KastKing 11 + 1 Shielded Ball Bearing Spartacus Baitcasting Reel (17.5 lbs Carbon Fiber Drag, 6.3:1-Left Handed)

Very nice compact reel. It's a little smaller than the royal, holds less line ,100 yards of 12 lb mono .it's very light in your hand 7 oz vs 6 oz stealth,make it quite a bargain saving $15-17 graphite vs carbon fiber . In side aluminum spool not too light , a little less speed than a carbon fiber spool.,possibly less backlash an advantage . The centrifugal brake works well just lock the casting spool release and hand spin it , very noticeable difference and then the fine tuning with the magnetic break should provide easy casting .watch Paul Quigley's kastking YouTube video how to adjust your spool control nob and brakes to achieve great trouble free casting for beginners . The drag clicks and is quite strong. Everything seems as is specified . The 12 stainless bearings and ceramic line guide ,brass drive gears are there as mentioned. Try to find these features in a Abu Garcia , black max $45 , 5 ball bearing no mention of ceramic line guide or dual brake system . Lew's comes closer with a 10 bearing reel , the ssg1sh at $95, 7.5.1 . The Royale has that ratio 7.0.1 close . I chose the Spartacus 6.3.1 because it's little slower retrieve, it's easier to keep a slower retrieve for bass , not so easy to over reel , yet plenty enough speed for a good retrieve . savings are passed on in a big way here. Looking forward to getting my line wet soon . I think you will like this reel .😃

I've only tried it once so far, and will need to learn to fine tune the adjustments. everything seems smooth, and comfortable in my hand. Nice reel for the money.

When I first took the reel out of the box, my first impression was it was light and felt sturdy to grab onto. I spooled on 12 pound mono as the base and connected 10 pound fluorocarbon line for the rest of the spool. Even though majority of baitcaster users do not recommend using low weight line I had no issues. By adjusting the spool tension, magnetic and centrifugal brakes I experienced no backlash. I found that leaving the setting of the centrifugal brake at 3 and magnetic brake at 3 I was able to cast any lure I wanted with only adjusting the spool tension I was able to experience smooth casts without backlash when the lure hit the water. The EVA grip on the reel handle are a nice touch. The drag adjuster made nice quality clicks giving the user the confidence they need when using it. My only gripe is occasionally when I cast out the spool it makes a metallic noise. When I disassembled it I noticed non of the parts were lubed up so maybe it might require the user to lube it up themselves. If anyone had experienced this please let me know and how you fixed it. Or if the manufacturer reads this let me know I will greatly appreciate it. This being my first baitcaster I have nothing to compare it to. However I am very pleased with the product. Great for beginners like myself.My setup: Shimano MH 6'6 rod, KK spartacus with 12# mono base and 10# flourocarbon line as main. Favorite bait to use is 5inch senko texas rig with and without weight.

Me and my brother both decided to give this reel a try after seeing decent reviews, and because of the cheap price. Needless to say you get what you paid for. We are 3 for 3 on the braking systems failing and giving us issues. When they worked they were decent, but overall they are not worth your time or money. I also purchased one of their spinning reels, needless to say it was a disaster as well. The reel began to grind after 3 usages. I don't want to really bash the company, but from my experience their products are junk. I will stick to name brands from now on

Awesome reel EXCEPT... there was a little spot on the spool that had something that interfered with anodizing. I'm going to see if they'll send a replacement spool and update. Also, spooling it with line, line went on heavier on the left side of the spool than the right. I thought I heard some grinding inside so I put a drop of oil on the gear and it went away. I took it out to the river and threw some lures. It seems to work just fine.

After taking it out a few times, the thumb bar stopped resetting when turning the handle. It instead clicks as you turn the handle. The reel is still usable, you just have to manually lift the thumb bar after each cast. Pretty annoying and doesn't give me much confidence for the future of this reel. And of course, this all happened right after the return window closed. Listen to the other reviews, spend a little extra $ and get a reel that'll last longer than one season

My first impression of this reel was that it looked amazing, was very light and that it was exceptionally smooth. This reel is great for flipping and pitching since it has both magnetic and centrifugal braking systems. This thing cast amazingly and feels like butter when retrieving. I took it to a local pond the day I got it and caught a nice size bass and it handled great, the drag was super smooth as well thanks to the carbon fiber drag. If you are looking for a new baitcaster, I would definitely recommend this reel!

I am new to fishing and this is my first baitcasting reel, the quality seems great, but I haven't got the opportunity to use it yet. My issue is with the product description, it is advertised as having a max drag of 17.5 lbs , yet on Kast Kings website (...) it shows only 12 lbs I feel mislead by this and am upset I didnt get as much for my money as I was lead to believe​.