It was good to see that Shimano has finally started designing spinning reels for the UK market with shallow spools for use with ultra thin braided lines – even if they haven’t yet released smaller models suitable for light rock fishing.
The new Shimano Aero 4000 MATCH FA features some radical design elements – look at that bail arm roller – but the extremely shallow spool is perhaps the most radical for Shimano Europe. Hopefully this will catch on and Shimano will have enough incentive to produce shallow spools on a number of spinning reels across other disciplines, meaning we won’t have to source expensive Japanese imports any more – or put up with backing issues.