New reel

[JDP]

Picked up a little shimano vanford to add to the upcoming trip away to the north of the country. Loaded with 300m pe1.2 grappler braid this will be my light lure tuna, trevally, queenfish and barramundi reel. I will have four on my boat so needed some extra gear ahead of the trip. I will also use this for land based light lure and plastics with the bone voyage travel rod.

This is a comparison to basically the same older versions which will be taken on the trip also. I will of course be taking heavier gear for bigger fish but it’s the light line gear I find the most fun.

 

 

[Hoop]

Lovely little reels, great sport for the smaller bits. I've noticed that Penn have taken over in tackleshops here, understand they are bulletproof but the line lay and weight doesn't come close to shimano.. wonder if its a supply / distribution issue!?

[suzook12]

would use shimano over penn every day of the week when it comes to reels. Penn do seem to be making some nice boat rods at reasonable money currently

 

[JDP]

14 hours ago, Hoop said:

Lovely little reels, great sport for the smaller bits. I've noticed that Penn have taken over in tackleshops here, understand they are bulletproof but the line lay and weight doesn't come close to shimano.. wonder if its a supply / distribution issue!?

I do, or should I say did have a couple of Penns. The battle mk 3 is still going strong but the more expensive latest version slammer was not up to the Shimano class in my opinion. The line roller bearing soon became rough after just a couple of trips, which seems to be a common issue here with them. I replaced that one with a same sized small Saragossa which is better than the first Stella reels in my opinion. 
Another issue with the Penn reels is that many have very heavy chunky builds, to the point the reel leg can split the reel seats on rods, which has happened to me on three rods. Its something our dealers have complained to Penn about, so hopefully they will address the issue but for the meantime I don't recommend anyone over tightening the reels down on their rods. Its different here as we need them pretty tight when targeting bigger sharks etc from the beach or tuna in the boat, in saying that I wouldn't use a Penn for flicking lures at tuna as the reels are to heavy for me.

[RogB]

I use a Vanford for my shore lure fishing for bass, very light and great line lay but the line roller bearing rusted up within a month. Shimano claims they are treated with a hydrophobic coating.....I swapped the bearing for a ceramic, which is noisier but works full time. If you are on a trip away pack a few spare line roller bearings (and screw for them as they are very light and made of cheese, the head came off first time I unscrewed it!).

[JDP]

On 8/19/2023 at 6:22 PM, RogB said:

I use a Vanford for my shore lure fishing for bass, very light and great line lay but the line roller bearing rusted up within a month. Shimano claims they are treated with a hydrophobic coating.....I swapped the bearing for a ceramic, which is noisier but works full time. If you are on a trip away pack a few spare line roller bearings (and screw for them as they are very light and made of cheese, the head came off first time I unscrewed it!).

It seems to be a let down point on many Shimano spin reels but at least a cheap fix. I must admit now wishing I'd picked up another small saragossa but I already have a few of those and wanted to try something lighter on northern bluefin etc, which the ci4 4000 had been fun using on them. Northern bluefin or commonly named long tale tuna aren't any relation to the bluefin you get or southern bluefin we get here, these are a smaller more slender tuna which max out around 80lb.

Edited August 20, 2023 by JDP

[Hoop]

On 8/18/2023 at 2:36 AM, JDP said:

I do, or should I say did have a couple of Penns. The battle mk 3 is still going strong but the more expensive latest version slammer was not up to the Shimano class in my opinion. The line roller bearing soon became rough after just a couple of trips, which seems to be a common issue here with them. I replaced that one with a same sized small Saragossa which is better than the first Stella reels in my opinion. 
Another issue with the Penn reels is that many have very heavy chunky builds, to the point the reel leg can split the reel seats on rods, which has happened to me on three rods. Its something our dealers have complained to Penn about, so hopefully they will address the issue but for the meantime I don't recommend anyone over tightening the reels down on their rods. Its different here as we need them pretty tight when targeting bigger sharks etc from the beach or tuna in the boat, in saying that I wouldn't use a Penn for flicking lures at tuna as the reels are to heavy for me.

 

On 8/19/2023 at 9:22 AM, RogB said:

I use a Vanford for my shore lure fishing for bass, very light and great line lay but the line roller bearing rusted up within a month. Shimano claims they are treated with a hydrophobic coating.....I swapped the bearing for a ceramic, which is noisier but works full time. If you are on a trip away pack a few spare line roller bearings (and screw for them as they are very light and made of cheese, the head came off first time I unscrewed it!).

Held a slammer in the shop a while back and was surprised at the weight.. thing was built like a tank and not cheap, talking reasonable shimano money.

Not heard the issue with the vanford before, that's not to say there isn't one. Am I right in saying that the vanfords replaced Stradics? I can speak to that, I used and thoroughly abused mine and for years I didn't have a problem, one would hope that when a range is updated that its improved as the cost increases. Moved my Stradic on without fault, as I imported an Exsence from Japan that has been flawless and does what I need it to do, beautifully - though, I do recognise UK & Aus fish the complete opposite ends of the  spectrum when it comes to what pulls back on the other end.

Have you ever had a flick with a Shim Lunamis? Ci4 reel seat made for ci4 reels.. never needed nipping up. Adored mine for bigger top waters 125's, Patch 2's etc.. but for soft plastics felt it wasn't subtle enough so moved it on, have thought about getting another for metals when it's blowing up.. The Apia that I have now, awesome rod.. though would loathe getting it out in ugly conditions.

[JDP]

3 hours ago, Hoop said:

 

Held a slammer in the shop a while back and was surprised at the weight.. thing was built like a tank and not cheap, talking reasonable shimano money.

Not heard the issue with the vanford before, that's not to say there isn't one. Am I right in saying that the vanfords replaced Stradics? I can speak to that, I used and thoroughly abused mine and for years I didn't have a problem, one would hope that when a range is updated that its improved as the cost increases. Moved my Stradic on without fault, as I imported an Exsence from Japan that has been flawless and does what I need it to do, beautifully - though, I do recognise UK & Aus fish the complete opposite ends of the  spectrum when it comes to what pulls back on the other end.

Have you ever had a flick with a Shim Lunamis? Ci4 reel seat made for ci4 reels.. never needed nipping up. Adored mine for bigger top waters 125's, Patch 2's etc.. but for soft plastics felt it wasn't subtle enough so moved it on, have thought about getting another for metals when it's blowing up.. The Apia that I have now, awesome rod.. though would loathe getting it out in ugly conditions.

Not had the Lumanis or used them so can't comment on them. As for stradic replacements, I believe the vanford is only replacing the ci4 stradics and not the other models, not had issues with older ci4 stradics. The trips I do away with my boat involve day after day of getting salt spray, good numbers of fish and the reels baked in the sun without any wash downs day after day. I feel pretty confident taking the Vanford but also have plenty of options if it fails. Also over here we get 10yrs warranty on all Shimano reels. Funny enough the only reels Ive had to have repaired were the first gold and silver Stella reels, where two 1800 reels suffered gears and bearing issues. I wouldn't consider worn out parts warranty claims but gears and bearings in the first 12 months certainly were.