Fin-nor Lethal 100 spinning reel

[scshark]

for me its a boat reel... this year is all spinner setups..

already have a few of alan hawks top picks..

vm150's, cabo80's, few battle's, just waiting for the lt100 to get back in stock and i will order 2..  probably finish off the spinners for the year..

most all of my combo's are overkill or inshore/jetty fishing but they work well.  5'8xh,5'xxh's 6'6mh are about all i fish in the trevala,torque jigging rods..

i think the lt100's will be on the upper side of the size range for what i like or what feels like a fitted combo.  cabo80 is about the biggest spinner frame/spool id like to go with but i will get the fin nor lt100's reguardless just because of the review given.

i have 1 junky combo that is a penn slammer on a torque 5'8 jigging i will pull that appart and put the slammer on a ugly stick tiger jigging rod and put a lt100 on the torque jigging and proably look at another trevala6'6 or something on the lines of a plasma star jigging.. the jigging seem to be the ticket for backbone and yet light rods..  the xxh are beast's and barley get a workout:(

but yea i dont think the quality is a concern and am glad they are leaps and bounds betterthan the offshore9500 or whatever the last gen fin nor was... herd to many horror stories on them and had really looked the other way till alan hawk did his review now i wishi  had jumped on 2 when they hit for 100 on ebay.. u know they will be 120-130+ now with the review.

[scshark]

i wish alan hawk would do a review on the 40-60-80 or a smaller lethal... see how they stack up to the 100

[BridgeTender]

I know they are hard to find right now.. my local shop had a couple of Lethal 100's in stock , almost bought one the other day....but , comparing the two side by side I picked up the 8500 V instead. The grip fit better in my hand and 8500 is quite a bit smoother , hope it stays like that. I'm free lining live baits with it. As far as weight goes , if you were blind folded you wouldn't be able to tell the two apart.

[feds27]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JettyGuy 

I can tell you this,while I do not have the 100,I did buy the Lethal 60 for a stout nine foot surfcasting rod.

Mind you, that the 60 looks identical to the 100,but it does not have a back -up anti-reverse and I believe that the gear components are slightly different.

That being said----I sell reels as a side line and have used just about every high end reel in my life time.

I have to say that for the money---the lethal 60 is the best reel that i have ever used. For $91 bucks---a really nice reel---that does not crap out on you after 2 months of fishing 4x a week for three-four hours. I have barely oiled it and not done any lube ----she purrs like a kitten.

I have had over 200 fish on it. About 20 in the 15-18lb range. The reel is a nice investment.

I have used it in the bays,in the ocean rocks and on the ocean sand. I would put it's durability under all conditions up against any of the $150-$200 reels out there.

It does not weigh a whole lot---the 60 weighs I am guessing about 20 ounces. The eighty which is perfect for a ten foot spinning rod weighs I am guessing around

24 ounces. That 100 is a brute and i believe that ALAN said that it truly weighs around 29 ounces. The penn battle 8000 weighs 28 ounces, so I don't see the 1 ounce difference in such a moose of a reel meaning so much.

The reel in my experience, casts fine ,but not as well as some of my other reels. I am not being negative--it casts well enough.

But you have 30lbs of drag in the 60. Plus a sealed drag. And it is easy to open up to lube,too.

The gears hold up---and that is what impresses me the most.

I agree.  The Fin Nor Lethal LT60 is a terrific reel for $90.  I think it's better than the Daiwa Saltist 4500H which I thought is over priced and fit and finish was horrible.  The Saltist had too much backlash on the anti-reverse and flexed too much at the rotor.  The Fin Nor LT60 is a rock solid great reel.

[JettyGuy]

i wish alan hawk would do a review on the 40-60-80 or a smaller lethal... see how they stack up to the 100

 

I have been using the LT60 now for three months. I am not very attentive to my reels maintenance wise. I only greased it once and she keeps ticking.

Casts nice enough and performs well with a nice sized bass on. After 3 months of real abuse I would say that it is not as smooth as it was the first week I used it---

but then again I did not do a meticulous oiling of the reel either.

But I must say for the price the reel has performed better than my 150 buck reels from other companies tried under the same conditions.

 

I liked it enough to buy the LT 80 as a back up reel for my ten foot rod.

 

Don't get me wrong, there is no way that these reels compare to the fine engineering of either VS or Torque---but for 91 clams they make a nice value.

Personally I have very rarely bought a cheaply priced reel that lasted more than one season in the surf without getting GRINDY or just exploding after three months of fishing 16 hours a week. I really don't expect more than 2 full seasons from $150 reels---let alone a 91 dollar reel.

 

I was very pleasantly surprised with the Lethal. It's not a smooth reel IMHO to begin with---but it's smooth enough.

Seriously just to see what it would take---I beat the hell out of it--- if someone is using it twice a week,you'd probably get a few seasons with it.

[scshark]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JettyGuy 

I have been using the LT60 now for three months. I am not very attentive to my reels maintenance wise. I only greased it once and she keeps ticking.

Casts nice enough and performs well with a nice sized bass on. After 3 months of real abuse I would say that it is not as smooth as it was the first week I used it---

but then again I did not do a meticulous oiling of the reel either.

But I must say for the price the reel has performed better than my 150 buck reels from other companies tried under the same conditions.

I liked it enough to buy the LT 80 as a back up reel for my ten foot rod.

Don't get me wrong, there is no way that these reels compare to the fine engineering of either VS or Torque---but for 91 clams they make a nice value.

Personally I have very rarely bought a cheaply priced reel that lasted more than one season in the surf without getting GRINDY or just exploding after three months of fishing 16 hours a week. I really don't expect more than 2 full seasons from $150 reels---let alone a 91 dollar reel.

I was very pleasantly surprised with the Lethal. It's not a smooth reel IMHO to begin with---but it's smooth enough.

Seriously just to see what it would take---I beat the hell out of it--- if someone is using it twice a week,you'd probably get a few seasons with it.

i fish off a boat.. i do have 2 vm150's,cabo80's,battle6000's...

i do like the the fin nor lethals... and i agree for 100bux you cant go wrong..

but alan hawk is semi specific about the review on the lethal100...

with that said.. i have 2 on order and a friend ordered 1 for himself.. im not to concerned with how smooth it is or even that it lasts a 4-6 years..  i am like you.. i dont meticulously keep my gear.. but i am picky.. i do keep them serviced yearly... i clean them after every run and they are stored in the house(climate controlled)  they dont really get water spray or sand on/in them so its not as much of a worry.

i personally like the price... and would still be on the hook for them atthe same price and only 30lbs of drag and same line capacity... for 100-150 i am ok with new guys handling them. they can get boat rash.. heck it could go overboard and i would be more pissed about the rod than the reel.....   i just have a hard time loaning out/letting people use a van staal when they dont fish to begin with..    allot of the time when they hear the price of the rod/reel they shy away..

[scshark]

so hear is the update i got today...   its from a supplier/vendor that carries the fin nor line

called today to check on the 4 lt100's on order.. (2 different orders)

he said the first batch that came in the usa was a very small order... a total of 280 units roughly came into the usa..(not including canada) i asked him/them what the status of my orders were..  he said still not fulfilled.. that the last 2 months orderes were a no show... and the next projected delivery date is aug 15-24th...

he than informed me that they had 150 units pre ordered and basically locked in and promised on the next delivery/batch that goes out9whenever that is)   once they hit the pre order number they are basically shutting down the purchase process(if it happens before next date)  and once they do come in would re allow another pre order batch... basically starting the fulfillment process all over again.

from what he was semi told.. its the processing/tooling at the factory that is the backup.. not to worry about them changing materials or anything its just getting all the pieces mass produced and together...

so take it with a grain of salt.. but that's what my supplier told me over the phone today.

[scshark]

just seen on another board **** sent out a email/tracking on a few orders of the lt100's which would be early... which is a good thing...   will be calling tommorow to check status on an order i placed and check status of my 2 reels as well...

fish on for fall... fish on..

[Victor Jankowsk]

Today received my Fin-Nor LT100. The box was very attractive. However, the reel itself was poorly packed. The box inside has many dents from the reel bouncing around during shipping. It appears, that someone just threw it into the container without any real protection. Also, there was no "Parts List" included with this product.. Cosmetically speaking, the reel itself was nicely finished with one exception. The handle's knob (appears) to be constructed in two basic parts. The manafacturing material could be (just guessing) some variety of (black and clear) plastic. The clear segment seems to have been glued to the black segment. And there are several (very ugly,) glue stains, that really look terrible! I humbly suggest, that Fin-Nor forget about the clear plastic and just keep the knob black. This product appears to be a great deal of reel for the money. Will not be able to test the LT-100 until Spring 2015, therefore, cannot make any serious (read as just) mechanical comments.

Otherwise, I have no complaints. The LT 100 seems to be built like a Russian T-34 tank. This product was purchased from Tackledirect for $129.95. I have always had great service from this company. Great Folks!

[lureman]

I have the 80 used it ths past summer at the CCC caught nice size fish in current the reel performed GREAT best dollar for dollar reel made - Butch N.

[KevinB]

been looking at the lt60 , cabelas offers a free bag with purchase

[coastal eddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinB 

been looking at the lt60 , cabelas offers a free bag with purchase

Yeah they are at tackle direct too. What a deal!  I had ordered a leathal 100 a couple months ago (backordered, should arrive Monday)and saw the add for $99. Bout S***. I fired off an email and they said the $99 bucks covered the 40,60 and the 80 but not the 100. Still get the free bag though.  I can really use a new bag too!

[jwilly]

I got my hands one the Lethal 100 and put it to use in florida a few weeks ago. It SMOKED some good size blacktips with zero issue. The drag is as smooth as it is powerful. The one complaint I have with this reel is the line lay is not perfect which can lower cast distance though thats hardly an issue considering the price and performance of the reel. I highly recomend this reel for anyone needing way more drag than their surf rod can handle. 

[coastal eddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwilly 

 

I got my hands one the Lethal 100 and put it to use in florida a few weeks ago. It SMOKED some good size blacktips with zero issue. The drag is as smooth as it is powerful. The one complaint I have with this reel is the line lay is not perfect which can lower cast distance though thats hardly an issue considering the price and performance of the reel. I highly recomend this reel for anyone needing way more drag than their surf rod can handle. 

You crank the drag down any tighter than that and you're gonna need to fill your pockets with sand!  With any luck I will receive mine tomorrow but I won't be able to fish with it for some time.  Sniff!  Someones got to work and I guess I pulled the short straw.  Looks like you hung a nice fattie though..good on ya!

[pilotman]

Did so much research on the Fin Nor and pretty much across the board it is THE reel for the money. In fact THE reel period. Will last a life time with routine maintenance. Yes its a bit heavier but that's solely due to the tank like construction. No other reel in the world has 60lbs of Drag for the money. I just got Offshore 7500 for one of my 11s as an early Christmas present ...... I mainly fish conventional but this reel definitely makes me hold on to my spinning outfits. IMHO if you can afford 20$ more, get the premium Offshore...as nice as the Lethal is, the Offshore way exceeds it other than maybe the 100 which is in a way a Offshore in disguise. Anything bigger than the 7500 is overkill. Its meant for big game fish like tuna, sharks...etc...so catching a 40lb rockfish from the surf is like a walk in the park. I have MUCH Man love for Fin Nor...haha