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Post by Juan on Jan 11, 2017 20:22:36 GMT -6
Has anyone bought or even heard of one of these? They're new and selling at a great introductory price. I heard of them on another forum and did a lot of reading of reviews on them. 99.9% of the reviews were great and at the price they're selling for, I decided to order one to check it out. I hate computers!! I had a nice long review typed up on my first impression of Kastking and then must have hit the wrong button and deleted it. This one will be shorter.. I don't intent to start any arguments or debates on which brands are better or last longer and I'm certainly not knocking any of them...The Kastking Sharky II spinner I ordered arrived this afternoon. I stuck it on a $59. Walmart Abu Garcia 7' rod, spooled it with 8 lb. Cajun and put a 1/4 oz lure on the line. Before I go on..let me state I'm a huge Shimano fan but will try anything at least once. The Sharky II is the same size as my Shimano 2500s. It actually casts further than my Stradics rigged the same way (but with much better rods) and it's as smooth as any of the reels in my inventory. It may not last a week or it may last a lifetime.. I don't know but on my initial impression, I'm impressed and will be giving it a work out in the salt next Monday. I honestly believe these reels will become popular when the word gets out. You may want to consider ordering one and forming your own opinion. Heck, we spend more than the $38. this reel costs on bait and lures we'll never use. (at least I do). I don't plan to give up my Stradics just yet but I'm going to order another one. Again, just my first impression and thought I'd pass this along. Amazon link: KastKing reels |
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Warpig
Master Chief
Posts: 312
Location: Northeast Ohio
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Post by Warpig on Jan 12, 2017 6:39:55 GMT -6
Hmmmm....those look very interesting for the price. I'm a big fan of the Shimano 2500's myself. I have a Stradic and a Soros I use for walleye. I just built myself a new perch setup with a Pflueger President on there, but might order one of these to give them a try. Has some nice features for $40 from what I can see. The President is a great reel for the price by the way. Used it one season so far.
Reviews are good on the Sharky and if you don't like it you are only risking around $40, which is a heck of a lot less than the better Shimano's. I'd probably go with the 2000 for the perch setup.
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Post by gtightline on Jan 12, 2017 8:50:24 GMT -6
Those look interesting, I own a couple of Shimano's for fresh water, and they have been good reels, I have them paired with Ugly Sticks,For salt water I have Penn Reels. I have to check out the Sharky, they look nice for the price.
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Post by Juan on Jan 12, 2017 17:04:03 GMT -6
Those look interesting, I own a couple of Shimano's for fresh water, and they have been good reels, I have them paired with Ugly Sticks,For salt water I have Penn Reels. I have to check out the Sharky, they look nice for the price. I hope I didn't sound like I'm promoting KastKing,cuz I'm not but I have to say I'm really impressed with this reel and especially at the cost. I mainly use Shimano Stradic reels for salt but I also have a couple of Peen Battles and Pfluegers Supremes I keep should I need to loan someone a reel. This Sharky II looks good, has more bearings, stronger drag, is waterproof where the others aren't and appears to be better built than the others that cost 5 times as much but all that might be hype and only time will tell how well it holds up. Still worth a try. |
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Post by Simple Man on Jan 13, 2017 10:17:51 GMT -6
Thank you Juan. I just ordered three of the 6000's. I also had to order three 8 ft Okuma heavy rods and braid line. I'll let y'all know how they hold up offshore. If they are crappy, I hold Juan personally responsible.
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Post by Juan on Jan 13, 2017 15:49:32 GMT -6
Thank you Juan. I just ordered three of the 6000's. I also had to order three 8 ft Okuma heavy rods and braid line. I'll let y'all know how they hold up offshore. If they are crappy, I hold Juan personally responsible. I'm not a bit worried about being held responsible. I think you'll find they are awesome reels and I'll look for my commission in the mail.  I had only thrown mine in the pasture to determine if it had the distance my $175. Stradics had.. it had more. Today I tried it on the catfish pond and caught 3 hybrid bass in the 4-5 pound range. I had the drag cranked down to test it and the second hybrid actually broke the rod in half but the drag worked like a million bucks.. very strong and smooth as silk and since it casts better than my expensive reels, I just may be giving up on the popular name brands. I'm ordering another spinner and seriously considering one of their bait casters. I wouldn't be surprised if these reels don't at least double in price or one of the big reel companies buys them out before long. I'm no expert, but own and have some experience with Pflueger, Diawa, Penn, Okuma, Abu Garcia, Lews and Shimano spinners and bait casters. I can honestly say In my opinion, this reel is as good as the best of them and better than 99% of them and is priced right. I think the low price may be hurting their sales as much as helping.. because of the low cost, a lot of people are suspicious about the quality. Let us know how you like em. Just ordered one of their bait casters. Kastking Assassin. Like the spinners it has good reviews. |
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Post by Simple Man on Jan 14, 2017 8:09:10 GMT -6
The increased drag pressure and sealed bearing sold me. I assure you, I will test that drag out.
I paired them with 8 ft extra heavy action Okuma rods and 40 lb braid so I am looking forward to being able to put some pressure on a fish. I use 6000 ambassador's for this type fishing now and have been disappointed in the amount of drag they have.
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Post by Juan on Jan 15, 2017 6:59:50 GMT -6
Drag was one of the reasons I liked these too but also because of twice the bearings of my $175 reels and the waterproof seal. I've already pulled three hybrids and one largemouth out of the pond with it while testing it and it works great. The rod broke in half on the second hybrid but the reel worked flawlessly. If I were to say anything bad about this reels it would only be I'm not crazy about the black color or the round cranking handle but that's only because most of my reels have the flat handles and are either white or gray and I used to those.
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Post by freezerfiller on Jan 15, 2017 19:56:15 GMT -6
Interesting. I see they have a baitrunner version as well for about a fifth of the price of a shimano.
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Post by Juan on Jan 16, 2017 5:47:49 GMT -6
Interesting. I see they have a baitrunner version as well for about a fifth of the price of a shimano. I didn't see that one but did see that they have a new bait caster with a 9.3 retrieval ratio called the Speed Demon. They claim it's the fastest retrieve made and it's only $69 and saltwater proof. I wish I had seen it before I ordered their Assassin model. EDIT: A review on the Assassin bait caster will have to wait until next week. I don't if it was me or them who screwed up, but they sent a left hand model. I can say that it looks great and because it's made of carbon fiber, it's light as a feather and cranks as smooth as any reel I've ever used. Looking forward to getting the right hand model next week. |
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Post by Juan on Jan 16, 2017 18:55:20 GMT -6
SimpleMan, Did you order from Amazon? If so, I hope you get what you ordered. I ordered the right hand model baitcaster but the order changes to a left hand during check out and I didn't notice. Their web site says the Assassin baitcasters are out of stock but they have 5 listed on Ebay. The reels are awesome but I'm starting to get a little concerned about their sales practices.
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Post by Simple Man on Jan 17, 2017 7:46:07 GMT -6
I did order from Amazon. Mine are spinning so the left right thing won't matter but hopefully I'll get what I ordered. I'll let you know how it turns out. I ordered some of their braid line too. See how it does compared to the power pro I usually use.
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Post by Juan on Jan 17, 2017 18:52:12 GMT -6
I did order from Amazon. Mine are spinning so the left right thing won't matter but hopefully I'll get what I ordered. I'll let you know how it turns out. I ordered some of their braid line too. See how it does compared to the power pro I usually use. I read a few reviews on their braid and all were good so maybe it's good stuff. I fished all day today with the KastKing spinner and I'm even more impressed now than I was yesterday. It performed flawlessly, is much smoother and casts further than my Shimano Stradics. I picked up my Stradics twice, made a couple of casts and immediately went back to the KastKing. Caught a slot redfish and 20 trout and it didn't miss a lick. It's still hard to believe it works as good as it does and especially considering the cost but I'm sold and I'm ordering another one in addition to the bait caster. |
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Post by Simple Man on Jan 17, 2017 20:05:58 GMT -6
Mine came in today as ordered. Braid looks to be comparable to power pro. Two of my three rods came in too. Looks to be a pretty lethal combo for light offshore/heavy inshore fishing. I got them rigged up with the 40 lb braid, a 60 lb floro leader and some 2 oz snapper jigs. I may ride out and hare lip a few in the morning if the weather holds.
The reels appear to be the same basic design as my BPS inshore extreme reels. I believe they are made by the same folks. The BPS reels have held up good so these aught to also. I was thinking Pfluger made them for BPS but IDK for sure. The drag is strong for sure (tested it out hooked to a fence). Like you experienced Juan, I think you could screw up and break a rod with them if you are not careful.
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Post by Juan on Jan 18, 2017 7:26:26 GMT -6
Kewl. Let us know how they do. I can't find one of their right handed Assassin bait casters anywhere. They're all sold out. I hope that means something.  |
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Post by Simple Man on Jan 19, 2017 10:13:31 GMT -6
They seem to be as advertised. Time will tell how they hold up. I didn't hook up with any big snapper but I did catch one about five pounds and caught two triggers about 9-10 lbs and it put the smack down on them. Only down side is I pulled a dang muscle in my neck fishing with it. I guess I found the weak link in the chain! Definitely can put more pressure on a fish with theses setups than I can with my Ambassdor 6000's on a flipping stick.
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Post by Juan on Jan 19, 2017 14:26:51 GMT -6
Great! Glad you like em. I'm loving this smaller model (Sharky II 2000). I took it out to the pond again this morning for a couple more bass and hybrids. I was really impressed with the distance I get with it compared to the Shimano Stradics I had been using and this morning I discovered I had missed an eye when loading the line.. now it even casts further since I fixed that. There are some heated debates on the KastKIngs on one of the fishing forums I frequent. A lot of folks aren't willing to try anything new and think it's no good just because it's priced lower than well known brands. Their loss in my opinion.
I planned to order one of their Assassin bait casters but couldn't find a right hand model so ended up stepping it up a notch and ordered one of their Speed Demon bait casters last night.. They say it has the fastest retrieve in the world. I plan to put it to the test.
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Warpig
Master Chief
Posts: 312
Location: Northeast Ohio
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Post by Warpig on Jan 23, 2017 7:01:12 GMT -6
Ok you guys got me. I ordered a Sharky II 2000 yesterday and some 15 lb. Kast King braid. Should arrive Wednesday. Since I live in the frozen north, I won't be able to give a fishing report until spring though.
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Post by Juan on Jan 23, 2017 7:25:12 GMT -6
Ok you guys got me. I ordered a Sharky II 2000 yesterday and some 15 lb. Kast King braid. Should arrive Wednesday. Since I live in the frozen north, I won't be able to give a fishing report until spring though. When you do get to try it out, I think you'll love it. Mine is working great and I'm looking forward to getting their Speed Demon bait caster in the mail today. I took my Sharky II 2000 apart yesterday and compared it to one of my higher priced reels and was still VERY impressed. I will say that the spool is hard to get off of the Sharky,,,but that's only because the tolerance between the spool and the bearings is super tight and that's a good thing. The other thing I found is there was absolutely no sign of lube or grease anywhere in the reel so I would suggest adding a bit of reel grease before you put it to heavy use. I used mine all day one day and several times in the pond without any issue before I discovered it wasn't lubed so I doubt it will hurt anything to use it without grease, but a little lube will help protect it. You can see some obvious differences in the Sharky vs the other:  and there's a lot less moving parts to replace  |
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Post by gtightline on Jan 23, 2017 17:26:05 GMT -6
Juan...Looks nice, does it have a line/drag clicker on it, are those bearings on the spool shaft?
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