I am thinking of picking up a Johnny Morris baitcaster (left handed). I've never known anybody that's owned one.
I wonder about the two kinds of breaks, (magnetic, and centrifugal). Do they really help on backlash control, or do they sacrifice casting distance.
Somewhere I heard/read that they are built by Pflueger. True?
Any thoughts and/or recommendations appreciated.
I've never used one, so I can't say anything about performance. But, in handling one, I can say they are very smooth, and have a nice finish. But, they are a bit heavy for the price IMO. Most, if not all, BP branded reels are made by Silstar, which is the manufacturer of Pflueger reels...
I have one of the Johnny combos...its nice but the reel is a little bigger than I prefer..didn't realize it until I was on the water. For the price, durability, and performance i like the Bantam Curado 100..small, compact, and super smooth...great all around reel. I am also a big fan of the Quantum equipment, I probably prefer Quantum as a whole.
Yep, both BPS and Pflueger are made by Silstar as stated. If you look in the BPS catalog, the Johnny Morris reel and the Pflueger supreme have the same braking system(with different names). I have not heard any issues with the reels but I haven't tried them either. I also prefer the shimano curado for the low profile reels, but I have not looked at the new version yet though. It is more expensive, and a lot heavier than the previous curados.
i've heard the new changes for the curado are big..too bad time to go snatching them up on Ebay..
I have one Johnny Morris, and it feels pretty heavy handed to me. It will cast a spinnerbait a mile alright, but it will wear you out over a day' fishing. I use it exclusively for spinnerbaits. I MUCH prefer a Curado 100, it's the smaller and more palmable verion. Great for pitching and flipping. I have pitched with the Morris, but only heavy jigs. I picked up a Curado 100 the other day at Gander Mountain on clearance, like $105. It was the last one, what a deal! ;D
I have owned both the BPS extreme baitcasters (the green one's with six pin centrifical brake) and the Pflueger trions (same model as the BPS extreme) I have found that they are only good for about 3 years of heavy tournament fishing.
After that, the latching mechanism (sorry for the lack of technical knowledge, the terms escape me right now) to engage the spool starts to falter. I have found two specific problems when they start to go... the first is that after the cast, the gears will not engage. Second, at any given time during the retrieve, the spool will just go free, this is really bad when setting the hook.
As far as the performance and feel of the reels, I really love em. especially for the price.
I have bought some Quantum reels and am entering my second year with them, so I'll see.
Just to let you know, I'm not talkiing about one or two, I've owned 6-8 of those Silstar reels in the last four years.
I'm sure that the Johnny Morris reel will hold up a little better.
Josh