SOUTH BENDMicrolight Mini Ultralight Spincast Reel

Tough little real smooth casting

This is an OK real it doesn't have a whole lot of power so don't think your gonna be catching any 15 lb fish with this. I bought this to make my son a fishing pole 7yrs old from a pice of bamboo we found while on vacation. It served it's purpose for this but is smaller than a normal real. I read some reviews that stated it wouldn't cast very far well take it from me I casted easily 70ft with ease. I was happy with this for the purpose I intended.

Wouldnt cast but 10 yards before catching and didn't always trigger so I took it apart and a spring for the trigger was tangled in the line but I did still manage to catch a bass at lake gaston. Even if those two problems weren't there it still retrieved very choppy wasn't smooth at all

Cute as a bug's ear - nice and compact and built from solid materials - I put this little jewel on a very whippy but proven dependable telescoping 5.5 ft. South Bend Rod and they proved to be the perfect combo. This little reel felt better than a similar reel I have two of from a different manufacturer and this one is heavier and quieter and more pleasant to use generally. - It is 20 degrees but I did go out and take about 20 practice casts in the wind and snow and I really loved everything about this reel - It seems equal to similar products I have paid 4 times more for.

I take this backpacking. I'll fly fish whenever possible, but on some of these mountain lakes sometimes you gotta have a spin rod to get out to where the fish are.The reel that came on my little collapsible Eagle Claw was crap - it was also open-style and had a huge angled handle, so it was awkward as heck to pack with other stuff.This little guy is perfectly compact. It fits in so easily with all my gear and weighs nothing. The fact that it was cheap too, it's no big deal if it gets busted up. Casts surprisingly far, though the retrieve isn't super-smooth. I wouldn't use this as a primary means of reeling, but it would be a pretty handy back-up for a lot of people.Oh... and it catches fish too.

Replacing the same reel from a pole bought 3 years ago because the reel broke. Having similar issues with this one as well, squeaks when reeling from days one.

I've been searching for a really good micro-lite spin-cast reel and still haven't found one. I've tried several so far and they all have their shortcomings.This reel seems solid, made of a heavy metal casting (heavy relative to other micro's that is). It casts well, especially with the line that came on it, with some better quality line it should cast very well indeed. The problems I've found so far are the gears are noisy and the handle is a little too close to the body for my big hands. I've only used it a couple of times, and caught several 1/2 to 1 pound large mouth bass, and it did the job.

I bought this for a telescoping travel rod. It casts and reels smooth for as small and affordable as it is. My only complaint is the drag goes from not enough to too much.