Ed.

Definitely worn out, but they are not all like that when dragged up the beach,  some still have a lot of energy left. Anyway nice beach, I showed this to my missus and was trying to persuade her go on a little road trip up there with the boat in tow. I know she would really like the beach and there is no ulterior motive on my part, honestly, really,..... but I may just have to bring a few rods up with me! 🤣  

So as I said before, and after watching these rods being made, and seeing they are all hand made, so how does a worker not realize that 4 of the guides are 180 degrees out  and continues finishing the rod, and then no one else checks their work. So end result is very poor quality control. The ones I saw should never have made it out of the factory let alone to a retail store.

BCF had a special on Abu Veritas 3.0 spinning rods a few days ago,  reduced from $170 down to $99.99, since everyone else has been selling them for about the $130-135 discounted price I figured it was a good enough, so went down to have a look, not that I needed another rod but I had been eyeing up that rod for over 12 months so just about to put it on layby when I decided to check for guide backbone alignment first, just as well I did as the guides were out by 90 degrees. The next one was fine, (picked it up today so don't know why I just didn't pick it up on the same day). Anyway I went to Anaconda today as I had about an hour to kill whilst waiting to pick up the missus from the gym and  as I was passing a rack of Shimano spinning rods one caught my eye as being odd, that one had the top 4 guides out by  180 degrees, in other words the top 4 guides were bound on top and the rest under the blank where they should be. Now I know that it wasn't supposed to be like that as the rest of the rods of that  model in the rack were bound correctly.
It looks like quality control seems to have gone out the window and the manufacturers don't care any more. Ugly Stik is another brand that also has issues sometimes as they seem to occasionally have two different spines on them so harder to align but the lack of attention to detail is spreading to other brands now. Does anyone else check the backbone/guide alignment before buying a rod? It is one of my pet gripes when buying a rod, the other one is missing patches of epoxy on the guide threads.
 

Here is a link of a couple fishing and catching a nice sized bull shark, possibly up at Frazer. Nice beach but you may think twice about going for a swim there! It starts off a bit slow but gets better towards the end.
 

So as I said before, and after watching these rods being made, and seeing they are all hand made, so how does a worker not realize that 4 of the guides are 180 degrees out  and continues finishing the rod, and then no one else checks their work. So end result is very poor quality control. The ones I saw should never have made it out of the factory let alone to a retail store.

So as I said before, and after watching these rods being made, and seeing they are all hand made, so how does a worker not realize that 4 of the guides are 180 degrees out  and continues finishing the rod, and then no one else checks their work. So end result is very poor quality control. The ones I saw should never have made it out of the factory let alone to a retail store.

Here is a link of a couple fishing and catching a nice sized bull shark, possibly up at Frazer. Nice beach but you may think twice about going for a swim there! It starts off a bit slow but gets better towards the end.
 

So as I said before, and after watching these rods being made, and seeing they are all hand made, so how does a worker not realize that 4 of the guides are 180 degrees out  and continues finishing the rod, and then no one else checks their work. So end result is very poor quality control. The ones I saw should never have made it out of the factory let alone to a retail store.

I also try to build my own for the same reason where ever possible but sometimes it is not viable to do so due to time and cost, however in a labour intensive process such as thread binding the guides, there must be at least one person that has to physically do it or check it and that is where their QC falls down as these problem rods should not pass, I may be wrong but I don't think that it is all done by machine and you would think that large companies such as Shimano, Abu and Shakespeare etc.,  would ensure that someone checks the rods before shipment.
The biggest problem with building your own is the component costs and even access to the blanks, and if you are just building a rod  here and there, the blanks are expensive to buy and transport  assuming that you can even find a suitable blank in the first place. Half of my rods are custom builds and sometimes I buy a built one and redo the guides to suit if I particularly like the blank and there isn't much else wrong with it. But these issues shouldn't happen in the first place and all it does is gives the company a bad name.  Shimano in my opinion is the worst offender from what I have seen regarding quality control and I generally try to avoid their products in general. 

I also try to build my own for the same reason where ever possible but sometimes it is not viable to do so due to time and cost, however in a labour intensive process such as thread binding the guides, there must be at least one person that has to physically do it or check it and that is where their QC falls down as these problem rods should not pass, I may be wrong but I don't think that it is all done by machine and you would think that large companies such as Shimano, Abu and Shakespeare etc.,  would ensure that someone checks the rods before shipment.
The biggest problem with building your own is the component costs and even access to the blanks, and if you are just building a rod  here and there, the blanks are expensive to buy and transport  assuming that you can even find a suitable blank in the first place. Half of my rods are custom builds and sometimes I buy a built one and redo the guides to suit if I particularly like the blank and there isn't much else wrong with it. But these issues shouldn't happen in the first place and all it does is gives the company a bad name.  Shimano in my opinion is the worst offender from what I have seen regarding quality control and I generally try to avoid their products in general. 

I also try to build my own for the same reason where ever possible but sometimes it is not viable to do so due to time and cost, however in a labour intensive process such as thread binding the guides, there must be at least one person that has to physically do it or check it and that is where their QC falls down as these problem rods should not pass, I may be wrong but I don't think that it is all done by machine and you would think that large companies such as Shimano, Abu and Shakespeare etc.,  would ensure that someone checks the rods before shipment.
The biggest problem with building your own is the component costs and even access to the blanks, and if you are just building a rod  here and there, the blanks are expensive to buy and transport  assuming that you can even find a suitable blank in the first place. Half of my rods are custom builds and sometimes I buy a built one and redo the guides to suit if I particularly like the blank and there isn't much else wrong with it. But these issues shouldn't happen in the first place and all it does is gives the company a bad name.  Shimano in my opinion is the worst offender from what I have seen regarding quality control and I generally try to avoid their products in general. 

BCF had a special on Abu Veritas 3.0 spinning rods a few days ago,  reduced from $170 down to $99.99, since everyone else has been selling them for about the $130-135 discounted price I figured it was a good enough, so went down to have a look, not that I needed another rod but I had been eyeing up that rod for over 12 months so just about to put it on layby when I decided to check for guide backbone alignment first, just as well I did as the guides were out by 90 degrees. The next one was fine, (picked it up today so don't know why I just didn't pick it up on the same day). Anyway I went to Anaconda today as I had about an hour to kill whilst waiting to pick up the missus from the gym and  as I was passing a rack of Shimano spinning rods one caught my eye as being odd, that one had the top 4 guides out by  180 degrees, in other words the top 4 guides were bound on top and the rest under the blank where they should be. Now I know that it wasn't supposed to be like that as the rest of the rods of that  model in the rack were bound correctly.
It looks like quality control seems to have gone out the window and the manufacturers don't care any more. Ugly Stik is another brand that also has issues sometimes as they seem to occasionally have two different spines on them so harder to align but the lack of attention to detail is spreading to other brands now. Does anyone else check the backbone/guide alignment before buying a rod? It is one of my pet gripes when buying a rod, the other one is missing patches of epoxy on the guide threads.
 

Cuttlefish grow to quite a large size, when I was young I speared one down in Victoria off the Mt.Martha rocks and the body was about 60 cm without the tentacles, it lit up like a neon Chrismas tree when I shot it, flashing neon  blues and green patterns on it's skin, when I grabbed the spear it was try trying to get to me and I had to squeeze the spear against the gun and pin it to stop it from getting to me. They can be nasty buggers when attacked.

Cuttlefish grow to quite a large size, when I was young I speared one down in Victoria off the Mt.Martha rocks and the body was about 60 cm without the tentacles, it lit up like a neon Chrismas tree when I shot it, flashing neon  blues and green patterns on it's skin, when I grabbed the spear it was try trying to get to me and I had to squeeze the spear against the gun and pin it to stop it from getting to me. They can be nasty buggers when attacked.

Cuttlefish grow to quite a large size, when I was young I speared one down in Victoria off the Mt.Martha rocks and the body was about 60 cm without the tentacles, it lit up like a neon Chrismas tree when I shot it, flashing neon  blues and green patterns on it's skin, when I grabbed the spear it was try trying to get to me and I had to squeeze the spear against the gun and pin it to stop it from getting to me. They can be nasty buggers when attacked.

Cuttlefish grow to quite a large size, when I was young I speared one down in Victoria off the Mt.Martha rocks and the body was about 60 cm without the tentacles, it lit up like a neon Chrismas tree when I shot it, flashing neon  blues and green patterns on it's skin, when I grabbed the spear it was try trying to get to me and I had to squeeze the spear against the gun and pin it to stop it from getting to me. They can be nasty buggers when attacked.

Yep, those little buggers are nasty, we get a few of them up in the Passage up Bribie Island way. I never handle them, just cut them off the hook, seems that their mouth can stretch over most smallish hooks.

Yep, those little buggers are nasty, we get a few of them up in the Passage up Bribie Island way. I never handle them, just cut them off the hook, seems that their mouth can stretch over most smallish hooks.

I have one of those, it is my largest sized Penn Fathom,  it is still a compact but  a powerful reel, it holds less line than the the TLD-25 but has 50% more drag, an extra bearing and has an all metal frame vs graphite of the TLD, plus it has a thrust bearing and 2 speed which your TLD doesn't. The next size up the FTH40NLD2 is physically larger again probably getting closer to the size of the TLD-25 but a bit smaller and the drag is 3kg bigger than the 30 version but almost twice as much as the TLD-25 (18.1 vs 10Kg). Having said that, in my opinion  the FTH30LD2 will probably cope with anything that swims in Morton Bay barring a 3-4mt shark.
If you wanted to go for larger fish such as a large Marlin off shore then I would suggest going to the MAK-30II but that would set you back more than 2.5 times the price of this one. But that reel is physically more than twice the size, weight, line capacity and price and not suited for just generally fishing in the bay. It is just too big whereas the FTH30LD2 I have fished all day with it trolling, bottom bashing etc., so a good all round large reel capable of tackling pretty much everything that you hook up on it without being overly big, heavy or expensive.
Pity you aren't in my part of town as you could have a look at my rods and reels to compare them against each other. If you do want to come up my way and have a look at them, PM me and I will give you my details. It is important to have a feel of these reels to see if you like the feel of them, as I said before, what I like in a reel may not be the same as your likes.
Ed.

Hi Greg, Unfortunately  I don't know as much as you think I know 🤔 and buying reels is a preference thing, what I like in a reel others may dislike, so a bit of my history so you know where I am coming from, unfortunately it is going to be a bit of an essay so bear with me.
I have owned several (3) TLD's in the past when I first started buying lever drags, also Okuma Titus Gold, Tica's and also Daiwa Saltists and a Daiwa Tournament reel  plus a few others. I have never ever  liked the TLD's from day one, didn't like the drags on them but that is just me, other people like them, people catch a lot of fish on them and they have been around for ages.  The TLD's are a more "affordable version" lever drag model that Shimano sells, nothing wrong in that, as I said people still catch a lot of fish with them and like them, but I think that they are a "budget reel" and that there are better reels out there.
Shimanos' next range above those are the Tyrnos range which I have owned 2 of them, a 20 and a 30, the 20 is just a narrow version of the 30. Those I liked much better than the TLD's but sold them off as well as most of my gear when I had medical issues and was about to give fishing away. Anyway most medical issues fixed so back to fishing gear, looking around I found the Penn Fathoms, read what people said about them and read the specs, they are small and compact and they have decent drags along  with thrust bearings and double dawgs plus anti reverse bearings, the Daiwa Saltists were prone to corrosion and the drags weren't as powerful as I liked, so got rid of those, bought the Fathoms in 2 x 15's, 1 x 30 and recently a 25N. Only wish I have with the 30 and 25N is that they should have harness lugs on them and 15 should have a magnetic control for casting,  again a wish list and  preference thing. 
The SLT-50W Daiwa tournament reel I got, I sold almost as soon as I bought it as I bought it sight unseen,  I didn't like the way it had the gear change in them, it is effective but didn't feel right to me, to change gears you pull the handle away from the body and push in to go back, whilst it works quickly I prefer the push button/lever approach as it is too easy to for the gears to get changed in the heat of the moment when you are cranking furiously.
Always wanted a Tiagra as I heard that they were really good but they too expensive for my budget at the time, anyway when I got some cash I started looking for a replacement large lever drag and was heading towards the Tiagra but did the research on alternative brands in that class. So before I was going to hand out  a large wad of cash I went and had a look and feel of the Okuma Makairas, Penn Inters', Tiagras, Fin-nor and one other which I can't think of at the moment. The Makairas felt a lot better to me, it had thrust bearings, silent when releasing  or getting line, (a big thing for me), helical cut gears makes for much less strain when winding and smooth as including huge drags. Getting back to the silent part, what I mean by that is that when you wind up the spool or it unwinds under load it is silent, unlike the others where you can hear the anti reverse dawgs clicking away which grates on my nerves, I don't mind noise but only when the clicker is on and at no other time.
Okuma had teamed up with Tiburon who designed the new generation of Makairas and they were a success. So I bought a 30II and then some time later a 50WII, the 30II covers most of the larger fish I am likely to fish for and the 50WII is only for ballooning for the larger line capacity capacity and they have a  ridiculous massive drag. They are really nice reels but they are big and heavy and will probably outlast you.  Not the sort of reels you want to bottom bash with for any length of time and certainly not to cast with. I recently contemplated getting a 15II size in them but decided against it as that one is similar to the Fathoms I have, very nice reel but it is heavier and twice the price of an equivalent Penn Fathom so of no real benefit. 
Can't comment on the Penn Senator, never used one as I don't like the old retro design style, again preference thing, similar thing to the TLDs, they have caught heaps of fish and some people like them but I have never used or owned one.
So after this very long rant back to your original question, which reel?
Whenever buying a reel in my opinion you have to work out what fish you want to catch, how are you going to catch it, ie, bottom bashing , jigging, casting, trolling etc, and is that fish likely to be in the area you want to fish, will  your chosen reel be able to cope with that fish if you are lucky enough to hook one, does it have enough drag and line capacity and  are you comfortable using that "short listed" reel, and what is your budget? Lastly what percentage of good reviews verses bad have been put up. All manufacturers have a couple of lemons whether by design are they just random production issues. So you have to decide whether a reel has a systemic problem or just a few bad apples in a large good bunch.  Bear in mind the majority of people don't write good reviews and most just complain about the bad ones so that does skew the results a bit.
All of my  lever drags are in two speeds, because when fishing heavier line classes you may sometimes just need to winch a stubborn fish up and a lower gear may save you wearing out prematurely, pump and wind is the go but sometime brute winching power is required.  So as you should be able to tell by now I do not have blind brand loyalty, If a reel is good, I buy it if not there are a ton of others to choose from.
Have a look at the Penn Fathoms for the smaller sized  trolling/general reels but once you get up to the 30 size and above at this stage my pick would be the Makairas, if you are jigging then back to the Fathoms, if budget is a concern then maybe the Squalls. Shimano also make some light weight lever drag reels which some people really like, as I have never used them, I can't comment  on their  worth. These are just are my preferences, so aren't you sorry now that you asked me.😉
 
Cheers
Ed.
 
 
 
 

I don't know about that,  aren't politicians the same sort of critters and always looking to devour something? and there seems to heaps of them in the A.C.T! 🤣

I don't know about that,  aren't politicians the same sort of critters and always looking to devour something? and there seems to heaps of them in the A.C.T! 🤣

I have one of those, it is my largest sized Penn Fathom,  it is still a compact but  a powerful reel, it holds less line than the the TLD-25 but has 50% more drag, an extra bearing and has an all metal frame vs graphite of the TLD, plus it has a thrust bearing and 2 speed which your TLD doesn't. The next size up the FTH40NLD2 is physically larger again probably getting closer to the size of the TLD-25 but a bit smaller and the drag is 3kg bigger than the 30 version but almost twice as much as the TLD-25 (18.1 vs 10Kg). Having said that, in my opinion  the FTH30LD2 will probably cope with anything that swims in Morton Bay barring a 3-4mt shark.
If you wanted to go for larger fish such as a large Marlin off shore then I would suggest going to the MAK-30II but that would set you back more than 2.5 times the price of this one. But that reel is physically more than twice the size, weight, line capacity and price and not suited for just generally fishing in the bay. It is just too big whereas the FTH30LD2 I have fished all day with it trolling, bottom bashing etc., so a good all round large reel capable of tackling pretty much everything that you hook up on it without being overly big, heavy or expensive.
Pity you aren't in my part of town as you could have a look at my rods and reels to compare them against each other. If you do want to come up my way and have a look at them, PM me and I will give you my details. It is important to have a feel of these reels to see if you like the feel of them, as I said before, what I like in a reel may not be the same as your likes.
Ed.

I have one of those, it is my largest sized Penn Fathom,  it is still a compact but  a powerful reel, it holds less line than the the TLD-25 but has 50% more drag, an extra bearing and has an all metal frame vs graphite of the TLD, plus it has a thrust bearing and 2 speed which your TLD doesn't. The next size up the FTH40NLD2 is physically larger again probably getting closer to the size of the TLD-25 but a bit smaller and the drag is 3kg bigger than the 30 version but almost twice as much as the TLD-25 (18.1 vs 10Kg). Having said that, in my opinion  the FTH30LD2 will probably cope with anything that swims in Morton Bay barring a 3-4mt shark.
If you wanted to go for larger fish such as a large Marlin off shore then I would suggest going to the MAK-30II but that would set you back more than 2.5 times the price of this one. But that reel is physically more than twice the size, weight, line capacity and price and not suited for just generally fishing in the bay. It is just too big whereas the FTH30LD2 I have fished all day with it trolling, bottom bashing etc., so a good all round large reel capable of tackling pretty much everything that you hook up on it without being overly big, heavy or expensive.
Pity you aren't in my part of town as you could have a look at my rods and reels to compare them against each other. If you do want to come up my way and have a look at them, PM me and I will give you my details. It is important to have a feel of these reels to see if you like the feel of them, as I said before, what I like in a reel may not be the same as your likes.
Ed.

I don't know about that,  aren't politicians the same sort of critters and always looking to devour something? and there seems to heaps of them in the A.C.T! 🤣