Quantum Energy PT- A Reel Bass Burner
Written: Apr 22 '07 (Updated Apr 24 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: High Quality, Very Durable, Great Looking Reel
Cons: Close to $200!
The Bottom Line: You will not need to buy another reel, it is very durable and you will feel the quality with every turn of the handle.
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| smallmouth's Full Review: Quantum Energy PT Series Casting Reel |
I grew up fishing with Abu-Garcia reels so when a fishing buddy gave me a new Quantum Energy PT baitcasting reel as a birthday present, I didn't know if I was going to return it (re-gift) or use it. I made the decision to try it out the moment I opened the box and took one look at it. This is a cool looking reel.Abu Garcia reels are incredibly reliable but their look and design is all business. The design of the Quantum Energy series reels are not only eye catching machines, they are fish catching machines too. The one piece aluminum frame has the look of a case-colored gun metal shine like you would see on a very expensive shotgun or rifle. I was very skeptical trying out a new company and a low-profile reel, but I soon found out just how nice they really are.
Features:
Most of the features for this reel are designed to make it lighter. Quantum realizes that most tournament bass fishermen are on the water for over 8 hours a day with non-stop casting. They made a high-quality, lighter, fisherman friendly, reel. The spool is Quantum's MaxCast ultralight skeletal model. In English, it is an aluminum spool made for speed and quickness, drilled out to look like a wiffle-ball to reduce weight even further.The frame is a one-piece aluminum frame.
-CNC machined aluminum frame, sidecovers and front support
-MaxCast ultralight skeletal spool
-Ceramic drag system
-Polymer-stainless hybrid 7 PT bearing system
-Infinite ACS externally-adjustable centrifugal cast control
-Dual PT bearing Continuous Anti-Reverse
-Ceramic Zirconia level-wind system
-Super Free Spool pinion design
-Scratch-resistant titanium vacuum deposition coating
-Cold-forged one-piece capless/screw-on handle
-Extra-hard PT gears
-Quantum Hot Sauce lubrication
Smoothness:
One of the most important features to a baitcasting reel is its smoothness. When you try out a reel this should be the first thing you test. Loosen the magnets, or centrifugal brake and spin the handle as fast as you can and let it go. If it doesn't continue to spin and spin a lot, then put it back on the shelf and walk away. I think this is so important because you make about a half-million turns on the handle per tournament, or full day on the water. Most people who are interested in buying a quality, high money, reel are planning on fishing a lot more than one full day or one tournament so just take a second and try to calculate how many rotations you are going to have over the course of a year, or a lifetime..... Wow.
That is about a billion reasons why I think it is important to buy a smooth baitcasting reel. How smooth a reel is can be directly related to the amount and quality of the bearings inside of a reel.
Quantum Energy PT reels have seven proprietary polymer stainless hybrid high-speed bearings. Honestly, I don't really know what I just wrote, but combine it with the Quantum Hot Sauce and they are incredibly smooth. I like a baitcasting reel with at least 4 bearings, I have recently been testing some models with 11 ball bearings. I find the seven in this reel to be very tight and smooth.
Quantum Hot Sauce: This is the bright red lubrication used inside of this reel. They are Quantums own grease and oil. They include a tube of each with purchase of this reel. I have been using it for years during my routine maintenance of my Abu Garcia C3 series and C4 series series reels. The Hot Sauce Oil is a has low viscosity levels that won't bind up or collect dust in the moving parts. The Hot Sauce grease also has low viscosity polymers and exclusive to Quantum it also has tackifiers which bond it for a longer hold on the gears and wear surfaces.
Looks/Appearance:
As I said earlier, the main reason I even tried this reel was it's look. It looks cool. After I tried it I found out just how good it is. It has that old case-colored look of the high money guns of yesteryear. You may have seen this on a few other Quantum model reels. Quantum calls this a titanium vacuum deposition coating(TVDC). It is an ultra hard, scratch resistant surface. This helps protect the reels appearance and ensures proper mechanics and function. Even the best reels get beat up. Bouncing around in a boat out on the water, or when the boat is being transported to and from the lake or just poor care can make a new reel look old in a hurry. It can even be damaged to the point of a needed repair or poor functionality. I take care of my tools, or equipment, especially when I spend this kind of money, but I have to admit that I have thrown mine down in the bottom of the boat during the heat of the battle when I had to net my partners fish, and I even threw it down a couple of times when I lost a big fish, after all, big fish don't just break your line, they break your heart.
How they get that cool look: The TVDC is a very expensive process for Quantum. They actually vacuum deposit layers of titanium coating to the reel. Vacuum deposition is also called ion implantation. Ions of the coating material are accelerated to implant into the materials surface. It actually changes the physical property of the surface solid. This technology is used in semiconducter device fabrication and metal finishing. Quantum prides itself in being able to master this incredible art.
The Quantum Energy PT comes in four different models.
MODEL-----GEAR-----RATIO-----LINE CAPACITY----IPT----RETRIEVE SIDE
E750PT-----Power-----5.1:1-----125 yds. / 12 lb.-----20.9-----Right-Hand
E761PT-----Speed-----6.3:1-----125 yds. / 12 lb.-----26.1-----Left-Hand
E760PT-----Speed-----6.3:1-----125 yds. / 12 lb.-----26.1-----Right-Hand
E770PT-----Burner-----7.0:1-----125 yds. / 12 lb.-----28.8-----Right-Hand
IPT is inches per turn in line per one full revolution of the reel.
Picking Your Speed/Gear Ratio:
The gear ratio is the amount of turns the spool will rotate per full rotation of the handle. If the gear ratio is 6.3 to 1, then your spool will turn 6.3 times for every time you turn the handle. Do your research when comparing brands and ratio's. A smaller gear ratio actually might bring in more IPT depending on the size of the spool. You want to match up your reels gear ratio to what you plan on fishing for a lure. If you plan on fishing a Crankbait, Spinnerbait, or Buzzbait, which you will be cranking many times over the course of a tournament or long day on the water, then you want a higher gear ratio reel that will take in more IPT.
If you are throwing a Jig , Soft Plastic Lures , a drop shot rig, or any other slow lure you want to use a slower 5.1-1 or even 6.3-1 ratio. Some of the pro;s and tournament fishermen like to use the faster gear ratio reels even when fishing the slower lures because they want the lure back in the boat as quickly as possible to get it back in the strike zone, they are only fishing a small window and expecting a strike as the lure falls or on the first or second bounce on the bottom. If they don't get the immediate strike, they want the lure back very quickly so they can pitch it to the next lilly-pad, stump, or Bass ambush spot. I recommend matching presentation of the type of lure to the speed of the reel.
Avoid Backlashes:
New Baitcasters employ advanced braking systems to minimize rats-nests. The Quantum Energy PT is built with an advanced ceramic drag and brake system. The centrifugal brake system is commonly refered to as the magnets. Backlashes happen when the spool is emptying line faster than the lure is flying or pulling the line from the spool. The spool continues to unwind during the cast but the line isn't coming out of the rods guides fast enough and you end up with a mess inside of your reel. It happens most often when a fisherman casts a light lure into a gust of wind. It even happens to the Pro fishermen too. You can minimize the amount of backlashes you get by adjusting your magnets to the weight of the lure you are using. The way I have always done this is to tighten the magnets up, push the release button with the lure hanging down from the tip about a foot, and slowly loosen the magnet until the lure falls on its own, this is usually the correct adjustment for the magnets. A great way to avoid serious backlashes is to cast a lure out as far as you can, strip off an extra 20 feet or so of line and put a piece of tape around the spool so if you ever do get a backlash it will only go that far. The higher quality reel you buy, the least amount of backlashes you will get.
Instant Anti-Reverse:
This feature is great and comes standard on just about every quality fishing reel including this one. With instant anti-reverse, when you stop going forward with the reel or take your hand off of it, the spool and reel will not turn backwards, it stops! This allows the fisherman to make one handed hook sets and very quick hook sets. It also won't allow any line to loosen off of the spool which will cause backlashes.
Maintenance:
This reel doesn't require much maintenance to give the fisherman years of quality service. I use Quantum's Hot Sauce for maintaining all of my baitcasters including this one. This might sound funny but try to keep your baitcasters dry. After fishing in the rain it is a good idea to bring them inside and dry them out. Wipe them down to keep dust and dirt from getting into working parts. I like to oil the handle and just about every joint every week or so depending on usage. At the end or beginning of the season I open it up, clean the gears and working parts and re-oil and grease them. With proper maintenance, this real should last a lifetime. Make sure you don't over oil or grease your reel because the extra oil will make the reel slippery when fighting a fish or casting, and the grease will collect dust and dirt. Small amounts will suffice. I never use mine in salt water, I have a seperate set of reels for salt and fresh water fishing. If you use this one in salt water, I recommend maintaining it more often and cleaning it with warm fresh water.
Price and Availability:
If you are not lucky enough to receive one of these as a birthday present, and you don't want to steal one, then you will have to break down and buy one. They retail for about $190 to $230 each. The cheapest I have found them was at Bass Pro Shops for under $200. If you do not live near an outlet store, they do a ton of catalog/phone and internet sales. Their site is www.basspro.com and their phone number is 1-800-227-7776. I have never found them at any other walk in store other than BPS and Cabela's. Cabelas were surprisingly priced higher then BPS at $220. I was surprised because these two super stores are highly competitive with their prices.
Click on my other Fishing Reviews:
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Recommended:
Yes
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