2022 Bantam MGL A

[dennis_rf]

Dang I had to manually pull the line all off and then put some mono backing onto it.

Manually? Hope you didn’t pull it with your bare hands… I use the spool the line came on & a cordless drill to get it spinning in that case

[slipperybob]

Dang I had to manually pull the line all off and then put some mono backing onto it.

Manually? Hope you didn’t pull it with your bare hands… I use the spool the line came on & a cordless drill to get it spinning in that case

Errr I did. I thought about using the cordless drill but didn't. Cuz I don't have a bolt and nut around.

[slipperybob]

Still curious I pulled out the only two identical rods I have. St. Croix LE 6'8" MH rods. They are different year class so there were some slight changes in the semi-micro guides. The last time I had the old Bantam on the PA 6'11" M+ rod.

A few more backyard casting comparison with 3/8th practice plug. Today there was no wind in the air. Overall I can confirm the the Bantam A is very smooth with almost no bearing vibration feel on the cast. Now I am feeling the spool bearings vibration on my older Bantam reels. Match conversion of 32 inches for XG gear and 28 inches for HG gear.

Bantam MGL XG casting average about 30 handle cranks = 960 inches

Bantam MGL A HG casting average about 34 handle cranks = 952 inches

I did try to put some effort into a long cast attempt. Original got 45 handle cranks and newer A got 49 handle cranks. That's 1440 inches compared to 1372 inches.

At current it seems like the newer is about par with casting distance. According to the rough calculations, it seems a little short, but it may have to do with the line type for this test. The old model has 15# Diawa J-Braid x8, while the new one has 20# Sufix G-Core 131. By feel alone I had felt like the A was getting more distance today. For sure compared to the last time on the St. Croix LE 6'8" MXF rod was only getting about 30 handle cranks for line retrieval.

Note: I tried a 1/2 oz. brass bullet weight and was going into my tree lines. So more than likely the heavier weights will really benefit. Still yet to collect some rough data on that.

[slipperybob]

Back with the 1/2 oz brass bullet weight casting test. Rough data collection. There was barely a breeze in the air.

Bantam MGL XG casting average about 39 handle cranks = 1248 inches

Bantam MGL A HG casting average about 48 handle cranks = 1344 inches

With a bit more power into my casting

Bantam MGL XG casting high average about 48 handle cranks = 1536 inches

Bantam MGL A HG casting high average about 55 handle cranks = 1540 inches

One cast went a little further and I lost the bullet weight when it hung up on some branches on the ground. I pulled but the line broke and who knows where the weight disappeared to. I kept looking for a while thinking I will see a shiny brass bullet but really couldn't find it in all the debris on the forest floor.

With the old Bantam, my hands know when I'm casting and it can tell from the spool/bearings vibration. It is like a little motor running in the palm of my hand. With the newer Bantam A, my hands really almost feel nothing. I can feel line peeling from the spool spin, but there is a lack of a little electric motor feel. It's too silent, too quiet. It's gonna take some getting use to not feeling the casting spool spinning.

Anyway from my field test, it appears that with the 1/2 oz. weight the newer Bantam MGL A begins to outperform the older Bantam MGL. And this is with the heavier 20# braid over that of the 15# braid. As for the Sufix G-Core 131 braid, it was behaving much better with the 1/2 oz. weight. I didn't get line fluff unless I hit a tree trunk or hit the ground a bit too hard.