# Kastking Reel Review



## piketroller (Oct 24, 2016)

I took a flyer last week on a Kastking Rover size 40 reel. They look like this:









I like round reels with centrifugal brakes, and a clicker, and that is what this is. They normally run around $50, but quite often are on sale for around $40. Going in I knew it was going to be pure Chinesium, but there are many different grades of Chinesium from usable reel that probably won't last a decade to complete POS. This turned out to be the latter. I put 12 pound big game mono on the reel, adjusted the spook tension, and adjusted the slop out of the spool play. Then in about 15 casts, the line got between the end of the spool and frame 4 times. When you take the side plate off the reel to pull out the spool, the brake shoes like to fall off as there is nothing holding them in place. It was just a terrible all around reel. On the casts that didn't eat the line, the reel made plenty of noise and didn't want to cast for distance at all. And the frame itself seems too light to even be made out of metal. It's probably some kind of faux-stainless steel/cardboard alloy.

The larger size reels in this family get good reviews, but those guys are probably using 25 pound mono or something thick enough that it does get caught between the frame and spool. Mine is already being mailed back for a refund.


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## JohnHolliday (Apr 10, 2017)

Sadly, I know more than a few people that have had very similar experiences. 


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## piketroller (Oct 24, 2016)

JohnHolliday said:


> Sadly, I know more than a few people that have had very similar experiences.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Hopefully they have gotten their money back too. All I’m out is my 1/4 spool of line is now in two pieces. The U.S. based eBay sellers of the Chinese stuff are usually really good with returns.


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## Pat P (Nov 19, 2013)

I have a kast king summer, one of the smallest reels they make (spin casting). I bought it for a small pack rod and ended up loving it and putting it on my ice rod. 

I liked it so much I decided to buy the Sharky 3000 for my float rod for steelhead... and I was not as happy. I also bought some of their line and the same thing, was disappointed. Low quality and the higher priced reels seem gimmicky. However, I do still love the little summer reel for the price I paid.


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## Jerry Lamb (Aug 3, 2015)

piketroller said:


> I took a flyer last week on a Kastking Rover size 40 reel. They look like this:
> View attachment 774311
> 
> 
> ...


You could have gotten a mint Garcia Ambassadeur off of EBay for that price.
I've bought 3 this summer, all mint and under $40.00.
I had to stop looking, or I would have bought them all.


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## piketroller (Oct 24, 2016)

Jerry Lamb said:


> You could have gotten a mint Garcia Ambassadeur off of EBay for that price.
> I've bought 3 this summer, all mint and under $40.00.
> I had to stop looking, or I would have bought them all.


Plenty of good deals there, but they usually don’t have a clicker. Or if you get one of the newer ones with a clicker, it’s that plastic thing in the side plate that digs into your hand if you palm the reel. Plus I don’t like the skinny knobs in most stock Abu cranks. I’ve never taken a chance on a used reel from a state bordering the ocean because corrosion inside is another risk.


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## Jerry Lamb (Aug 3, 2015)

piketroller said:


> Plenty of good deals there, but they usually don’t have a clicker. Or if you get one of the newer ones with a clicker, it’s that plastic thing in the side plate that digs into your hand if you palm the reel. Plus I don’t like the skinny knobs in most stock Abu cranks. I’ve never taken a chance on a used reel from a state bordering the ocean because corrosion inside is another risk.


I got 1 with a clicker, they're there.
I've seen you, and I would have to agree the knobs are too small for your mitts.
Check out some auctions. It appears there are a lot of Granddad estate liquidations this summer. One that you might like is there I'm sure.
I did buy one from Maryland. a 3000 model. I got it for $22.00. It looked a little rough, and I did have to do some work to it, but she works well now. That one stays on the boat all the time.


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## piketroller (Oct 24, 2016)

Jerry Lamb said:


> I got 1 with a clicker, they're there.
> I've seen you, and I would have to agree the knobs are too small for your mitts.
> Check out some auctions. It appears there are a lot of Granddad estate liquidations this summer. One that you might like is there I'm sure.
> I did buy one from Maryland. a 3000 model. I got it for $22.00. It looked a little rough, and I did have to do some work to it, but she works well now. That one stays on the boat all the time.


I’ve bought 9 used reels off eBay and 8 were in great working condition. But zero have been Abus. There are other gems out there, and I don’t want more bidding competition for those when they pop up.


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## tincanary (Jul 23, 2018)

piketroller said:


> I’ve never taken a chance on a used reel from a state bordering the ocean because corrosion inside is another risk.


I've done saltwater Abus on various occasions. Here's how most have been inside; salt eats into the anodized finish on the brake plate and the frame, bearings get corroded right inside of their cups, or worse yet inside the spool, handle nuts seize right up. The salt issues can be mitigated by greasing all of the screw holes and inner surfaces with a high quality marine grease. The good news is all but one came out great. The other reel I had to tell the customer the bad news. The brake plate and frame were both corroded beyond repair, and that in itself is close to $70 worth of parts. It's a lot of work to go through a thoroughly salted reel. I have my tricks I use to get it done quick, but otherwise it's a painstaking process that a lot of shops charge a salt tax of sorts.


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## motoscoota (Mar 9, 2021)

Glad I read this.

Being a fan of Abu Garcia round baicasters, I wondered if the Rover was a good copy, but had my doubts.

In my experience an Abu will last for years around the salt, but as the previous post stated, it means grease and oil frequently.

I have a Kastking Pontus which actually is quite nice!


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## ajkulish (Nov 16, 2013)

Have this same reel on a musky rod with 65 lb test and no complaints. it isn't a great reel or anything, but I have not had a problem that I can remember. 

Also have 3 other kastking reels: legend royale legend 2 3000 for trout (happy with it), Sharky 3000 for jigging (very happy with it), and a royale legend baitcaster for bass (love it). I have rolled the dice now 5 times with kastking and have yet to whiff. I like a pflueger president best (great feel and drag) but my kastking spinning outfits are not that far behind... 

I will also say, at least with spinning reels, that the cheapest kastking reel is better than a vast majority of any reels that came out prior to 2010..... Say what you may but they are smooth and have anti reverse...


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## Pat P (Nov 19, 2013)

ajkulish said:


> Have this same reel on a musky rod with 65 lb test and no complaints. it isn't a great reel or anything, but I have not had a problem that I can remember.
> 
> Also have 3 other kastking reels: legend royale legend 2 3000 for trout (happy with it), Sharky 3000 for jigging (very happy with it), and a royale legend baitcaster for bass (love it). I have rolled the dice now 5 times with kastking and have yet to whiff. I like a pflueger president best (great feel and drag) but my kastking spinning outfits are not that far behind...
> 
> I will also say, at least with spinning reels, that the cheapest kastking reel is better than a vast majority of any reels that came out prior to 2010..... Say what you may but they are smooth and have anti reverse...


I actually have the Sharky Baitfeeder 3000 on my float rod. I have no idea what the lever on the back is for. Otherwise it has been ok, standard reel that works well.


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## ajkulish (Nov 16, 2013)

Pat P said:


> I actually have the Sharky Baitfeeder 3000 on my float rod. I have no idea what the lever on the back is for. Otherwise it has been ok, standard reel that works well.
> 
> View attachment 780475


Is that a bait clicker?


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## piketroller (Oct 24, 2016)

Pat P said:


> I actually have the Sharky Baitfeeder 3000 on my float rod. I have no idea what the lever on the back is for. Otherwise it has been ok, standard reel that works well.
> 
> View attachment 780475


That's the part that makes the reel a baitfeeder. When you engage it, the main drag is bypassed and the little knob at the back of the reel (rear drag) sets the tension on the spool. If you back off the rear drag, it will almost free spool for you, or you can tighten it up a little. When you crank the handle, it will disengage the baitfeeder mode and you'll immediately go back to working like normal with the front drag set where you left it.


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## piketroller (Oct 24, 2016)

ajkulish said:


> Have this same reel on a musky rod with 65 lb test and no complaints. it isn't a great reel or anything, but I have not had a problem that I can remember.
> 
> Also have 3 other kastking reels: legend royale legend 2 3000 for trout (happy with it), Sharky 3000 for jigging (very happy with it), and a royale legend baitcaster for bass (love it). I have rolled the dice now 5 times with kastking and have yet to whiff. I like a pflueger president best (great feel and drag) but my kastking spinning outfits are not that far behind...
> 
> I will also say, at least with spinning reels, that the cheapest kastking reel is better than a vast majority of any reels that came out prior to 2010..... Say what you may but they are smooth and have anti reverse...


You have a different size in the same model lineup. A lot of catfish guys lover the larger sizes. You can have tons of friction in a reel and still have it perform well when you are casting a couple ounces of weight. That's very different than throwing something that weighs 3/8 oz. And 65 pound braid is thicker than 12 pound mono. Maybe I just got a junk one with a larger than spec gap between the spool and frame.


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## motoscoota (Mar 9, 2021)

I have a Sharky and a Pontus by Kastking - both with the "Baitfeeder" feature - the lever on the rear.

Shimano invented this feature long ago and called it a Baitrunner and trademarked that name. Later, other reel makers made alternate designs of the same function and called them Baitfeeders to avoid the trademark infringement.

It's essentially two drags in one reel: A main big drag in front for fighting a fish, like a normal front-drag fixed-spool reel. But also a second rear drag for "live lining" natural bait.

This rear drag is only a light drag, enough to keep line from uncontrollably peeling off, and enough for a fish to hook itself, namely when using circle hooks.

The idea is that while still-fishing you can let bait drift little, and to better entice fish that nibble and may reject a bait if they feel it's not free-flioating. Carp, for example notoriously reject a bait as soon as they need to tug on it.

I got into using this type of reel for sturgeon from the bank & pier, since they notoriously nibble.

It's a nice function to add to a fixed spool reel for those who learned live lining techniques on conventional reels. Oldschool-styles of some would be to torque down the spool tension, effectively making it a drag. Another good old live liner was the original Penn conventional reels, since the clicker was so catchy, you could freespool but keep the spool in place lightly by turning on the clicker. Also many lever drag conventional are good for live lining because they allow two drag tensions. 

The downside is the casting distance is limited on these conventional reel live lining techniques, so when shimano came out with the Baitrunner, it was a total industry game changer. For some reason the idea has been lost on most USA marketing, but in Asia and the U.K. it was a total win for Shimano to become the single considerable reel for "course" fishing.

Since Shimano also patented the internal mechanisms they are really the standard for how this type of reel functions. Cheaper versions have been notoriously bad. But recently other reels have caught up pretty good and the Kasking is no exception.


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## ajkulish (Nov 16, 2013)

piketroller said:


> You have a different size in the same model lineup. A lot of catfish guys lover the larger sizes. You can have tons of friction in a reel and still have it perform well when you are casting a couple ounces of weight. That's very different than throwing something that weighs 3/8 oz. And 65 pound braid is thicker than 12 pound mono. Maybe I just got a junk one with a larger than spec gap between the spool and frame.


To be honest, I didn't know anyone used round profile baitcasters for anything other than heavy line or trolling!

And very true, I throw about 4.5oz lures lol.


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## mbirdsley (Jan 12, 2012)

I like their flouro clear line and their fishing pliers with braid line cutters. In fact I’d say the flouro clear is better than the pline flouro clear. however, I’ve never gotten myself to pull the trigger on last king reel or rod 


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## motoscoota (Mar 9, 2021)

I still want to try a Rover out. I'm not convinced it's crummy & It's a lot cheaper than an Abu Garcia.

I'm wondering... are those foam or Eva grips?


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