Will my rooblinos be up to the job a test of temu

[elmoputney]

This is my £20 Rooblinos ngk 8000 that I bought off temu, I've spooled it up with 35lb angryfish purple braid with Gardner shock leader and I will be putting it through its paces sometime to see how it handles the business of spodding, it has some plasticky bits but feels pretty smooth and the line lay doesn't seem bad, it's slow oscillating and a nice long spool, it has sealed bearings and carbon drag washers + a 20kg drag but will it be true to it's spiel and be Elmo proof or will I need to switch back to the battered old Aerlex after it explodes. Only time will tell.......... 

[B B]

2 hours ago, elmoputney said:

Elmo proof

And there’s the achilles heel of the reel  😉

The specks sound good tho 👍    …..if you don’t mind me saying Elmo I would have a bit less line on the spool 

[salokcinnodrog]

2 hours ago, elmoputney said:

This is my £20 Rooblinos ngk 8000 that I bought off temu, I've spooled it up with 35lb angryfish purple braid with Gardner shock leader and I will be putting it through its paces sometime to see how it handles the business of spodding, it has some plasticky bits but feels pretty smooth and the line lay doesn't seem bad, it's slow oscillating and a nice long spool, it has sealed bearings and carbon drag washers + a 20kg drag but will it be true to it's spiel and be Elmo proof or will I need to switch back to the battered old Aerlex after it explodes. Only time will tell.......... 

I'd switch back to the Aerlex!

Mine got a dose of Rocket Fuel yesterday, squeak stopped, still running smoothly and put out 2 buckets of maize this morning.

 

Just noticed that your reel is very full of line, careful that can cause Whined Knots.

[elmoputney]

1 hour ago, B B said:

And there’s the achilles heel of the reel  😉

The specks sound good tho 👍    …..if you don’t mind me saying Elmo I would have a bit less line on the spool 

I think it will bed down a bit tbh after a couple of casts, it went on quite loose, but I might have done a few extra turns than I should I do agree 😂

[elmoputney]

1 hour ago, salokcinnodrog said:

I'd switch back to the Aerlex!

Mine got a dose of Rocket Fuel yesterday, squeak stopped, still running smoothly and put out 2 buckets of maize this morning.

 

Just noticed that your reel is very full of line, careful that can cause Whined Knots.

Aerlex isn't all that tbh, I've never really felt it was a great reel it does the job now I've taken the S clip out of the bail arm but it's not brilliant, at the moment this 20 quid reel feels smoother,and nicer, whether it will stay that way remains to be seen. My okuma 8ks are miles ahead of the aerlex . They have brought out a new aerlex and it looks exactly like all the other shimano reels. And is now £120 looks like they have rebadged the speed master. 

[Barney2]

There will be little subtleties which will quickly annoy you badly

That’s my experience of cheap and/or copycat reels

I prefer to stick to proven big names but I’m not a mug for latest and greatest - mid(ish) range does me proud

[elmoputney]

18 minutes ago, Barney2 said:

There will be little subtleties which will quickly annoy you badly

That’s my experience of cheap and/or copycat reels

I prefer to stick to proven big names but I’m not a mug for latest and greatest - mid(ish) range does me proud

Yeah I dont doubt it won't be perfect, just really an experiment to see whether a £20 reel will be up to the job, if its OK I will use it, if it annoys me I haven't really lost much and will swap back to the aerlex or buy an okuma or something. 

[salokcinnodrog]

On 16/04/2025 at 19:26, elmoputney said:

Aerlex isn't all that tbh, I've never really felt it was a great reel it does the job now I've taken the S clip out of the bail arm but it's not brilliant, at the moment this 20 quid reel feels smoother,and nicer, whether it will stay that way remains to be seen. My okuma 8ks are miles ahead of the aerlex . They have brought out a new aerlex and it looks exactly like all the other shimano reels. And is now £120 looks like they have rebadged the speed master. 

I have really used and abused my Aerlex's, for fishing, spodding and marker float work. I know that the gearing is lower,  reel handle turns compared to bail arm rotation, but I actually feel that may be better in terms of the work they do. 

I think I got them around 2005, so to be still going with minimal care is some going, just the occasional drop of oil. They get covered in groundbait, occasionally soaked and still do Big Boy work. Not bad for an £89 reel. I preferred them over the £105 Biomaster I think it was then, although it might have been I didn't want to spend the extra £20 each on 5 reels...

I've said since that Shimano quality has dropped, reels were built to last, now they are built to be upgraded or fail...

I'm still using my 7000 Beastmaster XTA's for fishing, and still getting positive comments from other people on the syndicate.

The DL10000's I have just don't feel as robust.

Give me the original Seaspin Baitrunners, or the 4000/6010 Aero GTE Baitrunners and I would be happy with them on lighter rods.

 

[Barney2]

XTRB are fine, I didn’t like DL at range not enough feel too much flex in reel body

but I have all DL for light fishing at close range

I prefer DL 4000 for big fish on small venues

They are damn robust I tested one to destruction and it was very strong, it’s the flex body which makes them feel not robust while they are in fact more than

I think Baitrunners are still number one for a good reason, super reliable, line is hard to get under spool (unlike some copycat fairly expensive ones I had which I won’t name but I expected better) at £100.. it was bad, constant and extremely annoying

As I say I just fish light with small weights up to 40 yards out on small lakes I don’t do big pit blasting

[elmoputney]

11 hours ago, salokcinnodrog said:

I have really used and abused my Aerlex's, for fishing, spodding and marker float work. I know that the gearing is lower,  reel handle turns compared to bail arm rotation, but I actually feel that may be better in terms of the work they do. 

I think I got them around 2005, so to be still going with minimal care is some going, just the occasional drop of oil. They get covered in groundbait, occasionally soaked and still do Big Boy work. Not bad for an £89 reel. I preferred them over the £105 Biomaster I think it was then, although it might have been I didn't want to spend the extra £20 each on 5 reels...

I've said since that Shimano quality has dropped, reels were built to last, now they are built to be upgraded or fail...

I'm still using my 7000 Beastmaster XTA's for fishing, and still getting positive comments from other people on the syndicate.

The DL10000's I have just don't feel as robust.

Give me the original Seaspin Baitrunners, or the 4000/6010 Aero GTE Baitrunners and I would be happy with them on lighter rods.

 

I've bought 2 shimano reels since my return to fishing and I've not been happy with either of them. Like you say the quality has dropped. I wouldn't buy another one tbh. 

I'm okuma all the way now tbh, great reels for the money the 8k is a great big pit reel, smooth, great line lay the drag is perfect and they handle anything I throw at them. They are the epitome of Elmo Proof. 

I was looking at the new versions of the big bomber spod reel last night the 8000 has a 128cm retrieve, if and when the rooblinos let's me down I will probably upgrade to one of these, then I can clean up the aerlex put the dodgy S clip back in and someone will still pay me loads for it, because it's shimano 😂

[jh92]

12 hours ago, salokcinnodrog said:

I have really used and abused my Aerlex's, for fishing, spodding and marker float work. I know that the gearing is lower,  reel handle turns compared to bail arm rotation, but I actually feel that may be better in terms of the work they do. 

I think I got them around 2005, so to be still going with minimal care is some going, just the occasional drop of oil. They get covered in groundbait, occasionally soaked and still do Big Boy work. Not bad for an £89 reel. I preferred them over the £105 Biomaster I think it was then, although it might have been I didn't want to spend the extra £20 each on 5 reels...

I've said since that Shimano quality has dropped, reels were built to last, now they are built to be upgraded or fail...

I'm still using my 7000 Beastmaster XTA's for fishing, and still getting positive comments from other people on the syndicate.

The DL10000's I have just don't feel as robust.

Give me the original Seaspin Baitrunners, or the 4000/6010 Aero GTE Baitrunners and I would be happy with them on lighter rods.

 

I've still got my biomaster xta 8000 reels, my dad bought them for me nearly 20 years ago as my first set of big pits, even though the bail arms have dropped slightly, they are still mechanically sound 👍

I retired them last year but got them back out recently for catfish and they're still going strong 💪

[B B]

I had a Shimano DL 6000 giving to me that was 6 months old used it twice then gave it away I was shocked at the build quality just felt so cheap… A year later my mate said I got a reel you can have it was only the same reel 😳 had been around the house is a bit 

1 hour ago, elmoputney said:

was looking at the new versions of the big bomber spod reel last night the 8000

Got one Elmo, nice reel around £60 here’s a comparison 

 

[salokcinnodrog]

2 hours ago, B B said:

I had a Shimano DL 6000 giving to me that was 6 months old used it twice then gave it away I was shocked at the build quality just felt so cheap… A year later my mate said I got a reel you can have it was only the same reel 😳 had been around the house is a bit 

Got one Elmo, nice reel around £60 here’s a comparison 

 

I actually bent the central spool shaft on one of my DL's. I can't claim it was any fault but my own, it fell off the barrow when pike fishing, however the broken handle of another one just was not.

If I had a choice between the basic ST(?) or the DL, I would go ST everytime now.

The main reason for switching from the DL10000's was that I needed to cast further than 90metres, which I found the maximum comfortable distance with 0.35mm 15lb line on them. 

The joys of going to bigger waters from 2acres...

3 hours ago, jh92 said:

I've still got my biomaster xta 8000 reels, my dad bought them for me nearly 20 years ago as my first set of big pits, even though the bail arms have dropped slightly, they are still mechanically sound 👍

I retired them last year but got them back out recently for catfish and they're still going strong 💪

Built to last and quality. I think that it was just the extra money per reel that convinced me Aerlex was the best option. I had absolutely no problem with a quick half turn to tighten up the front spool drag and click anti-reverse off.

[elmoputney]

4 hours ago, B B said:

I had a Shimano DL 6000 giving to me that was 6 months old used it twice then gave it away I was shocked at the build quality just felt so cheap… A year later my mate said I got a reel you can have it was only the same reel 😳 had been around the house is a bit 

Got one Elmo, nice reel around £60 here’s a comparison 

 

Phwooar nice reels matey 😉

[elmoputney]

My latest rooblinos arrived today it's a 2000 sized reel that I bought to go on my old browning match rod, cos t me a small fortune £7 smooth as anything though lovely little reel. 

[framey]

I just bought some of the latest small Abu cardinals to see what they are like 

loaded up with braid for chucking lures after the bass of the back of the boat.

for 20£ each can’t complain 

if they are plastic then at least they can’t rust lol

Dam rod

the kids are currently chucking the older version of this around the rod is fully orange that were bought from AD and they get sling in  the bilge when we leave the boat.

 

 

the only problem so far 

on one reel the handle rusted so didn’t spin properly 

wd40 sorted that out 

 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by framey