Shimano upgrades Sahara spinning reels

Shimano has upgraded its Sahara front-drag spinning reels for the 2012-13 season.

While already boasting high-end features, including the company’s line twist reducing Propulsion Management System, the reels now come with Varispeed II oscillation and Shimano’s new ‘M Compact Body’ in a new Sahara line-up that features the SH-1000FE, 2500FE, 3000FE and 4000FE.

“Our Sahara reels are all about versatility for all types of freshwater and saltwater fishing situations,” said Ken Iida, a member of Shimano’s product development team. “Anglers have sizes – and new features – to chase after panfish, crappies, bass, walleyes and catfish, plus there’s the power and line capacity on the cold-forged aluminium spool with the larger sizes to tackle the salt.”

Anglers will notice the new Sahara FE reels have a smaller profile from Shimano’s ‘M Compact Body’ design concept. Each reel has small curving details to increase rigidity and reinforce the entire XT material body and keep all the moving parts in alignment. While all the reels are smaller, line capacity remains the same on the spools.

For better casting performance the Sahara FE reels feature Shimano’s new Varispeed II oscillation system. It moves in two variable speeds to lay the line flatter on the spool, providing trouble-free and longer distance casts.

Additional features contributing to reel smoothness include Fluidrive II, Dyna-Balance, Super Stopper II and three stainless steel ball bearings.

With a 6:1 gear ratio, the SH-1000FE has a spool capacity to handle 2lb to 6lb monofilament or 10lb to 20lb PowerPro braid. It will retrieve in 29ins of line per crank.

Both with 6.2:1 gear ratios, the SH-2500 FE – for 6lb to 10lb test mono or 10lb to 30lb PowerPro – pulls in 34ins per spool rotation, while the SH-3000FE – for 6lb to 10lb test mono or 10lb to 40lb PowerPro – cranks in 35ins.

With 5.8:1 gear ratios the SH-4000FL retrieves 39ins of line and can handle 8lb to 12lb mono or 15lb to 50lb PowerPro.