March 2008

 Dan Silverwood

The reason for getting that off my chest is that I like to go river fishing for Bass during the summer months with a light 9' rod and small reel. I bought this Daiwa Cygnus due to the fact my £99 Abu EON 5600 was a complete and total waste of money, I could never get it apart to clean it as the break blocks jammed it up, the magnets went rusty somehow and the level wind would go to the left of the spool then get stuck, all the things that turns a nice day out into a nightmare.

So I looked on ebay and bought this Cygnus for £30 in all, I have to say that all the problems that I had with the Abu soon went from my memory as this reel performs without a hitch, under full control and easy to open and clean after a muddy river trip.

How does it do?

Well I have been using 1 to 2oz weights and ledgering a good 70 yards, in fact my first cast got me onto the bank on the other side of the river Deben at Woodbridge. I have also gone very light with a float and 5 SSG split shot and can still cast under control enough to make the reel useful.

The retrieve speed is about right at 4:1, the level wind disengages for casting and engages every time without fail. There are only two slight downsides to the reel, one is the mag break control knob is very hard to play with and the other is the thumb bar spool release has got stuck down a few times but all in all a very nice light use reel for the money, the gold and black finish also makes it look great and possibly much more valuable than it really is.