TackleTour

Has anyone tried casting lighter lure's on this yet like weightless senko's, 1/4 ounce plugs? I'm debating whether to pick up another Chronarch or Bantam.

What JDM retailers have these in stock currently?

jmudd wrote:What JDM retailers have these in stock currently?

You have a PM.

accodn2ryan wrote:Has anyone tried casting lighter lure's on this yet like weightless senko's, 1/4 ounce plugs? I'm debating whether to pick up another Chronarch or Bantam.

Probably depends on the rod/balance/etc. that you are looking for. I was going to buy a second Chronarch if the Bantam had 8 bearings total. I know that is senseless, but for paying what I do I can be OCD. Same would go for Daiwa, if they made a Z1016 and it lacked a free floating spool or other feature I'd just buy another Zillion.

I think the biggest thing with the Bantam is the weight. At almost 8oz it's a tank. Not going to balance the best with a 7'Medium style rod but great for the longer and/or stouter rods.

I think the biggest advantage of the Bantam is the smaller frame, the spool is only fractionally lighter than the Chronarch MGL's and I am not sure if the Silent Tune makes a big difference, but a few hypothesized that the short distance from the line guide to spool may not help in casting (may not hurt either). Having solid aluminum to precisely align brass micro gears should make for a reliable reel too.

DirtyD64 wrote:

accodn2ryan wrote:Has anyone tried casting lighter lure's on this yet like weightless senko's, 1/4 ounce plugs? I'm debating whether to pick up another Chronarch or Bantam.

Probably depends on the rod/balance/etc. that you are looking for. I was going to buy a second Chronarch if the Bantam had 8 bearings total. I know that is senseless, but for paying what I do I can be OCD. Same would go for Daiwa, if they made a Z1016 and it lacked a free floating spool or other feature I'd just buy another Zillion.

I think the biggest thing with the Bantam is the weight. At almost 8oz it's a tank. Not going to balance the best with a 7'Medium style rod but great for the longer and/or stouter rods.

I think the biggest advantage of the Bantam is the smaller frame, the spool is only fractionally lighter than the Chronarch MGL's and I am not sure if the Silent Tune makes a big difference, but a few hypothesized that the short distance from the line guide to spool may not help in casting (may not hurt either). Having solid aluminum to precisely align brass micro gears should make for a reliable reel too.

So I'm currently using the Chronarch HG on my Heavy Rod for Frogs, heavier jigs, and was contemplating whether to get the Bantam XG for weightless texas rig worms, some swimbaits, and chatterbaits. Now I'm thinking about just using my current Chronarch for the weightless worms and and lighter stuff, and using the Bantam as my primary frogging reel since it'll balance better on my Heavy rod and a solid aluminum frame, and slightly easier to palm. Other route I can go is get a Curado K XG.

I’m thinking that this reel could replace my frog reel

accodn2ryan wrote:Has anyone tried casting lighter lure's on this yet like weightless senko's, 1/4 ounce plugs? I'm debating whether to pick up another Chronarch or Bantam.

Has anyone here who owns the Bantam MGL casted any lighter plastics or crankbaits using 10 to 16 LB flurocarbon line?? Or can someone try a few casts please lol. The spool is lighter than Chronarch MGL's, so does it cast 1/4+ oz lures like the Chronarch does with similar ease...? I would really like to add the Bantam for crankbaits to my lineup of Mets/Chrons. The lefties should be on the jdm e-tailer sites within a week and should be sold out quick....

I think all these mgl reels cast very similar to one another.
What really like is that I use this gen of reels out of the box no mods.
These new mgl reels are so good that the other reel manufacturers are playing catch-up at this point.
Shimano is killing it!
I have: 2-Met mgl 1-CH mgl 1-Batntam mgl

FishNrace wrote:

accodn2ryan wrote:Has anyone tried casting lighter lure's on this yet like weightless senko's, 1/4 ounce plugs? I'm debating whether to pick up another Chronarch or Bantam.

Has anyone here who owns the Bantam MGL casted any lighter plastics or crankbaits using 10 to 16 LB flurocarbon line?? Or can someone try a few casts please lol. The spool is lighter than Chronarch MGL's, so does it cast 1/4+ oz lures like the Chronarch does with similar ease...? I would really like to add the Bantam for crankbaits to my lineup of Mets/Chrons. The lefties should be on the jdm e-tailer sites within a week and should be sold out quick....

There is going to be a shallow spool available too for the Bantam. Not sure how hard it will be to purchase, but it only weighs like 12 something grams. The link is around here somewhere on site. That is what made me want a JDM Metanium. Having a Bantam would be awesome, but even a composite framed reel is tough enough for me. Best bass I have ever landed was on my older Stradic Ci4+FA and its still out of the box smooth. Just cannot justify the price/weight of the Bantam yet over the Chronarch. The Metanium seems to need a brass gear upgrade so I'm hesitant of it also.

Anyone else have much time with the Bantam??? I still never figured out if there is a difference from the JDM product versus the US version... Thought it would get corrected, but the people with JDM schematics show 9 bearings and the US sites still list 8 (haven't seen a US schematic I guess).

Also, if I am not feeling the Bantam, are there any clues what price range the other coming reels will fit into???

i have 5 now thanks tackle trap. I have not tore any apart yet to see the internals of the reel my schematic says 8 SARB stainless steel ball bearings + 1 roller bearing. the reels cast great with the lowest weight ive used being 1/4 oz up to 1 oz which all ranges of weights where great still trying to dial them in. the metanium mgl still has the upper hand in casting for me anyway but i havent fine tuned the bantam in i feel. They feel great though i really love these for reaction baits the reel is silky smooth and you can tell the power is there. The reel is super rigid and sturdy as they claim. the metanium might have the performance edge but i really do like the bantam better overall even with the added weight which is fine in my hands. the bantam really helps balance out the longer more tip heavy rods like the nrx 894 for example, the bantam feels better on this rod than the metanium in my hands. Ive not had a super long time with them but Shimano has a winner here. In my eyes its one of the best quality reels they have produced in a long time. All mine have been fished stock so im sure the performance could be even better with a bearing flush and other tweaking. It is also a really quite caster thats another think i noticed first hand how quite the reel would cast.


































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Anyone have the link to the Bantam MGL shallow spool??? I know the site is in Japanese, but I could probably make the order still work when needed.

DirtyD64 wrote:Anyone have the link to the Bantam MGL shallow spool??? I know the site is in Japanese, but I could probably make the order still work when needed.

http://fishing.shimano.co.jp/product/reel/5341

flyfishy wrote:

DirtyD64 wrote:Anyone have the link to the Bantam MGL shallow spool??? I know the site is in Japanese, but I could probably make the order still work when needed.

http://fishing.shimano.co.jp/product/reel/5341

Thanks, resting right at $100 right now.

Initial impression: Super smooth tank of a reel that is comfortable in hand and a joy to retrieve - literally ZERO geary feeling to the retrieve. I will say (as others have mentioned) that while I have only 2 days on the water with it, the casting distance thus far is significantly less than Met/chronarch mgl. Only other minor negative is the thumb bar is slightly awkward on my thumb - I find myself always on the edge of the bar, not on the actual button.

Only time will tell where it will play in my arsenal, but I will hold off on grabbing a bunch of these in varied speeds - but i do NOT regret grabbing the 6.4:1 for lipless/chatterbait rod.