KastKing Rover Round Baitcasting Fishing Reel, Perfect Conventional Reel for Catfish, Salmon/Steelhead, Striper Bass and Inshore Saltwater Fishing Reel, Reinforced Metal Body

KastKing Rover 60R Reel ReviewThe reel arrived in a nice box and a nice cloth bag for storage.Inside the box was a schematic and parts list. This is very good as parts wear out and often need replacement. The schematic was small but readable.The reel was larger and heavier than I expected but very sturdy. Size wise it is larger than an Abu Garcia Ambassador 6500 but not as large or heavy as a 7000.The line spool is solid and a nice gold color. It is wider and of larger diameter than the Abu 6500. I was thinking it would hold more line but I was wrong.The spool release button is larger and over hangs more on the KastKing. Attempting to fill the spool all the way up to its max results in the line hitting the spool release button.Both reels hold about 240 to 250 yards of 15lb Berkley Big Game Monofilament Line.I noticed that the level wind assembly was all metal and appeared durable. This compares to both the Abu 6500 C4 approx. $135 and The Abu 7000 approx. $149. Both run smoothly and track well although the Abu Garcia Reels lay the line a little more evenly across the spool.Comparing the level wind to a Abu Garcia 6500-S approx. $60 the Abu also lays down the line smoother but it has a nylon drive tooth that will not wear as well as the $52 KastKing 60.Then I decided to get down to business and get inside the reels.The good news is most of the drive gears and bearings are metal and strong on the KastKing Rover 60 and the Abu 6500 C4. I noticed the spindle size on the C4 to a little thicker but it appeared only a mm or so. I did not take the time to micrometer them.Comparing it to the Abu 6500-S there was more metal and the construction was much better. Comparing the KastKing Rover 60 to the Abu 7000 is like comparing a Ford F150 to an F350 Super Duty. There is no real comparison. It will not stand up to a 150lb bull shark on the other end like the 7000 could (at max).However I would have no reservations taking on a 25lb redfish with this reel.A spin test of just the spool on the spindle outside the reel body revealed that all three reels: KastKing Rover 60, Abu Garcia 6500 C4 and the Abu 6500-S could be made to spin 40 to 60 sec and appeared equivalent in speed. I ran this test to see how pimp able they were to modifications like installing ceramic bearings, removing the level wind assembly, and adding a magnetic brake cast control.The three reels mentioned above are all equivalent here. (The Abu 7000 spins longer because the spool is significantly heavier)Still inside the reels all of the Abu Garcia Reels come with six set able centrifugal brakes as well as one or two spool tensions knobs. The KastKing has only two and they are on whether you like it or not.The Abu 6500 reels come with 4 of the brakes set to the on position at the factory. I changed this to two for my cast test later in the review.Getting back to cast control the KastKing has two spool tension knobs like the Abu 7000. This is an advantage as the star drag gets in the way of your fingers on the Abu Garcia with only one on the right side.The clicker assemblies on all three reels were similar with neither really out shining the other. All were adequate to leave the spool in free spool and let the sound alert you on a quiet night bait fishing. None was loud enough to do this on the beach with the waves coming in.I put the reels back together and filled them with 15lb Big Game Monofilament Line. I mounted them on a Diawa Acculite 9ft Salmon/Steelhead Medium Action Rod.Attaching a fish scale to a loop tied in the line I tightened the drag all the way down and did three pull tests of one foot. The Abu 6500 claim 15lbs of drag but he C4 only delivered 14.6. The 6500-S claimed 15 but only delivered 11.3. The KastKing Rover Claimed 13.5 and delivered 13.8. The Abu 7000 claims 20 but delivered 27.7.The Abu 6500 reels and the KastKing were then set to 5lbs and pulled through a 20ft walk away. The KastKing and the Abu 6500 C4 had less than 0.5lb variance during the walk. The Abu 6500-S failed this test on the third walk.(The line broke) All three were pull tested three times over 20ft.Now we get down to the casting part:Three cast were made with the Abu 6500 C4, the Abu 6500-S and the KastKing Rover 60 using a 1oz pyramid sinker with a one foot drop down from the rod tip. This was repeated with a 7ft drop down and a Brighton Surf Cast and finally with a full blown Tournament Type of Pendulum Cast.All three reels were within the margin of individual variance for a single reel.The one foot drop casts went 70 to 75 yards.The Brighton Casts went 85 to 95 yardsThe Pendulum Casts went 95 to 125 yards.You will note that as I went to the more difficult surf and tournament casts the variance widened. This is due to my own operator error as I am not a tournament caster and the angle of release is not as consistent between each individual cast with these tournament techniques.The Abu 6500 C4 was quieter on the cast and the KastKing Rover made more spool noise but both beat the Abu 6500-S here.My final conclusion is that the KastKing Rover 60 at $52 compares very favorable to the Abu 6500 C4 at $135 and is a real bargain. Don’t waist your money on the Abu 6500-S at $60 it’s a turkey.I plan on using his reel of spotted sea trout, redfish, flounder, and other near shore species. I am happy with it.

Great quality. Oiled the bearings a bit out of habit. Drag feels 9/10, probably will get better over time. Casts a country mile, proper weight and setting on the spool as a given. Overall will buy another.

I paired Rover 90 with my 12-ft cast rod. It pairs well. I have not gotten to the ocean, just tried at a large reservoir, and it looks like it will do the job--if I get used to using a very large rod and reel combo. Practice!One thing to note is that the splice I tied into the line somehow snagged loose line when cast, and bunched up into a ball, and hit the line guide. Well, the wire was pushed out of the channel. What a bummer. I guess I should attribute this mishap to my fault. I just popped it back, and the reel functioned flawlessly. I cut out the portion ahead of the splice, and problem solved and lesson learned: do not splice a snapped line, no matter how long, if your cast sends the splice through the line guide. Duh.The reel turns smoothly, without any resistance or noise. I just cannot wait till how it will behave, when a heavy load is put on by fighting fish. Some complain that the clicker is not loud enough. It was loud enough and adequate enough for me. The spool unlock button operates positively, locking back up, after you turn the crank.One problem: the lowest setting for drag is still pretty weighty, yet at the tightest setting, I can still pull the line out. This presents a problem: a strong fish might never agree to meet me, after a long fight. After playing with it by tightening and loosening a few times, it has reached to the point where I could not pull out the lines. I could have tried to pull it until the 60lbs line snapped, but I quit before the line cut into the flesh.***********************Since the purchase of Rover 90, I added a Rover 60 and two Rover 40s. I bought the second R40, because the first one performed flawlessly since last summer, and I liked it very much.The spool capacity for .40mm 60# Hercules is more than enough for most freshwater bodies around where I live. My guess the claim written on the reel is legit: 140 yds. This is far more than enough, for I seemed to cast only about 70-80 yds on my 7ft. pole with 2 oz lead.RrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrChunk! is the sound you hear, when you cast. Of course, you need to adjust the spool tension according to the weight of the sinker you choose. If you are new to conventional reel (as I have been), you can get the instruction from online sources. This is essential, in order to prevent the line from birdnesting. Once I did that, Rover 40 never tangled up, no matter how hard I threw the lead.Kastking puts the reels on sale from time to time on amazon. I got the second R40 at the lowest price I've ever seen: 42.39. I would recommend that if you see it at lower than 50, just get it. This is a very good reel. It's not worth waiting for the bottom price and miss all the fun experiences, just for a few dollars' worth of savings.I caught a 28 inch, fat catfish with it at a small, local pond, and the fish did not seem to put up a fight at all! The reel is powerful, the gear ratio is slow at five-point-something-to-one, but it has a lot of torque. The cat just got sucked into the black hole of Rover 40! I actually wished the fight would last longer for the fun and excitement, but no, Rover 40 denied me that!Addendum:If you cast and retrieve the wet line after you have have wound it afresh on the reel, the braid will become soft (it matters not, if you use mono). In this case, the next cast will bury the line into the threads in the spool, and the line will halt in the midst of flying. This is how you remedy: unspool the line in entirely in a large field, and add tension to the line and rewind. This will keep the mass of line on the spool hard, and keep the line from digging into the threaded spool. Cast as normally, and enjoy fishing!

Amazing reel I went flathead fishing with it and handled 30 lb fish like nothing I’m for sure buying more

Cálculo práctico.

Nice reel. Smooth retrieve. We'll made.

I read a lot of reviews and watched a lot of videos about this reel. I was pretty excited to get it and see if it was all the hype. I'd say not so much if you know where to get reels for the best price. If you don't reel it perfectly it kinda locks up and you have to jiggle the crank and start cranking again, the line guide is ok but the machining leaves a gritty feeling to it while it rides the channels and guides the line, there's a bit of a bearing grind in the retrieve or something is just a bit off so the reeling around a 1/4 of the rotation has some grit to it, the tension and the brakes don't work in correlation with eachother instead really just two tension knobs on one side. The brakes are just crappy little plastic knobs on some posts and don't move that well to actually brake the spool. Altogether I'd say there's far better alternatives on the used market or for another $40 which is a couple spools of line you could buy a nicer new reel. It just has an altogether cheap feel and build quality that amount to an alright product.

So far satisfied haven’t taken it out yet but I’m hope full great quality great price not a huge fan of the style of the handle but over feels great might buy another one plus it came with a sticker which is always great