New Doug Hannon Wave Spin Reel arrived Today I will Give it tough testing and review

[Awesome John]

Well the mail man stopped by to day with a smile. Hes a nice guy and he knows when I get boxes from the USA (thats it fishing tackle ) and I get really smiley and start offering coffee and sandwiches to to postal workers
So I was very happy to receive my new "Doug Hannon Wave Spin Reel"...

I just want to get a few thoughts out of the way first..... just to clear the air before we get started with this... I paid for this reel, I ordered it, I wanted to buy it. Its not a gift and that gives me the freedom to be brutally honest about it.

the thing that attracted me to this reel was something that I love "innovation".

there is a lot of whole new technology here... stuff not seen before... and that for some people like me is a turn on.... for me I have always been excited about new technologies that can better serve my fishing efforts, stuff like braided line, chemically sharpened hooks high tech drag materials... these legitimate innovations always turned me on... thats why I was so intrigued with this reel... they had the nuts to try to build a better mouse trap... there is a major effort here in general to "upgrade the design of the spinning reel"....

The problem with such an endevour is that these types of projects usually turn out to be marketing plan moves with bells and whistles just simple add ons given high tech names by smart marketing men...

As a result we are usually let down by the hype.... and that is why most of us are very wary of these bold claims... So I would normally dismiss such a new fangled reels as being "balderdash" .... but there is an X factor here that gives this reel credibility and that is the trusted name of Doug Hannon.. Those who fish fresh water will know Doug as "The Bass Professor" a name given to him by a sports mag that interviewed him and that name stuck for years.. They called him that because he has caught over 600 bass over 8 pounds and that is a major feat equivilent of someone catching twenty 50 pound stripers...

The thing that give Doug his credentials aside from the fact that he is a truly master fisherman is that he is also a renowned inventor with 15 US patents. Including the famous weedless boat prop to name just one.. His lure invention "the Snake" has caught the two largest large mouth bass of 2007 including an 18 pound 30inch large mouth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So the guy has proved himself to not only be personally be a great fisherman but his inventions have also withstood the test of time and proven to be "authentic advancements" and that is why I even bothered with getting interested in this new reel...

You'll have to wait a couple of weeks guys cause Im gonna put this reel through hell and extensive testing.. I have a short fishing trip planned to the southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey to cast for bonita and Amber jacks (now those two species will give any reel a run for its money)...
So you'll know the inside scoop on "performance" in a couple of weeks...
But First I just want to share with you my initial impressions about this reel from what I can see here in may hands at the moment....

Okey I want to specify that I ordered the DH5000 model... it is a true "salt water designed and protected" striped bass worthy reel... it holds 330 yards of 30 pound braid it weighs under 16 ounces.. perfect plugging sized, its size is like a 6500 nautle and I gotta admit it is a light weight very snazzy well built looking reel.. its got a Shimano/Daiwa vibe to it and upon close inspection you see that "a lot of thought went into this reel" (well I guess thats where Doug Hannon really put his experience to work) interesting features that caught my eye were that the reel foot is ergonomically tapered to "comfortably" fit right in between the fingers of your right hand as you clasp the rod seat..(hhhmmmm nice comfortable plugging feel)
its got a "lube port" screw entry on the right side plate to allow the angler to lube the inner working of his reel in seconds without having to remove the entire side plate of the reel. (hmmm nice touch)..
The handle is first class custom shop looking grade aluminum with a nice round roller handle like on the old Penns (hmmm I like that.)
The stainless steel screws and solid apointments were a statement of quality and the reel is a "smooth as silk" ( 9 sealed salt water resistant bearings)...

Well the reel is a sweet looker thats for sure..."black silver and titainium". whether its too pretty and can stand up to the salt water enviorment will be seen .. and the only other thing that scared me was that the reel was "too smooth" flawless like a Tica Taurus or high end Daiwa and those reels that are that smooth (so that its own handle weight can set the spool in motion) usually have a tendency to close during a hard snap cast.... Everyone hates to lose a plug to a closed bail and the extra smooth reels usually have this problem but let see what this one will do when I take her out for a spin... I noticed that there IAR is "perfect" and after cocking the bail for a cast should one push the roter till it locks then there is no way this reel will close during a cast..

Next as I examined the reel further I came across some tech facts about the reel the really surprised me..... like I wasnt expecting to see that it had a water proof drag that could muster up 20 pound plus of drag! The drag on reel is from outer space it is more groundbreaking than the pool design...
İt has "600%" more surface area than normal drags.. yup you read that right.. its 16 inches of surface area on 24 different surfaces covered with some kind of weird purple dust which your never supposed to clean... and can be tweaked for even more drag than 20 pounds for boat tuna guys...

The reel continues to surprise me.... here I was looking at the weird looking new high tech spool and the reel has shown me that its not juts a asian reel with a "spool gimmick" but its an attempt by a seasoned angler and inventor at making a well thought out high quality reel with innovations and work horse fishability... well so far so good...

I am gonna put some braid on this reel and take her out and try to get some wind knots which is the main claim of this reel "its spool design prevents wind knots"...



Okey I'm intrigued here and the reel is far better quality and "Salt water pro minded" that I expected it to be. In the package of the reel there was a DVD and in it Doug Hannon went through his explanations of the reels various attributes and said "I wouldn have gotten involved in a reel if I didnt think it was gonna changed fishing"...

Well it seems he has put his name on the line here... and thats a name that holds weight... whether this reel can live up to Dougs expectatitions or his previous inventions remains to be tested by time... but I must admit it is "very refreshing" to hold something so courageously "new" in my hands...

I am looking forward to casting this baby... 30% longer casts they say... lets see I'll let you know... seems to be a lot of thought put in this reel, and its good quality.... you know Im as curious ar you are...

I'll get back to you

[mitchman]

Thanks for the initial report. If I remember right, the frame is graphite, not aluminum, and that could be a deal breaker for me. Though it seems to be a well thought out and innovative reel, which excites me. Looking forward to the results after your trip!

[gman1253]

Really looking forward to your report... I spotted this real last fall & it was immediately interested in it. One rep I chatted with said (who knows if it;s true of course) that they immersed the reel in a bucket of SW to make sure the bearings & gears would not corrode.

Since I tend to dunk my reels, I am really interested. Good luck & let us know!

[MV Bluefish]

Can't wait to hear your impressions on the water. Put the boots to her!

[Mike Y]

Looks like something to look forward to. I hate wind knots.

[paddleshark]

Looking foward to the report John.. Looked up the reel and its affordable as well which is a plus.

This past season I took out the manual bail-flipping thigamajiggers in my Diawas. (as you see its so easy to do even a guy with this much mechanical experience can figure it out). No more breakoffs

[RiverRaider]

I want to see it's guts all laid out on the workbench.... Did it come with a Schematic John?

If so.... its autopsy time

[lichum]

Originally Posted by mitchman

Thanks for the initial report. If I remember right, the frame is graphite, not aluminum, and that could be a deal breaker for me. Though it seems to be a well thought out and innovative reel, which excites me. Looking forward to the results after your trip!

I don't like graphite frames either; when the reel first appeared here I looked at the pictures closely and I was quite intrigued with the spool lip design. If that design DOES increase distance by 30% it would be revolutionary indeed .........that's a HUGE increase.

[spinningreel]

Put 20lbs of drag on a graphite framed reel and the next time you hook a tuna, see it fly with the rings of your rod.

I think that's better than "bird watching"..

[lichum]

Originally Posted by spinningreel

Put 20lbs of drag on a graphite framed reel and the next time you hook a tuna, see it fly with the rings of your rod.

I think that's better than "bird watching"..

Does the failure occur at the juncture of stem and foot? That's where the load concentrates, especially when the bail roller is at 6 o'clock.

[spinningreel]

It actually happened to a friend of mine who went GT fishing with a graphite framed Daiwa to which I had modified the drag.

It broke at the stem and flew...

[BassBlitz]

good read AJ Can't wait for your report....


Eddie

[Awesome John]

I couldnt help the urge to try this thing out so last nigh I ppurposely "over filled the spool with 20 pound braid" I mean "just begging for it"

then I got me a nice wind knot loving super strike needle fish and spent the night casting into the wind

man you hear the reel spool "clicking" in mid cast as it caught the loops trying to fly off the reel and kept them in place until their natural order came up in the cast.... I mean you could hear it "clicking and catching the loops" I thought the line had snapped but no.... not even a scratch on the braid...

Hmmmmmm....

casted with needles, metal lips, and redfins "just begging for a wind knot"...
the wind knots tried to happen but were caught in mid flight by that ingenious spool..

Well I promised that I was not gonna write too much until ı really put the reel through "real life actually fishing conditions" that will be next week on the Mediterranean but for now Im just casting around my local dock trying to get a wind knot and it hasnt happened yet....

interesting...

more to come later

[Maruthu]

Originally Posted by spinningreel

It actually happened to a friend of mine who went GT fishing with a graphite framed Daiwa to which I had modified the drag.

It broke at the stem and flew...

So you knew what you were doing

Maruthu

[Bruce in RI]

John

Did you notice any difference in distance? It sounds like the wind knots are controlled, perhaps at the cost of distance?

Bruce