One of my passions is surf fishing in So. Calif. As many know, surf fishing is hard on gear. Salt water brought in on the fishing line tends to find it's way into the internals of any reel. KastKing's Sharky proprietary sealing systems claims to prevent this to a measurable degree. There is a fella on You Tube that has intentionally abused his KastKing by fully immersing, dragging thru salt water on every trip for more than a year on an earlier Sharky model. He's buried in beach sand more times than I can count.
After a full year of this intentional abuse, when opened up, there were but a few drops of water and virtually NO corrosion inside. The main, anti-reverse and bail trip gears were still in perfect condition. If that isn't a testimonial to the seals of the Sharky model, I don't know what else is???
I've been using the KastKing braids for more than two years now, find it was the tenacity, strength and sensitivity to match any of the popular brand names. Just recently tried the new Pro 9 braid and the co-polymer lines. Very please with both.
This is my 2nd KastKing Sharky 3. A 5000 series on a 10 ft. Hurricane Heavy rod or on a Med. Heavy Shimano for bigger surf game fish. I am amazed at the casting distance these combos allow. On the 10 foot rod, I can throw a 1/2-3/4 oz lure up to 80 yards or more.
Now, following the trend of light weight surf fishing pioneered by Bill Varney, a Sharky 3 2000 series on a 9 ft. Fenwick Steelhead/Salmon rod
for lighter surf fish like perch, mackerel, and croakers. Casting with a short leader 1/4 oz Carolina rig, KastKing 15Lb. SuperKast 9 and small
hooks for Gulp sandworms or grubs I can cast 60-70 yards out. Often right before the outside breakers, the inland shore troughs where surf fish like to feed. Unbelievable I can throw something so light so far but I feel this is the quality of the line, the reel and the rod combo.
Like the many others have mentioned, the Sharky is an incredibly smooth casting and even better retrieving reel. Smooth doesn't begin to describe how easily. how smoothly these reels work. Better than even some hi end reels costing 2-3 times as much and more.
If you are looking to get into some decent fishing gear without the high cost of big name brands, you'll be quite surprised and happy with KastKing. the jury's till out on long term support if/when the reels need some TLC. I can still buy parts for older Mitchel, Garcia and Penn reels. I hope down the road this is the case with the KastKing products.
