Hi all,

I tried my brand new Shimano Scorpion JDM today and I have a feeling something was seriously off with adjustments or my setup. These reels are notorious for super long casting but mine was anything but... I am a Daiwa guy - had multiple Daiwa baitcasters over the years and this Shimano was hands down inferior to all three I had with me today. 

The reel is pared with St Croix Mojo Bass 7 footer rated for up to 17 mono lb line and up to 3/4 lure. I spooled the reel with 30 lb braid and I was casting a 1/2 chatterbait with a trailer. Should be flying like a bullet, right? Nope. I ended up turning all breaks off and during casts I literally saw the spool stopping while the lure had tons of momentum and tried to fly further. It also was making squeaking sounds while casting unlike my other reels. And I attempted to release the tension knob as much as I could lest it begins birdnesting. 

Now when I unboxed it everything was in perfect order and when the tension knob wasn’t tight the spool wouldn’t stop spinning forever. Like no friction at all, silky smooth. 

Could it be that braid was a bad choice? I plan to try a 12 lb mono tomorrow just to see if it changes anything. Something was fishy (no pun intended) about that braid and the way it behaved on the spool. 

Ok, I am done with the rant. 
Thank you all in advance for your input. 

Take care,
Val

Back off the spool tension knob a littie at a time & see if that helps

If it squeals during the cast, the brake race is probably dry. Some light oil on a qtip usually does the trick.

Is there any line stick between the spool and frame? Might be hard to tell but is it stopping roughly at the same distance everytime? Process of elimination, check brakes, tension knob, are the bearings overgreased and so on. Clearly it sounds like something is hindering the casting distance of the reel so you just have to locate what. 

7 hours ago, Tywithay said:

If it squeals during the cast, the brake race is probably dry. Some light oil on a qtip usually does the trick.

This. Put a drop of oil on that brake drum in the palm side plate. 

 

I assure you, these reels will cast like a dream. 

5 hours ago, fishballer06 said:

This. Put a drop of oil on that brake drum in the palm side plate. 

 

I assure you, these reels will cast like a dream. 

Thank you! :)

 

I did just that - applied some oil to the drum.

I also spooled with a 12 lb mono just to be sure it wasn't braid-related. Can't want to try it later today. I will share the results.

Thank you all for suggestions. 
Vast, vast improvement. Oiled as recommended and with 12 lb mono, plus careful adjustment of the tension knob. I also played a bit with the breaks and used 2 off with lighter lures and 3 off with the heavier ones. I can tell now that the reel casts as good as I cast, which is to say it still has tons of unused potential. ??