KastKing Zephyr 1000 SFS Spinning Reel New

I bought two reels for two different rods. They work great, as has thus far been my experience with KastKing. However, my problem is of my own creation. I have learned to not use greater than 12lb test monofilament line because it can cause rapid entanglement. I tried this so you don't have to. It's a great product.

Just threw this on my new finesse spinning rod for bass fishing. Didn’t have much time this morning but wanted to get a few casts out with some whopper ploppers, cranks and jerks. Paired with my new rod, and Kastking 10lb braid I was able to bomb my casts further than I could imaging with these light weight lures. Looking forward to catching some lunkers and wipers this weekend with it. The retrieve was very smooth.

This is fine for what it is, an inexpensive lightweight shallow spool 1000. The weight is actually impressive. I mean the capability, not the literal weight, which is very light. But I'd argue the drag is fine for 95% of ANY bass fishing, much less finesse fishing, which it easily handles. Now the bad parts. The spool is woefully small and shallow. With a measly 8lb flouro I doubt it can hold 50yd. You need to go light braid to have enough line to be versatile at all. I tried spooling more, because it does say it should be able to handle it. But I met excessive tangling, including severe knots under the spool around the center post, as other reviewers have mentioned. After trimming all the knots out and being left with a max capability of around 50yd, I find it's incredibly difficult to get any distance on a cast. Basically if you spool it to the specifications printed right on it, you'll 100% get knots, then you trim and you go straight to not spooled enough to the point where you can't cast worth a darn. And even if you do, you only have 50y or so to work with. So if you're like me and wanted a lightweight reel that could do it all, or "do it most", this is probably not the right choice. If you have a very specific finesse setup in mind it might be awesome. And finally, as I've seen with KastKing products in the past, the quality is not quite up to par. Very plasticky. Sure it might be equal or slightly better than the major brands at the same price. But I certainly wouldn't say it's tremendous value as far as build quality goes. Still, I'll give it 5 stars because people should do their research and know what they're buying. Although, it might not last. The last KastKing I bought was a Megatron that was completely destroyed and returned after a week or so. We'll see!

Quality seems to be hit or miss . I own four of these newer models and two of the original SFS Zephyr 1000 reels . I ordered another , got overnight delivery, but I’m afraid I got a reel that had been returned at least once before . The reel wasn’t in the box the way they come from the factory. When I attached the handle and turned the handle , I knew immediately I’d gotten a bad reel . The reel would hardly turn . I’m sure if this reel would have been sent back to KastKing, instead of being put back on the shelf to resale , they would have replaced it and this wouldn’t have happened, at least twice . I hope this reel doesn’t get approved to be sold again. Disappointing to be expecting a new smooth reel and get one that doesn’t perform.

It’s great until I handed it to my kid and he took it for himself. wish I bought a bigger reel so have more line but works great for pan fishing.