Lew's VS Shimano

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

Heres another example see all the open pockets of those weeds each pocket has the potential for a fish the farther I get to more pockets I fish. Even on top of the weeds great too drag across top get hit. I then go to that opposite point seen to the right and can effectively fish the whole span between points. Thats not going to happen with just 60' casts Ill leave a great deal of prime ambush points unfished.
Oh if you look in the background you can see the aerator

[mark poulson]

Looks like you've got that area dialed in!
I got a frog fish Saturday, the first one this year. It was actually a homemade version of the Bobby's Perfect Buzz Frog, and a 4lb fish blew up on it in front of the weeds and pulled it down. On 50lb braid it wasn't getting off, and I was laughing like a little kid when I swung it into the boat.
I love when the grass tops out and they are in it!

[LgMouthGambler]

OK, I see that you are a shore fisherman. LOL, sometimes I sit here and read about people buying $1000 rod and reel combos and such, then talking about distance, and the whole time I think to myself "with some of that crazy money spent, they should have bought a boat", lol. I don't know, just me and my crazy mind.

[Mcyl]

Looks like you've got that area dialed in!
I got a frog fish Saturday, the first one this year. It was actually a homemade version of the Bobby's Perfect Buzz Frog, and a 4lb fish blew up on it in front of the weeds and pulled it down. On 50lb braid it wasn't getting off, and I was laughing like a little kid when I swung it into the boat.
I love when the grass tops out and they are in it!

Do you guys frog direct braid to bait? Likewise swimbaits?

[LgMouthGambler]

I tie straight to the frog with braid.

[mark poulson]

So do I. I don't think they see the line in the grass, and I don't want another knot, like from braid to a leader, to be tested by the hard hooksets and hard pulls through the grass.

[CaptBob]

3 years ago I was 100% Shimano, spinning and casting, and had been that way for about 15 to 20 years, every since the speedmaster and super speedmaster era. I tried a lot of spinning reel and baitcasting reels in that time. I service reels and also test all I service, so I have used most on a rod in real life. 3 years ago I bought a mid level Lew's Tournament, a week later I was selling 4 Curado's,, a D, 2-B's and a "G" a Castaic and a Calcutta 200GT. I now own 5 Team Golds a Super Duty, and a BB1. The Shimano were plenty durable and cast well, the problem was I never fished a reel That was smoother than the Lew's, I had 3 Super Tuned Shimanos the GT, and 2 Curado's, nothing I ever had outcast the Lew's and after flushing and lubing them properly, they outcast the super tuned Shimanos and were smoother. This winter I bought a Team Lew's Pro and super tuned it, I sold my Core in March. There are way to many who want to play with them in a store and become reviewers, or make uneducated remarks and pretend to be authorities, but very very few that ever buy and try a Lew's don't agree, they are hands down smoother and more efficient out of the box than reels costing twice as much. Will they hold up as well as Shimano over time????? Only a fool would say yes, but in time we will see, so far I have been happy with my decision 3 years ago, I still use nothing but Shimano spinning reels because as of now I haven't found anything better, if I do I will be switching. Some may have other reasons for bashing the reels, some want to think it's the same as others made by Doyo, but they obviously don't own both????? Unlike most I go with what works best for me and don't worry about status, if I can buy better for less,,,,well that's what Lew's has done for me, so far!! YES REALLY,,,, NO KIDDING!!!

[H8R]

A Doyo reel is a Doyo reel... I've fished most everything out there in the bass world $200-500 range. All doyo reels feel hollow and cheap to me . Out of the whole Doyo line, the Pfluger felt a little better(breaking seemed more precise) , as you know basic cookie cutter reels all the way through the house brands up. I had The original BB1, loved them... As I'm sure you know, shimano made said reels. Shimano has and will stand the test of time. lews latest reels aren't unique, they don't have the wow factor when I pick them up. No doubt, they're light... But so are Revos and Exos... Sold everyone I had. It all comes down to preference , I prefer the Shimano name, designs and execution.

[Mcyl]

A Doyo reel is a Doyo reel... I've fished most everything out there in the bass world $200-500 range. All doyo reels feel hollow and cheap to me . Out of the whole Doyo line, the Pfluger felt a little better(breaking seemed more precise) , as you know basic cookie cutter reels all the way through the house brands up. I had The original BB1, loved them... As I'm sure you know, shimano made said reels. Shimano has and will stand the test of time. lews latest reels aren't unique, they don't have the wow factor when I pick them up. No doubt, they're light... But so are Revos and Exos... Sold everyone I had. It all comes down to preference , I prefer the Shimano name, designs and execution.

X2 on that. This goes further than feel, mechanically shimanos are much better thought out and as my reels usually performs double duty in FW and SW, Shimano metallurgy has proven the most resilient.

Doyo & Banax (and the reels the make for all the others) presents a good alternative for someone wanting something different.
However with the new line-ups from Daiwa and Shimano, for those that want reels to fish with...there is really no reason to sway to other brands.

[CaptBob]

Like I said,,,,,very uninformed the difference between been there, only one who has owned both would know there is an obvious difference, those that don't well,,,,,typical internet wizards and keyboard cowboy's!!!!

[389Maverick]

A Doyo reel is a Doyo reel... I've fished most everything out there in the bass world $200-500 range. All doyo reels feel hollow and cheap to me . Out of the whole Doyo line, the Pfluger felt a little better(breaking seemed more precise) , as you know basic cookie cutter reels all the way through the house brands up. I had The original BB1, loved them... As I'm sure you know, shimano made said reels. Shimano has and will stand the test of time. lews latest reels aren't unique, they don't have the wow factor when I pick them up. No doubt, they're light... But so are Revos and Exos... Sold everyone I had. It all comes down to preference , I prefer the Shimano name, designs and execution.

H8R....as in Hater?

I own a couple of SS SV's, couple of T3 MX's, soon will be adding Tatulas in the mix.......and I still pick up my TP's as often as I did before owning the Daiwa's.

The SS SV's also feel hollow and cheap, so does the T3's because of the Ziaon, I still love fishing them.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

OK, I see that you are a shore fisherman. LOL, sometimes I sit here and read about people buying $1000 rod and reel combos and such, then talking about distance, and the whole time I think to myself "with some of that crazy money spent, they should have bought a boat", lol. I don't know, just me and my crazy mind.

I do have a boat, this lake pictured is boat restricted only 5 minutes from my house and a great place to fish.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

3 years ago I was 100% Shimano, spinning and casting, and had been that way for about 15 to 20 years, every since the speedmaster and super speedmaster era. I tried a lot of spinning reel and baitcasting reels in that time. I service reels and also test all I service, so I have used most on a rod in real life. 3 years ago I bought a mid level Lew's Tournament, a week later I was selling 4 Curado's,, a D, 2-B's and a "G" a Castaic and a Calcutta 200GT. I now own 5 Team Golds a Super Duty, and a BB1. The Shimano were plenty durable and cast well, the problem was I never fished a reel That was smoother than the Lew's, I had 3 Super Tuned Shimanos the GT, and 2 Curado's, nothing I ever had outcast the Lew's and after flushing and lubing them properly, they outcast the super tuned Shimanos and were smoother. This winter I bought a Team Lew's Pro and super tuned it, I sold my Core in March. There are way to many who want to play with them in a store and become reviewers, or make uneducated remarks and pretend to be authorities, but very very few that ever buy and try a Lew's don't agree, they are hands down smoother and more efficient out of the box than reels costing twice as much. Will they hold up as well as Shimano over time????? Only a fool would say yes, but in time we will see, so far I have been happy with my decision 3 years ago, I still use nothing but Shimano spinning reels because as of now I haven't found anything better, if I do I will be switching. Some may have other reasons for bashing the reels, some want to think it's the same as others made by Doyo, but they obviously don't own both????? Unlike most I go with what works best for me and don't worry about status, if I can buy better for less,,,,well that's what Lew's has done for me, so far!! YES REALLY,,,, NO KIDDING!!!

Not in my case lews didnt hold-up. Im not set with any brand will buy what I take a liking to and what works best. I bought a Tatula, BB1 Pro and Chro CI4 on the same day. The only reel to have issues, Lews, quality issues with the peeling knobs and the levelwind very loose and then the brakes squealing. Not bashing it just giving facts as to why Ill be hard pressed to shell out money again for a Lews product. I would very much have liked for it to be trouble free cause it was my 1st Lews product got it at a good price. One good thing I got my "free" bright yellow Lews shirt to go out fishing in style with the great casting CI4

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

Looks like you've got that area dialed in!
I got a frog fish Saturday, the first one this year. It was actually a homemade version of the Bobby's Perfect Buzz Frog, and a 4lb fish blew up on it in front of the weeds and pulled it down. On 50lb braid it wasn't getting off, and I was laughing like a little kid when I swung it into the boat.
I love when the grass tops out and they are in it!

Do you guys frog direct braid to bait? Likewise swimbaits?

I like braid and use straight braid no leader on all presentation (dont use swimbaits). You can see in my pic that the water is quite clear and I dont have issues with catching fish. I started end of last year with fluoro and this year continue and dont find any increase/decrease strike rate using either line. Now my hook-ups are less with the fluoro at long distance due to stretch that Im sure 100% about.

[CaptBob]

3 years ago I was 100% Shimano, spinning and casting, and had been that way for about 15 to 20 years, every since the speedmaster and super speedmaster era. I tried a lot of spinning reel and baitcasting reels in that time. I service reels and also test all I service, so I have used most on a rod in real life. 3 years ago I bought a mid level Lew's Tournament, a week later I was selling 4 Curado's,, a D, 2-B's and a "G" a Castaic and a Calcutta 200GT. I now own 5 Team Golds a Super Duty, and a BB1. The Shimano were plenty durable and cast well, the problem was I never fished a reel That was smoother than the Lew's, I had 3 Super Tuned Shimanos the GT, and 2 Curado's, nothing I ever had outcast the Lew's and after flushing and lubing them properly, they outcast the super tuned Shimanos and were smoother. This winter I bought a Team Lew's Pro and super tuned it, I sold my Core in March. There are way to many who want to play with them in a store and become reviewers, or make uneducated remarks and pretend to be authorities, but very very few that ever buy and try a Lew's don't agree, they are hands down smoother and more efficient out of the box than reels costing twice as much. Will they hold up as well as Shimano over time????? Only a fool would say yes, but in time we will see, so far I have been happy with my decision 3 years ago, I still use nothing but Shimano spinning reels because as of now I haven't found anything better, if I do I will be switching. Some may have other reasons for bashing the reels, some want to think it's the same as others made by Doyo, but they obviously don't own both????? Unlike most I go with what works best for me and don't worry about status, if I can buy better for less,,,,well that's what Lew's has done for me, so far!! YES REALLY,,,, NO KIDDING!!!

Not in my case lews didnt hold-up. Im not set with any brand will buy what I take a liking to and what works best. I bought a Tatula, BB1 Pro and Chro CI4 on the same day. The only reel to have issues, Lews, quality issues with the peeling knobs and the levelwind very loose and then the brakes squealing. Not bashing it just giving facts as to why Ill be hard pressed to shell out money again for a Lews product. I would very much have liked for it to be trouble free cause it was my 1st Lews product got it at a good price. One good thing I got my "free" bright yellow Lews shirt to go out fishing in style with the great casting CI4

Like I said, this is an educated opinion!!! Been there done that!!! Sorry to hear about your luck Q&S but chit happens, with every brand, and if my very first Lew's had went the way yours did, well I may have not been so satisfied either. But I think it is obvious from all those who have owned them and praise them, this is an isolated,,,,very rare at the least,,, experience. The handle knobs peeling was an issue that happened with a few, but Lew's without hesitation fixed the problem as quick as it appeared, I am sure if you would have talked to Rick and told him the issues, you would have been instantly taken care of,,,,,and probably had another one of those yellow shirts to wear for the day's the first one was in the wash!!!

But I am talking about those that run at the yap, with no experience, the internet is full of them. If they can type,,,,there instant experts,,,,it would be like me saying its a Doyo, they all have brakes squealing and handles peeling and line guides loose????? Du yo,,,,,