KastKing Royale Legend GT Baitcasting Reels, New Low Profile Design Baitcaster Fishing Reel, Magnet Braking System, 17.6 Lbs Carbon Fiber Drag, 5+1 Shielded Stainless Steel Bearings

First thing first let me just say this real is great!The first low profile baitcaster I bought was purchased about 15 years ago, and I could never get it to work. It would birds nest on every cast unless I turned the brakes to their highest setting and then it would only cast about 10 feet. It sat in a closet for a decade while I always believed I must have been doing something wrong. I'm a seasoned fisherman, I have good hand-eye coordination, and when I see something done a number of times I can replicate it pretty quickly. Regardless of how many YouTube how-to videos I watched I could never figure it out.I finally decided to take the plunge and buy another one as I figured in 15 years maybe technology has improved and there would be less of a learning curve. I labored over the decision to buy such an inexpensive reel, considering most reels for twice the price don't taut some of the features of this reel. It also concerned me that you could seemingly only buy this brand's products on Amazon. I did a lot of research and honestly couldn't find many negative reviews of their products so eventually I decided to give it a try.It shipped with Prime and arrived in 2 business days. The box was simple yet sleek. The reel itself feels and looks great right out of the box. I put a backing of electrical tape on the spool and then filled the spool with 30 lb Power Pro braid. I attached about 6 feet of 10 lb fluorocarbon leader to the braid, and have been tying my hook / lures directly to the leader. I took it out the day I got it with just a weight tied to the end of the line and got all of the brakes and drag set casting in the park across the street. I only had one minor backlash early on while I was still getting dialed in.After that I finally got a chance to take it out with actual lures and fish with it today, and let me tell you it blows my expectations away. The reel is silky smooth and silent, and the brake system ( it has both centrifical and magnetic braking) makes getting smooth long casts easy without getting birds nests. I fished for several hours and never had a single problem. This thing is the real deal!I think my next rod and reel will both be from KastKing. After that we'll know if I'm a true convert or not. For now at least it's looking pretty good!

I'm gonna give this reel 5 stars as a function of its PRICE to PERFORMANCE. Certainly a $200 Abu is gonna outperform this reel, but come on. That's like saying a Porsche is gonna outperform a Fiat.This is actually my second baitcaster, I wouldn't call myself skilled with them at all. I watched a bunch of youtube videos and then went out to learn the reel one day before heading on a destination trip this summer.The first thing you notice about this reel is how incredibly light it is. It weighs nothing but is incredibly solid. The retrieve rate is unreal, and the action is incredibly, incredibly buttery smooth.I spooled it up with 30lb Daiwa J-Braid and off I went.I had some issues with backlashing until I got smart and turned up the centrifugal brake pretty high. As soon as I did that, it all went away. Then as my technique improved, I've been backing down that brake. As of right now I'm casting as far and as reliably as the dudes I see in big boats with expensive reels.On my trip, I got into a whole mess of blue cats, catching them as fast as I could throw. The reel ripped them all in fast and with zero issues. I was casting a pretty heavy rig, using this reel mostly because it was attached to my only medium-heavy rod.The only issue I had with this reel was the result of my own stupidity. I was in some heavy current sightfishing some very large fish (30+lb) and got over eager, and as I put the rod behind my head to flip the giant bobber/weight/hook/bait, I took my thumb off AS I whipped the rod forward. The reel is so smooth that it basically spun backwards in its entirety, creating the most giant backlash ever. I wound up having to strip *all* the line off the reel and bring it back in, which of course resulted in a giant knot and my losing a fair bit of new line. Again though, that's my OWN stupidity and has nothing to do with the reel.I appreciate very much that the reel is easy to disassemble, which makes cleaning it and lubricating it quite simple, especially after using it in some really algae-filled water. I was impressed enough with this reel that I've been acquiring other KastKing products and haven't yet been let down on any of them.