# Help convince me that this is a good deal



## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

My local tackle shop has a couple of specials on at the moment. I'm in the market for a decent snapper/king/jew/allround outfit and I could also do with another light outfit (since I snapped the tip off my favoutite rod a few weeks ago). Anyway, they have the following.

Special 1. Shimano Catana 7 foot 2-4 kg rod (2 piece) plus Shimano Slade 1000 reel plus line (I'm guessing mono) $89

Special 2. Shimano Ian Miller 7' 2 piece Snapper Raider Rod (Its a rust coloured rod and think its rated 6 kg) plus Shimano Baitrunner 3500 series plus line (again probably mono) $289

The light outfit looks and feels OK (in the shop) and is certainly cheap enough, so I'll probably get that no matter what, but I'm not sure about the snapper rod -it certainly looks and feels nice. Has anyone got one or any comments on the snapper raider rod and is it worth the cash?

Alternatives?


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## DougOut (Dec 31, 2006)

Davey G said:


> Alternatives? since I snapped the tip off my favoutite rod a few weeks ago


a new tip for your favourite old rod  
will make a beaut (stiff) snapper rod out of it 8) 
plus leaves plenty of spare cash for a dozen bottles of Port,
just enough to get you through this bloody winter :evil:


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## abitfishy (Sep 24, 2006)

Alternative: Rack Raider Rod (I got the 7ft 1 piece bream finesse) and Stradic 1000 combo at Tackleworld for $199. Double the price, but 10 times the value I reckon..... 8) Keep in mind the slade reel on that $89 combo is way down in the spec/quality list of shimano gear.

I bought the raider/stradic combo the other day - Yummo!


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## onemorecast (Apr 17, 2006)

Can't comment on the rod, but I have the 3500B. Been a good preforming reel handling some kings, a few small sharks and and the old salmon with no problems. Someone has a 4500 for sale I think. Have been told that it's a bit more versitle as it's a bigger, but the 3500 has not let me down yet.

Good luck


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

onemorecast said:


> Can't comment on the rod, but I have the 3500B. Been a good preforming reel handling some kings, a few small sharks and and the old salmon with no problems. Someone has a 4500 for sale I think. Have been told that it's a bit more versitle as it's a bigger, but the 3500 has not let me down yet.
> 
> Good luck


yes I have the 4500 also and have 30lb braid on it - a great reel but a bit big for everyday stuff. I'm happy with the 3500B reel (which is valued at around $170 ish on its own) and I'll probably run 15 or 20lb braid on it, I guess I'm more interested in knowing about the Ian Miller Raider Snapper Rod than anything else. Does anyone else use one of these?.


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## Guest (Jun 27, 2007)

At Mo Tackle the Snapper Raider is $119 & the BTR3500 is $159 so yeah it does seem like a pretty decent deal.

Links

http://www.motackle.com.au/index.cfm?pr=product&product_id=206 = rod

http://www.motackle.com.au/index.cfm?pr=product&product_id=93 = reel


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

motackles actually cheaper. thanks for the links. now I'm more confused than ever.  :shock:


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## FletcherG1991 (Apr 17, 2007)

Whatever you do don't buy a Raider just because it has Ian Millers name on it, he may have designed it (partly) but its just there to sell rods, it doesn't come close to the quality of his rods.

Apart from that the rods themselves are a popular little rod, for the price there alright, but they are a heavy rod and they have a locking foregrip, thats my biggest problem with them.

Do you have a budget ? If you can tell me ill be able to come up with something.

Cheers,
Fletcher


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## Guest (Jun 27, 2007)

Dave perhaps one of these combo's might be better than the Shimano one, I reckon it would last a season or two longer 

http://www.campbellsprotackle.com/store/product.asp?ID=3658

Love the sales slogan too :mrgreen:


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## camel (Oct 4, 2005)

Dave

The raiders are pretty good rods for the money. I'm not sure the baitrunner is the best match for that rod. Especially if you plan on throwing plastics around with it. It would add a fair bit of weight to the outfit.

Regards

Anthony


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

yeah thanks guys, now I'm in a complete spin. I agree that the 3500 Baitrunner is probably a bit heavy, (and I dont really use the baitrunner feature anyway) so I'm thinking for the snapper/allround combo perhaps a Symetre or Sedona 4000 sized reel (around $130?) with a Shimano Backbone 3-5kg rod (around $90). THis will be a little better for chucking lures as well as trolling.

I'll probably snap up the cheapo combo as the Catana rods themselves retail at around $80 so I'm effectively getting the reel for nothing anyway- if it craps out after 6 months, no biggie and will give me an excuse to upgrade again!

Funda- yeah I reckon the Loomis/Daiwa combo probably would last a bit longer but at over $1000 I dont think that I'd live to use it once my wife found out I'd bought it.......


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## Jeffo (Sep 10, 2006)

Hi Dave,

Agree with Red, all my snapper have been taken on a symetre 1500/2500 with 4lb braid & a 7ft 1-3 or 3-5 kg rod.

But if its duel purpose (pelagics etc) different story

Cheers

Jeffo


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## wigg (Jan 6, 2007)

The Catana rod is good, so good that when I bought one after using it I bought another just cause it came on special($50).
Can you buy just the rod?
Can you upgrade the reel?
I have a 1500 Sahara and a 2500 Symetre both good reels.
I havent been able to stop a king on the 1500 yet but have landed a few on the 2500.
Thats just my 2 cents worth.

Cheers

Wigg


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## camel (Oct 4, 2005)

The Symetre is not a bad choice for the price range. Has a good gear ratio for pelagics and handles the salt pretty good. I got one four or five years ago. The only thing I can fault is the gold chroming lasts about 5 minutes. Also for the same price look at the Diawa exceler, I got one also, pick it over the symetre most trips. Has a better drag. That day we went out in Burraneer Bay the little 2000 sized exceler handled those bonnies effortlessly.


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

well i ended up buying something completely different to what i started looking at. I decided that i didnt really need the light outfit so concentrated on the medium (snapper/king) outfit

As i've always used Shimano gear I had my eyes on the symetre 4000 and a shimano backbone or raider rod and expected to pay around $130-$140 for the symetre and around $100 - $120 for the rod. But after chatting with the bloke at the fishing shop I've gone with a Pflueger President reel and a Pflueger Trion 7' 3-6kg rod. The reel was retail $125 and the rod $140 but i picked them both up for $210. His comments on the Pflueger reel was that they were a bit smoother than the Symetre, had a better drag system, have 8 ballbearings and were a very solid reel. The only downside he pointed out was the gold anodised finish on the edge of the spool which he said required a spray of inox etc after every use. The rod has plenty of strength down low and is still very light and nice and whippy up top for throwing plastics/lures etc. It certainly feels good, but I guess i wont know till i get it wet. I'll be running 14lb Fireline on it, so hopefully will be tangling with something worthwhile soon and giving it a good workout.

thanks for all the comments and suggestions. most of them confused me even more but i've ended up getting something that i'm happy with and within my budget so its all good


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## Squidder (Sep 2, 2005)

Good to hear you had a happy ending Davey   And a tidy $55 saving off the purchase price as well! 

RE the gold anodised finish - I have had problems with the shiny gold bit on my 2 sedonas, it seems very prone to corrosion (although I have been using them both on the yak pretty much every trip for 2 years) - it is purely a cosmetic feature on the reel and hasn't affected the performance at all, but it just doesn't look the greatest.

I assume your new outfit will be getting a run this comp weekend (your new rod and reel mate, not that weird jumpsuit you emailed me a picture of :shock: )


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

Squidder said:


> I assume your new outfit will be getting a run this comp weekend (your new rod and reel mate, not that weird jumpsuit you emailed me a picture of :shock: )


WTF? You're scared of clowns but you're OK with wierd guys dressed as cows? Squidder, you have a problem. Now MOOve along you UDDER idiot


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