Role of 2012 Antares in your arsenal

[hobobob]

Did a couple of trips with the new Antares and putting it through its paces. Here are my observations. I have found it to be an exceptional looong caster. I tried square bill, mid diver, spinning bait, traps, everything feels really really good until I tied on my favorite deep diver ( LC D-20 ). I can feel the reel is straining a bit with the deep diver, very similar feel to the 100A Calais / Antares. The old Calais 200apv feels much better / stronger in the deep diver dept.

My question to all who purchased the 2012 Antares, what do you use the reel for? and are you satisfied with it in it's current role.

I am still kicking myself for not ordered a Antares hg instead of the Metanium xg, that'll have to wait till bantam1's icast post. It's going to be an expensive year for me this year.

[Farnorth]

I fish for pike most of the time rather than bass and the extra power of the reel really shines for this use. It is currently paired with a Loomis 783 GLX and I find it is a bit heavy for the rod. Mine has the deep spool and it just feels a bit clunky (heavy) casting baits under 1/2 oz. It is lovely on the retrieve especially once you get into even a 7-8lb pike. Haven't done enough fishing with it yet to get into a 15-20lb example.

I am in the process of ordering a Megabass SRD to pair it with and it will become a dedicated big /swim bait combo. I think it will really shine for this use.

[thelatrobe33]

I just bought a used one and it showed up earlier this week. I finally had a chance to make some casts with it last night. Overall, I really like this reel.

The reel itself is gorgeous. There's just something about the Terminator meets Flight of the Navigator form and finish that just screams "WOW." When I mounted the reel on a rod I noticed that it is certainly not dainty. My one gripe is this reel is bigger than it needs to be for as much line as it has. The body sits too high off the rod making it somewhat uncomfortable to palm (even with my big gorilla mitts).

I threw the reel on one of my Z Bone customs and tied on a 1/2 oz Mop Jig to test cast around the yard. I set 2 brake blocks on and the external cast control to 3 and proceeded to make some casts and pitches. I immediately noticed that the trajectory on my pitches was lower with this reel than any other I've had. This may be a great reel for those of you that like to skip baits (get the HG though). I also notice that with 2 internal brakes set on I didn't need to have the external dial on any more than 1 to make overrun free casts or pitches. It seems the external cast control dial is almost unnecessary unless you start dealing with bigger weights (1 oz +).

This is the first reel I've had with micro module gears. From what I can tell, they work as they were intended to. The retrieve is as smooth as I've ever experienced with none of the hollow, geary feeling you sometimes get with other magnesium reels.

As far as application goes, I only see myself using it for moving baits. The retrieve is so smooth it begs for cast and retrieve type techniques. The reel would be very good for crankbaits and smaller swimbaits. I plan on using it for lipless cranks and 10-14' medium diving cranks. I'm thinking Shimano may have missed the mark by not having slightly more line capacity on this one though.

Overall I think this reel is great, even if it does have a bit of an identity crisis. It actually makes me look forward to the new breed of Shimano reels (and I'm more of a Daiwa guy).

[hobobob]

If you have the previous gen of 200 size Calais / antares to compare to, the new antares is actually a bit smaller and sits lower than the previous gen. Line capacity is the same: 12-120 yd, I was fool by the spool appearance when I first received the reel, but a quick measurement shows why. The new spool has larger diameter than previous gen.

[thelatrobe33]

If you have the previous gen of 200 size Calais / antares to compare to, the new antares is actually a bit smaller and sits lower than the previous gen. Line capacity is the same: 12-120 yd, I was fool by the spool appearance when I first received the reel, but a quick measurement shows why. The new spool has larger diameter than previous gen.

I've never held an old Calais. I also have a Z200H and it is bigger and has more line capacity but manages to feel smaller because it sits lower.

[kgasuns]

I am planning to get New Antares HG or Antares DC7LV for jerkbaits/topwaters in the range of 3/4 to 1 1/2 oz. And sometimes some jigs of the same range. (Still looking for the perfection rod for that application.)

Long casts is one of my priorities, because I have to comb large areas.
Comfortable palming is another concern.

For those, who have tried both, which one would you choose? (Disregarding price.)

Thanks!

[e_bassfisher]

spectacular reel for frogs and horny toads!

[Native]

I am planning to get New Antares HG or Antares DC7LV for jerkbaits/topwaters in the range of 3/4 to 1 1/2 oz. And sometimes some jigs of the same range. (Still looking for the perfection rod for that application.)

Long casts is one of my priorities, because I have to comb large areas.
Comfortable palming is another concern.

For those, who have tried both, which one would you choose? (Disregarding price.)

Thanks!

I'll answer your question from the perspective that I'm an above average caster and my Calais 200DC is virtually identical to the Antares DC7LV except the Antares DC7LV has a longer handle, 84MM, than the standard DC which can be a bit better advantage when applying torque fighting a fish.

First off the DC sound is addicting. I don't care if your an expert with thumbing the reel on the cast and not needing any DC control, it's just a cool feeling. The specs say the DC allows you to achieve an incredibly high 30,000 rpm and it sure as hell feels like it and looks like it 90% of the time. "The DC brake lets spool have about twice max speed (over 30,000rpm) than conventional brake system (centrifugal system, 15,000-18,000rpm), and allow longer casting distance." (re: http://www.japantackle.com/Shimano/Shim ... igital.htm).

I feel quite a bit more confident with this reel, especially when conditions are less than ideal, when I need a long hard cast and my thumb control isn't spot on. It's an incredibly versatile reel and can handle flipping and pitching, larger swimbaits in addition to generally longer casts. You don't need to put the kind of muscle into your casts to get the distance either, if you do, look forward to spooling your reel un-expectedly!

My point is if you can afford the DC model, get it, you'll enjoy it more than the non-DC in my opinion; how much more is up to you and your level of expertise. Hope this helps you some!

Tim

[Bootytrain]

I am planning to get New Antares HG or Antares DC7LV for jerkbaits/topwaters in the range of 3/4 to 1 1/2 oz. And sometimes some jigs of the same range. (Still looking for the perfection rod for that application.)

Long casts is one of my priorities, because I have to comb large areas.
Comfortable palming is another concern.

For those, who have tried both, which one would you choose? (Disregarding price.)

Thanks!

I'll answer your question from the perspective that I'm an above average caster and my Calais 200DC is virtually identical to the Antares DC7LV except the Antares DC7LV has a longer handle, 84MM, than the standard DC which can be a bit better advantage when applying torque fighting a fish.

First off the DC sound is addicting. I don't care if your an expert with thumbing the reel on the cast and not needing any DC control, it's just a cool feeling. The specs say the DC allows you to achieve an incredibly high 30,000 rpm and it sure as hell feels like it and looks like it 90% of the time. "The DC brake lets spool have about twice max speed (over 30,000rpm) than conventional brake system (centrifugal system, 15,000-18,000rpm), and allow longer casting distance." (re: http://www.japantackle.com/Shimano/Shim ... igital.htm).

I feel quite a bit more confident with this reel, especially when conditions are less than ideal, when I need a long hard cast and my thumb control isn't spot on. It's an incredibly versatile reel and can handle flipping and pitching, larger swimbaits in addition to generally longer casts. You don't need to put the kind of muscle into your casts to get the distance either, if you do, look forward to spooling your reel un-expectedly!

My point is if you can afford the DC model, get it, you'll enjoy it more than the non-DC in my opinion; how much more is up to you and your level of expertise. Hope this helps you some!

Tim

I think the Calais/Antares DC system allows spool rotation up to 50K, while the older Conquest DC systems allow up to 30k

[kgasuns]

Thanks! This helps a lot. Especially the part about the sound.

I am indeed a baitcaster novice. Have been playing with it just for one season. But enough to understand the basic "rules".

So DC was no question for me, but - as we all sometimes do - I started to get doubts. Thanks for setting me back on the light side of the dark side!