Shimano Biomaster 2500 FB

Today I've received a new reel: the Shimano Biomaster 2500 FB.

At the first glance it looks decent with an aluminum silver colored body and dark grey spools with gold accents. I would have swapped the silver color of the reel for the green color of its box but in the given circumstances silver looks fine I guess. For the amount of money spent on this one I expected to be smooth and this reel is really smooth with its 7 A-RB ball bearings and one roller bearing.

I've read it had replaced the Twin Power FC in the European Shimano catalog and I gave both reels a few turns: out-of-the-box they feel about the same. The Biomaster however has a ball bearing on the main shaft beneath the spool

 ...waterproof drag and the x-ship - which is a fancy word for rearranging the pinion gear closer to the center of the drive gear. This is supposed to make the reel turn smoother and give it a little bit of extra cranking power.
The line lay is good but it could have been better:

The maintenance port for the line roller bearing is also a neat feature:

The screw-in handle which allows absolutely no play:

Overall I'm quite pleased with the new reel and can't wait for the opening of the fishing season.

Tight lines!

Preston Carbonactive Excel float rod

Everybody had only nice things to say about the Preston rods and the Excel was their most expensive float rod. About two years ago when I was looking for that allround float rod that I would use for everything from small roach to up to 10 lbs carp this was supposed to be THE ROD for me. So I bought it and the first impression was excellent. The action was crispier than that of rods I previously used and the overall aspect was very nice. Absolutely thrilled with it, I fished it about 20 times until when fishing for small carp using 3lbs Korum line, the upper part of the middle section snapped just under the spigot joint. This was replaced of course but living in the wrong part of Europe the delivery took about three months. And after a long period of expectation: it broke again exactly the same way! So the next thing to do after the section was replaced the second time was to trade it for another rod.

So, it is indeed a beautiful rod but would I recommend it? Of course not.

Daiwa Laguna 2500 XT

The Daiwa Laguna 2500 XT is a discontinued model which closely resembles the Daiwa Capricorn A and Cabela's Prodigy A. It's my most used reel. Tough metal body, reliable smooth front drag, simple gearing. The only 'minus' I found was the one-click handle which may seem unbalanced for some.

Here are some pictures taken during the cleaning and greasing of the gearing: