Quantum Smoke Speed Freak Baitcasting Reel Review

The Quantum Smoke PT Speed Freak baitcasting reel has become our new favorite reel for so many different reasons. It’s very lightweight, well built, smooth, frictionless, and let’s you cast a mile.

It looks outstanding! We love the matte black and red color combination. It just screams quality. It looks great with any color rod. Since we have tons of Ugly Stik GX2s lying around, we mainly use it with those. And that’s an incredibly versatile and powerful combination. This combination let’s you fish any situation you want. We also have some of our baitcasting Smoke Speed Freaks on the much lighter and stronger 7 foot Abu Garcia Veritas 2.0 rods in medium heavy. Also a killer combination.

You can cast these a mile and the 8.1:1 gear ration let’s you reel in 35 inches of line per turn. And the entire reel weighs 6.4 ounces.

The pinion disengages completely from the gear when you cast it, which allows for a completely frictionless cast. Which means you can cast much further. With a 7 foot medium heavy rod, we’ve been able to cast a 3/4 oz weight 60 yards and a 1 oz weight about 80 yards.

We like the wide handle. The gap between the two knobs gives you enough space to not scratch your knuckles on the opposite handle when reeling. We’ve had an issue with Shimano reels not giving you enough space.

We’ve fished with this daily for almost a year now. The drag system is superb. The ACS braking system gives you ample settings to avoid backlashing. And the spool tension knob clicks and has infinite settings.

After a year on the water, from walleye fishing in ice cold rivers to bass fishing in summer and fall, the Quantum Smoke PT Speed Freak reel was very reliable, very smooth, very fast, and rarely backlashed.

We use exclusively braid and had no issues at all. We normally tie on all our line to the holes in the spool. Which is what we did and it worked very well. The line we used was Spectra Power Pro 20 pound in moss green color.

We’ve caught 3-5 pound bass without issues. This has more than enough power to bring them in quickly.

In fact, it’s so easy to use that we’ve handed it to our 6 and 8 year old kids, and they use it just fine. We turn the brakes and tension up a bit and they use it properly without backlashing. Pretty remarkable.

It’ll run your about $180 bucks, but can be found online for cheaper. This is a steal a this price point. You are getting one of the most amazing baitcasting reels for a very good price.

The retrieve is silky smooth and never hiccups or stutters.

Final verdict? Go out and buy one right away and don’t think twice. You are reading this because you have thought about this reel. Just get it! You’ll thank us later.

Note: Check back often, we continually update our reviews as we learn more about the product.

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Editor in Chief

Over 40 years of fishing experience! Began as a young boy at age 10, and slowly grew deeper and deeper into this hobby! Have been a writer and technology reviewer since 1990.