When I got back into Lure Fishing a few months ago, I had to buy new gear, I hadn’t fished for years, so when it came to choosing a reel, I had a look at reviews online and what people were using to catch bass with. After about a week I decided on a reel which I thought would be good for my fishing. At first, everything seemed good, I loaded it with the braid and started fishing, but then the problems started, I was getting wind knots and major birdnest of the braid, one that bad I had to dump the braid, some was an error on my part, not just the reel.
I did some more due diligence and researched the problem I was getting. As I researched I found that this make of reel was noted for having problems which I was encountering. So I reached out to my Facebook Group and asked what make and models of reels the members were using. The biggest share of members were using Shimano reels and the two most popular models were the Vanford and Stradic models. I also asked what size models members were using, the 3000 and 4000 size models were the most popular.
But which to go for was about 50/50 on member’s recommendations, then a guy by the name of Mike from my group sent me a message, he told me he had tried a lot of the Vanford and Stradic, and he asked what I would be using it for and recommended the Stradic23 FM 4000XG. I read some reviews, watched some videos about it, liked what I saw, and bought it, i think it would always be good to go and look at a reel in a fishing shop first and see if it was suitable for you and your rod, and now I always recommend to do that, but the advice I was given was good.
So I ordered the reel from Veals in Bristol, when you join the Bass Anglers Sportfishing Society (BASS) you can get 10% off your order making an even better deal. The reel arrived a couple of days later, upon opening the box you are greeted by a beautiful sleek silver reel as seen in the photo above. A few turns of the handle and you feel the smoothness. I loaded up the reel with 20lb Major Craft Dagan Braid X8 Multicolour, which comes in a 300m spool, I just winded on the lot, I know most put on a mono backing and add 150m of their favorite braid, I just put the lot on. The Braid went on smoothly thanks to the ANTITWISTFIN which suppresses line trouble and increases casting safety, i then attached about 2ft of florocarbon on the end of the braid.
So what it is like to fish with, I’ll use one word ”Exceptional” for me, Shimano has so many brilliant features incorporated into the reel, it just performs amazing out of the box. I attached it to my old rod a Savage Gear SGS8 and went down to my most fish mark, every cast the braid flowed smoothly off the spool, every retrieve the braid lay evenly across the spool with the help of the ANTITWISTFIN system.
But I wanted a fish, to see what the drag system could do, I hadn’t caught anything decent so far this year, lots of schoolies, I was using a Fishus Espetit 95 Flasy shad, walking the dog style on the surface, I had fished the ebb down, it was bang on low tide, then a huge splash, the rod arched and the Stradic drag kicked into action, I had hooked a better fish, I adjusted the drag a little and brought the fish under control, and beached it, I had caught my first decent fish of the year, but also my PB Bass of 56cm, the Stradic had been christened and it had performed to my expectations.
Every time I go out, I know I can trust it, I have had no issues with knots or tangles, and it has made my fishing more enjoyable, In another session I had 30 Bass up to 38cm without any issues, and another 44cm Bass last weekend.
Conclusion.
The Shimano Stradic is an Exceptional Reel, it comes in many models and sizes to suit different situations, i went for the 4000xg upon a very good recommendation, and so glad I did. It has an RRP of around £230 but have seen cheaper deals for other models. So far this is the only Shimano reel I have tested so I cannot comment on others. Maybe I will have to ask Shimano for some to test, who knows I might get lucky. I will leave a link to Veals whom I purchased the reel and also the Shimano page for you to get more information. Many Thanks for reading my review, Steve.
