Even Deeper..................

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I'm purchasing 2 Stradic 3000FI's tomorrow and one Gloomis GL2, 9'0 spinning rod and a Lami Pro 9'6 JS spinning rod (the store has only one of the Gloomis spinning rods). This is a great sale, so made the call and had them store them until the sale tomorrow.

My son and I will only use these set-ups perhaps a total of 3-5% of our total fishing time each year. When the temps reach feezin' and below, spinning reels and rods with larger guides/bail's don't freeze up like the baitcasters and casting rods. Frozen reel guides and rod guides are no fun, besides cutting into lot's of fishing time trying to pry the ice out. Generally the temps rise enough by noon to allow for our baitcaster use, but oftentimes it stays below freezin' most, if not all of the day. Therefore, the need for these spinnin' outfits.

I've read every review concerning these reels that I could find (along with the Sustain 3000FE) and couldn't see the need for the step up to the Sustain. The Stradic 3000 seems like exactly what I need.

Having said that - to anyone, but perhaps addressed to Bantam1 primarily - from reading reviews from '05 to fairly current stuff, the main issue being experienced by owners of these and a few other Shimano spinning reels was that the bail was either a bit hard to re-engage or that it would just flip back over while casting at inopportune times, causing many to lose their gear entirely at the height of their cast or just mayhem in general, which we all can agree with, I'm sure.

I wouldn't like either issue very much, but don't know if Shimano has dealt with either issue recently, 'cuz some of these reviews weren't all that old. These reviews, had glowing reports otherwise, but these issues were not rare or isolated incidents.....unfortunately. No reason to bad mouth either as the rest of the content of their posts were, as I said, glowing.

Anyone know if/when these issues were resolved.....or not?

Thanks fellas..........................

[Bantam1]

We made a running change to the friction on the Stradic FI. This was the problem with the bail binding on the FI models. The previous FH models allowed us to learn what went wrong and lead to the development of the FI. We found most issues with the bail closing on a cast were due to the bail wire being slightly out of shape. This reduced the amount of tension on the bail wire pivot and caused it to close on a hard cast. The new design took care of these problems with the wire being much stronger. It does not bend easily.

Try some silicone spray on the guides to help prevent ice build up.

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Thanks Bantam1....appreciate the quick response.

My only question is your second sentence, but maybe I'm reading it wrong. So some FI models, when first put out, still had this problem as this sentence I'm referring to would lead some (me, anyway) to believe that some FI models still might be out there which haven't been upgraded.

I will try the silicone spray....great idea!

Thanks..............

[Bantam1]

The first production run had some issues but they were isolated at best. We went ahead and made a change. I doubt any of the old styles are out there. We reworked our inventory prior to sending any reels out. Anything made in the past 1 1/2 years will have the new friction ring.

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Thanks Bantam1......but I've gotta ask anyway. When did the 3000FI series debut.....?

[Bantam1]

September 2008

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Thanks Bantam1.......just picked up my two Stradic 3000FI's this morning.

I'm sure they'll work out just fine as we're way past what lot those earlier reels were. The extra spool is a great feature as well......