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Reel Review

 

Fishing Lew's New ParaMag Featured in the Elite-Ti SLP (continued)

Retrieve: Lew's offers the Elite-Ti in one gear ratio, 7.5:1, in both left and right hand retrieve. The reel is equipped with a nice, long 95mm swept carbon handle finished off with two, double bearing supported, barrel shaped knobs made of Winn grip material. The reel's operation is relatively smooth but shy of that insulated, buttery feel some high end reels possess. I really like how the reel's knobs are free from friction, but I'm kind of neutral on the shape of those knobs. Lacking a flat surface to grasp or a bulge at the end of the knob to stop my clumsy fingers from sliding off, I did lose grip here and there while working my lure and battling fish. While they look nice, there's just something about those knobs that did not quite agree with me functionally.


The Elite-Ti's main gear is a hardened aluminum alloy

Power: Inside the Elite-Ti is an oversized gear made from an aluminum alloy. Power is sufficient for a wide range of conventional bass fishing techniques but somewhat lacking for pulling lures like Strike King's 10XD. It can be done, but I'm not sure this is a reel I'd rely upon for deep cranking duties. I think it's much more suited, and in some cases excels, at other techniques that are less demanding.


A look at the Elite-Ti's drag stack

Drag: The Elite-Ti comes with a maximum rated drag of twenty pounds (20lbs). This is achieved through the usual mix of carbon matrix and aluminum washers nestled within the main gear. Operation of the drag is, as expected, smooth and reliable, and free of unexpected stops, studders, or jerky pulls. At least that was my experience with this reel. I rarely, if ever, fish with my drag buttoned down all the way - especially if my leader is has a lower rating than the maximum drag.


The Elite-Ti SLP from Lew's sits very low in the reel seat

Design & Ergonomics: The Elite-Ti SLP from Lew's sits very low in the reel seat and is very comfortable to grasp and palm while fishing. At 6.3 ounces, it's also relatively light making it easy to match with your favorite fishing rod. Lew's goes out of their way to include extra features like a line indicator, flip out hook keeper, and even notches in the spool making it easier to attach your braided line without fear of phantom drag situations requiring electrical tape on the spool or backing to resolve.


The reel's spool features notches to secure your braided line and eliminate phantom drag scenarios

The reel has an abundance of bearings (two per knob, two at the levelwind worm gear, etc.) and both the drag and spool tension knob feature micro-click adjustments. Really the only thing, ergonomically that does not align to my taste are the afore mentioned knobs.


This reel is loaded with quality bearings including two at the levelwind worm gear

Price & Applications: Priced at $499.99, Lew's Elite-Ti SLP sits at the top of their casting reel food chain. It is a reel very well suited for a wide range of general application techniques. If a shallow spool were made available, the ParaMag braking system would likely support finesse applications as well. I personally liked the pitching performance of this reel so it will likely find itself on some of my closer quarter combo needs in the future. Were the knobs a better fit for my grip, this reel would also work well for me throwing vibrating jigs and other, similar baits. I may have to explore some aftermarket options.


Priced at $499.99, Lew's Elite-Ti SLP sits at the top of their casting reel food chain

Ratings:

Lew's Elite-Ti SLP Series Casting Reel Ratings (?/10)

Construction/Quality A nice, clean, well detailed little package 9
Performance ParaMag braking system performs well making it easy to go from casting to pitching 9
Price The downfall of all top end products - cost to acquire 6
Features Bearings in all the places you could want and a new, more free magnetic braking system 8
Design (Ergonomics) Very comfortable reel to fish full of extra little touches for convenience 8
Application A very good choice in a general application reel 8

Total Score

8.0
Ratings Key: 1 = terrible : 2 = poor : 3 = lacking : 4 = sub par : 5 = mediocre : 6 = fair : 7 = good : 8 = great : 9 = excellent : 10 = unbelievable!
For More Details of the updated rating system visit our explanation here

 

Pluses and Minuses:

Plus

Minus
+ ParaMag brake system is more free than traditional magnet based systems - Only one available gear ratio
+ Comfortable profile to fish all day - I didn't care for the reel's knobs
+ Relatively light  
+ Nice, long carbon handle  

 

Conclusion: After taking a close look at Lew's new ParaMag braking system in the Elite-Ti SLP, and discovering that fixed rotor on the spool, I admit, I was skeptical as to how true to the manufacturer's claims the system might be. While it is not quite as free wheeling as their descriptions would to claim, it is a noticeable improvement over the ubiquitous, standard magnetic brake system. It will be interesting to see if Lew's decides to begin outfitting some of their more affordable platforms with ParaMag.

 

Lew's new ParaMag brake system is intriguing. It will be interesting to see if the manufacturer decides to outfit some more affordable platforms with their new brakes

 

What I enjoyed most about this reel is how easy it is to adjust from casting mode to pitching mode. Quite often, the dial on magnetic based systems to "0" is not enough to ensure good pitching performance. You usually have to also adjust the spool tension knob. Then, when you go back to casting, if you don't reverse both adjustments, bad things can happen. With the Elite-Ti SLP, thanks to ParaMag, adjusting that brake dial is sufficient. Due to its price, while this reel is not one most would choose to fill out their combos, it is an excellent platform to experience the potential for what's to come from Lew's.

 

Looking for a Lew's Elite-Ti SLP Series Casting Reel?

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