The working man's round reel: Shimano Cardiff review. 14+ years of besting giants!

When a product hasn't changed in over a decade it says something. When that product is a fishing reel it says; workhorse, reliable, beloved. An untold number of fish have been beaten by this entry level round bait caster from Shimano. Made in 200, 300, and 400 sizes means that many of those fish were giants, as these upsized reels are built expressly to go toe to toe (toe to fin?) with the largest residents of any lake.
In my two years of using the Cardiff 301A I have found it to be a very capable reel, with casting distance seemingly limited only to the loading of one's rod. I have experienced no problem or issues thus far with mine.
Priced in the $100 range certain compromises are made, namely the reel is not ultra smooth or refined in its interface or retrieve "feel".
Also of significance is that fact that the reel must be disassembled to access the VBS braking system. That single fact kept me away from this reel for many years. However, in practice I found that leaving the usual Shimano ''2 brakes ON' is all one must do for perfect casting performance.
The Cardiff remains unchanged 14 years later, its a testament to good design begetting solid performance and reliability year, after year, after year, after.......

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