For what it is worth, just read comments from five anglers on another site who have been fishing with the 70 MGL and had only good things to say about it.  Most common comment was "very smooth"  and a "pleasure to fish with".    Hark, I see one coming. One said, "love the long handle"

I am eyeing this reel pretty hard. Love the curado K I have, so this seems like an obvious choice. Just not crazy over the two tone paint job thing, but I am sure I can get over it

One of my buds showed up at the lake with one the other night. He was thrilled with it. His spook jr. was  flying waaay out there. I would've fished with it for a few, but the bite was hot, so I didn't stop to. Next time.

19 hours ago, LCG said:

I am eyeing this reel pretty hard. Love the curado K I have, so this seems like an obvious choice. Just not crazy over the two tone paint job thing, but I am sure I can get over it

I'm not thrilled with the paint job either, I'm hoping the JDM Scorpion 70K version comes out soon, hopefully the paint job will be more desirable. 

On 10/3/2020 at 3:32 PM, OnthePotomac said:

For what it is worth, just read comments from five anglers on another site who have been fishing with the 70 MGL and had only good things to say about it.  Most common comment was "very smooth"  and a "pleasure to fish with".    Hark, I see one coming. One said, "love the long handle"

Link? 

Not sure about posting a link to a competing bass fishing web site.

Just got mine and I love it. Caveat: I’ve got some phenomenal spinning reels but this is my first baitcast reel above $100. I got it for a medium multipurpose rod that will primarily see use in rivers. 
 

It seems very smooth and well built. I had an issue where the line blew up when I took off the side plate to adjust the brakes but that was almost certainly user error. The line got behind the spool and was a pain. I don’t love that the brake panel just comes off without something to keep it attached (could be dropped into the water). 
 

Unfortunately my baitcast reek experience is limited to old ambassadeurs and an slx, so I’m not much of a reviewer. The reel seemed perfect for what I want to use it for, so I snatched it up when I happened upon a lefty reel in HG. So far I like it a lot and it seems well built. I like the black coloration too, it’s murdered out and I love it.