to the levelwind (what was on there from the factory vanished quickly) and it really smoothed out. It is much quieter. I am going to upgrade the handle because the bearings in the knobs are terrible and sound like they are coming apart. The handle bearings are louder than the reel. Other than that I think this is a decent reel. Is it 275 dollars decent? No. Is my OG SLX baitcaster smother? Probably, with the exception that the handle is easier to turn on the Ark. Without a doubt the Shimano feels more precise. Buy one get one is not bad for these. Making my mistake and paying full pop... not a good idea. I will give a final update after fishing this weekend. To sum it up here is my takeaway on the reel right now. The reel is servicable after servicing, The materials seem to be good quality except for the handle. Reeling is smooth but not refined. Paint job is spectacular. Ark customer service.. questionable. Not friendly at best. If you buy it with these expectations then you will be happy with your purchase. Otherwise buy a Shimano, Daiwa, or Okuma. For those wondering why I got on my suitcase about this to begin with... Reel a Bantam or a Tatula Elite out of the box and then one of these... There are expectations at that price point. If Ark is going to play in that sandbox they need to get a better shovel. @PhishLI Yes that is the part in the video and yes that is the sound, but mine was noisy with just regular reeling. After servicing the reel it doesnt sound like that anymore. Also, it is the 6.4 gear ratio, to your point it should have been better than Rawr's 8.X gear ratio reel but it wasn't. I also heard Aggressively Average Anglers mention that all the Ark reels they have used have gotten grindy after the first season of use. I would attribute that to the lack of grease out of the box. They also attributed it to needing greasing. Ironically the Gravity 8 supposedly has upgraded gears that are supposed to mesh better...

Quick update. I went back and watched Rawr Fishing's unboxing of this reel and his sounded just like mine. I feel comfortable in saying they are just not greasing these reels. I'm not worried about voiding the warranty and if servicing a reel voids the warranty than I think it just makes a better case for not purchasing anything from them. I did buy the reel directly from Ark and that is what makes this worse. If someone bought my most expensive product and was not happy I don't think I would put them through the ringer to get a warranty replacement. I would have gladly sent this reel back for a replacement, but to make me film the reel is horrible. Now knowing they all must sound like this it is what it is. I would also like to say that talking to their customer service felt like I was talking to a really sketchy business. The lady I was talking to must have had someone over her shoulder listening to my call on speaker because I could hear him talking to her about what to say to me. In my frustrations I ask to speak to her boss and she said it was the guy I heard talking and he had left the office. It was really sketchy. It felt like a orginaztion ran in a back room off of funny money.

I agree, but being a tackle junky I have to try new things. The reel will probably be fine after I clean and grease it. If I can say anything nice about it so far is that it feels solid and there is a lot of metal. The spool bearing is very quiet. It just has no business being noisy reeling. Oddly enough the levelwind worm gear has grease on it. I plan on getting out on the water this weekend and giving it a go. I'll provide an update afterwards. I would also like to say that my Okuma Hakais give every reel I have a run for their money. I would but them above my Curado 150s and below my Antares, Steez, and Zillion.

Just received my Gravity 8 and it has to be the worst reel I have ever had out of box. Sounds like there is no grease and you can feel the gears when turning the handle. To add insult to injury I missed the BOGO sale by a couple of days. I called Ark customer service and it was as terrible as the reel is. They asked me to email a video of the reel to them. To return the order I will have to pay to ship the reel back and a 20 percent restocking fee. Please do yourself a favor and not make such and expensive mistake. I am going to take the reel apart, clean it, and grease it. I'll use it but I'm going to be wishing I would have bought another Zillion or Shimano the whole time..

My son caught a couple on their lipless crankbait. It doesn't seem bad.

I just purchased a Okuma ITX-CB and it is amazing. It's in that 100-140 price range. Without a doubt one of the smoothest spinning reels I have put my hands on. It is built for finesse applications. I currently have it on a ML rod and throwing small soft plastics with it.

Just wanted to provide an update. GSM must be wanting to get rid of the Dobyns reels. Amazon has them for under 40 bucks. I ordered one and curious to see how much different it is than my Calamus. I also noticed that the frame of the Dobyns reel is also shared with Kastking and Okuma. I am wondering if this is an Okuma built reel. The build quality of reels with this frame seem to hit above their price point. Okumas are built in China, but in Okuma's own factories. I have several Okuma reels and have been impressed with all of their reels so far.

I have purchased two Okuma Hakai reels in the last month. They are great reels but I have noticed something interesting . The first reel I received had the Dream Tackle Design logo on the spool along with the symbol on the spool tension knob. The second reel does not have any Dream Tackle insignia and on the box where the Dream Tackle logo was on the specs a sticker with HPB (High Performance Bearings) has been put over the Dream tackle logo. I know that Dream Tackle helped design the spool for these reels. I noticed that Dream Tackle's website does not load now and Okuma has removed any mention of Dream Tackle from their Hakai page on the Okuma website. It looks like the model number from the the boxes are only separated by a )1 with logos and a )2 without logos. I am assuming designating a different series/batch.

I just saw Sportsman Warehouse has a store branded rod made by Dobyns. So now we have the Frenzy rods for Dick's and a Sportsman Warehouse branded rod made by Dobyns. What is going on with GSM/Dobyns?? I would be shocked if these two new lines of rods are being manufactured at any pre GSM facility that Gary used.

Wanted to provide an additional update. After replacing the lower unit about 300 RPMS were restored but still not right. One of the fuel injectors was stuck closed. Hopefully after the new injector is installed I'll have proper RPMs. Fingers crossed. Everything else has checked good including the high pressure fuel pump and good compression.

Welcome 🎣

@TOXIC The last gen 2 strokes definitely have a lot more going on with them. I grew up fishing on a Procraft 17 combo fish and ski with one of last Mercury Force 120 motors. Such a simple motor and it is still going to this day. No issues. It must have 4000 hours on it. I know people give those motors a lot of crap, but the Mercury ones were not as bad. The one I grew up with has a black max foot. It also has Mercury carbs, Ignition, and Power Tilt and Trim . Runs like a top. It has lost a little compression over the years but it's not terrible. New it would push the boat 53 mph with 3 people on it and with as many hours that is has on it, it will still push it with 3 people on board 45 mph. Mercury replaced all of the bad stuff from the Bayliner days. About the time they go it right, the emission regulations killed it.

This topic went over like a fart in a diving helmet.. It is true you dont need to spend a ton of money to catch fish. There is value in higher end equipment and there probably is a point of diminishing returns. Higher end reels are built with better components. These provide two benefits, smoothness and longer life. There is a point where a lower priced reel will lose its smoothness or completely give up the ghost while a higher end reel will continue to be smooth and provide great service. Higher end rods provide two benefits, lighter weight and increased sensitivity. You will detect more bites and your arm will thank you after a weekend of fishing. The lightness and sensitivity come from better materials. A ton of sensitivity can be gained or lost depending on what guides are on a rod. The material making up the rod itself plays a crucial role in this too. Pick up a Berkley Cherrywood rod and Falcon Evo rod at Walmart to see the difference. Then pick up a Falcon Evo and a GLoomis. There are differences. Moral of the story is to buy the best equipment you can afford and you will always be happy. Doesn't matter what the price point is because it will feel the best to you and the fish really don't care what is in your hands when you hook them. We are all here for the love of fishing. Equipment is not a competition but catching the biggest bass is.

St. Croix has multiple options across different price points.

I ordered a Kistler Chromium baitcaster while they were on sale and I must say that out of the box I am extremely impressed. I got the 100 size and it palms great and is extremely smooth. It does have ceramic spool bearing so there is a little of the distinctive ceramic bearing sound but its not bad at all. I ordered the teal color to put on a Profishiency Krazy rod to specifically throw spinnerbaits on. It's a wild looking combo but it will be a blast to use.

Welcome!

Welcome! I have family that live near and fish Sangchris lake in Illinois. I've been up there once and fished it. There was a ton of bass in that lake.