Revo Big Shooter Compact

[MA Frog Man]

I've seen a lot of people ask questions about this reel lately so I decided to do a little review to maybe answer a few. There isn't a whole lot of info out on this reel, that I found anyway, so I'll do my best.

Ratio-8.0:1

IPT-32 inches

Capacity- 20 lb- 100 yards

 

I've have 2 compacts and have fished them for a little over a year now. I chose to go compact over the beast simply because I bought a beast new that was defective out of the box and it put a bad taste in my mouth. Also at that time I could find the compact for significantly cheaper than the beast overseas. The compact is the same size as the beast, which is about the same size as any other revo just with a bigger handle. Best way to describe it is a standard 100 size reel with a 200 size spool/ capacity and a big double paddle handle.

 

Fishibility-

I found the compact very easy to throw. I've fished a wide variety of baits on the reel. From Triple trout , slammer, Deps 250 to frogs. Casts them all well even with 20 lb mono. Because of the high ratio/retrieve the torque is somewhat lacking but it's better suited for some applications than others as all reels are. I know alot of guys are put off by the high gear ratio. I've cranked down slammers with it and caught fish up to 6 pounds. Not the ideal reel to do it with but it's definitely fun during the summer. It hasn't showed any signs of wear. I do all my own maintenance on my reels and was pretty surprised when I opened it up. I beat on it pretty hard but the inside still looked brand new.

 

Rods-

Started off with the compact on a LDC H. Caught some decent fish on this setup but the reel was almost too small for the rod I felt. Didn't feel right for me. Switched the reel to a Dobyns 806 and have stuck with that combo since. Makes a good mid range bait setup.

 

Overall-

The compact is a solid low profile reel. Definitely more of a niche reel though imo. This isn't the reel id choose if I was looking for one reel to do it all. But if your looking for more of a specialized reel for an application it would fit it's definitely worth it.

 

If anyone had anymore questions I'll try my best to answer them in this thread or pm. Hope this helps.