A Masterpiece - Shimano's Metanium MGL 150B Baitcaster
Introduction: It wasn't long ago that the Shimano Metanium was a high-end series that needed to be imported into the U.S., but as Shimano has continued to unify their global portfolio domestic anglers now have multiple Metanium baitcasters to select from. The Metanium reels have always focused on a balance of both performance and weight, and for 2020 the reel has been redesigned with a never before seen Magnesium CoreSolid body.
By all accounts I've seen, this reel is pretty awesome. Imagine how amazing it would be with the ported spool and the line guide as far forward as it could have been.
Imagine how amazing it would be with the ported spool and the line guide as far forward as it could have been.
DaveJ
If it's got a thiner spool and it has a shaped line guide which it has - shouldn't be too much of an issue for the line to peel off / swing side to side easily enough.
The guide could've gone forward just that little bit extra it seems...
IMG_20200627_094607.jpg (24.66 KiB) Viewed 71169 times
But would've it protruded out the side of the hood on its traverse to the sides?
Imagine how amazing it would be with the ported spool and the line guide as far forward as it could have been.
DaveJ
If it's got a thiner spool and it has a shaped line guide which it has - shouldn't be too much of an issue for the line to peel off / swing side to side easily enough.
The guide could've gone forward just that little bit extra it seems...
IMG_20200627_094607.jpg
But would've it protruded out the side of the hood on its traverse to the sides?
I think the Anteres spool is nearly identical except it has the additional side porting and different axle dimensions right? Probably not a big difference, but every little bit helps right, at least at the lower end.
I think the line guide could have moved up that entire distance and not have protruded at all, but I don't own the reel to know for sure. Obviously, not a huge deal since it is a great caster, but it could only have helped. It would probably save the occasional backlash as well.
I think the Anteres spool is nearly identical except it has the additional side porting and different axle dimensions right? Probably not a big difference, but every little bit helps right, at least at the lower end.
If you’re comparing the Antares to the JDM Metanium yes they’re almost identical, but the US is a size 150. I have both the Antares A and JDM Metanium B 70 filled with PE and the filled weight of the spools is identical. Empty the Antares spool is around a gram lighter tho. With that 70 size spool I can throw a 1/8oz jig head with a 2“ worm 94 feet. 5/16oz hard baits is where the fun starts. If you wanna go lower there’s a 30 sized Yumeya spool available
I think the Anteres spool is nearly identical except it has the additional side porting and different axle dimensions right? Probably not a big difference, but every little bit helps right, at least at the lower end.
If you’re comparing the Antares to the JDM Metanium yes they’re almost identical, but the US is a size 150. I have both the Antares A and JDM Metanium B 70 filled with PE and the filled weight of the spools is identical. Empty the Antares spool is around a gram lighter tho. With that 70 size spool I can throw a 1/8oz jig head with a 2“ worm 94 feet. 5/16oz hard baits is where the fun starts. If you wanna go lower there’s a 30 sized Yumeya spool available
The JDM and USDM spools are interchangeable right? One is just deeper than the other, but otherwise dimensions are the same?
I think the Anteres spool is nearly identical except it has the additional side porting and different axle dimensions right? Probably not a big difference, but every little bit helps right, at least at the lower end.
If you’re comparing the Antares to the JDM Metanium yes they’re almost identical, but the US is a size 150. I have both the Antares A and JDM Metanium B 70 filled with PE and the filled weight of the spools is identical. Empty the Antares spool is around a gram lighter tho. With that 70 size spool I can throw a 1/8oz jig head with a 2“ worm 94 feet. 5/16oz hard baits is where the fun starts. If you wanna go lower there’s a 30 sized Yumeya spool available
The JDM and USDM spools are interchangeable right? One is just deeper than the other, but otherwise dimensions are the same?
I don't think the spools are different size at all, depth or otherwise. Check the specs on both websites yourself. If anything, Shimano USA got the meter to yard conversion wrong on the 14lb rating. All signs point to them bieng the same, exact spool. As for the Antares/Metanium spool comparison, I'm interested see what makes up the "around a gram lighter" difference. Again, the line capacities are the same on the JP website.
According to ReelTest on YT the Antares has the small side ports and the Met doesn't which is the reason for the weight difference. The brakes on the Met spool are a bit further away from the edge of the spool also. The Met actually casts slightly better even with the heavier spool. Could just be noise or differences in the line guide or line memory, etc.
Last edited by IlliniDawg01 on Fri Jul 03, 2020 3:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
According to ReelTest on YT the Antates has the small side ports and the Met doesn'twhich is the reason for the weight difference. The brakes on the Met spool are a rich further away from the edge of the spool also. The Met actually casts slightly better even with the heavier spool. Could just be noise or differences in the line guide or line memory, etc.
I don't think the spools are different size at all, depth or otherwise. Check the specs on both websites yourself. If anything, Shimano USA got the meter to yard conversion wrong on the 14lb rating. All signs point to them bieng the same, exact spool. As for the Antares/Metanium spool comparison, I'm interested see what makes up the "around a gram lighter" difference. Again, the line capacities are the same on the JP website.
I had the same thought with the last Metanium MGL, the line capacities are odd and suggest what you just presented but when you have the reels next to each other you can clearly see the difference. In the Screenshots attached it’s obvious we‘re dealing with two different spools.
Either Shimano suffers human input error or Japanese Lb and US Lb equal different line diameters which adds to this confusion, capacity is volume after all.
According to ReelTest on YT the Antates has the small side ports and the Met doesn'twhich is the reason for the weight difference. The brakes on the Met spool are a rich further away from the edge of the spool also. The Met actually casts slightly better even with the heavier spool. Could just be noise or differences in the line guide or line memory, etc.
The Metanium has a longer spool shaft on the SVS side and a silent tune spring (Antares only a rubber ring) which together should add to a gram.
There is no porting on the Antares spools sides what so ever, I’m sure we’re mistaking with the 16 Met MGL spool here.
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