Hey all,

Looking at a Bates Hundo (and more specifically the LTS). Have a few questions for those with experience

1. Has it held up to use? (so what is its longevity?)
2. Did you end up going back to your old brand?
3. Anything else you'd like to share?

I only have the swimbait reel and it has been flawless all year. Big baits are tough on reels and I have had zero issues.

All I can add is Roy's Bait & Tackle in Corpus, the Mecca of Texas fishing, is carrying Bates Hundo.  What they sell, they support 100%.  

The hardest-fishing kayaker and videographer on the TX coast is fishing one on Waterloo Salty Mag rod since last spring, fishing down to 1/8-oz JH, and gives it great reviews.  I borrowed one of his photos - his post this day included 7 redfish this size.  

Also noteworthy about Glenn, Prof Salt - he doesn't accept sponsorship, and buys all his gear.  He does trade-in offshore fish for surf cut-bait at Roy's for store credit. 

I have (4) of the original Bates Hundo's and like them a lot. No issues with them. Took a little to get it dialed in, but it has been flawless.

My biggest likes are:

**Frame size, it is small. (I have small hands)

** Very light

** Body and side plate all aluminum. Very solid.

** Smooth and casts well.

 

Dislikes:

  ** Don't like the knob color on the reel. Should have cork knobs for the price point (It really is insignificant though)

** Was a little hard to dial in, but once I figured it out everything is fine.

 

Buy one at first, if you decide to buy multiples you can always buy another at a later date. You will like your Hundo.

 

My reels before this were the (6) original Revo MGX reels. Then I had (4) Daiwa Tatulas and (4) Zillions, and wasn't impressed. Sold them all. Maybe their top tier like Steeze would have been a better choice for me. Anyway, If I didn't buy my Hundo, I would have gone with Shimano  Metanium. I still have my Revo Mgx's. I still use these reels, however I have my (4) Hundos as my primary reels.

 

They appear to be solid reels with a unique machine bar stock construction but they haven't been around very long.  My concern is if Bates or the OEM Loongze stays in operation.  If Bates is sold or no longer affiliated with Loongze and they move to a different OEM then how will your get parts for your Bates branded Loongze in the US?  In other markets Loongze sells the Bates Hundo as a Loongze reel.  The reel below is from a European angler on another forum.  I'd need to see the OEM have some presence and staying power in the US to buy a reel from them. 

 

If I'm spending $300+ I want to be able to maintain it for 10+ years and replace gear sets when they start to get geary ect.  If the reel feels like a coffee grinder on year 3 I don't want to find out "sorry we no longer support that model" because Bates was sold, the founder retired a millionare, and some jackoff bought the company and ended the contracts with Loongze to cut costs and is now running the brand into the ground with generic plastic reels squeezing every last drop out of whatever is left out of the Bates name.  

 

https://www.loongzefishing.com/

Zero experience with them, but at least they aren't ugly reels.

4 hours ago, Bigbox99 said:

They appear to be solid reels with a unique machine bar stock construction but they haven't been around very long.  My concern is if Bates or the OEM Loongze stays in operation.  If Bates is sold or no longer affiliated with Loongze and they move to a different OEM then how will your get parts for your Bates branded Loongze in the US?  In other markets Loongze sells the Bates Hundo as a Loongze reel.  The reel below is from a European angler on another forum.  I'd need to see the OEM have some presence and staying power in the US to buy a reel from them. 

 

If I'm spending $300+ I want to be able to maintain it for 10+ years and replace gear sets when they start to get geary ect.  If the reel feels like a coffee grinder on year 3 I don't want to find out "sorry we no longer support that model" because Bates was sold, the founder retired a millionare, and some jackoff bought the company and ended the contracts with Loongze to cut costs and is now running the brand into the ground with generic plastic reels squeezing every last drop out of whatever is left out of the Bates name.  

 

https://www.loongzefishing.com/

 

 

 

I have the same concerns you have, regarding longevity and replacement parts for this reel and other Bates reel products. I'm on year two with my reels. With that said, I know that they have some repair centers, as I spoke to one of their techs. As far as parts go, they are building an inventory  as well and according to the tech they have many parts in stock.  There are a lot of maybes here and I myself don't want a $300 paper weight. I'll just have to see as time goes on. Hopefully, I won't regret switching over to all Bates reels, but it is a sweet reel.

I can tell you this, if Bates goes out of business, Roy's in Corpus will buy up the parts spares so they can support the reels they sold.  

That's what they did when Lew's changed hands, and Roy's continued to support original BB-1 and BB-25 for another decade after Lew's stopped.  

 

I bought one more A/R dog and replaced a bent handle on my BB-1NG c. 2010 - I bought the reel in 1984.  

Roy's wouldn't sell them randomly, unless they first vetted Bates for their ability to provide repair parts.  

Thanks for the feedback all. I think I'm going to spend the $300(ish) on a known Daiwa (D) or Shimano (S) for the aforementioned reasons. 

 

I like the fact they are American owned (Texas to boot!) but I do not have the income to toss around on something that isn't as certain as D or S.

 

Cheers,

 

Good decision. On my end, i wouldn't even be considering them when shimano and daiwa performs as well as they do.

Theres a lot of great products on the market, but in my lifetime, only a handful that had that "WOW" factor when you first get your hands on them.  The Hundo is definitely up there.  

The reel is incredibly small, light, yet feels rock solid.  They had just gotten a bunch of them 2 days prior and sold all but 1 lefty model.  I was already over budget, but if that reel was righty I wouldn't have left without it. 

I too was curious how the Bates reels would hold up, especially the case of the Hundo.  Most of the first reviews were wade/yak anglers who fish the gulf.  The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and still is.