In my opinion, the Johnny Morris CarbonLite Tech Baitcast Reel is one of the best values on the market right now. I picked one up a while ago when it was on sale and have had it for a while now and have been very impressed with it. This retail price for this reel is $139.99 and at that price I’d suggest looking into a Shimano SLX XT A, however this thing goes on sale pretty often (in fact it is on sale as I am writing this) and you can also sign up for the credit card at Bass Pro Shops to become a club member which gives you access to their club member sales which typically give you another 10% off on top of the sale price. At that point, the price for this reel comes down just over $100 and I’d argue you will not find a better casting reel in that price range on the market today.
I’m pretty sure that this reel is made by Doyo, which is the same OEM that makes Lew’s casting reels, and if you’ve ever used a Lew’s reel this one will feel familiar to you. It has an aluminum frame and carbon fiber side plates, which means it will last you a lot longer than a casting reel with a graphite frame. I personally don’t prefer casting reels with graphite frames at all, and if you are going to purchase a new casting reel I would strongly recommend buying one with an aluminum frame. It will cost a little more up front but like most things you get what you pay for and you will not regret the decision as time goes on.
This reel comes in both right handed or left handed models, and is available in a 6.8 or 7.5 gear ratio. The right handed models also have an 8.3 gear ratio model available but I use left handed reels so that doesn’t really matter much to me. Having said that the 6.8 gear ratio is one of my favorite gear ratios in general as I’ve found it’s right in the sweet spot between the 7.5 ratio that you find on most casting reels and the lower 6.2 or 6.3 ratios that you find on most Daiwa and Shimano reels.
Another awesome thing about this reel is the breaking system. In this price range, most casting reels just have a strip of magnetic brakes on the side plate but this one actually comes with a dual breaking system and if you are familiar with the brakes on the previous generation Lew’s KVD or Lew’s Custom reels it pretty much feels like the same breaking system as the one you got on those reels. Dual breaks means you get both centrifugal breaks which can be adjusted if you open the side plate and magnetic brakes that you adjust with the dial on the exterior of the reel, and this gives you much more control over the amount of brakes being applied. I will also just take a second to say that I really like this breaking system for lighter lures like hard jerkbaits or squarebill crankbaits in the 3/8 – 1/2oz range.
Speaking of Lew’s the one thing that their reels do a little better on in terms of specs is the drag system and you will notice that the drag on their reels is usually a bit higher than the 14lbs max drag that you get with this reel. That said, 14lbs is more than enough for most use cases, and the Johnny Morris CarbonLite is also significantly lighter in overall weight. Based on that I’d argue that this reel is actually a better value than the current generation Speed Spools. I’m still a fan of Lew’s reels and am not saying they make a bad reel, but at this current point in time and at this price range I’d go with the Johnny Morris CarbonLite over the Lew’s Speed Spool due to the fact that the Johnny Morris CarbonLite is a lighter reel with a better braking system. One last thing I’ll point out is this reel also has a very sleek looking black and gray paint job on it, and will pair well with most rods out there.
