Skeet Reese goes to Kast King?

[Johnny A]

He likes the locking drag.

[toddmc]

Why Skeet,why? He can fish anything that he wants.

[KSRonH]

$$ ka ching $$

[SSS]

Would be funny to see a Trash King reel or rod desintegrate during a tourney. Rod breaks on a hookset, he replaces it by a spare, and the pare explodes on the first cast Kast King quality

[Johnny A]

$$ ka ching $$

I didn’t think they had Daiwa, Shimano or Pure Fishing cash, not even Lew’s cash, geez, Wright and McGill cash! I thought they were one of those crowd source deals ..

[Finnz922]

Would be funny to see a Trash King reel or rod desintegrate during a tourney. Rod breaks on a hookset, he replaces it by a spare, and the pare explodes on the first cast Kast King quality

Just like every other "controversial" issue that could make "the industry" look bad. They won't cover it. Sure he will have extra rods and reels just for that reason. He'll just ask Boyd and Gary to not air the break.

[LowRange]

It's perfectly functional equipment. It's not nice but it'll stick fish and wind in fish. Pros already fill their boats with lower end Doyo stuff that isn't much different. Especially since KK is using better platforms and OEMs than their ultra cheap stuff. He is probably going to fish with their $100+ aluminum frame reels which functionally aren't much different from a similar price Lews, Abu ect. I have my own fleet of loaner reels and rods that are under $100 and some under $50. I take them out from time to time and they work just fine.

[toddmc]

Rod breakage on TV doesn't influence me at all. What bothers me in the way that some of the tour pros abuse their sticks by high sticking, swinging fish, and banging them around. This just leads to premature breakage one way or another. I would hate to be one of the Lane brother's rods. Those guys beat the heck out of their tackle I will take care of my sticks and choose not to turn what feels like an old school coffee grinder, but I will fish with an Ugly Stik if you pay me enough I coincidentally caught a $50 Berkley Lightning Rod with a $60 Abu reel out of one of the golf course lakes out of the the back of the house last night. They hadn't been there long, but I don't know know if my ego will allow me to let even my kids bring it in my boat!

[dragon1]

Lol...what "pros" endorse and fish, has never been worthwhile "news" to me...and that ain't gonna change whatsoever as I get older.

Turn the page...

[Hobie-Wan Kenobi]

Would be funny to see a Trash King reel or rod desintegrate during a tourney. Rod breaks on a hookset, he replaces it by a spare, and the pare explodes on the first cast Kast King quality

KastKing Kestrel Elite really surprised me. I think their years of offering the "AliExpress" tackle built up enough capital to start increasing the performance of their products...at least it's more plausible than a few years ago.

[tincanary]

Keep in mind a lot of the pros aren't gear nerds like we are. To them, it's a tool to do a job. To us, it's that and much more. They take it out of the box, fish it till it breaks, then buy another. Sometimes they might get an outing out of that piece of gear or they may get multiple seasons. For as much as I love the higher end stuff, I'll never forget where I came from. I too fished the cheaper stuff in years past and truthfully, some of the most proficient fishermen I know use nothing but Ugly Stiks and blister pack reels from Walmart. They think I am the one that's crazy for spending good money on rods and reels.

[SSS]

Would be funny to see a Trash King reel or rod desintegrate during a tourney. Rod breaks on a hookset, he replaces it by a spare, and the pare explodes on the first cast Kast King quality

KastKing Kestrel Elite really surprised me. I think their years of offering the "AliExpress" tackle built up enough capital to start increasing the performance of their products...at least it's more plausible than a few years ago.

They're asking over $200 for a noname reel. They have no choice but to make it at least half decent at the beginning, but will it last? I have never seen or heard of a single KK reel lasting over a season (as in not becoming buzzy as hell). Now, if you're casting nothing but zero resistance baits, the wear will be so slow on the reel that it'll most likely take a while for it to get the Chinese manufactured trade mark aka being super buzzy, but use em as a general purpose casting spinnerbaits and such, and the reel is over. For those $220, you can find yourself a steez tw in used condition lmao. If i had the choice, i wouldn't even consider a noname aliexpress brand over a daiwa or a shimano in used condition. Hell, the 2013 Mets are super cheap nowadays, and they're still great reels. Buying whichever KK reel over it is insane to me.

[Hobie-Wan Kenobi]

Would be funny to see a Trash King reel or rod desintegrate during a tourney. Rod breaks on a hookset, he replaces it by a spare, and the pare explodes on the first cast Kast King quality

KastKing Kestrel Elite really surprised me. I think their years of offering the "AliExpress" tackle built up enough capital to start increasing the performance of their products...at least it's more plausible than a few years ago.

They're asking over $200 for a noname reel. They have no choice but to make it at least half decent at the beginning, but will it last? I have never seen or heard of a single KK reel lasting over a season (as in not becoming buzzy as hell). Now, if you're casting nothing but zero resistance baits, the wear will be so slow on the reel that it'll most likely take a while for it to get the Chinese manufactured trade mark aka being super buzzy, but use em as a general purpose casting spinnerbaits and such, and the reel is over. For those $220, you can find yourself a steez tw in used condition lmao. If i had the choice, i wouldn't even consider a noname aliexpress brand over a daiwa or a shimano in used condition. Hell, the 2013 Mets are super cheap nowadays, and they're still great reels. Buying whichever KK reel over it is insane to me.

A used reel takes someone to buy it new at some point. The 2013 Metanium is notoriously buzzy, so much so that people were throwing brass gears in them to help. People have complained about the gears in a nee Steez AIR TW (myself included) being buzzy.

Everyone has their opinion and I will say I would grab and Daiwa or Shimano before a KK most times. There are budgets for people and also many people don't care so much about what gear they use.

Do you drive a Lamborghini or Porsche? If you drive that lowly Ford, Chevy or Dodge, you must not care about the safety of your passengers and also love to have a sluggish, sloppy ride. You must never buy off brand items from the grocery store either.

[jvelth74]

At least this KastKing rod seems pretty sturdy:

[dragon1]

Keep in mind a lot of the pros aren't gear nerds like we are. To them, it's a tool to do a job. To us, it's that and much more. They take it out of the box, fish it till it breaks, then buy another. Sometimes they might get an outing out of that piece of gear or they may get multiple seasons. For as much as I love the higher end stuff, I'll never forget where I came from. I too fished the cheaper stuff in years past and truthfully, some of the most proficient fishermen I know use nothing but Ugly Stiks and blister pack reels from Walmart. They think I am the one that's crazy for spending good money on rods and reels.

Agreed...but for me it's about principles of what I discover and research myself instead of just falling in line with any program from ANY institution...not just hyperbole from feeshing pros.

I was in the auto industry for 17 years, certified with 14 brands, and spent the last 10 years with "luxury makes"...I can't tell you how many times I saw peeps paying massive premiums for "lipstick on a pig".