A Tale of Two Reels – Review

A review with a difference perhaps, but I thought this would be appropriate as a comparison between the two as well as an appraisal of each.

I don’t know about other writers and contributors, but I have to buy my own gear in most cases, things I need, then I write a review of it. I needed some new reels to keep my kit updated and these are what I settled on for the following reasons.

I wanted a reel for general float fishing, wagglers mainly, and another reel for light feeder fishing. Last summer I met with Mark Wintle and he was singing the praises of the Shimano Stradic 2500 for float fishing, I think it might have been Andy Nellist’s reel in fact. I had to agree that it did look a nice reel and Shimano certainly has a good pedigree.

The Shimano Super Aero GTM-RA 2500

However, for my purposes (I don’t do a lot of float fishing these days) I decided instead on the Super Aero GTM-RA 2500 (RRP £ 75 – c£ 55 disc). This is in every way similar to the Stradic except that it has one less ball bearing. However, there are still enough in the reel to make it a really smooth tool and with the double handle I bet anyone using it blindfold would have difficulty separating it from the Stradic. You do save a few pounds with this over the Stradic.

It comes with the main spool of aluminium and a spare plastic spool. I spooled these respectively with a very fine 3lb line and a standard 5lb line in case I go after some tench on the float. The line lay is perfect and the spools are pretty much identical in their capacity.

It has the double handle so typical of a lot of Shimano reels these days, some will like this (me) and some won’t (Frank Guttfield hates them). I don’t see spare handles sold for Shimano’s, perhaps that’s something they could explore. The retrieve on this reel is quite fast at around 6.1-1 and it comes with Shimano’s Fightin’ Drag, which is very useful.

If I had to nit-pick it would be about the anti-reverse switch on this reel (and presumably the Stradic as well). It seems to be semi-covered with a moulding and I find it difficult to get at with big fingers, which could be a problem during a fight with a fish. Fortunately, I fight most fish off the drag and fighting drag so it may not be so much of an issue, just a shame it couldn’t have been a larger, more pronounced switch.

That said it casts and winds beautifully with never a hint of back wind when the anti-reverse is in play. If the retrieve sounds like it is too fast for you then consider the Super Aero GT-RA, same reel, but with a 5.1-1 ratio. All in all, this reel is a good investment and it pays to spend a little extra on reels that have to work with fine lines.

The Shimano Exage RA 2500

For the feeder rod requirement I chose the new Shimano Exage RA 2500 (RRP£ 45 – c£ 36 discounted). This has 4 bearings, 3 of which are the AR-B type and this gives the reel a very smooth action too, despite it being at the top end of the budget side, if there is one. For its price it is an exceedingly good reel if not a little more ostentatious with all its gold and silver bits.

In fact, some parts have a bit of a retro look to me, this is particularly so with the machined aluminium single handle. It does tend to cause some wobble when spun freely, ie, with the reel on the rod or in the hand and an empty spool. In use, of course, it doesn’t matter since the handle will never be spun at a speed that will cause wobble, but I do wish they had included either a standard double handle or a lighter counterbalanced single handle.

The reason I mention it is because Shimano have gone to much trouble to eliminate wobble from the other parts and then built it back in with the handle. Another little niggle is the handle being heavy and the running of the reel so free that if the handle is left in any forward position it has a tendency occasionally to drop down to the bottom and bring in an extra winding of line. This would happen when legering since the line is tightened to the feeder and the handle will then stay put.

The reel surprisingly came with two, yes two, aluminium spools that work so well with braid and feeder fishing. The other good bit is that they are identical in dimensions to the spools on the Super Aero GTM, so now I have four interchangeable spools! The down side is the line lay isn’t quite as perfect as the Super Aero although very good nonetheless, but I used the Super Aero to wind on the line for both reels (that’s just me being extra fussy).

The body of the Exage is a little larger than that of the Super Aero and so fits my demand for feeder fishing better, but this should not put off any prospective buyers who intend using it for float fishing. The body is still a very nice and compact size. There is the fighting drag again, thankfully, and the anti-reverse switch on this is much better than on the Super Aero. Free play when the anti-reverse is activated is again zero thereby allowing it to be used for careful tensioning of quiver tips.

A superb reel at a bargain price and if you like the ‘retro’ look, what better?

In the light of one of Mark Wintle’s recent articles on Fishingmagic, we seem to have both witnessed a small problem with these new Shimano reels. That is, when you have cast out and as you engage the bale arm again, they often leave a small loop of line on the spool that then gets covered by further windings as you wind more line in over the loop. This can lead to a tangle on the next or subsequent casts.

Why they should do this is a mystery so far and I can’t say I noticed it happening on previous Shimano models. Is it line twist, the memory of the line coming off in loops, or the fact that I have simply overloaded the spools? One way around the problem is to ensure that the line is fairly taught when you engage the bale arm. This can be achieved by feathering the line with your forefinger against the spool’s rim as your float lands in the water and without letting go until the last micro-second when you engage the bale arm to stop any further loops of line coming off the spool.

Other than this small problem, both reels are excellent. Really smooth and a great step forward in reel design.

9 stars each – The Aero GTM loses a star because of the fiddly anti-reverse switch and the Exage loses one because of the single heavy aluminium handle that I’m not too happy about.

Jeff’s VERDICT

I have a multitude of reels, but these two will be perfect for when I go fishing and I’m not sure of what I’ll be doing, float or feeder fishing. Since the spools are interchangeable (I’m sure Shimano won’t tell you that) it gives me up to four options of line on each reel. I’m delighted with both of them, but for you, it could be horses for courses, what you can afford, etc. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed with either and there’s always the larger 4000 version in each if you’re after specimen fish.

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