Nothing much to say about this reel ,except that it is the best one in its price range. Excellent for what its designed to do. Have not used the spare spool yet. Still running with the metal spool.

Using on 8ft shimano rod for near shore casting from boat great distance and great drag

I really does cast really far, but I think it's a little bit fragile. One little slip and all the gears and bail are all bent!!! Break out the back-up!

I have this paired with my Shimano Tiralejo, it is a match made in heaven for a surf setup, cast's amazing and is light as a feather for its size.

Nicest surf reel I've used thus far, I use it with my Tsunami Airwave Elite 9 ft surf rod, best surf reel your money can buy the 3 spools are a big plus and the drag is smooth and powerful. awesome line lay, I love it!

I paired this with the shimano tiralejo 10'6 and it definitely made a big difference in casting distance, compared to the stradic fk 5000 with the same rod.

By far the best long casting surf reel I've ever used! I have it paired up with a Composite Development XD14 Surf Rod that I purchased from New Zealand, I have never found a better matched pair for surf fishing!

I am being using it for over a year now and have taken a wide range of hard fighting fish, both fresh and saltwater. I pair it with 7.6 ft pe.2 light popping rod to throw stickbaits and plugs and with a 12 ft custom made rod for surf fishing with 30 lb JB for surf fishing and 40 lb JB for spinning with plugs. The distance I get with this reel is easily 30 % more if not less. Have caught medium size blacktip sharks, barramundis, mangrove jacks, small GT, groupers, The mahseer and snakeheads in freshwater.. Love this reel.

I bought this reel for my dad who has always been obsessed with distance. This reel is unlike any other he has ever used when it comes to distance and he has been fishing for over 70 years. I would not recommend getting this reel wet from a wave full of sand but an occasional splash from the back bay shouldn't be a problem.

I gave it 4 stars out of 5 because it is line and casts great but they market it as a surf reel and I dont think it would handle sand as well as say the new Spheros.

Used the Ultegra Ci4 for the past year+ in the surf and off of rocky shores. It is noticeably lighter than other surf reels with the same line capacity. The long casting capability and quick drag is as advertised. For me, it did much better on my 11-12 ft than on 8.5-10 ft 1-3 ounce rods. Given the long spool, line lay takes some getting used to since it is possible to lose the advantage of the line lay over time if you begin retrieve with the bail in a different location than the last line position after casting numerous times. For example, if the cast ends with the line position on the top of the spool and bail position on the bottom with immediate retrieval, the line lay is misaligned. Not any issue in sandy surf conditions, but if you're fishing in shallow water over rocks, you can't release line for proper alignment without risk of snagging the bottom. Handled all of the stripers easily but not sure how it will hold up with big jacks over time. The three spools makes this a very good value for me.

Besides my Shimano Stella, this is the best reel I own. From a casting/feel perspective, to the way line simply feeds itself off the reel (no wind knots) to the drag and pure power once a fish is hooked.

This is a great reel. Like others have said it is as smooth as silk and the line lay is superior to other reels. You will cast farther with it.

But! I wish I had a chance to get better acquainted with the new sensitive drag. Today I hooked a Tarpon about a hundred yards out. Even in Florida hooking a Tarpon in the surf is a real experience that , believe me, doesn't happen every day. The fish took off like a rocket pulling line off at an unbelievable rate. I decided to tighten up the drag forgetting in the moment that the drag goes from basically nothing to full lock down in about half a turn or so. I went from about 20% drag to 100% in a half second and of course the line snapped.

It's a great reel (despite my profanity at the time). I recommend it, but the drag takes a whole lotta getting used to. Some things are better off left alone.

I paired this up with my 13'3" Saltiga Ballistic Surf Rod and launched the bait off the rocks out to sea. Wow. This is thing is extremely lightweight, and I had not problem bringing in some good size rockfish up the cliffs.

GREAT REEL

Ok reel for 320$ I thought it would have a more quality feel to it........ Actually it's a good reel only wobbles slightly more than my other shimano reels