NEW h2o baitcast reel...The Mystic weighs only 5.8oz!

This is the new h2o mystic baitcast reel it only weighs 5.8 oz,has an all aluminum frame,carbonfiber handle,carbon side covers,Eva grips,and 10 bearings!!! It is $129.99 And yes I said H2o lol [img]http:/ http://tinypic.com/r/fw2hef/7[/img]

Looks kinda like a BPS Johnny Morris reel. Thanks for posting.

What are the line capacities of this reel. I tried to find it, but sadly could not.

I have one of the Johnny Morris 5.8oz and it is nice, but can only hold up to 12lb test.

I have never let the capacity on a baitcasting reel stop me from using what I want

That's a clean looking reel? How smooth is it? Maybe in comparison to Lew's?

If I am spending 129 on a reel, it will be made by Lews, not academy

It does have the same color scheme as the jm but the more I look at it it looks like its made by okuma it has some similarities in style to their old white v-system reels and as far as smoothness goes you really can't compare anything to a Lew's, I love my Lews!!! But it does feel like a pretty solid reel especially given that its an h2o!

The line capacity is average at 12lb 120 yards

I kinda wanna try one out but then again like stated above ou could get a nice name brand reel for the price. I love the Mettles that's because they're $50.00 bucks and perform very well.

I have a mettle and I do like but bought on sale for 29.99, like said before if I am going to spend 129.99 on a reel probaly not going to be H2O brand, but I am not knocking it just my .02

I wonder who makes this reel for Academy?

I will wait til they go on sale for $60

I was told by staff that the mettles were made by shimano

shimano? really? hmmm.

I bet they are make by the same chinamans that make Pflueger, bass pro reels and more. Looks kinda sorta like the Bass Pro carbon lites I have

Tjustice where the hell did you find this???? Reel looks bad [censored] man. As for me, hell I will check it out, and possibly buy a few! 5.8 ounces, carbon fiber handle, eva grip, 10 bearings, 120 range. I dont see how this is a bad gig? But will have to see it to believe it! Looking at some Kistler klx rods that this reel would be great for if its the real or reel deal! Hell I dont know about yall, but Im tired of spending at a bare minimum of 160+ for reels and glad to see H2o screwing with this stupid market full of stupid people which includes me who over spends for all this fishing [censored]. Now if only H2o would make a bass boat! COME ON H2O MAKE A BASS BOAT!

Did I say make a [censored] BASS BOAT H2O

Just what a an employee in the fishing department told me and if you look at them internally they are just like a shimano same braking system and everything

IIRC shimano reels are made in Japan or Malaysia, not Korea.

OK guys, H2O reels are made in Korea, read the box and paperwork inside! They are not made by Shimano. Back in 1998 Shimano did make a reel exclusively for Academy but it was only a 2 ball bearing reel and sold for $19.99 at the time.

I can see where the price point has some ready to purchase a "name brand" reel as opposed to a "proprietary" store brand.

The question is not whether one is better than the other because of brand but in the actual quality of construction and performance.

Hopefully we will get some reviews on this new H2O reel so we can all make informed decisions as to whether this reel fits our fishing needs.

I've bought a couple H2O Mettle reels about a year ago as back ups... I'll be dang if I am not impressed with the reels. So much so, that I am useing both of them as my main reels and took the other brand reels off and they are now the back ups!!!

what is the drag lbs ? - some of theirs is only 8 lbs, not enough for bigger bass

I have no confidence in any sales clerk at academy telling me anything. I went at Christmas to buy Revo STX and two of the clerks didn't have a clue what I was talking about. I would not believe anything they say about who makes the reel. JMO

I love my Mettle's, quality reel for the price....plus if there is ever any problem, Academy will gladly replace it

All the cheaper reels at Academy only have 8 lb drag - it is on their web site- that's one reason why they don't cost much- abu garcias- 20lbs & most are at least 14lbs regardless of who makes it- it's hard to replace a 10 lber that burned the light drag up and got away

I will disagree. Daiwa Zillions only have 8lbs drag and they are killer. I have fished both Fork a LOT as well as Falcon and have never had an issue with drag slipping. That amount of drag can handle anything any size bass can dish out and not miss a beat.

I second this. I used to have some dawia fuegos and they only had 8lbs of drag and they were a beast of a little reel.

Only issue I have with the H2O reels is lack of choices in gear ratio. I have 4 mettles that I use a ton and they are great. Just wish I could get one in a lower gear.

People get way too hung up on drag as even a double digit bass will not tough the higher end of the drag when taking in rod and line strength. Furthermore, 20lb of drag is overkill on any bass fishing use...inshore or bigger fish, maybe, but not bass

In the long run you get what you pay for. I'd rather pay a little more and get a proven product. Just my opinion.

If you tighten your drag to the max like that you'll break off a fish before it spools you. I never have to tighten mine all the way down except for my braid on a frog rod.

If my Mettles can handle Redfish, I would assume the Drag would be alright for a little 10 lb Bass...Haha

I've got 6 mettles. love them. got them all for under 30 each.
That said, I burned one up throwing 60lb braid trying to fish a frog. They are not heavy duty reels for sure.
All my higher end stuff is revo. I'm not sure they will sell alot of them with the competition. Revo Orra is 100 bucks.

BTW...Mettles went on sale last year for fathers day at just under 30 bucks. so keep an eye out if you want to try one.

all of my rods but one have mettles. we have caught 28" redfish on them with no problems. use 50-65 lb braid on some. Was talking to a reel guy and he said he doesn't know how they sell them so cheap with the components that are in them.

I have a couple of mettles too, they are excellent, I like them better than my older shimanos. They are made in the korean factory that makes everything but diawa and shimano,& possibly Abu, not sure on the Abu. I'm pretty sure Lew's are made there now too.

Does anyone have any idea when these will start showing up in the local stores? At 5.8oz and 10 bearing - may have to try one on a flippin and pitchin rod...thanks for bringing it to our attention...

I've had mine for over a year and use 2 for flipping/Texas rig and one for cranking, never had an issue... yet. They are as smooth as my Jonny Morris Signatures and Revo's.

I have the Cammo Mettle combo and I am very pleased with it so far specially considering the price. The Mettle real is smooth casting and feels good in my hand, does not feel like a cheap [censored] rhino baitcast. I recoment giving it a try. This entire industry is way overpriced to begin with.

I have zero complaints about the Mettles. I assure you, this reel has nothing about it that would make me buy it over a few Mettles for the same price.

The Watagua store had one the Mystics when I stopped by today. Seems like a really sweet reel. I didn't a chance play with it. Does anyone know the specs on the braking system?

nice looking reel,but just got a lew term.pro for 120.00.think ill stay with lew,s

If reel drag didn't matter ,especially over the course of time, wear & tear - why have it - what common sense would say that you could use all the drag with a maxium of being say 14 lbs and it not have less wear as time goes on as to 8lbs. How much you have to use the drag with bigger fish matters but if you don't fish a lot or fish where bigger fish are them I suppose it would not matter - but again , if it didn't matter why do they put more drag on the better reels- they last a lot longer

Not all high end reels have high drag ratings. Also for lots of applications like cranking you dont want much drag anyhow. Only time you ever need more than 6 or so lbs is when flipping heavy cover or frog fishing. with the rod bending that 6lbs of drag winds up being much more than 6lbs to the fish

That reel drag point your making is wrong. Sorry but it is. Like stated these reels can handle some mess thrown at them. I've had mine flipping braid at falcon and catching redfish at the jetties just to try and burn it up. It's caught bass up to 9lbs and redfish up to 38" and has never skipped a beat. Drag pressure is just like bearing count. Brand x reel might have 10 bearings but pretty sure those two in the handle dont help any do they. Why shimano bearing count is always so low. Plus, If you tighten down any drag over time the washers get a memory and burn up faster.

I think it's a general consensus: Most who have actually used the H2O reels agree they are a very good value and even better when they are on sale($29.99 regularly). But why pay $129.99 for an H2O when you can find last years Revo's and Curado's at stores for this price range. H2O needs to stay in their nitch in the market: decent equipment at a value price!

To the post regarding cost to quality...Not always..I guess u missed out on the metal, h2o crankbaits, h2o rods..h2o tackle organizers Etc...Academy brands are are solid...Last you dont know who they get help from to make their reels...

Don't know about the 8 lb. drag but can tell you the Mettle handled a 12 lb. 2 0z. LMB very nicely.

Daiwa Zillions only have an 8.9lb drag last time I checked they're pretty expensive. I've owned two and now own quite a few Mettles and bothe the drags work great.

I will be picking up a Mystic Monday and Thursday I will give a report on the reel. I am going to put 25lb flouro on it and pitch with it and see how it does.

Pretty decent. Drag is a concern. Make a great beginners reel or kid reel.

+1

What's funny is that BOTH Reels may possibly be manufactured at the same place (Korea)...

So far I am extremely impressed with the reel. It has a lot of features used on more expensive reels.

All of my reels other then this reel are $189 and up. But this reel is really making me think about buying several more. It is a killer deal at $129. I think those of you that are saying you won't pay $129 for an Academy H20 branded reel are crazy. There is nothing wrong with a store branded reel.

And for those of you worried about the drag, it has an advertised 12lbs of drag. Yes it is not at the Revo drag level but 12lbs is more then enough to get the job done.

I've had my H2O Mystic for a couple months now and it casts better than my Revo SX or STX. I paired this 5.8 ounce reel with the new H2O Express 7' MH micro guide rod that weighs 3.6 ounces for super lightweight rig.

I got it on sale for $89.99 and it's a bargain at that price. Very smooth so far and hard to backlash set 1/2 off and 1/2 on. Casts further than anything I've ever used (revo, curado, tournament pro) and unlike the Mettle I don't have to change settings when using heavier or lighter lures.

It's still early in my review process. I haven't had a spotted bass over three pounds on it yet (summer time bite) so the drag is still a concern for me. It seems to just need a little lubing every 20 trips or so like most reels.

If it holds up I'll probably be selling my Revos and buying these as they come on sale again. It's amazing how the reduced weight of this setup helps when you're casting constantly for hours at a time.

Sweet! Are they still $89.?

Nope. Just searched, now 'only' $129.95

Have to catch them on sale to get the $89 price tag. Check them during their Labor Day sale or possibly Black Friday (if you can wait that long :-D)

I'm still loving my H2O Xpress Mystic casting reel. It still casts farther than any other reel I have, and I've caught a couple spotted bass over four pounds on it that really tested the drag on my medium weight rod and 8 pound test. I'm looking to get at least two more when they put them on sale again. Maybe it will be on sale this month like last year. I bought mine on sale 6/10/13 last year.

I like the Mystic reel better than the Lews Tournament Laser that I picked up on sale @ $69.99, but will get more of these if they go on sale again too.

Can't say much for the reels, but the rods I have used in the past, and they are of awesome quality for the price. Same goes with the lures they have been putting out lately.

I'd really like to try one of the reels out. . .but $130 is REALLY steep for a H2O brand reel, given you can buy a Lews Lazer Tourney reel for less than that. If I can catch one on sale I think I'll grab it but not at retail.

Ok, it’s been six years since I posted about the H2O Express Mystic casting reels. I have ended up with nine of them over these years. Bought off of eBay mostly. They are by far the best reels I’ve ever owned. I find centrifugal drag break systems work best for me and these have the early Shimano type system. Once you get it tuned for the rod and line you’re using they are set. Once set they can cast the range of baits that rod is designed for without adjustment. In 2018 these Mystics were getting pretty worn where the plastic breaks rub against the metal circular race on the side plate. I took them all to our genius reel repair guy and he made them slick again. So slick in fact it took me months to get them tuned again. In the mean time I bought a Curado DC to be able to cast without back lashing. I fell in love with it, so I will be a Shimano guy going forward. Our Lew’s reels have not held up over this time as well as these Mystics. The reel guy said the Mystic had some high quality bearings inside like Shimano uses. He’s a Shimano guy, and I will be when these Mystics finally wear out. I was just now cleaning one of the Mystics, and it’s remarkable how tight (no play), smooth, and quiet these reels still are after eight years of hard fishing. I used to be FastJimmy back when I joined this forum. I guess I forgot my password & user name over years of not logging in, so I rejoined in 2018 as jimbug.

OK. Is this an H2O or Shimano endorsement?

Sounds like both.

Not to hijack the thread but any comments on the Mettle M3? Its $60, 7.3 ratio, has good reviews, 10 bearings and is only an ounce heavier than the Mystic. And it has a 13 pound drag which seems to be a hang up for some on here.

Sorry to bump this thread after so many years, but these Mystic reels have been amazing. I have no way of knowing if Shimano had anything to do with the Mystic back then. The Mystics sure look and feel a lot like the old Curado E series. I just can’t wear them out or let them go. They get noisy at times, but just need a good quick cleaning of the centrifugal breaks. Easy to work on. I’m picking up some Curado 70 XGs on eBay and the BBC board. For around $130 they are great little reels, but I’m new to them or maybe they are new to me. I retired from American Airlines in 2016, and I’m no longer making weekly trips to Dallas like I was. So, I haven’t been posting or viewing this great TFF forum as much.

I have no problem with anyone bringing up the new Mettle reels. I had 10 of those first Mettle reels when they were $20. I used them for 4 years and switched to the Mystics. I sold them with the box for $25 on eBay after I was done with them. For the money they were great reels as well.

I think the M3 is a step up from the first ones you had, Jimbug. Has anybody used the the M3 specifically?

Here is the link:

https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/h2o-xpress-mettle-m3-baitcast-reel#repChildCatid=7733053

Check out the Daiwa CR80 on ebay. I have 4 of them and they work very well. I think they are the best bang for the buck, and I have a ton of different reels to compare them to including the Daiwa Steez. I have Shimano, Lews, and Daiwa reels.
Great finesse reels.

than the first ones he had.