KastKing Speed Demon Elite Fishing Reel, World's Fastest 10.5:1 Gear Ratio/Deadbolt Baitcasting Reel, 10+1 Shielded Stainless Steel BB, CNC Lightweight Aluminum Frame, Available in Skipping Version

I have Spartacus, Royale Legend II, Whitemax and now the Speed Demon. Is there a difference between the Speed Demon and the lower tier? That is an easy answer is a blind fold test when you spin each real. I bought it to try it out to see if the difference in price worth the value. There are much more differences when free spooling and reeling in the fish with the speed demon. The Speed Demon is absolutely so much smoother and you can feel there is "no play". You really don't know/aware the "no play" until you spin the Speed Demon vs the lower tier e.g. Spartacus/Royale Legend II. It seems there is no tolerance/vibration in the spinning mechanism. I had trouble later with braided line after 30 min of using it and got worse after further tuning it: would get bird nest on every cast if I am not maxing out 10 on the braking system. And yes, I adjusted the free-spooling drag correctly! Not sure if it is the centrifugal brakes system related though I really like the magnetic system in the lower tier: definitely need more time to play with braided line. Thing really changed to be better when I swapped to 12lbs monofilament. These pictures show what a fun time I had this last weekend of catching shads. I filled up the 85qt cooler in 4 hours. If anyone had done shad fishing, you cast out every 3-5 minutes and I got zero bird nest with monofilament. I am not a die-hard fisherman but this last weekend it was cloudy and the fish was not biting close to shore but the long cast with this Speed Demon was biting almost on every cast. Other fishermen with their spinning rod setup were very jealous the non-stop action I was getting! At the moment, it was a good time and a good experience (beside the braided line incident) so definitely worth the money. I will update any resolution I have on the braided line if anyone want to ping me for a follow up!

I picked this reel up for baits that I like to fish fast like buzzbaits. I'm really impressed with the quality of the reel and even the packaging it came in. The reel is light weight and fits nicely in your hand. All the edges are smooth and feel like a higher priced reel.The speed is crazy. pulling in 42" of line with each turn of the handle is absolutely wild. You can crank once, pause, crank again, or just burn your bait along. I need to try it out with some other types of baits, but chucking around a 1" jig in grass with a reel this fast would be fun too.

I mean, you will see me reviewing all things KastKing, I absolutely love this company and every time I need some new reel they are always my first stop. This reel is no joke, it is HELLA fast so please get ready when you are pulling in your senkos. I made the mistake of not paying attention and just reeling like a "normal" reel just to look up and the dang worm was skidding across the surface, lol. I have not had much luck with the bass yet since it is winter but wanted to let any Christmas shoppers out there know that I got this for myself and really think it is a great addition to my collection. KastKing quality makes casting a breeze. Super nice and sturdy. Great reel!!!

The Good: Love the brakes. This was my first KastKing reel that features centrifugal brakes, and I'm happy to learn that they are much stronger than the magnetic brakes. I also like the easy fine-tuning you can do with the demon eye dial. I didn't have enough braid to properly spool up for a test, so I used some bulk leader material as my mainline. Though using much heavier line than I would normally use, I still got some nice distance on my casts. Additionally, the reel is light and looks good.The Bad: Mine came kind rough feeling. I stripped it down and lubed it. Getting some oil in the level-wind especially seemed to help. It's smooth now, but I would rather it have been so out of the box. Still, I don't know how long it had been in storage, so I can't really hold that against KK.The Ugly: What I can hold against them is one of the handle grip assemblies being either over-torgued or thread-locked down. The end cap covering the interior screw and two bearings is never going to open. With enough force, the whole assembly starts to turn instead, so I just backed off. I've never actually had to touch those bearings before on a reel, so I'm just going to leave it. It annoys me though. No possibility of switching grips without replacing the whole handle. That's what lost a star.

Do Not Buy. Purchased in May of 2024. This is one of 5 other reels I take on my Canadian fishing trip once a year. I have maybe 15 hours on it because I don't use the whole time. While reeling in, right where the reel guide connects to body broke. It wasn't dropped or slammed. Just reeling in. The plastic broke making the line guide stop going back and forth. This is a complete manufacturing defect. When contacting customer support, the only thing I got from them was Contact Brian in customer support and he will "troubleshoot" the problem. There is nothing to troubleshoot. It broke. The final email came today stating they're sorry for "any inconvenience" but the reel is past warranty of one year. Totally unacceptable. Buy at your own risk.

The Speed Demon reel has become my ONLY reel that I use. I fish from a kayak, and am constantly changing direction, fighting the wind, dealing with passing boats/wakes, etc. The ability to quickly reel in your line is quite the thing for me. I have also adjusted my retrieve accordingly around the speed of this reel. I have qiven all of my other reels away at this point, and own five of these reels along with the KastKing Royale Legend Pro Bladed Jig pole. Couldn't be better.

Absolutely gorgeous reel. Took it out to fish for deep bass on my local riverI took minute to dial in the breaking system but it is silky smooth and casts a mile.Caught a donkey!