As some of you saw, I picked up a Dobyns Champion 734C on Black Friday. And as any good recovering Bait Monkey addict knows, any new rod requires a new reel to go with it. I've always been a Shimano guy, with a few Daiwa's sprinkled in the lineup. However, every now and again I like to branch out and try something from a different company just to see what the competition has to offer compared to the big two.
And that's what brings me here. I managed to get myself a sweet deal on a new Quantum Tour S3 casting reel in the 7:1 ratio. I've always shyed away from Quantum because of their quality whenever I was younger, but I figure that guys like Van Dam, Lee, Swindle, Hackney, and Ashley wouldn't be making all that money if they didn't have a competent reel to get the job done for them.
This reel has quite a few features that had me wanting to try it. The first thing that drew me to this reel was it now has a swing away side plate, rather than their old design that just popped off and could fall into the water like my old Tour MG did that I last had from Quantum. Some other neat things this reel has: a 95mm carbon fiber handle, a line size indicator on the handle cap, a 150 size spool in a 100 size frame (equals small and comfortable in the hand with long range casting capabilities), and an externally adjustable braking system.
All this sounds fine and dandy, but now I'm stuck sitting around all winter waiting for soft water in March or April. I can't wait to test this bad boy out. From what I can see of this reel already, it has me wanting to try the spinning reel version of this reel as well.