Release SG Reel - First Impressions

[redpaulhus]

You may not have been talking with Wes 'cause Wes is here.  I'm hoping to see his reels sometime soon to check them out.

Yes, the gent I talked with said he was new and not familiar with all of their exposure/interactions on the web.

[Jeri]

Hi All,

With regards to the reel seat, we are using them on rods with 20mm and 22mm Fuji reel seats, and have no problem at all. Even when putting the reel under a lot of strain with the drag well pushed up, and effectively winching an active 22kg shark, there was no 'rocking' of the reel.

Hope this helps.

Cheers from sunny Africa.


Jeri

[mccandrj]

[When is Release going to make left-handed reels?

[Bryan Young]

McCandrj,

You may want to call or email Wayne at (804) 453-3095 or info@releasereels.com.  They are very nice and receptive suggestions.  If you are on FB, they can be found at https://www.facebook.com/#!/release.reels?fref=ts.

Bryan

[redpaulhus]

Well I got my Release SG.
Overall I like it.

I suspect that the vendor shipped me a floor sample or show display reel -- the box had one sticker for silver/red reel and one for gunmetal/silver (I ordered gunmetal and recieved red  ), the inside of the box was pretty beat up (the reel was rattling around loose in the box with the display/packing cardboard pressed flat) - it looked like it had been in and out of the box a bit -  but that's on the vendor, not Release Reels 

The one part I'm not crazy about is the reel foot- it's very sharply curved. It would fit fine on one of my "heavier" rods, but part of my reason for wanting a 12oz reel was to toss it on an inshore rod - in this case a freshwater Musky rod that I'll be using for tautog and haddock.
I'm trying to put together a light weight, high strength combo - an alternative to my 113H on an 8ft ugly stick
Unfortunately, all of my inshore rods have reel seats that are very flat - shaped for a typical baitcasting reel foot. I was able to make it fit (kinda) but I think its deforming the rod's reel seat a bit.

I think that if they are looking at this for the inshore east coast market (Stripers, redfish, black drum, tog, etc) offering an alternative, flatter reel foot that fits common baitcasting rods would be a big plus.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get out on my usual spring trips for shallow water cod and haddock, so I haven't been able to really give it a try.

[Bryan Young]

Give them a call. Maybe it can be an option.

[redpaulhus]

Give them a call. Maybe it can be an option.

Thanks Bryan.
I'm probably going to send them an email at some point - like I said, I got it working for me for now, but it might be useful for others.
I just wanted to add my experience to this thread since the curved reel foot was the item I had initially questioned in this thread a few weeks ago.
I do LOVE the reel clamp - nice and narrow, worked great even though this is a trigger style rod.

[akfish]

I think the company is great and there are many good things about the reel. However, they are shipped without a schematic because the company does not want users to work on their reels; even for basic service you need to send them to the company. I worry that the aluminum screws will strip. The handle screw, for example, has no lock screw and instead uses loctite to keep it in place. There is no dog back up to the anti-reverse bearing -- and no way to service that bearing. The one I saw had ceramic spool bearings -- but they were greased so there was almost no free spool. A couple little changes would makes these great reels -- steel screws, a lock nut (not loctite) on the handle, and the ability for users to service the reel. And don't grease the spool bearings!! Until these changes are made I am reluctant to recommend them. But I do think the company is responsive -- they changed the handle based on user input, and I'm sure they will be oiling, not greasing, the spool bearings soon.

[Bryan Young]

They now come with a lifetime guarantee 

[bnz]

Just an update to this reel as I just received my new SG as well, all new reels shipped after June 1 have their patented new A/R pawl.