Anybody have any really bad experiences with high-end gear? I am in the middle of dealing with another Bauer reel and for the life of me cannot imagine the lack of thought used for such a high end reel. I picked this on eup cheap at an estate sale. It had never been lined and all of the other reels there were RHW… My preference. It is an MZ4 and it has several really irritating “features” that scream “Cheap.”
There is one 4x8 card folded in half on which they give you everything for their entire line of reel models, but not close to enough for any one of them. As an experienced technical writer it would embarrass me to turn in work of this quality… The fact it is the best they have after years of production is amazing.
Now the really annoying parts… despite the lack of clear directions, in part caused by the obscene clutter of trying to explain several models at once, it is not that complicated to figure out how to do the swap. But now I have no drag whatsoever. I suspect there should be a warning to not turn the shaft while swapping the four ridiculous sleeves and rubber cushions (little tiny things and when was dropped it made me very unhappy) but I did so because it is not easy to get at the little bitty parts with the surrounding rubber seal ring and such… I know it is a discontinued model, and it is obvious why.
I guess I will take it back apart and try to figure out what is wrong… SOmewhere between the Ross Vexsis and this reel there ought to be an easier way… Oh that must be why I like Lamson so much!
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My biggest issue is with cork quality. The last several ‘high-end’ rod purchases have had lousy cork. Middle of the road rods 10 yrs ago had better cork than the “premium” rods of today. Nothing worse than hard cork with NO springiness and tons of filler that gets sticky the first time it gets damp…yuck!
Well, working the rubbers out and going back to as good a guess as I can get this sucker has me beat. Having fished these a number of times I love the feol of the drag on these… But the route is beyond ridiculous…
A long time ago a friend told me to buy junk and if it needed replacing you needed better stuff… I have had too many incredible adventures with fly gear being destroyed by big fish and I have gotten better stuff as a result. I have blown out brand new Hardys on the very first fish… big solid Hardys… so I am past fishing junk for big fish… and a Bauer is not junk.
I have had a few instances where I had a hard time not laughing as my friends with the “High End” gear couldn’t fish while I was catching quite a few on my cheap gear. I can’t afford the “High End” stuff so I do my best to get a good value. I remember a Guide in Alaska laughing his head off as my son was catching fish on the $50 reel I had bought him, while some others in the group had their $500 reels pulled apart trying to fix them in the field.
As a guide (in AK) I have seen some “special” stuff marched out for use… In general it got trashed… But sometimes it is true that good stuff is found for less. I have seen lots of logic-defying stuff last longer than anyone would have guessed. Not many $50 reels are going to look good after a serious week of salmon fishing though.
In my mind there is a big difference in your need to fish high end equipment and most of the rest of us. You are taking other people’s money to take them fishing. If I invite someone fishing it is to introduce them to fly fishing or using a float tube for the enjoyment of it. A few years ago I took a business client fishing, bought him lunch first and was sure he had some reliable lures and my best spinning rod and reel. But if a reel jammed on a big fish it might tick me off but it wouldn’t cost me reputation or a guiding fee. I’m going fishing for the enjoyment and it more fun and cheaper than a head doctor.
I purchased a multi-piece March Brown rod a few years ago and took it as THE rod for a trip to a salt marsh. The tip on one broke while lining the rod. Never got it wet and brought no other rod to fish with. Sent the rod back and it was replaced. Stupidly did the same thing, brought out the replacement as THE rod and, on the first cast the tip broke. No fishing that day either. They replaced again and sent an additional lower end rod as an apology. No problems with rod #3.
Lesson learned: always bring a backup of critical gear.
On the Bauer Reel: several years ago someone from there contacted us about being a Sponsor. JC was working at a local fly shop which carried them and he really went over it…he found several things he didn’t like, including a spring not made from stainless but some cheaper metal which was rusting in the reel (brand new). He said it was a disaster and we explained the problems to them when we turned them down. Eventually it was sold to a company in WA state which was going to up grade it substantially with the help of Jack, (darn can’t remember his last name, but the owner/creator of Charlton Reels) I think under the Solitude name. If you know what has happened on that one I’d love to know. I know they had real problems because they didn’t get any blue prints or schematics when they bought Bauer…
Your story is one reason I have gone to using mostly click pawl reels. Simple. Effective. Durable. I have click pawl reels that are over 75 years old and are still landing fish.
For trout reels there is nothing I like more than click pawl Hardys… and I have a ridiculous number of them, perhaps 35… But there is absolutely no substitute for quality drags on salmon and saltwater gear. Just the sheer number of times big fish will eat a knuckle on a spinning reel-handle. A friend from CameraLand in NY was fishing silver salmon with me and the cork drag washer on a big Hardy failed suddenly… Doug’s knuckle took off the reel handle as it was spinning… A better drag would have prevented that… as would an understanding of how to palm a reel!
There are lots of reels that will work and last for salmon without real drags, but the other issue is plain old fatigue. If you are landing your 25th salmon of the morning you may be getting tired and may not pay attention. That and the fact you raise the odds of a bad moment when you fight that many fish in such a short period.
So, after speaking with Bauer they need to replace parts to fix a brand new reel. They did not realize the machining specs were off and the clutch does not engage in RHW mode.
They chuckled at the suggestion to fire their technical writer… it was John Bauer, and he continues to run the place. I do not know if that has any relation to ownership or not, but he probably has most of the specs in his head.
My worst high-end gear experience was back just before I got into fly-fishing. At the local auction house there was a huge auction of firearms with a small amount of fishing gear included. I found a rod and reel in what appeared to be perfect condition, so I decided to bid on it, but when it hit $45 I dropped out since I was completely unfamiliar with brands and values…its was a Sage rod with a Sage reel. I’m not sure what it was worth, but someone went home happy with $45 well spent. It wasn’t me. :oops:
I fish for steelhead and salmon almost exclusively, except for my beloved searun cutthroat. I have never had a problem with click pawl reels. Never. I have had to replace gears in a Bougle’ after using it a season for kings but so what.
