Rumour has been rife for some time that Shimano were about the ditch the legendary Baitrunner reel, but few anglers believed that Shimano would stop producing a reel that took the angling world by storm in the ’80’s and became a massive best-seller. 
The Shimano Baitrunner was the first reel to incorporate the free-spool facility where, at the flick of a lever, the drag was completely switched off leaving the spool to run freely as a fish took off with the bait. Then, when the angler picked up the rod all he had to do was spin the handle and the drag was engaged again at exactly its previous setting.
Since then most other manufacturers have produced their own version of the Baitrunner with some kind of free-spool facility, but none have managed to match the Shimano.
Now we can reveal that the Baitrunner isn’t being ditched but replaced with a newer, smoother, more up to date model which is being launched in Dubai this weekend in front of a gathering of selected dealers.
Now we know why Baitrunner prices have fallen so dramatically recently as dealers race to sell off the old models to make room for the new.
