Spy photos of a possible new Shimano “Green” Reel

Introduction: TackleTour has obtained spy photos taken by an angler at El Salto that indicate that Shimano is now in the process of field testing a new “green” reel.

Another angler at El Salto spotted Shimano field testing reels and at El Salto, we were able to obtain these images

When it comes to tackle there is perhaps no more guarded secret then when a Tier 1 reel manufacturer like Shimano prepares to introduce a new reel to market. Most of these introductions are made at ICAST when manufacturers set the tone for next season with a complete slew of offerings.

We are able to confirm that the Shimano angler is none other then Jeremy Sweet, product Manager for Shimano

In our previous interviews with the Shimano staff they have mentioned that extensive field testing that goes into each and every reel before it is introduced to market. It is no secret that Shimano has gone south of the border in the past to test their reels prior to introduction, and recently the Shimano team was actually spotted at Lake El Salto during one such a field test.

We magnified the images to see what appears to be a low profile green reel

We have obtained secret spy images from an angler that was also on the lake while the Shimano staff was field testing what appears to be a new green reel. Unfortunately our source for these images did not have a high powered zoom lens like the ones that we normally employ, but we are able to confirm that it is indeed Jeremy Sweet, Shimano America’s Product Manager for reels that was field testing this reel.

Jeremy spots the angler taking photos

Our source described to us that the team was casting a variety of large crankbaits, and that they were burning them back to the boat, we believe most likely testing the strength of the gearing. These pictures were shot without the approval of Shimano, and our source managed to get a few pics of Jeremy actually catching fish with the reel in one of the coves at Lake El Salto.

We expand this image as well, here you can see the underside of the mystery reel

Our source was too far away to describe any unique sound the reel was making, and only managed to get a few shots before he was seen by the Shimano team and had to leave. While the “green” reel was being field tested Jeremy was also being filmed by a video crew, we do not know if this was for an internal video or a media publication. We tried desperately to blow up the spy images, and you can see in our magnified images that the reel is a low profile green reel, and while we can’t specifically say what the reel is it is possibly a new reel that will be introduced later this year.

We will try and get more information about this reel that Jeremy was field testing, currently Shimano is remaining very tight lipped about the sighting

Conclusion: Calls to Shimano regarding the images we obtained were not immediately returned, and for the time being the company is remaining very tight lipped about the new reel, any specifications, or even availability. The team here at TackleTour is working hard to learn more about this new secret “green” reel that Shimano is field testing. As soon as any more information becomes available we will follow up with more coverage.