Has anyone tried out the new LEWS reels? I bought the Tounament Pro which is not the top of the line BUT it is the lightest. AND man it is smooooooth! It is truly unbeleavable. My other reels are Curados. I still love them as well but I gotta tell ya, I wish I had a Lews on all my rods. There truly IS a difference to experience! Anyone have any comments?

I have one of these and indeed it is nice...

Agreed, I bought the cheap one just to try it out and it blew me away. I could definitely see myself switching to all Lews reels.

Tackletour gave the Tournament Pro a glowing review.

Call me crazy, but I'm getting ready to buy 2x more Tournament Pros! Just don't let the wife know!

I have an old Lews BB33 (15years old or so) and like it as much as my calcuttas! the reel never gives me problems and is so smooth. I am trying to restrain myself from getting a new one being i own approx 30 reels!

NO resemblance of the old Lews, They are just pinnacle knock offs. A 50 buck pinnacle is smooth on the shelf and a few times out.

Coast tackle service,are you serious about the lews being made by pinnacle?

West point bass - I never heard that ANYWHERE. And to add to it, you can never get replacement parts for for pinnacle but as it was, I did have to replace my drag cap. Came in with no problem. Customer Service was great! And saying they are $50 knock offs...I'm hard pressed to hear anything CTS has to say.

Thanks for the info. I have messed around with the new lews reels in the stores and they feel super. I have heard nothing but good about them. Been thinking about getting a tournament pro.

Well, I said NOTHING about Pinnacle Making Lews. I just used Pinnacle as a point of reference. Sorry about that.They are all just made in a simular if not the same little Korean or Chinese Plant (which ever is cheapest at the time)

Again, the Lews and even the Cheapest Pinnacles feel great and perform well right off the shelf. I am just relating what years of experience and going into the innards of around 1500 reels a year to know what goes wrong with them and what can be serviced and what cannot.


I will footnote as follows:

http://justofishing.manufacturer.globals...-GetProduct.htm

Look Familiar?

If you have a reel from either of the above I challenge you to order a drive gear for it. Call them. See what you get. Or, just ask for Schematic. Most times if you get one the part numbers have been marked through time and time again and if you do get to order it, it won't fit.

Agin, I am not trying to be argumentative, just informative.

Pinnacle lews phlueger bass pro H20 all the same.

the reel looks pretty good but I am concerned about the aluminum alloy (duraluminum?) gears. Anyone know of any major reel mfg using aluminum alloy gears?

edit... should have googled first. Apparently if made correctly duralumin is excellent for gears; touted as superior to bronze even and for tooth strength not just weight reduction.

CoAngler... give us some user reviews after you have had a chance to expose the reels to dirty water and actual use conditions. This may be a great hidden gem.

Actually Shimano has used some of the Aluminum gears and I am not fond of them due to grind and broken teeth. I have replaced several before I found out that little bit of information on the Curado D series (Mostly 100's). I have replaced several with broken teeth on the gear with OEM parts. Then I started getting some of those back with grind after that and only on the retrieve. I started replacing them with brass gears out of the Old Curado B's and have elimintated that problem. In fact I had one of my own 100d'd with a grind and replaced the perfectly good looking gear and have had no more problems. They have pretty much quit using them now.

possibly a bad batch of alloy or a bad batch of poorly cut gears. or maybe salt corrosion if these reels were used in saltwater and not properly rinsed?

This is quite interesting. The more I dig into it the more I learn! Apparently this alloy has extensive use in machinery gears for decades (about 90 years) , used in automobiles etc.
I even found an Abu reel (an expensive $850 reel) using duralumin gears.

I was concerned about the use of an aluminum alloy for gearing but am now convinced I was wrong and that if done right it should be equal to or superior to bronze or brass.
...and there really is no reason it can't be done right; it should just be a matter of quality control and inspection.

Until actual users of these reels start panning them I'll keep them on my radar screen for future purchases.