| Fred, this is to be taken, somewhat lightly, not offensively.
I think the stuff is fair to poor. The price is attractive, but
what you end up with in the end is not much. Now you have to
understand that I fish a reel to death, usually undersizing the
rod/reel a good deal. I was able to make my decision (on sillystar)
a few weeks ago, while fishing a few mile offshore for bonito.
The silstar reel I purchased was intended to be a backup outfit,
not a main rig. We were chumming bonito and having fair success
with them, when I decided it might be a good time to try out the
Silstar. From here on it gets worse Fred. The bail would not pick
up the line properly after being open, and the drag was very jerky.
I had a 6 pound bonito on the 10# line, and it just destroyed the
"plastic" spool. From exerting so much pressure during one of the
runs, the hole in the center of the spool (where it slides down
the main reel shaft" went from a perfect circle to an ugly oval
shape. This demonstrates one way to cut manufacturing costs.
Use cheap plastic. (maybe try graphite) The reel would have went
over the side of the boat after losing the fish, but I complain
enough about ocean dumping as it is.
Not to say your reel will not do the job, but depending on the species
that you are pursuing, the reel may have a very short lifespan.
If you are a new saltwater angler you will learn over the next few
years who makes good reel and who does not.
I hope that I was not too strong or negative in my opiniated view,
but I was fairly dissapointed when one solid run of a fish destroys
a brand new reel.
Good luck and good fishing Mate.
P.S. Penn.....Shimano.... These names bring high price tags,
but lasts forever.
Vinnie
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| I know the Silstar Northeast factory rep. We're related, in fact.
I get first pick *before* distributors and wholesalers. My garage
is filled with Silstar rods, but I gave away the only saltwater
Silstar spinning reel I had. Definitely of lower quality, to be
used as backup to a backup. You know, you retire a Mitchell or
Penn because you think it's tired, so you keep it spooled up as a
backup. Well, I still would keep that backup, but for a long trip
where a week and big bucks could go down the drain in the event
of heavy equipment failure I'd consider the Silstar reel as the
backup to the backup.
I found the freshwater reels fine, _in their price range_. The
spinning reels don't compare with the better Shimanos, say, and
maybe a step below the Penn GR series. But then, they are less
expensive than the Shimanos or Penns or Shakespeare Sigma Supras.
In reels I believe you get what you pay for. The Silstar Starlite
casting reels are okay for their price. I'm using a Starlite II
now on a 6' graphite composite casting rod and it's doing all
right.
Rods are a different story. I have not found better mass-produced
rods than Silstar. But there's a good reason. Silstar is the
largest rod maker in the world. They make rods for over a hundred
other names! For example, they made all Shakespeare rods except
the Ugly Stick. The only proviso would be to stay away from the
combos (rod, reel, and line in a bubble pack). That's K-Mart and
Bradlee's level for sure.
We have graphite, composite, boron, and fiberglass Silstar rods
in the house. From slender trout rods to codfish poles. My
Silstar codfish rods have held up for three years with no
corrosion on the guides or reel seats (the reel seats and guides
are mostly Fuji, and the roller guides are Aftco).
For my money, for saltwater use you can't go wrong with a Silstar
rod and a Penn 113h or 113 for dacron and conventional, and a
Penn 650SS or 550SS for spinning.
Just my opinion,
Art
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Fair is a good term.
You get what you pay for...
I purchased a Silstar rod for my wife. It broke.. I sent it back
and Silstar replaced it. The one thry sent back looked identical,
but, she has abused this rod to death!!
Hanging 3lb fish from it. Pulling on rocks so hard the rod does
a loop dee loo... Yanking on trees like it was a oak itself. All
these feets with a gitzit on the end. Yes this rod is still in
one piece and still taking this abuse.
Bassmaster,
Dave Sullivan
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