I bought one recently and hafta say that it's a great reel. I used it for throwing large woodchoppers/rippers and spooks in Brazil and it handled these baits quite nicely. The oversized gears provided plenty of torque for bringing in fish that fight quite a bit harder than our largemouth in North America, and the 7:1 gear ratio really helped in taking up slack line. The drag is very, very smooth as well. As for casting, I think it's on par with the new Chronarch and better than any of the older style Curados (which I also brought down with me--the improved performance really is noticeable). It's a winner.

You'll hear a lot of detractors say it's a heavy reel. It's no big deal. Yea, it's heavier but it sits lower in your palm so I don't think the extra weight is really noticeable.

That's my two cents...