Best Shimano Fishing Supplies
Shimano baitrunner 8000OC – I own two 8000OC reels we use them weekly. Loaded up with 50lb braid. We haul in nice size fish regularly without issues. Then something big like a… Read more
1.2mtr black tip shark hits. The reels work brilliant and handle anything thats thrown at them... never had a single issue with either... wash them off with fresh water after every fishing trip. Spray with lanolin lightly. Good to go following weekend..
OK – A fantastic baitcaster for the price you pay. Good value for money. If you are chasing bigger fish than 5kg try something else. I used it on a 12kg… Read more
barra in Darwin and almost broke it to pieces! The smoothness of this reel is fantastic. It is the first thing that strikes you when you reel it for the first time. The sooth drag is great as well. The casting system is good and it appears to get less birdsnests when casting. The build quality of mine was substandard. 2 Screws were loose and a ball bearing was missing. Abit dissapointing butit may not be Shimanos fault.
Shimano Sahara 500-J flawed design - line fraying – The Shimano Sahara 500-J bail and line roller flawed design. The line off the spool does not stay in the line roller and catches where the bail… Read more
meets the line roller and frays braid and flourocarbon. This happened on multiple reels with multiple anglers.. Shimano refused to look at reels without a $40 fee per reel. Very disappointing.. I’ll be looking for another reel for all of my fishing needs..
The little reel that could! – I've owned my Shimano Saros 1000 for the last 4 solid years and its been a main reel that I've used on most outings on both land based casting and… Read more
from a kayak, for both casting and trolling.
The reel is a small but well engineered piece of machinery with the usual Shimano flair for durability. The reel is good for about 3 to 4 kilo's of drag however accept that this wont turn large fish without some drag upgrade or using your hands on the spool as added brakes. There is no great amount of flex noticed from that graphite body, however the larger models from the 3000 and up sizes feature an alloy body and are far stronger in their fish-ability.
I've maintained my own reels, and have noticed that there is a fair amount of wear on the main pinion teeth, and that the 'durability enhancement coating' has / did wear off very quickly with use and is to no benefit at all unlike an actual Teflon coating. Otherwise the reel is still very smooth and performs very well when retrieving fish. The handle would be better suited to staying on the left hand side of the reel as the bearing on the left side is noticably larger than the right side, this will undoubtedly reduce wear. A small grease port on the right hand side of the body gives the owner a chance to place grease directly onto the teeth of the oscillating gear to ensure that there is some grease on the moving parts during mid service intervals.
Shimano's 10 year warranty only applies to reels that have been serviced with Shimano or its authorised reps, so open it and service it yourself and expect that any warranty issue down the line will be rejected. A sad fact with Shimano and most other companies!
The reel takes 125 yards of 8lb Fireline and will need to be backed with similar nylon backing line to ensure that the spool is full.
Otherwise the Shimano Saros, is a reel that is well priced, well built and a genuine quiet little achiever without costing you and arm and a leg while catching fish. Size, weight, shape, looks, reliability, construction, price, warranty. Not water tight, suffers from its gear durability coating wearing off straight away, no spare spool!
Not Happy – I used this lure once a couple of days ago. I caught fish on it, but I went to use it today, and it was all out of shape. Looks like it has melted.… Read more
It was in a lure tackle box in my boat.
I also have other branded lures that have done the same thing. They must change the plastics they have used because I have an old 20+ year-old rapala lure in the same box as this lure and it's still good.
purchased a type j rod 4 years ago $580, hooked onto a fish the rod snapped in 2 places, 4 eye let's let go, the only thing stopping the rod from… Read more
smashing me in the face was the line didn't break, attempts were made to contact shimano but was unsuccessful, the rod was never put under stress I've never had a rod snap in 2 places before, would not recommend buying this product