krayfish2
Well-known member
I got one on clearance and here’s my thoughts. The reel is made by Ross in the same facility that makes Ross reels in Colorado. The appearance is pretty slick and simple. For the retail price tag of $250-$275, you get a machined reel with a drag like you’d find on Ross products. Smooth when taking in line and quality / strong drag when needed. It’s not feather light like many reels on the market but if you can’t handle a 4-6 ounce reel, go work out.
So, I love the reel…….right? NOPE. I spooled it with a new textured GPX line and headed to the Delaware. Pretty quickly, a fish was hooked and I’d get a real world application of the reel. The rainbow bolted, slack line went screaming off the boat floor and out the guides. To avoid burned fingers, I just let him run and I’d fight him off the reel. Got the fish in, he saw the net and off to the races again……kinda. If “off to the races” means your reel looks like a bowl of spaghetti, then I was in business. When the fish ran, line came out of the reel between the frame / spool and the line guide / spool. I was able to resolve the issue and still land the fish but not without a nick or two in a brand new line.
Buying one of these reels is like getting a model as your girlfriend only to find out she’s got PTSD, suffers 8-15 psychotic episodes per day and has colitis. You might want to run. I called SA to see what they could tell me about the issue. “Yeah, I’ve seen some of those come back in because the spool doesn’t seat properly and allows line to escape around the frame”. So this is something that the company knew about which might be why reviews of this product were difficult to find. My conversation with the consumer service department gave me the impression that it’s not all of the reels but just some batches suffer this problem. Why not recall the bad batch of reels or pull the entire line off the market?
SA had me return the reel for review which takes about 3 days. They will then reach out to me with their resolution. Well, they got the reel 2 weeks ago along with a note that included my name, address, cell # and 2 email options. Not a peep from them which is disappointing. I had to call them 15 times this morning to get a person on the phone. The person on the phone verified that the item was received and they’d be sending out a replacement line. I said “Hold up. I sent in a reel only. Yes, the reel caused a brand new line to get damaged. Are you repairing the reel, replacing the reel and will you be replacing the line?” The CSR told me that I’ll need to speak to Tim(?)…..but Tim is off today. Supposedly, Tim will be calling me tomorrow to review the situation. The preliminary determination is that the reel will be replaced with one of the current models (Voltage Fly Reel). Hopefully they will treat me right but the calls I’ve made don’t leave me feeling real positive. I’d like them to replace my line while they’re at it but I’m not betting that will happen.
Anyone have one of those Voltage reels from SA? No reviews on this model either. Surely doesn’t give me a good feeling.
So, I love the reel…….right? NOPE. I spooled it with a new textured GPX line and headed to the Delaware. Pretty quickly, a fish was hooked and I’d get a real world application of the reel. The rainbow bolted, slack line went screaming off the boat floor and out the guides. To avoid burned fingers, I just let him run and I’d fight him off the reel. Got the fish in, he saw the net and off to the races again……kinda. If “off to the races” means your reel looks like a bowl of spaghetti, then I was in business. When the fish ran, line came out of the reel between the frame / spool and the line guide / spool. I was able to resolve the issue and still land the fish but not without a nick or two in a brand new line.
Buying one of these reels is like getting a model as your girlfriend only to find out she’s got PTSD, suffers 8-15 psychotic episodes per day and has colitis. You might want to run. I called SA to see what they could tell me about the issue. “Yeah, I’ve seen some of those come back in because the spool doesn’t seat properly and allows line to escape around the frame”. So this is something that the company knew about which might be why reviews of this product were difficult to find. My conversation with the consumer service department gave me the impression that it’s not all of the reels but just some batches suffer this problem. Why not recall the bad batch of reels or pull the entire line off the market?
SA had me return the reel for review which takes about 3 days. They will then reach out to me with their resolution. Well, they got the reel 2 weeks ago along with a note that included my name, address, cell # and 2 email options. Not a peep from them which is disappointing. I had to call them 15 times this morning to get a person on the phone. The person on the phone verified that the item was received and they’d be sending out a replacement line. I said “Hold up. I sent in a reel only. Yes, the reel caused a brand new line to get damaged. Are you repairing the reel, replacing the reel and will you be replacing the line?” The CSR told me that I’ll need to speak to Tim(?)…..but Tim is off today. Supposedly, Tim will be calling me tomorrow to review the situation. The preliminary determination is that the reel will be replaced with one of the current models (Voltage Fly Reel). Hopefully they will treat me right but the calls I’ve made don’t leave me feeling real positive. I’d like them to replace my line while they’re at it but I’m not betting that will happen.
Anyone have one of those Voltage reels from SA? No reviews on this model either. Surely doesn’t give me a good feeling.
