Antares 2019?

[Revofisher]

tried tackle trap and they had shipped out the last one so they told me they would contact me if anymore arrive in the mean time. I did end up getting a zillion sv tw though lol. with the price i had to get one before they are gone . especially reading all your guys reviews about how well it performs and the spool swapping capability im pretty excited to try it out.

[egore1]

Bryan at The Tackle Trap has pulled one apart to see how it's built... it's impressive in terms of quality construction. I unfortunately won't take a demo to fish as they only made a RH version, but we have already sent some out to guys and expect to start hearing on the water feedback soon. Too bad there wasn't a LH version

What is the ratio of your LH to RH reel sales?

Every year there are more and more LH sales...

I have one on the way from Gary, I will post up some comparison pictures with other reels when it arrives. I haven't decided what rod it will land on, might be an upcoming 844 MBR or right to my trap/squarebill rod.

Thank you! I'm looking forward to the feedback...

I received my Antares 70 in the mail yesterday, I’d like to thank Gary and the team at Tackle Trap for sending this reel out to me so quickly. I did a cursory look over of the reel and promptly spooled it with some 12# FL to do some practice with it. I have a small trout river in my back yard so it is a convenient spot to test new gear. The reel is fairly compact and feels incredibly stout, it feels really smooth during retrieve and nearly silent when casting. I’d say casting distance and the lack of noise during the cast are notable highlights of the reel. Here is a comparison picture with a Met and Morethan, then another with a Bantam.







The spool was very racy at first with a 3/8 jig, then after 20 or so casts things seemed to level out and become more manageable. I have a suspicion that SVS brakes need to bed into the brake ring a little bit on new reels in order for braking to function decently. It seems like all my SVS reels behaved that way when new. I didn’t test the low end ability of the reel as I have other reels for that but this reel impressed me distance wise with items 1/4-1/2oz of weight. The transition from slinging to pitching requires either a little thumb work or a slight increase in brake force for ¼ oz lures. If you owned an Antares 100A then consider this reel a narrower version that casts further and is more refined. Ergo wise it is comfortable for me, I have medium sized hands and can wrap my fingers around the front of the reel. When wrapping my finger around the front between the nose plate and my rod then the level wind pawl cap does contact my finger, this is not a big deal to me because I generally hold my reels with a different grip but thought it is worth mentioning. Also the handle feels tiny and I measured it at 82-83mm in length. The handles from MET, Chronarch MGL, Curado I, and Bantam will not work as replacements due to interference with the drag star. I tried swapping drag stars but the aforementioned models will not work as the mechanical brake knob interferes with those drag stars. I am hoping a swept handle from Avail will do the trick, I need to look up dimensions for them if they are available???



I did a partial breakdown to show the guts, no super stopper pawl here if that is of concern. There is a singular carbon drag washer and a dartanium washer under the main gear. The brake control and drag feature “clickies” but the SVS knob does not although the SVS control knob is easy to adjust. There is also a drag clicker with a design similar to my CQ200HG and the Tranx 300 as shown in the picture. Break down is easy, only need to remove one tricky screw for the handle nut cap (shown) and the three screws for the side plate and they aren’t hidden in obscure locations . Thankfully service does not mimic the original Antares in that regard.











Overall it is an impressive reel, yes there is some heft to it but man oh man is it quiet while casting and smooth with medium sized resistance baits (no fish caught to really test it). I bet people will really enjoy this one on longer rods like the 893, to help balance the rod while still having the small 70 series fun factor. I will find a place for it for this season and plan to sort out a swap for a longer handle. It is funny how small 82mm feels now that I don’t own anything with a handle smaller than 90mm. I am looking forward to fishing the reel when we get a reprieve from the onslaught of snow/rain in N. California (I am based in Nevada though). I hope this write up provides a little insight to the reel, let me know if there are any questions.

[FishNrace]

FINALLY, a side by side size comparison And Egore1, thanks for your feedback/perspective. I'll be all over the jdm leftys

[Dalleinf]

Very nice write-up Thanks.

[Slazmo]

Thanks for the pictures!

However it looks very underwhelming compared to the originals or be it even the Calais and Antares LV7 200 sizes.

Time will tell - and thankfully Shimano has finally said its "not saltwater safe"...

[DirtyD64]

Nice to know I am not the only person who holds issue with sub 90mm handles. I wish industry standard would go to 90mm and saving weight just meant different materials (carbon) or the weight race plateaus.

[Revofisher]

great review ! thanks for the side by side comparisons with the other reels.

[bronzebacks]

Does it feel about the same size as the bantam? Or smaller?

[Mike son]

Thanks for the pics. That is odd about no other handles fitting in the new Antares. It looks like Shimano "gapped" the space between the drag star and the handle using the handle itself vs. building up the material on the drag star to create the gap as seen on all their other reels. Nothing a spacer couldn't fix if using any other handle, you'd have to make it look good though

[HobeyBaker]

How's the casting distance compared to the Bantam?

[egore1]

Thanks for the pictures!

However it looks very underwhelming compared to the originals or be it even the Calais and Antares LV7 200 sizes.

Time will tell - and thankfully Shimano has finally said its "not saltwater safe"...

I kind of appreciate the appearance of the reel. It is nice to not have the gold plate on the nose that doesn't match with the remaining bits as older versions had. Also, my photography skills were challenged by doing the work in my office after putting my kid to sleep, so some more flattering pics will likely surface. Performance wise it feels much more refined than the predecessors, I have owned all of the versions. The original was painful to service compared to this reel and didn't perform as favorably during the onset. This new version should hold up decently based on what we can see from the design. The DC versions are really nice reels and I would still have them if they had a smoother retrieve, I was bummed out they put aluminum gears in those reels. They never stayed smooth for me. I caught my PB on one of those reels but they eventually moved down the road.

[egore1]

Nice to know I am not the only person who holds issue with sub 90mm handles. I wish industry standard would go to 90mm and saving weight just meant different materials (carbon) or the weight race plateaus.

Yeah, it just feels awkward to have a tiny handle at this point. I bet the stats do weigh in heavily on their decisions, yet this reel isn't racing anything else to the lightweight podium so who knows??

[egore1]

Does it feel about the same size as the bantam? Or smaller?

It is slightly larger yet is easier to extend my reach around the front of the reel due to less angularity on the front portion. The Bantam is a shockingly small reel. I have medium sized paws and no trouble palming the whole reel.

[egore1]

Thanks for the pics. That is odd about no other handles fitting in the new Antares. It looks like Shimano "gapped" the space between the drag star and the handle using the handle itself vs. building up the material on the drag star to create the gap as seen on all their other reels. Nothing a spacer couldn't fix if using any other handle, you'd have to make it look good though

You are correct, the handle has a sizable shoulder on it to space it away from the drag star. I hope to have some dimensions for other handle shanks by this weekend and sort out a suitable replacement. I will post up some pics if I get it figured out.

[egore1]

How's the casting distance compared to the Bantam?

For max distance with FL it certainly has an edge on the Bantam. The surprising part is how quiet and smooth the Antares is during a cast, not that the Bantam is noisy but the Antares is really doesn't produce much noise for a centrifugal braked reel. Big picture is they both cast far enough for me to think "I will need to really swing to set this hook". I look forward to chucking some reaction baits with this reel and seeing how it will hold up, spinnerbait season is beckoning!