Reel Reviews…

Shimano Aernos 2500

In general this reel is nice. Its comfortable and smooth, light and has good line lay once I used the washers supplied to change the height of the spool.

Good:

It is a very simple reel to take apart and service. As long as you don’t take apart the anti-reverse section!

Bad:

But there is a few niggling things that have occured to me over 6 months. The bail arm roller that feeds the braid onto the spool has a sharp edge to it. This doesn’t affect the normal use of this reel but sometimes when you take the bail arm off it will catch the line. This can and has damaged the braid resulting in a lost lure. Whether this is the same on all the Aernos reels or whether its just mine I don’t know.

Also… Recently after 6 months hard use its had plenty of full on soakings from the sea. I have had the reel apart a couple of times and it hasn’t needed re-greasing but it has finally needed a full on service as it was getting pretty rough. I’m not totally sure this was the problem so i’ll update this shortly if it isn’t the case. But to be fair i’m not surprised it needs re-greasing as long as this is the problem.

This reel also had a habit of locking up on decent Wrasse. I never actually found out what it was that did this but it certainly lost me a few fish and even thought the reel is still usable I wouldn’t trust using it for my bass fishing.

Shimano Technium 3000

I got this reel for a good price and as I needed one to replace the Aernos that had a dodgey backwind.

It lasted me ok and I never had any real problems with it apart from it didn’t like a good dunking and shortly after would become sticky and a bit seized.

I have given it a rough service though and it is still going strong. I use it mainly for my estuary fishing know and keep it as a back up.

Personally I think it is better built than the Aernos and a tougher reel all round with no major problems in it’s design and build. A good old fashioned work horse!

Daiwa Ballistic 3000

I decided to change from Shimano and try one of the new Daiwa reels. The options were either the Theory, Ballistic or Caldia which all have some form of new oil sealing system.

I also wanted a reel with a slightly larger spool and a bit more weight to it as I didn’t think that the 2500 size shimano’s balanced any of my rods properly.

I have to say that I haven’t noticed any real casting aid by having a bigger spool yet but do believe it helps and it definitely fits 130-150 yards of line on a lot better.

I’ve had this reel know for the 3-4months and its been soaked plenty of times and hasn’t missed a beat and its still very smooth!

This could all change in 6 months time but for know it is by far the best reel I have owned. No doubt it probably will need a service at some point down the line but for know I would highly recommend one!