I've had my Aldebaran 51 HG for almost 2 months now and just can't get myself to really like it. It's a beautiful reel that is very light and compact. I am a big fan of the older 50e and 51e series Curados and Chronarchs which I naturally gravitated to the Aldebaran since line capacity seems to be very similar if not the same. Plus I finally had some funds to to spare for a nicer reel than my Chronarch MGL.
But the negatives seem to outweigh the compactness of the reel. For a $400 reel, it is considered a high end reel to my standards. I'd say anything above the Chronarch MGL are definitely suppose to be great reels. But my Aldebaran seems to feel real cheap when casting and retrieving. I have tried light flouro line, braided line, ultra light rod, medium heavy rods, light lures and heavier finesse lures and this reel just doesn't feel like a $400+ unit. Am I missing anything? I haven't done an actual comparison test but by being on the waters, my Curado Ks seem to cast with less effort. Even my 51e series seem to do better with less efforts of dialing things in.
Possible solutions? Could replacing the bearings get this thing to cast any better? I purchased some Boca bearings but am waiting for the Boca lock pin pliers to come in before installing. Moreover, for retrieval, would a larger reel handle possibly get this thing up to pare? Any suggestions on tuning or upgrading is greatly appreciated folks.
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